Taam China

Ate here with a friend who keeps kosher. I didn’t know that there was a kosher Chinese restaurant in Boston so I was pleasantly surprised by the food. Definitely not the best Chinese food in town by any means but it did the job. We had a party of 6 and ordered individual soups, the pupu platter, extra egg rolls, house special Lo mein, fried rice, and beef and broccoli. We had no leftovers and each person paid less than $ 20 including tip.
The only disappointment was that they didn’t have the BBQ spare ribs which my friend was dying to try, as she keeps kosher and usually cannot eat spare ribs. Other than that, a pleasant experience and we will try coming back again when they have spare ribs!

I dined here with a friend who keeps Kosher. The food was ok, but could have been much better-​since Chinese food does not use milk, there is no reason why a Kosher Chinese restaurant can’t be as good as a regular Chinese restaurant (although obviously, you can’t serve pork, prawns, etc.). Pleasant service (seated me early for my reservation, and did not hassle me when my date arrived a bit late), generous portions, and well-​priced. Pretty bare bones atmosphere/​furnishings.

The women that work here are NASTY!!! I see tons of complaints about them and can’t understand why they are still there. My family and arrived at an EMPTY resto at 4pm and wanted a quick bite to eat. We were there the night before and spent almost $ 200. We ordered three dishes and the waitress started telling us there is a $ 20 per person minimum and would not serve us. There was no one there and we were with little kids. We reminded her we were just there the night before she said she did not care and said we had to leave… We were the only ones the resto!!! I am kosher but I am not stupid or desperate. They should be ashamed of themselves.

I can understand the underwhelming reviews here, having now dined with friends at Taam China. Understand that the food is very Americanized Chinese but it’s also completely kosher. That doesn’t change the taste of the meal at all — it’s just a different source for the meats. You’ll also have no dairy products and no pork.
Service was fine. No complaints in this area, really.
We had beef teriyaki and chicken wings to start. The beef was excellent, straight cuts of flat beef on skewers. The chicken wings were extremely hot and were improved with a good dousing of the duck sauce. Tasty.
For mains, I chose the Crispy Szechuan Chicken and was very disappointed. There was no crispy here. There was no spicy to it at all. It was practically a place of battered chicken in something that could have been spicy orange sauce but barely raised the heat level. Bummer.
We also had a Mongolian beef that was tasty except that it too was bland. The onions and peppers were cooked nicely, but added no flavor at all. And the General Gao’s chicken was also bbbbbbbland.
Disappointing. If you’re limited to eating kosher, you’ll be okay at Taam China. But if you want tasty Chinese, there have GOT to be better places.

It amazes me how they are still in business. They are rude and serve food that was fresh perhaps a week or two prior.
My understanding of the food business is there are two basic requirements. 1. good food. 2. good service. They have neither so begs the question of how they are still around.
Maybe there are too few kosher options and so people settle. I’d understand this better if they had bad food and good or at least decent service. but yelling at customers is never okay.
I live down the street from here but I keep away. Once every year or so I get tempted and give it another try only to be reminded of how horrible this place really is. Take my advice if you want to keep your stomach intact and your human dignity: KEEP FAR AWAY.

This is a review regarding my take-​out experience. A friend and I came during the lunch special. I ordered garlic chicken with fried rice and wonton soup and he ordered a beef combo platter. We also split a carton of beef lomein. I’m surprised to see all the complaints about the food because I thought it was great! My order was flavorful and I received a large portion. I paid only $ 7.95 which is an excellent price given the quantity of food. I had an enjoyable experience at my first kosher Chinese restaurant.
The only complaint was that my friends beef platter came with surprisingly little beef. Small bits of beef could be found in a mountain of vegetables. Hopefully mistakes like this are infrequent.

