Taste

Great Chinese food! They do really good spicy food, but their other dishes are really good. This time we got the cumin lamb and it was delicious! Would recommend if you're looking for a Chinese restaraunt in Palo Alto.

Service is good. They were attentive in taking our orders and making sure we got everything we needed. I don't think we waited too long to order, get our food, or get the check.

The inside is pretty. They have many Chinese decorations so it feels very nostalgic of a classic Chinese restaurant. As for seating they have indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor seating have the heater stands.

Parking: There are many parking garages in Palo Alto so it's not too hard for us to find parking

乡味老坛酸菜活鱼 4 whole fish, medium juicy, slightly bitter, noodles, minced pork, sour cabbage, flavorful
东坡扒肘子 3 huge portion, green veggies, meat slightly dry, sweet soy flavor
成都担担面 5 peanut flavor, not too spicy, enough sauce, flavorful

Ordered a spicy drypot through DoorDash.

The good: beef is tender and flavorful. So are the other vegetables.
The bad: the portion. I was shocked when I saw the size of the container.

Will try dining in next time and see if it would change my rating.

Finally, we have decent szechuan food here in the south bay!

We enjoyed everything we ordered: Bobo chicken, fish flavored shredded pork, salted egg yolk, fried pumpkin.

Not cheap, but I'm willing to pay for the authentic szechuan taste (and big portion!) once in a while :)

If you are craving Chinese (Sichuan) food, Taste on University Ave. is a solid choice! Mongolian beef lunch dish was more than satisfying and would definitely return to try more from their impressive menu. Service was very friendly and attentive. Lots of dining customers and it's obvious this restaurant is popular.

Came here on CNY and was not impressed.

-They had TONS of take-out orders that were stacked on 2 different tables for 4+ parties so big parties had to wait for smaller tables to become available.

-I saw staff members straight up IGNORING delivery drivers. One guy stood for 20mins holding out his phone because NO ONE acknowledged him even though he kept saying "Hello?"

Ambiance:
Modern decor and casual vibes but it was incredibly loud inside.

Food:
Small servings for pretty pricey dishes. Ex: salt and pepper calamari had 10 pieces of calamari for a whooping $32. Taste was just fine... there are tons of alternatives that serve delicious dishes for much cheaper $$. I guess that's what you get for eating at downtown Palo Alto.

Parking is also a nightmare around here too esp in the evenings and weekends.

Love this place so much! They have so many varieties of Chinese food and the food comes out super fast! I always order the cumin lamb and some of the spicy options! The service is great! They make the food super quick and all the waiters speak Chinese! The environment is super clean and love the outdoor seating!

Grabbed dinner here with my parents on February 15! Came around 6:15 pm and got a table for 3 right away, though it did get busy as the night went on. This is probably my 5th time visiting this restaurant. I haven't been back since before the pandemic. The dishes have noticeably decreased in quantity, but still such solid food!

Taste has one of the BEST sweet and sour chicken dish I've ever had. It's a great balance, of obviously sweet and sour, and stayed crispy for the longest time!

The other dishes to highlight are the mapo tofu, fried fish fillet with chili pepper, and woodear stir fried with Chinese yam. The mapo tofu was nicely seasoned! I'm not usually a fan of Szechuan peppers, but this one wasn't too numbing. The fried fish had A LOT of chili peppers on it, but was still nicely seasoned and crispy. This one was recommended to us by the waitress. Lastly, woodear mushrooms and Chinese yams are literally my favorite, so it's a must I go to a Chinese restaurant.

The other dish we ordered was the pork wonton in chili oil. This was an OK dish. I wouldn't order it again.

With that appetizer, 4 main dishes, and 3 orders of rice, we had a little bit left for to go.

Overall, a solid Chinese restaurant, especially for Palo Alto! I would definitely come back, especially in a larger group.

Service: 3.5/5
Food: 4.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5

The interior is modern, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I thought the wait staff were really nice and attentive!

While the food at Taste is very good, I found the cumin lamb and the dry pot just a little too salty. When paired with rice, it gets a bit better, but it can still be a bit overwhelming.

Small, busy Chinese restaurant, very high prices due no doubt to its being located in expensive downtown Palo Alto. A carafe of water comes with your table; tea has to be ordered extra and costs $6.

I had the cumin lamb. This dish, which was basically lamb and sliced onions, was actually larger than the picture in the menu led me to expect: full and hearty, with juicy and chewy lamb. The problem was with the spicing. It didn't taste of cumin at all. Instead, it was heavily seasoned with a tasteless but strongly bitter heat whose unpleasantness stuck in the mouth.

Maybe some of the other dishes, and the non-spicy ones, will be different, but discovering that will have to wait until the next time I'm already stuck in this part of downtown at dinnertime, which may be a while. I'll update this review if I find it better.