Ming Tasty — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

Tasty is in its name and tasty are its dishes. If you can ignore the downright bland exterior and the cheap interior, you can enjoy some of the most authentic Cantonese household dishes in this crowded joint, at extremely reasonable prices. (The shame was on me that I didn't discover this foodies’ paradise all these years.) It is only the degree of lacking in dining environment that is withholding the last star.

The restaurant's Chinese name, 凤凰名粥, or “Phoenix Famous Porridge”, unmistakably suggests Cantonese style, different from the many Taiwanese porridge places. My daughter was already a fan of “Thousand-year-egg and lean pork porridge” (皮蛋瘦肉粥), perhaps the most famous of this line of dishes. In addition to this, we ordered steamed chicken claws with black fermented soybeans (豆豉蒸凤爪) and steamed buns with salty egg stuffing (咸蛋流沙包), both typical dim sim Cantonese. Especially the latter, such a low-brow delicacy. And it did not disappoint. All of the dishes were right on spot! In fact, they are the best I have had in the area. (Although I usually go after seafood in Cantonese places, I have had plenty dim sim. Still, I am not sure if salty egg stuffing is common in dim sim places.) They are enough to convince me to trust any Cantonese dishes in Ming Tasty. (Even more reason to be cautious about other cuisines.)

The three were not enough for two, it turned out. So we ordered another of our low-brow favourites, pig large intestine. OK. That’s pork large intestine for you sensitive type. I do not know how Cantonese do their large intestines, but Ming Tasty only offers them deep fried. This one was as good as we got from the Taiwanese Nutrition House in Milpitas. (See my other review.)

We arrived around 1pm on a weekday, not the exact lunch peak but still, there are plenty of people waiting at door. A line is always a good sign. Inside were happy faces of many ethnic Chinese. Even better. So we stayed. Luckily, seating two was faster than other parties.

Inside, the cheapness of furniture to the extent of being flimsy gave me a start. This is saying something because many cheap Chinese eats use inexpensive furniture. Utensils are all plastic, the cheap looking kind. Seating is crowded. Decoration is practically nonexistent except a curved counter that resembles a colourful bar. This is quite baffling, although it does influence your perception about the space being decorationless. But the main element that twists reality is its interesting lighting. Contrary to Mountain View's super heavily furnitured Kirin (see my other review), there is definitely some thoughts in the ceiling and light combination. Despite being super cheap, the interior is highly photogenic.

The same cannot be said about the exterior, however. From the outside, Ming Tasty so unremarkable that it is nearly indistinguishable from the third-class pho place next door. (Even more shame that I actually tried that one a year before discovering this one.)

In short, this is a foodies’ paradise. Just skip the bad exterior, signage, cheap furniture and utensil. Go straight for taste. You won’t be...

It's got its good and bad. Food is great and it's main customers are chinese which shows they make authentic food that is very delicious. I have gone to this place many times and I was never disappointed with their food. However, issue is the customer service.

I have both eaten in and taken out and experience in all times have been poor in customer service. If you do not try your best to get their attention especially if you are not chinese, you won't get any customer service. If you are taking food out, you are left standing there and ignored for a long time as the cashier also serves as a waiter and walks off alot and only when he or she has some spare time does he/she take your take out order. They do not even acknowledge your presence until they are ready even if there is a few people lined up. Not even a simple "hello" or...

The service is AWFUL! Wait very very long to get assigned a table. Wait very very very long to get the food ordered. 20mins after we order our food, they came to tell us the dish is sold out. The table is super dirty. We asked the waiter and he just cleaned (wiped) it with hand. grease, oil and rice still all over the table after the “cleaning”. Price is unclear - we ordered a $28 fish dish and it turned out to be sold out. The waiter recommended another one and told us it’s $32, which was ok to us. 10min later, right before cooking, the waiter came and told us it’s per pound not per dish. The dish would be $80. Speechless for all of these. I just want to have a meal after a tiring day. But it turned out to be endless waiting, awful service and ridiculous pricing. This restaurant ruined my...