ENJOY CHINESE FOOD, HUNAN STYLE, AT UNCLE TAI’S!
By: Mark Kent
Joined by “Foodies” Gladys and Arnold, this reviewer tasted some fifteen dishes – a cross section of over seventy-five offered.
The appetizers, 17 in number, included the popular spring roll, presented here as a crisp crunchy shell, chock filled with minced vegetables; steamed pork dumplings that were light and delicious – with or without their dipping sauce. Do try crispy fried crab Rangoon filled with hot crabmeat and very tasty. An unusual and wonderful choice was the steamed mussels with black bean sauce…an adventure!
While six soups are listed, we sampled the historic hot and sour variety and found its complex taste to be superior. We liked the seafood gumbo with a true taste of the sea and well stocked with shrimp and veggies. The shredded chicken and pickled vegetable soup was, unfortunately, quite bland and boring.
From a list of nine poultry items, we chose duck with snow peas and mushrooms – the dish had a fine taste, not gamey, and the sauce rich and sweet. We also enjoyed the chicken with cashews nuts – tender bite size chicken chunks and crunch cashews in a very fine brown sauce. Seven other chicken dishes are available – taste can be adjusted from normal standard up to varied degrees of hot and spicy.
For seafood, we selected Lake Tung Ting Shrimp- soft, tender with a sweet taste, then the hot and somewhat spicy sauteed scallops with scallions in a great garlic sauce – try either…or both! Lobster (in shell) can be had either Szechuan style or in chili sauce, soft shell crabs in orange sauce and shrimp any of 6 variations.
We note ten meat dishes – pork 3 ways, beef 4 ways and lamb 3 ways. These standard or hot and spicy, as you wish. In addition, nine vegetable dishes are available – specify degree of heat!
Noodles and rice dishes are eight in number. We had Uncle Tai’s fried rice – sumptuous dish with fine taste and bits of shrimp, scallion, egg and green peas – excellent! While listed only as pan fried noodle, we were surprised with bed of the noodles topped with shrimp, snow peas and more in a great brown sauce. A must try!
Check out the fourteen Uncle Tai’s specialties on the standard menu.
While we had fresh pineapple slices as a dessert, we sampled a slice of cheese cake and vanilla ice cream with walnuts – these outsourced and quite good.
Service was superb from Manager Peter to Dean and Jessica…working with us for two hours.
FYI – Uncle Tai’s seats 250 inside plus 50 on the patio. It has full bar service and featuring 8 specialty drinks (alcoholic) and 7 coffee/tea drinks as well.
This Boca Raton classic restaurant, established here in 1987, offers distinctive choices for both luncheon and dinner. Luncheon is served from 11:30AM to 2:30PM, Monday through Saturday; dinner from 5PM to 10PM Sunday through Thursday, until 10:30PM on both Friday and Saturday. Located in the Boca Center on Military Trail in Boca Raton (561-368-8806) Uncle Tail’s offers delivery service in addition to gourmet catering and available take-out. This is a superior bistro and we suggest you…Go and Enjoy!
