Taiwan Liu He Snacks

Strongest showing for Taiwanese dishes among the local Taiwanese spots.
Order the beef noodle soup, gua bao, minced pork over rice, steamed meat ball (bawan), rice cooked in a barrel, deep fried pork onion roll, house special chicken (three cup chicken), and pork potage.
Very consistent. Service is also very friendly and attentive.

Do you know what I love about good popcorn chicken? I think the fried basil can make or break the dish. The popcorn chicken was cooked to my liking with the right about of crunchy basil. Yum!
The highlight of the evening was the beef noodle soup. The broth was surprisingly flavorful and the noodles had a good chewy texture. The beef was extra tender. I think I’ll be back!

Literally everyone in the restaurant spoke Mandarin, except me… that would have been a struggle ^^;;
The menu had a wide selection beyond the typical green onion pancake and beef noodle soup ^^V
My Taiwanese better half was happy ^^b
^All the signs of an excellent and authentic Taiwanese place ^-^
I think they actually don’t serve green onion pancake, but there are plenty (almost too much!) to choose from. They have traditional street food, and even a little station devoted to the minced pork rice so it really does look like street food. In addition to the «snacks», they have a solid selection of the classic dishes, ranging from noodle soups for the fainthearted to intestines to for the adventurous.
(++) Traditional minced pork over rice ($ 4.25): Mmm, savory goodness. Despite the humble origins of this dish as fail-​proof street food made from bare-​bone basics of bits of meat and soy sauce over rice, the quality here is decent. The focus is on the small cuts of soy-​braised pork, complimented by minced pork and pork sung (the fuzzy dried pork crumbs). Interesting interplay of flavors and textures in this pork trifecta. The soy sauce egg and rice are rather standard, nothing remarkable, though I would have like the rice less saucy.
(++) Oyster pancake ($ 6.50): The pancake itself was huge (probably ~9″ personal pizza size!), and it contained more oysters than I had expected. The orange sweet sauce is yummy and too sweet, but I think the amount of sauce was a bit too much – I scraped off some of the sauce for better balance with the actual oyster pancake. Also, veggies seem somewhat overcooked, and it could have used some bean sprouts in the mix for extra crunch. I love oyster pancake because each restaurant has its own version, and the one here was different from my expectations but delicious nonetheless.
(++) Sesame oil wine chicken soup noodle ($ 8.95): We had to forego the classic beef noodle soup for this because this dish is a lot less commonly found. The strong ginger flavor made a soothing and flavorful broth; combined with the dash of sesame oil and subtle wine infusion, it was unique and the perfect accompaniment for the plain rice vermicelli and stewed chicken.
(++) Taro puff: When taking our order, the server noted that they had just made a fresh batch of taro puffs and recommended it. I don’t know if it’s actually on the regular menu or an experimental new item. The taro paste filling is amazing; this is a must-​get for taro lovers! (meaning real taro, not the artificial «taro» purple powder in bad milk tea) Caution that it’s hot on the inside because it’s likely just fried.
Total came out to $ 15/​person, and we left stuffed and carrying leftovers. I’m not sure why we were so full: maybe we ordered too much food, or the noodle soup was more filling due to the sesame oil, or the taro puffs are greasier than it tasted. The food may also be on the salty because I was quite thirsty afterwards, but it was a satisfying meal and quenched Taiwan food cravings.
Like many hidden gems, it’s a small place, friendly service, family-​owned vibe, located in a random strip mall. And, to confuse non-​locals even more, the storefront has a different name than the Unilocal page – note that the real name is Min Min Pot.
TL;DR: Come here for good Taiwanese food! We’ve searched far and wide, and this little shop truly brings a taste of Taiwan to the Bay Area.

nothing to write home about… I’ve had better… a lot better… the oyster frittata was not fried through — mushy! The potato starch for the pork chop smelled stale… sorry, not worth the price nor the drive.

