Red Onion

Taiwanese places are one of the hardest to find cuisine in the East Coast and it’s becoming a rare specimen. So I heard about Red Onion which was recommended to me by by a Taiwanese who frequents there. I lived in Taiwan for about 3 months for summer vacation so I have eaten authentic Taiwanese food. This place is pretty decent for the most part.
The oyster omelet, is pretty close to authentic. I had a Beef noodle soup and it wasn’t very good, it was certainly edible but just wasn’t as good as Happy Noodle place nearby.
Some of the rice dishes are enjoyeable but just not as authentic. I would say this place is good for home cooking just don’t expect it to live up to standards in Taiwan.
The place does pack up so expect a wait during busy times.
One of my favorite Taiwanese bian dong dish, the pork belly and seasoning over rice was just ok not up to par. It should be one of the easiest dish to master since I’ve had food stands in Taiwan that makes exceptional pork belly chop over rice for about $ 5 and I just can’t find anyone or anywhere that can make it authentic here.

«Cause i go zero to 100, real quick» — drake
What is not to like about this place. Small independent business with a friendly owner proud to serve tasty authentic taiwanese dishes (beef noodle soup, A-​choy, salt and pepper fish, water spinach, pork chop over rice, taiwanese burger, pork belly (kongrou) over rice). They do serve some traditional chinese-​american dishes but go here for the taiwanese dishes
What we got tonight:
*****A-​choy = amazing wonderful flavorful dish, never hand any veggie dish similar. I am still dreaming about it
****salt and pepper fish = always order this dish when i am here. I like how they make it with flounder not with tilapia like every other restaurant
–pork chop over rice = absolutely solid food
–scallion pancakes = amazing appetizer
–mongolian beef = this dish was average
Go there «REAL QUICK» and try it out you will like it

This place is a delicious Taiwanese restaurant near the Happy noodle house. I can say with confidence that this place and Happy Noodle House go (somewhat) hand-​in-​hand in competition. Before I go into more detail about this restaurant I’m just going to say that Happy Noodle House is much better than this place in terms of dishes with hand made dough and other dishes with meat.
Where this restaurant is better than Happy Noodle House is its interior design. It does not look as beat down as a happy noodle house because there is a lot of effort into designing this place from all the decors (and what-​not). Not to mention, there are a lot more waiters to assist you.
This place is delicious. But as I have mentioned before, I would prefer happy noodle house over Red Onion. The food at happy noodle house just taste more authentic and more handmade. Everything tastes a lot fresher, whereas Red Onion’s food is a hit or miss. Regardless, this place is worth trying just as much as happy noodle house.

Taiwanese beef noodle soup — Good, but I wish the soup had a bit more flavor but its honestly pretty good considering other restaurants in the area.
Taiwanese Chicken — this has bones though typically this kind of appetizer is called a popcorn chicken and does not come with bones. It could be a little less salty but who can resist super crispy and salty fried chicken?
Ah-​Choy — Seasonal pricing was $ 9.95. I wish it cost less to eat deliciously healthy. This was my favorite of the day. So yummy and garlic stir fried.
Braised pork over rice — I got this last time and this time and both times I wasn’t pleased. I expected the meat to be softer since its «braised». It’s tough in comparison to other restaurants I’ve had it at. It’s only $ 5 so I think I trick myself into getting it each time. What is a pro is that it comes with a soy sauce/​tea egg. Those are so so good.
If a few minor things could be corrected above I would easily change my rating to a 4 star experience. Solid 3.5 star experience.

I come here whenever I have a real hankering for Taiwanese food. It’s not the best, but it gets the job done. Some dishes are a hit, while others are definite misses.
I always enjoy the Taiwanese meatball and steamed pork dumplings, but I would skip the xiao long bao. Thick dumpling skin and not enough soup when compared with other soup dumpling experiences from elsewhere.
The shredded beef with hot peppers was super salty and not spicy at all, but the beef noodle soup is pretty good.

