Tai Shan Restaurant

We expected more of DC’s chinatown
There are just a few restaurants in here
this place was average
Very slow service, average food

The chicken is grey, the décor is extremely outdated and the bubble tea is small, gritty and the boba are hard as rocks.
The whole restaurant smells like grease and urine. Stay away!

I’ve been going to this restaurant for years now and the food seems to be going down in quality and up in greasiness
the service was wonderful but the food is not you should not have oil slick left on your plate after you finish shrimp fried rice
it’s not necessary to cook with all that oil
let alone how unhealthy it is

They took care of us and the lunch proportions were really good. We still have left overs! Definitely recommend the pork and vegetables over the fried rice. My girlfriend had the general tsao chicken. I thought it was sweet but it achieved what it set out to do. My gf loved it. Would totally come back!

Ive been to another restaurant in this area and there’s no comparison. This one sucks! Right after ordering, all the serves left and it was hard to get any service. All the food was super greasy, it was literal dripping. Then we got a bubble tea thinking it would be better… Wrong. The favors are fake, like envelope powder sweet and the bobas were hard kinda like stale. we couldn’t drink it, we asked them to take it off and the lady got upset and started talking with an attitude in her language. To top it off when we got the bill they automatically put a 2 dollar tip in the bill. Not that it was a lot cus even though it was bad I was at least going to leave more, but it just got me upset they put it automatically. Not going back.

This restaurant has terrible service. I went in to order a tea smoothie with some friends from out of town. I asked the waitress what she would recommend. She did not give me an answer. So I ordered and paid for the mango tea. When she went to make it, she asked if I wanted it as a smoothie or as tea. I asked again what was best? She responded with «well hurry up and order!». Instantly I was no longer interested in anything that she could give me. I politely asked for my money back and left the restaurant. Absolutely horrendous!!!

This place is you typical hole-​in-​the-​wall Chinese restaurant. Convenient Chinatown location, next to the Gallery Place-​Chinatown Metro station. I decided to give this place a try as was surprised that the food was decent for the price and they have a lot of choices available on their menu. There are even a substantial amount of vegetarian items, which look interesting enough to come back sometime to try. I do agree that the service could have been friendlier, but I thought it was good enough for my dining purpose. If you are in Chinatown and looking for a cheap and substantial meal, this place will suit the purpose.

Decent food for the budget concius. Went here for lunch and the place is clean with a decent selection for their menu. Meal came with hot tea.

We came just 2 persons .They forced gratuity 18% did not specifications and put taxes 20% I thought they intend. Bad service No one said apologize for us don’t spend your money at here.

Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $ 200. You can do better in Chinatown. This was not a good experience. Inattentive waitress, greasy appetizers, bland entrees. I was so hungry, that I just knew anything I ate would be good. Boy was I wrong. I just got hangry instead. My Moo Shu Chicken had no taste — even with the hoisin sauce. The spring rolls and dumplings were swimming in grease. 3 out of 3 friends at my table felt the same way. We all left dinner looking for a good slice of pizza…

I should have acknowledged the overall rating vs the few good reviews. Service was great but soup was warm (not hot) and beef had an «off» taste. I will not be back and it is not recommended.

This restaurant is conveniently located across from Walgreens and is feet away from a metro stop. The food was better than the service. The second star is for the delicious food. I have eaten here before. That is how I know that the vegetable fried rice would have been yummy if the server had remembered I ordered it. The food that the server did actually bring us was good. She never smiled and was neglectful. She only had a few tables. Kudos to the server behind the bar counter who helped me find extra silverware, refills and handled the bill when my server never returned to collect payment.
The disadvantage about eating in a Mom & Pop establishment is that you don’t have corporate customer service to chat with when someone drops the ball. At the restaurant they don’t understand (or pretend not to) what I am saying and they don’t seem to care if the service was disappointing.
Call me underwhelmed.

Arrived 8:50pm but waitress refused us to even see the dinner specials ($ 7.95) that end at 9:00pm claiming it was «closed.»
Tea arrived tasting of soap. Opened tea pot to discover abundance of bubbles. Notified waitress who was condescending and argued oolong was «too strong» for you. Actually, it tasted weak to us. Lighter, replacement tea also tasted weak and like soapy water.
Food was bland and served cold (curry chicken and Szechuan tofu) except for the eggplant which was hit and flavorful but a tad overly greasy.
Foul language in bathroom discovered by children that should be erased.
Not recommended.

It’s okay. not the best but the food is not too bad. I love the congee! seafood tofu pot is a little bit strange taste.

