Taiwan Deli 義美冠軍 — Restaurant in Spring Valley

I really really wanted to support this Taiwanese mom pop shop, and find something good here. We've been to both locations before. There's just always something off. I'm really picky with certain dishes so I usually try to off set that with slack, especially for mom pop shops. They are hand making things. Just they can't cook!!! Maybe they just need to become a B2B business instead...making food for other restaurants to buy and cook for customers? There aren't any other true Taiwanese places in Vegas (and not much in LA), so I usually keep my expectations ridiculously low or just expect it to be fusion Taiwanese food. But I expect the food to be at least decent quality or serving.

Fyi, best to use CASH. 3% fee for using credit card. Strict close/no food served even 5min before their 2pm in between break.

Service: Don't expect any. It does remind me of a Taiwanese Deli, just an extremely large version. If they just had 2-4 small tables, maybe the place would be more manageable for the 1-2 staff owners on the floor. It's a place that waving hand might not do. Just get up and try and order from the staff, or ask for the check. This is a very casual run down Asian establishment. Expecting too much western etiquette is just ignorance. We just came back from almost 2 months of living in Taiwan, so our taste buds to more has been recalibrated.

Example of off: When something is off, you can hide it and guess maybe it's just fusion if it's still tasty, or decent quality. It's not the case for this place. This visit was for the purpose to determine if I should just buy frozen handmade dumplings from here vs transport it each time from LA. I also was determined a second time to find out this places' hidden specials. I avoid typical items reviewed on Yelp to be avoided. I avoided beef noodle soup cause it might be not warmed up enough, to breakfast normals. Works for me as I can't handle that much carbs in one day.

#63. Pig ear, tofu in chili sauce cold dish appetizers $7.99. Taste decent but saltier than expected. The meat gelatin was showing with the cilantro wet in it. Something served at home as leftovers but not served on this condition in restaurants. See what I mean by off?

#8. Egg cake with Chinese donut $9.99 Better than expected for the egg and wrap part. The wrap was thin and tasted like Taiwan. It can't be as thin or soft fresh but it was decent. The Chinese donut was soggy, and difficult to chew in that form. See what I mean by off? If we had to come back or crave a Taiwanese egg pancake/wrap, I would order just the egg version (no Chinese donut).

#120. Mushroom with pork bun $2.99. The meat ball was drier and more dense than expected. It looked homemade but it's a no for us.

#111. Pork with Napa Dumpling $11.99 Decent for restaurant dumplings. It's simple. Feels lighter in taste than many Chinese versions because it's Tawianese. And the wrapping is done well. It looks like what they say...like the ball shape of the oyster. I can see why people would buy their frozen dumplings. So would I buy it? Our dumplings came with 1/4 already kinda poked or accidentally broken. Meaning they didn't pay attention to boiling or steaming it. And what I mean by off?? For people who go through a lot of dumplings, yes I'd say you can buy to try it. I do eat a lot of home dumplings but I'm only 1 person. Those packs are pretty large. So I'm sticking to my LA place. If this place wasn't as run down, I wouldn't question if the quality is fresh.

My notes from last year visit below. I was excited to find a tawianese joint in Vegas. I usually have extremely low expectations for Taiwanese places: Taiwanese breakfast joint!! We ended up ordering side type breakfast items. Everything was decent enough to want to come back. The squid noodle soup and zhong zhi (Shanghai Rice wrapped with pork) was better than expected. They even sell many items frozen or ready to...

My friends and I typically go to a buffet as our last meal before heading back home from our Vegas trip, but this time, we decided to go with Taiwan Deli for a quick bite so we could beat the traffic rush. I'm not sure if it's always this crowded every Sunday morning (around 8 a.m.), but I did overhear that a Taiwanese rock star had a concert the prior night so there was definitely an influx of people. There was definitely a lot of waiting time, so it sort of defeated our purpose of a quick bite. Luckily, we arrived a little earlier than we expected and were still able to beat the traffic rush. I wouldn't say they have the best Taiwanese breakfast that I've ever tasted, but it hits the spot if you're craving for it. Unfortunately, there is a 4% service charge to use credit card as payment.

|| L O C A T I O N || -Located in Chinatown on Spring Mountain Road -They also have another location that's a little further away on S Rainbow Blvd. Perhaps that one is probably not as crowded as this location and I do see that they have better ratings than this location.