Taam China is the only kosher chinese restaurant in town. The food is okay– not spectacular but not terrible. The service is okay.
What to order:
Chicken and broccoli, sesame chicken and General gau’s chicken (I ordered it not spicy and it’s my favorite dish here), wonton soup (broth is excellent, not too salty but the wontons are very thick and the small amount of beef inside is very unappetizing.
What to avoid:
I would not recommend ordering the spare ribs, I was not impressed in the slightest.
Avoid any lo mein (dry and flavorless)
I don’t enjoy any of the beef dishes. I have had beef lo mein and beef with vegetables and would not order them again. The beef is very bland.
Rice does not come with any entrée so you need to order it separately!
Just so you know, they charge you an extra fee for dining in (typically a european thing, haven’t seen that in the US yet), service is quite poor. I know it’s kosher but still very expensive for the quality.
Overall 3.5 stars

Was impressed with their customer service. While visiting Boston we ordered take-​out to reheat later for dinner. When we opened it later we discovered that a mistake had been made and chicken had been added to the two dishes that were for the vegetarian member of our party. When I called and explained that we were a 45+ minute drive away and lived in another city they were happy to refund the cost of the two dishes.
Food is fairly standard Americanized kosher Chinese, and the moo shi chicken was good.
Would go here again.

The bottom line: if I could give them 3.5 stars I would.
The pros: being the only Chinese restaurant in town that is also kosher, could have resulted in a limited number of dishes and for attention to detail. However, I do not think this is the case here. The menu had most of the options I’m used to seeing in other restaurants, minus the pork and seafood of course.
The cons: this is simple Chinese food, not extraordinary in anyway. However, if you’re looking for a comforting family-​friendly location I still think this is a good place for you.

There is only one real Kosher chinese place in the area, hence there isn’t much of a choice when dining with my Kosher relatives. The food is pretty poor for chinese food, there really isn’t much here that I would say is «good».
The staff seems fine, but they are quite distant, and seem kind of upset at all of the customers.

Taam China is, in my opinion, the best kosher establishment in Boston, and this is not saying much. I’ve eaten here in the course of my travels and sojourns in Boston, and the food is decent. I generally order moo shu vegetables, scallion pancakes, and the spare ribs. I never had any major regrets about ordering any of their dishes; the quality is generally reliable and passable, albeit nothing special. I thoroughly object to their itemization policy; rice is not included with meals, in spite of the fact that white rice is one of the cheapest commodities available to restaurants.
The $ 7.50 luncheon special is one of their glowing positive points, in my opinion. The portions are adequate, and it affords a reasonably-​priced option in a city where kosher diners face a dearth of choices.

I come to Taam China once a week to have dinner with my boyfriend Ray and/​or his family. When with family we normally start off with a multitude of appetizers. First is soup for the whole table. My boyfriend and I normally share their vegetable soup, which is milder in flavor to their chicken based soup – which is what everyone else usually orders.
Then comes scallion pancakes, dumplings, chicken wings, and cold sesame noodles – all of which are eaten contentedly. The scallion pancakes are served in a round, sort of like a pizza pie. Each person can break off their own crispy, oniony, triangle. We order two versions of steamed dumplings, one veggie (which i normally eat), and the beef. The skin of dumpling is very soft and thin. Minced garlic, mushrooms, potato, and carrot fill the confines of the vegetable dumplings.
My usual entrée is chicken steamed with vegetables. The chicken is delectably firm with flavor intact, while the mixed vegetables remain crisp and slightly raw. Everyone else partakes in general chow’s chicken, chicken and cashew nuts, as well as an array of similar tasting tofu dishes. We all eat family style and pass each dish around the table for each person to try.
There are only a few waitresses working here, but they are all so excellent at their jobs that there is no need for more. Whenever I come here, I am sure of great service, great food, and a smile.

Taam China Brookline (there’s also one in Newton) is fine — not great, but definitely not bad. It’s very typical American Chinese food. It offers all of the usuals: chicken with broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, mixed vegetables, etc. etc. There also is a list of specials, with several fish and duck options. Plenty of vegetarian options too. Entrée prices are about $ 14 for beef dishes, $ 12 for chicken dishes, $ 9.50 for all the vegetarian items, plus rice is $ 1 ($ 2 for brown) and not included with entrees — which means you’re paying a «kosher premium» of a few dollars per item. Fair enough, but since the food and service are nothing amazing, it explains why the clientele appears to be almost 100% kosher-​observant or dining companions of kosher-​observant people.

the chinese food here is excellent! the food always comes out hot and delicious. so happy to have kosher chinese food close by! :)

So here’s the deal:
1) It has a monopoly on kosher Chinese. It acts as such. Prices are at a premium, but no more so than comparable kosher restaurants.
2) The service is, on a good day, weak. On a bad day, downright nasty. Expect to show up and be stared at before they condescend to seat you. It does tend to move from weak to adequate once you are seated and order.
3) Boston is not known for good Chinese food and Taam is as good/​bad as any. It’s Americanized Chinese food, no better or worse than most other Boston Chinese restaurants.
4) Guys, seriously, you have the WRONG PHONE NUMBER on your web site. How many orders do you think you have lost because of that?