My group stopped by Red Onion a few minutes after the restaurant opened yesterday. To my surprise, there were already three groups seated and eating. I’m listing everything we ordered, so this might be a long review.
Appetizers:
— Fried Crispy Intestines ($ 7.95): Two long rows of crispy sliced intestines were served on a long plate with a side of salt and pepper for dipping. Each piece had a nice crisp on the outside, while the middle was soft and had a slice of green onion tucked in. On it’s own, there isn’t much flavor, so dip it in the salt and pepper mix each time. If you want this with spicy peppers, order «Pork Intestine with Hot Pepper» under «Entrees Item» on the menu.
— Ji Juan/​Chicken Roll ($ 6.95): Their chicken roll was fried well, making each slice extra crispy but still a bit moist in the meaty middle. Each order comes with a saucer of a sweet red sauce for dipping. I prefer eating this without the sauce since the roll is flavorful on its own.
— Taiwanese Meatball ($ 3.95): The pork meatball is wrapped in a thick glutinous rice wrapper with a mochi like consistency, then covered in a sweet red sauce. I saved this for last as I was incredibly full from eating everything else, but still enjoyed it. The meatball was tender and the glutinous rice wrapper wasn’t too chewy. For me, the sauce is a little too sweet to my liking, but I wouldn’t mind ordering it again.
— Gua Bao/​Taiwanese Style Burger ($ 4.50): It’s basically slices of braised pork belly with ground sweet peanuts and a few other ingredients between a warm bao. The pork belly was tender and quite flavorful. Unless you’re sharing it with a friend, don’t slice it in half or else the ground peanuts will fall out. It wasn’t salty at all.
— Taiwanese Fried Chicken ($ 7.95): The chunks of chicken will still have a bone in the middle, so just remember that if you order this. I don’t mind salty foods, but many may find this a little too salty for their tastebuds. I actually like it, though. Salty? Yes, but it is tender. If you order a rice plate, this would go well with what you ordered.
Main Dishes:
— House Special Fried Rice ($ 9.25): Given that we ordered so many appetizers, I decided to order fried rice for myself and eat it with everything else. Well, I was not expecting a long full plate of fried rice. It has green peas, slices of chicken, char siu, and shrimp to name a few of the ingredients. I have no complaints about it, except for the fact that I was incredibly full since no one else wanted any. I would say this would be good for two people.
— Braised Pork Rice ($ 4.95): This is a small bowl of rice with a soy egg and diced pork belly, so if you’re looking for the whole slices of pork belly, order the «Kongrou Fan” – I think it’s labeled as «Sliced Pork Over Rice» according to one of the pictures on the back wall. The pork was mostly fat, but it is buttery soft. Outside of it, though, you might want to order something else to go with this.
— Beef Noodle Soup ($ 8.25): I’m really not sure what Taiwanese beef noodle soup should taste like. It’s good, but the broth is a bit short on flavor. The beef was tender, the bok choy was cooked perfectly, and the noodles had the right chewiness. Maybe I’m just looking for a «beefier» broth.
Overall, this is a solid option for tasty Taiwanese food in Edison. The service was great, but can be a bit spotty once it gets busier. I would come back to try what else Red Onion offers.

I came here with Boo Boo after a RU football game. We usually hit up Saigon Phở in south plainfield but we were sun soaked. Boo Boo loves fried pork chop so we decided to dine here.
We were seated and menu given to us. We asked for water after the waitress gave us a tea in a teapot. We ordered the pork chop entrée (comes with rice, pickled veggie, a soy sauce boiled egg), a spicy beef noodle soup, and to shared we got the taiwanese fried chicken and pork dumpling.
I go to the bathroom to wash my hands and the waitress is eating lunch and we still didn’t get our water, After the bathroom our entrees came out before the dumpling and fried chicken. I asked the kid who sat us for water and he returns with the chicken and dumplings. Probably half way our meal the waitress brings us water. Just in time because the chicken was very salty.
I know my expectation for dumplings should be low but damn they suck. I would not reccomend ordering it. Just stick to pork chop and maybe the beef noodle soup.

