By Marc Kent
Boca Center in Boca Raton is home to authentic Chinese cooking in the Hunan-Szechuan style at Uncle Tai’s (561-368-8806).They host over 200 patrons from 11:30AM to 2:30PM for luncheon Mondays thru Saturdays, dinners from 5PM to 10PM weekdays and Sundays.-till 10:30PM on Fridays and Saturdays.
The extensive menu of sixteen appetizers included tasty plump steamed dumplings, crispy spring rolls and, for those with a taste for spice – mussels in black bean sauce with best ever taste and soft shell crabs, crunchy in a hot garlic sauce. Speaking of spice – try the chicken lettuce wraps with a hot mixture of celery, onions and red peppers and ?
You need to try the house wonton soup – hot, full flavored, not weak, and containing wontons with leek, mushroom and shards of carrot. Then – spice lovers – hot and sour soup, full bodied with a deep flavor bite that lingers! Four additional soups are offered.
We sampled Lake Tung Ting shrimp, a light tasty dish with water chestnuts and broccoli in a superb white wine sauce. The sliced duck with snow peas and mushrooms featured slices of duck in a fairly strong sauce while Uncle Tai’s signature dish of crispy beef with broccoli was superb with a fine texture and taste – outstanding.
Unusual in a Chinese restaurant was the sliced lamb, tender slices in a sauce with scallions, gentle to the taste as was the shredded pork – Hunan style. Our taste buds awakened with the spicy garlic sauce served over their sliced eggplant – very nice!
Uncle Tai’s garlic sauce enhances their chicken offering with its spice while the shrimp, fish and scallops – “The seafood delight” – was served with white rice as was the “vegetable delight”, pea pods, baby corn, mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli in a white cream sauce.
In addition to the entrees we sampled, there are seven vegetable, seven poultry, seven meat and eight seafood listings to choose from. A half dozen noodle and rice dishes are available . Fourteen”house specialties” are posted, as well.
Please note that the degree of spice in any dish on their well marked menu can be adjusted to your taste.
There is a full bar, a roster of specialty drinks, wines and a cognac menu available. Through October Uncle Tai’s offers a bargain pre-fixe dinner with a choice of five starters, six entrees and three desserts for a low $22.95 per person!
For 23 years Uncle Tai’s has been The true Szechuan – Hunan restaurant in Boca Raton. It is consistently refining its menu to offer a wide spectrum of authentic dishes. Go and enjoy!