Alright owners, this is what I have to say… AGAIN…
This is for all Brookline people to know about Taam China employees:
READ THE FILTERED REVIEWS ON TAAM CHINA II IN NEWTON!!!
There has been only 1 time in my 34 years of life that I complained at a restaurant, and that was at a Starbucks in Manhattan where a chick clearly was looking to get fired. But Taam China… Wow, it wasn’t even worth any words. You know those restaurants in college towns whose shtick it is to curse and be rude to the customers, just cus it’s funny? I seriously thought I walked into one of those by mistake when I went to Taam China in Newton.
I’m from Philly, so first off I can take punches without having to cry like a baby to the manager. Second, it’s hit or miss if you can tweak a Chinese menu item in Philly. I went to Taam China because my girlfriend wanted chinese food. Menu says 6 dumplings, fried or steamed. Chick comes up and I ask her if we can have 3 fried, 3 steamed. She goes «three three what?» So I asked her again (I thought she didn’t understand me). She said it again, only mockingly and with a shitty smile. I gave her a puzzled look, and she says, «you wanna cook it yourself?» WOW. Enough about that…
So my girlfriend is hungry as a hostage so we just laugh her off. The f-​ing dumplings come out, her soup, and her meal — in like three minutes flat. She doesn’t want to eat without me so we start waiting — for 20 minutes! Only two other tables were taken at this place, and I’m waiting for 20 minutes for my meal. She blatantly breezes by me when I asked her about it. I tried the other two ladies, and they turned to my girlfriend to answer her instead of me. So guess what… WE WALKED OUT. That’s right, Taam China people, I’m the asshole that walked the f outta there and had your bitch waitresses run after me. That’s me, and it’s because your waitstaff can suck my ass for talking to me like that.
So, for those who haven’t gone here yet: I’m assuming you’re still interested because MA lacks in kosher eat-​out joints and you’re desperate. I get it. I too kept kosher back in the day. This is really a message to the owner. Fire dem bitches, and quick. PS, I come from a family of kosher restaurant owners in PA. If this ever happened in our place, we’d be out of business. You’re SO lucky you’re in MA and desperate Jewish people love bad kosher takeout.

Awesome Chinese kosher food! Love it here:)

Kosher Chinese food at its best. They have orange chicken, what else do you need? Haha

If you’re looking for Kosher Chinese in Boston, it’s pretty much the only game in town. Plus it’s walking distance from my apartment — so that’s a dangerous combination. I can never decide what to get, so it’s nice that they have the Happy Family beef, chicken and veal combination plate. I’m also a fan of the garlic chicken, which has a «spicy» indication on the menu, but it’s not really that bad.
Docked one star charging extra for rice. I don’t know when that practice started, but when I first started going to Taam, the rice was included. It justifies the gripes about the food costs, but now I usually only eat here for the lunch specials. It’s only $ 7.45 (after tax) for one meal, with rice and your choice of soup. It’s a smaller portion, but it’s actually a good size (the regular meals are huge). Calling ahead is fast, but even if you walk in and order, most of the take out is ready in 5 – 10 minutes or so.

So one night I was STARVING and had a huge craving for Chinese food. As Taam China is the closest to where I live, I decided to just order takeout, go grab it and walk the 2 blocks home to eat it.
I ordered the veggie lo mein, which is what I get most of the time when I’m craving Chinese.
Let me just say I’m a vegetarian.
And when I come home, with my overpriced lo mein, ready to indulge and not caring I just paid almost $ 10 for my noodles and some rice on the side, what do I find?
Chicken eff’in lo mein. Thanks, idiots.
CRAP! I was beyond pissed and I was too hungry to go back and deal with it. I threw it away and scrounged about my place.
I should’ve just thrown my $ 10 in the garbage. It would’ve saved me time and the disappointment of having Chinese food in your hands that you can’t eat. I will never give them another chance, as that’s a fuckup that’s inexcusable.