Chinatown had a face lift a few years ago, however, a few of the old timers refuse to budge and remain in their old ways. While I often admire and support these local mom and pop stores, this one I cannot support.
I went in to order some hot soup and a spring roll ($ 2.95) today. A small (16oz) wonton soup was $ 1.95, so I asked if I could get a large (32oz). When the woman behind the counter told me $ 9.90, I did a double take. How much extra was a large soup? I looked on the last page of the menu and noticed they had a selection of Cantonese wonton soups for $ 6.95 so I thought, «what the heck, I’ll pay extra for the pork and shrimp wonton, noodles, and bok choy.» Lo and behold, I returned to my office and see that what I got was a quart of broth and 4 wontons but charged $ 6.95. I was disturbed by the dishonesty! Why would you sell me a double portion of soup but charge me for substantially more than a double portion? The anger only intensified when I looked into my $ 6.95 container of food-​colored «broth» to find only 4 wonton wrappers bobbing around with a dimple of meat inside.
As much as I want to support local businesses, this one did its best to point me to the nearest panera for future lunches.

We ordered the beef chow fun and the pork with preserved vegetables claypot for lunch. The beef chow fun was fine, and tasted like any other beef chow fun from any chinese restaurant; however, the pork with preserved vegetables was disappointing. There were about 6 pieces of pork, and they were red, from red food coloring. It wasn’t very appetizing, and I’ve certainly had better. Service was good though, we were able to place our order rather quickly and have our food ready within 15 minutes, which was impressive, considering the restaurant was packed to its capacity. Overall, it was a fine meal.

Their service was good but their food, not so much. We had their beef with wide rice noodles, and the beef was almost bad. You know that slightly sour taste that meat can get when they’re ALMOST bad but not yet really bad? Yeah, we were served this at a restaurant. sorry, but I do not want to pay for food that’s going bad. We also got the salt and pepper soft shell crab, which was fried (as expected) but did not come out crispy (not expected), seems like they didn’t quite grasp that frying technique down and had the dish soak up the oil. Funny thing, they served maraschino cherries with a broccoli as décor in the soft shell crab dish, never seen that before. I’d expect carrots or tomatoes, but never expected cherries, maraschino cherries. Just thought it was different and interesting. Oh and crab ragoon? Found out what it was and def not worth it, fried wanton skins files with ½ teaspoon of cream cheese and one, if any, itty bitty piece of crab.
I wish I had consulted Unilocal before walking in :-(definitely disappointed :-(

Literally, a hole in the wall restaurant… but, please AVOID it like the plague! Our mistake was picking the first Chinese looking restaurant closest to the Chinatown arch. Place small and cramped, don’t even think about the restroom.
Went here for dinner, and ordered 3 dishes. They were all pretty bland and unappetizing. Coming from South East Asia, we know what Chinese food should at least be, taste wise. The corn soup was way too sweet, and the fact that it came out yellow like custard had canned food scrawled all over it. The mixed vegetables and mushroom was passable, nothing to shout for. We topped the meal off with the 3 meat dish of BBQ pork, roast duck and roast chicken. Whoa! How hard can it be to roast meat properly without leaving it soggy in the sauce. Disappointed!
Service was prompt, though all the waitresses seem to be carrying a perpetual scowl. Took a while to be served, they could do much better. To top it all off, they add TIPS to your bill without asking, I simply think this is unacceptable. The service did not warrant it, I decide whether you should have it. Felt scammed. One star was way over the top!

I went in on a Thursday evening, and it was nicely populated (odd word choice, I know). There were people there, not overcrowded though. After going to Chinatown Express thrice already, we wanted to try something else for an early dinner.
I’m upset we didn’t. I ordered the dinner special Hunan Chicken and the rice portion was huge! Not a bad thing, and the curry wasn’t bad either, except that the chicken was far too salty. I was gonna forgive it the first time.
Then came the crispy roast duck. Now, I love roast duck with all my heart and soul, especially at Chinese restaurants. But this one was a true disappointment. The pieces were cut slightly too big for easy chopstick handling and while it was crispy and drenched in soy sauce, it was far too salty. Coupled with the Hunan Chicken, I felt like I couldn’t even drink the complimentary tea as much as I would’ve liked to, since I was too busy trying to quench my thirst with water.
If I was to be honest, it’s not a good place. It’s not bad, but if you had to choose, try Chinatown Express around the corner. Their crispy roast duck is truly nice.

I must be the luckiest person in the world.
Reading through all these awful reviews and bad experiences, I’m struck that maybe I’m reviewing the wrong place, but I’m not!
I’m a bit of a Fried Rice connoisseur. This place has the best Pork Fried Rice in the D.C. area. It’s the normal Americanized Chinese food. The Crispy Beef is totally decent. I really enjoyed the Braised Duck with Mixed Vegetables.
The best thing I have had here (besides the Fried Rice, of course) is the Hunan Crispy Whole Fish. The tender white fish flakes off easily and into the spicy sauce that drenches the meal. The texture is fantastic with crispy yet tender.
I will certainly be back soon to gorge myself on American Chinese food. With it being so close to Chinatown Metro, it’s a good place to stop after or before a visit to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery/​American Art Museum. A good option for taking your friends for a «Chinatown experience» if they aren’t into true ethnic cuisine.