So disappointed by the food. For a Taiwanese restaurant, it had absolutely no flavor. One of the staple foods is the minced pork rice. It was so flavorless and not enough sauce to cover the rice. I also got the chicken fried rice, egg scallion pancake and the fried bun roll. Everything was disappointing. The egg scallion roll had very little flavor and the the chicken fried rice was super generic. The only item that was decent was the fried bun roll. But really, it’s fried bun with condensed milk… there is not much you can mess up there. Overall, not impressed.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the restaurant was that it was filled with Chinese people. So you know that this restaurant has great flavors to offer. And I was not disappointed.
Their menu is very friendly towards non-​Chinese people because they have a lot of pictures of their food. I tried the Taiwanese meatball, Salt and pepper spare ribs, and three cups chicken hot pot.
Taiwanese meatball– it’s like a big dumpling but the outer part is more jelly like. Their sauce on top is very sweet but it goes well with the pork meat inside.
Salt and pepper spare ribs– It was very crisp, juicy, and moist. I would definitely recommend this dish. It has green peppers and fried onions on top and seasoned with salt and pepper. The dish was fried and cooked fresh so it was very good.
Three cups chicken hot pot– I would recommend this dish too. The (dark meat) chicken was very tender and flavorful. It took a while longer than the other dishes but it was worth the wait. The flavors are great and a great hot pot dish.
Servers seemed like amateurs but they were friendly and polite. The restaurant is very clean also. I would come back for more Taiwanese food.

Was drawn to Red Onion by its positive reviews (one of the highest for Chinese restaurants in the area), but came away slightly disappointed. We had the oyster omelette, a classic Taiwanese cuisine. It was my first time trying it outside Asia, and I was super excited, however this version had too much potato starch powder over the eggs. As such the texture is different and it fills you up super fast before you get to try other dishes they have on offer. It’s not something I’m used to, but it comes with a generous serving of oysters with sweet-​spicy tangy sauce and laden with a bed of green vegetables.
We also had the Taiwan beef noodles and the soup dumplings (xiao long bao). The noodles were alright while the soup dumplings stick at the bottom even though we ate it right after they were served. Hence be careful not to break the skin prematurely and spilling the precious tasty broth.
I think part of the reason behind the positive ratings is due to their newly renovated interior. While it makes it more pleasant overall for me the quality of the food presides especially since there are so many other Chinese/​Taiwanese/​Asian eateries around the area. My verdict is that this is an ok place but probably not one of my regular go-​tos.

Very good Taiwanese food, this place definitely is a home away from home! Recommend to whoever wants Taiwanese flavor!!!

The Taiwanese food here is acceptable (gosh that sounds so snooty).
My friends who took me here will slaughter me for my review as they absolutely love it here, but perhaps they just haven’t been to enough authentic Taiwanese places outside of NJ.
Apologies as I am comparing Red Onion to some of the Best in NYC. Don’t get me wrong, we definitely enjoyed our meal here. And they were kind enough to let us stay past closing.
My Fav Taiwanese Starter: 蚵仔煎 Oyster Omelette tasted good but i only found 3 or 4 oysters in it and it was a typical large serving. I tried to get everyone at the table to try it but all they got was Cornstarch and a little egg, not even enough veggie to go around.
Scallion Pancakes. These were as thick as American Pancakes. WAY doughy and deep fried. Scallion pancakes should NOT be as thick as American Pancakes.
My Fav Taiwanese Meal: Rougeng Noodle. This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best. Regardless I was satisfied with my meal. I only wish my noodles were a little more al dente.
Zha jiang mien, a staple, was good but on the dry side. The portion could feed 3!

I really enjoyed the food here! I’m a big lover of Taiwanese food so I was really excited to try this place. I’ve never had amazing Taiwanese food in the US so I didn’t expect the food to be as good as food in Taiwan, which it wasn’t. But it was still very good! Definitely good enough to satisfy my craving.
#1 best dish here: pig intestines! OMG they are so crispy on the outside (I think it’s baked, not fried) and you dip it in a salt/​pepper mixture. SO. GOOD.
Oyster pancakes: The flavor was good, but def needed more oysters.
Duck: So much flavor, so tender, so good.
Water spinach: Can’t really go wrong with this dish. It’s sauteed with some garlic. Very typical dish.
Gua Bao: I enjoyed this a lot, too. The meat was tender and even the bread tasted good.
Fried pork with peppers: Mmmmm. nice and fried and juicy!
I’d definitely recommend this place if you want Taiwanese food!

Decided to stop in for mother’s day and we were in for a treat. The food is excellent and on par with taiwanese style brunch abroad. The service was excellent and my parents can’t stop raving about it. Shenster APPROVED!