|| S E R V I C E || -Already touched upon this subject earlier but they were short on staff and it seemed like they were not accustomed to the sudden influx of people. My group was seated in the side room and every table in that room did not get their orders in for a good 20-30 minutes. They were that busy. The table next to us ended up going to the front to let them know that no one's orders had been taken. Granted everyone working there were a lot older around my parent's age, so I did feel a little sympathetic. We luckily arrived earlier than we had planned so we were not too frustrated with the wait. It only got a little frustrating when we were told to go up to the front to pay, but we still had to be in the to-go orders line. They took a break from taking to-go orders so they could fulfill whatever orders they had on hand, so we probably waited 20-30 minutes more than we should have.

|| F O O D || BREAKFAST ITEMS: #5 Salted Bean Curd with Peanuts - If you're craving for something savory, I'd recommend getting this. If you're looking to try multiple dishes, this is definitely shareable. It comes with chunks of chinese doughnut and pork floss. This was pretty filling.

#7 Chinese Doughnut - My friend ordered this and I was unable to get a photo. I did notice the chinese doughnut was a little dark in color so that signified to me that they had been reusing the oil for a long time. I also noted that it was smaller in portion and it did not look as fluffy as other chinese doughnuts that I had. Perhaps it may had been overly fried?

#14 Salted Rice Roll - Can't get Taiwanese Breakfast without a salted rice roll. They do offer a couple of variations of this rice roll. They have a sweet version, a version with mustard greens, and another version with spicy pickled vegetables. There wasn't anything special about it, it was just alright.

#49 Oyster Omelet - Hadn't had one of these in forever and I was pleasantly surprised how much oysters they put in there.

TAIWAN DISH: #1 Taiwan Temple Meatball - Probably my favorite item that I ordered. The filling was very generous. I've had glutinous meatballs where there was more dough than the actual filling. The sauce that it came with was the cherry on top.

CHAMPION BEEF NOODLE: #33 Original Beef Noodle - If you cannot read Chinese, the translation for this is for Clear Broth Beef Noodle Soup. My friends ordered this thinking it would come with the typical dark colored broth. If that is what you wish to order, the correct one to order would be #30 Spicy Beef Noodle. Despite that, it seemed like they enjoyed the beef noodle. Broth was good and wasn't too heavy. The portion for this was pretty good and they were able to share it three ways.

They supposedly do not serve hot tea even though it is...

Very authentic Taiwanese breakfast! Highly recommended!

Note: they close early if they are sold out, so if you are heading to the restaurant after 12 noon, I would highly suggest you call them to make sure the items you plan to order aren’t sold out yet ;)

The long list of what we ordered haha: Salted soy milk - love love love, we plan to go back on Friday and will reorder egg cake with Chinese donut - my personal favorite Green onion pancake with egg - also a yummy and very filling dish, but I personally prefer the egg cake with donut better pickled cucumber - my husband couldn’t stop eating this seasoned seaweed - it’s a bit too tough to my liking, but my husband like it oyster omelet - a super traditional Taiwanese dish and I think the manager even came out to check who ordered it because I guess only those who know Taiwanese cuisine well appreciate this dish haha Taiwanese temple meatball - also a super traditional Taiwanese dish and my husband’s favorite. He plans to order it again on Friday Spicy beef noodle soup - my husband was already so full from all the dishes, but he still drank the soup because it was so delicious. The owner was so nice and gave us extra soup when we asked for a to-go box. The leftovers became his dinner that day

I did notice a 15% gratuity automatically added to the bill. When the owner collected the signed receipts from the customers, she reminded each table that gratuity had already been added if customers added additional tips. She made sure customers didn’t add additional tips by accident. She explained the reason why she started adding of a gratuity automatically was because of a bad experience with a previous large group of customers. To protect her employees, she decided to add auto gratuity on the bills, and posted a notice at the restaurant entrance, so the customers were aware of the new policy. If customers aren’t comfortable with the 15% automatic tips added to their bills, they have a choice not to dine in. I understand this auto-gratuity for all bills is uncommon for Asian restaurants, but I also understand the owner’s perspective. And to be honest, I would tip them at least 15% anyway, because of the excellent food and service we received. I personally would definitely return whenever we are in Vegas, and we would highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for an authentic Taiwanese...