Chaliu Chaofu Branch — Restaurant in Taichung

I visited the Kaohsiung Branch earlier in the month and decided to visit one here in Taichung because my experience was so good. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the service here which has led me to provide a 3 star rating.

Our family of 5 (with one baby) was lucky enough to get a reservation on a weekday evening for dinner. We ordered the most expensive pork option as we do not eat beef.

The food was excellent as expected.

However, I cannot say the same for the service rendered.

We were greeted warmly by the host and promptly had a table ready for us. The host even provided us an English menu (even though someone else had to find it) when asked.

When our server came, she explained the menu to us, but then told us that the "baby snacks were considered outside food and was not allowed consumption" and left. The baby has 2 teeth... what is the baby going to eat then? I understand the policy of not brining outside food into the restaurant but baby snacks?! Honestly!? I almost wanted to give her the same amount sass she gave us!

The table was also not set up correctly with the right amount of plates and chopsticks. We did make a reservation for 5 people, but the table only had 3 place settings. We asked for more place settings and a high chair for the baby after we ordered our food. Nobody came back, and we had to ask again for the place settings and high chair even AFTER a different server came with the first dishes.

The server then came back multiple times to change the grill which I understand, but why not time the changing of the grill when all the food has been cooked? Or at least ask when the next change can be? Every time the grill is changed, its cold and the food takes a longer time to cook! Its as if the server doesn't know how to BBQ.

Lastly, at the end of the meal, the server asked if the service was acceptable, and then to rate her with the QR code. I thought that it was funny and ironic because if she really wanted to know how well (or poorly) she served us today, I think I would have made her cry. I decided NOT to provide the feedback as it would be better for her.

I feel that for the value and for a restaurant which such high ratings and price point, the service could...

NOT A VERY GOOD DINING EXPERIENCE, Wait and wait Hurry and hurry. Salad was not ok. Rice ball was not good. Wagyu/Beef was ok. The other meat were about average. Staff was helpful. No free parking, nothing special at all.

Run down: Reservation at 19：00, Send us inside to wait by 19：06 Sat & Wait more until 19:13 When we arrived at table it's 19:16 Order And wait for the meat to come but not that simple, 19:24 came a low quality hot pot - miso soup (free)which I couldn't eat. Half minute later, salad . yak！ 19:26 small sample meat plate from set menu(pork/duck meat/chicken leg) soso quality. 19:29 the first drinks: Vegie smoothie. 150cc. 19:32 2nd drinks: black tea.(not great taste,no free refill) 19:36 first time changed grill/replace grill 19:38 baked rice ball was served.no good. 19:39 beef/ beef tongue 19:40 beef set 19:42 we asked where's our rice bowl which magical they delivered later. 19:50 2nd changed of grill. Icy peach sorbet. 20:00 3rd changed of grill. 20:04 the seafood plate with sweet chinese potatoes slices. 20:16 finished all the meat. Waiting for desserts. 20:32 creme brulee & snow flake ice.(soso) Total dining time = 52 minutes So fast, I thought that I was eating at...

There are lots of spots with great reviews & reasonable price for BBQ in Taichung and Cha Liu is one of the best. It’s extremely popular, so getting a reservation is difficult even on weekdays.

We couldn’t reserve for a proper time-slot for weeks, so we decided to visit earlier to beat the crowd. We were there at about 5:00pm on a Thursday and the wait wasn’t too bad, only about 5 mins.

The decor is brilliant and classy with wide-spaced & lively ambiance. The staff was friendly, welcoming and served everything quickly. There is a couple of sets for 2 & 3 people and we had their Premium Beef Set for two.

The set came with 7 kinds of meat, salad, seafood, veggies, rice and dessert so the portion was enough and satisfying. All the meat was fresh and high quality, so even though the seasoning was light, it’s still delicious. Our favorites were the Boneless Beef Ribs and Iberian Pork.

We highly recommend their dessert, especially the shaved ice, which was refreshing with adorable plating. Overall, Cha Liu is a solid place for BBQ and the only complaint we had was the difficulty of...