Damn, for those who think Red Onion is «expensive», have you ever tried to 1) find Taiwanese food outside of Middlesex County and 2) ordered any kind of Chinese food outside of the Central Jersey area? Y’all are sure spoiled in Edison.
Went with a Taiwanese friend to Red Onion based on Unilocal reviews and was not disappointed. True, it does not compare to food in Taiwan, but then, I have not heard of one single restaurant in Jersey that meets such a high standard. We really enjoyed our time at Red Onion. Cheap, closely authentic Taiwanese food. Just sad that they were out of jellyfish when we were there. But it definitely satisfied our craving for some basic Taiwanese dishes.
Service was spotty when we were there — we had difficulty (being a small table of 2) getting the servers’ attention — but it was polite.
Until I hear of some outstanding Taiwanese joint that meets the expectations of all in the Taiwanese-​American community, Red Onion deserves a least a visit to try it out.

The food was very good. I started with the hot and sour soup. It was a delicious bowl full of all kinds of veggies and spices. For some reason, the more I ate, the spicier it got. By then end, I had tears in my eyes. Good for me but maybe not for others.
I had the orange beef from the lunch menu with pork fried rice. Although the beef was a little tough, the overall dish was outstanding. It was very lightly fried and the orange sauce was excellent. Pieces of orange just added to the great taste. On the other hand, the side of pork fried rice was light on the pork and even lighter on flavor. It needed the addition of maybe duck sauce and/​or mustard.
Bringing me to my only negative observation; the lack of the usual extras. While there was a complimentary bowl of hot tea, there were no sweeteners anywhere. The soup was served without a bowl of noodle crackers. Duck sauce and mustard were not served either and as I said before, the fried rice needed it.
Maybe I should have asked but I guess I am used to the automatic offering of these items.
The server was very nice and helpful with the menu.
I will definitely go here again as the food was much better than many of the other local places I have been to.

This is like the only Taiwanese restaurant that I know of in Edison and only discovered this place this year through my housemate. Yesterday was my second visit to the restaurant so I have an ok idea of what I like and don’t like about this place.
Like: it’s pretty Taiwanese. I have talked the waiters there and I can easily tell that they are Taiwanese. And this one older waiter esp know what to recommend. Dishes I like from this place: beef noodle, fried buns, chicken over rice (嘉義雞肉飯 — I have been to 嘉義before but I don’t recall the legit flavor of this dish — I guess since 嘉義is located middle toward southern Taiwan — the flavor should be a bit more on the sweeter side — this dish tastes like the chicken version of 滷肉飯minced pork over rice for me lol). And the Taiwanese meatball there is not bad — of course not as good as how they make it in Taiwan but for the sake of reminiscing the flavors it’s not bad.
Dislike: the popcorn chicken there is disappointing (quickly and vivi — bubble tea chains make it better than a restaurant… the chicken pieces were too big and boney and the flavor is alright too). In general, im ok with their deep fried dishes. And the ouster omelette is alright too — I particularly don’t like the sauce because it’s not the right texture or flavor… and lastly I wish they have sweet soy cause paste to go with the egg pancake because that’s the usual way to eat it in Taiwan.
After all, I’m critical of this place because I’m constantly thinknf of the food I have had in Taiwan but consider it’s convenient location for me and the fact they include a lot more Taiwanese food on their menu than any other places that I know of around the area, I will def come back!

Very nice place for an authentic Taiwanese meal. Might not be the best TW food around but I think I would certainly be up to visit more often if given the chance. We came here as a group of 4 on a late Saturday afternoon around 3ish. The place was pretty much empty due to the time. Most of their dishes were good if not decent. These were what we got.
–Taiwanese Duck — Probably the best dish out of everything, very flavorful and juicy. Just the aroma itself was enough to make people hungry.
–Minced Pork Rice– Rice was bit of dry, the pork was good but I think would been better if they cook it longer to absorb more of the sauce in the meat.
–Oyster Omelettes– Very good choice, oysters were fresh and the omelette was delicious. I also like that they were generous with the amount of veggies in the bottom.
–Beef Noodle Soup — I only had a few taste of the broth and slice of beef but it was good.
–Deep Fried Pork Chops — Again the rice was dry but the pork chop was excellent. Portion size was generous as well
–Gua Bao — Traditional TW bun with a slice of pork belly, I thought the pork could have used more fat and cooked less but overall it was good choice as well.
Overall it was a pretty good meal that left little more to be desired. Definitely worth a visit if you craving good authentic Taiwanese food.

