Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks — Restaurant in Milpitas

I often find myself hard pressed to find authentic Taiwanese cuisine, even here in the Bay Area. I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to discover Shihlin! This little restaurant located McCarthy Ranch truly delivers in the quality of their Taiwanese selections. While I've dined there prior to the Shelter-In-Place (SIP) order, this review will primarily focus on their food and the measures they've taken to ensure the safety of both their employees and customers.

Understandably, the SIP order has thrown a wrench in our lives; however, Shihlin has adapted well to the current climate. I highly recommend using their website to place your order in advance. You can choose to customize your order with add-ons or even remove unwanted toppings like cilantro or hot sauce. In my opinion, this is a huge plus! Once your food is ready, you'll receive a text- no waiting in long lines or out in the cold! Once you get that text, you can head over to the pick-up window- easy as that! I found the online system very easy to navigate, and had my food in hand in about 15-20 minutes after I placed my order.

Now for the food. I've always been a tried and true fan of their food, and I'm pleased to say that the SIP order hasn't affected their quality! My favorite go-tos are definitely the popcorn chicken and Grandma Braised Chicken Rice (both pictured). The Grandma Braised Chicken Rice is a lighter take on the traditional Taiwanese minced pork rice. While it can't ever replace minced pork rice in my heart, I do find that the substitution of chicken makes the dish a little lighter- which isn't bad for a change! And if you're feeling a bit parched, they have a solid selection of drinks. My go-to here is their wintermelon tea. Their selection of beverages is quite small, but as I've been saying- what they do, they do very, very well!

If you're looking for Taiwanese food in the Bay Area, I hope you try Shihlin and enjoy it as...

I am impressed with this place. I thought I would give this place a try since my plans changed for lunch today. I wanted something quick and cheap. Though this place was semi-quick and not so cheap ($15 for popcorn chicken meal). I was impressed with the taste of my popcorn chicken AND the only place that I know that still serves basil with the popcorn chicken. The ONLY downside of this place was ordering the food. It was confusing as hell. Another customer had to explain to me how to order. No was allowed to enter the establishment and the instructions to order the food was confusing as hell. They had a tablet at the front door but so many signs around the restaurant that said to scan a QR code to start ordering. I went with my gut feeling and ordered through the QR code, which was the right step. The eta for my lunch was 10min. They were hecka busy so I didn't get my lunch till 12 min later. As to the lunch, it was impressive. Nice amount of steam rice and veggies but definitely good portion (the right portion) for the popcorn chicken. I opted on mild and they gave me mild. I also ordered the brown sugar milk tea with boba. It was the right amount of sugar/milk/tea/boba. Overall, I am pleased with my lunch. It was a bit pricey but I did pay for not just the chicken. Definitely a good lunch place to go to the next time I am craving for something new. The milk tea price was right and good portion.

Price: A Quality: A+++ Service: B (no service what so ever but quick with the take out). Lack of clear instructions on...

Having grown up in Taiwan and loving the night markets, I was super excited to try this shop which wanted to honor and bring the same taste of ShihLin Night Market

Food/Taste/Flavor: 2/5 - XXL Chicken Thigh with mild spiciness, original flavor, fully cut, and default seasoning. There wasn't much flavoring but just mostly allowing spiciness to determine the flavor. Also, they didn't allow it to rest before serving so the chicken was pretty oily with parts of the fried coating falling off. There was a puddle of oil at the bottom of the bag with all the leftover skin as well. The Crispy Mushroom with default seasoning and hot spiciness was also super oily. Unfortunately, it just tasted of oil with just an undertone of mushroom that we finished less than half the bag. There were a lot of pieces that were just fried coating rather than actual mushroom as well

Ambience: N/A - to go orders only as it's a tiny shop. However, they do have 2 large tables and one small one to sit out just to the side of the shop

Service: N/A- you order online or on the device provided in front of the shop. They'll call your number once it's ready

Value for price: 1/5 - for the price, I was expecting better flavor and cooking. I had to convince my SO that this can't compare to Taiwan and not to set this as the...