Came here tonight, we ordered beef noodle soup, Taiwanese duck, pork chop with Rice and Xiao Long soup dumpling.
The winner tonight goes to Taiwanese duck, the duck has nice smoky flavor and the duck meat is so tender and juicy, the ¼ plate can definitely feed 2 – 3 people, this is a must try.
The DO-​NOT-​RECOMMEND dish is xiao long soup dumpling, the meat tastes nothing like xiao long soup dumpling, I will say it is more like the regular dumpling and not soup dumpling, it also took forever to be served.
Beef noodle soup is alright, beef itself is not bad but the soup is a bit too sweet in my taste and the noodle is a bit saggy.
Mixed feeling to this place… there are some nice thing about this place, the service is so polite and the place is big and clean… but I just don’t feel connect with the food. Born and raised in Taiwan, I can’t really say the food I tasted tonight made me homesick… not even a little bit.
I am not saying the foods are bad, everything tastes fine and looks authentic, for example, the pork chop with rice coming with stir fried cabbage, sour cabbage and marinated eggs on the side, this is exactly how most Taiwan local restaurants serve the pork chop rice. but it just lacks something there… I can’t explain… I may return again and try more Taiwanese items on the menu, will update more while I return.
They don’t take AE card.

More like a 3.5 stars (or 3.75 stars). I agree with some of the reviews that say this place is just okay. This review is based off of both my opinions as an ABT (American-​born Taiwanese) and my mom who is from Tainan.
What we liked:
蚵仔煎 E-​Ah-​Jian (Oyster Omelette) — Pretty good, but not enough oysters or egg. Was nice and crispy though and just the right amount of sauce.
肉圓 Bawan (Taiwanese Meat Dumpling) — This is a dumpling made out of sweet potato starch stuffed with ground meat, shrimp, mushrooms, etc. I liked the dumpling itself but wish they didn’t use the Oyster Omelette sauce for this. In Tainan, the sauce is more salty and similar to a lightened version of soy sauce paste and garlic.
雞卷 (Fried Chicken Roll) — I enjoyed this dish. It was crispy and fresh. Funny that it’s called chicken roll when they it typically uses pork and fish paste. Good sauce (which tasted the same as the Oyster Omelette’s sauce)
What we thought was so-​so:
肉羹米粉 (Pork and Rice Noodle Soup) — This is one of my mom’s favorite Taiwanese dish. She thought their rendition was okay. I thought the soup itself was bland. and needed more flavor, but I enjoyed the actual content. Lots of bamboo, shiitake mushrooms, and pork. The pork pieces were nicely marinated and had a good springy texture.
碗粿 Wa Gwei or Wan Guo (Not sure what to call this in English) — This is a steamed cake made out of different starches and rice, and topped with ground meat. This was the main reason why I wanted to try this restaurant. It’s really hard to find wa-​gwei in the States and I usually have to resort to making it myself. So when I find it in a restaurant, usually really excited to order it. I was kind of disappointed, probably because I hyped myself up too much for this. The sauce they used for this is the same as the oyster sauce you use for luobuogao. Better off making this myself at home.
What we would not order again:
滷肉飯 (Stewed Pork over Rice) — Kind of flavorless, parents weren’t impressed and neither was I. If you understand Chinese you’ll know what I mean when I say it’s bu gou xiang.
切仔米粉 Qie A Mi Fen (Not sure what to call this in English) — Similar to 擔仔麵 Da-​Mi (Dan Zi Mian), but would not recommend getting it here. Actually would not recommend getting this dish anywhere but Taiwan. Everywhere I tried this in the States has been really flavorless. Literally boiled water with salt and added Rou Zao (Minced Meat) on top.
Not sure how Taiwanese this place is. One indicator is their use of the word 土豆 to mean potato instead of peanut.
Service was good though and staff is friendly. In terms of the restaurant interior itself, I really like it. It’s a very homey feeling. And best part of the restaurant is all the food is priced pretty cheaply. We ordered 7 items, and total came to about $ 40.
Not the best Taiwanese food I’ve had in the States, and definitely doesn’t compare to Taiwan itself, but this is a good addition to Edison. I would like to come back to try their more Hakka-​style dishes. It seems like from some of the other reviews those are the better dishes here.