We ordered pork soup, beef noodle, fried chicken with rice and oyster pancake. The soup is deliciously comforting, very mama made style. Fried chicken is very tender and crispy, the basil, salt and pepper give it a really nice flavor. Beef noodle is hot and flavorful. Oyster pancake with the sweet sauce makes me feel very satisfied and happy. I guess we will come back often to try other stuff.

I came here because he INSISTED we have Taiwanese food while we can with his roommate. They really wanted to get these oyster pancakes but I wasn’t too sold on the concept so I passed. We ended up ordering a variety of different dishes and surprisingly despite the descriptions they gave me, the dishes were tasty!
I really went for the beef noodle soup, and let me tell you that it didn’t disappoint! I still think that Izzo Restaurant on Hostetter Rd in San Jose has THE BEST beef noodle soup ever, but this place will do in a bind!
They had really delicious sliced fish with black bean sauce. If you know Taiwanese food, this is deeeeelish. Otherwise, it sounds gross I know. The lamb dish we ordered was also quite tasty, both dishes had very good quality meat and great flavor. Recommended!

I’ve been here 3 times now, twice with family (it has my parents seal of approval, & they grew up in Taiwan), & once with a friend. The sign outside still hasn’t changed & still says Min Min Pot, the name of the previous place, which I’ve also been to, but was pretty short lived.
If you like Taiwanese xiao chi (small bites/​plates/​snacks), they have a pretty good selection. I’d have to say that this is my favorite part of Taiwanese food. Taiwanese meatball, rice cake cooked in a barrel, chicken roll, fried spicy chicken, oyster pancake, shrimp pancake, Taiwanese hamburger, Taiwanese hot dog (they slice it up instead of the way I’ve had it in Taiwan where it’s wrapped up, & you eat it intact like a burrito). Sadly, they don’t have stinky tofu, though. When we asked the owner why, she said that their neighbors would hate them if they did (because of the smell, in case you don’t realize how pungent it can be).
Other dishes we’ve had… minced pork over rice, vermicelli with oysters, lamb or beef chow mein in special sha-​cha sauce, fish ball soup (really good flavor), sesame oil chicken soup (we didn’t care for it; my dad proclaimed to my mom «you make it better»). There was some special cold noodle dish we got once over the summer that we didn’t care for much, it was just bit too sweet. There’s a few more dishes we’ve had that I can’t remember (seriously, last time we went, it was with my parents & cousins, & we were a group of 10, so we ordered a lot. We had a bunch of leftovers to take home. Otherwise, we’ve been pretty happy with the dishes that we’ve gotten.
The owner is pretty friendly & will joke around, especially if you speak Taiwanese/​Mandarin. My first visit, I was taking lots of pics, & she teased me, «you’re going to write good things about us, right?» One of the servers (who’s been there every time I’ve been), I’m guessing she may be related to the owner (?), is also pretty friendly too.
The place is not very big. There are 2 large tables that seat 8 – 10, the rest (maybe 4 – 5 tables?) seat 2 – 4.
Located on the southwest corner of Saratoga & Kiely in the Lion Supermarket shopping center. It’s on the side that faces Saratoga between some other Chinese place & Ramen Tenma.

Love love love this place
Oyster pancake
Basil eggplant
FRIED OYSTERS
any of the chicken dishes
Tasty food great service

Service was awesome. Our server was very helpful and enthusiastic.
Beef noodle soup was awesome. Flavorful and tender. We asked for it extra spicy, which I won’t do next time. It wasn’t too spicy, but I think it took away from the beef flavor. We also ordered a rice dish with pork. That was pretty good too. The rice dish was small, but it was only $ 5 or so.
I’d get the beef noodle soup again. I’d also like to try the fried pork chop and some of the other snacks.

Had a hankering for Taiwanese snack dishes so came here to give it a try.
My over all impression was that the place was a bit pricey and the food tasted okay.
My oyster pancake was burnt and I detected maybe 2 oysters total.
The girl waitress (owner’s daughter?) who was taking order was really nice and attentive.
The lady who owns the place (mother to the girl waitress?) came by after we were done eating and told me that I look really familiar but I had never met her before in my life and thought it was a bit bizarre as if she was trying a bit hard to build some kind of kinship as a business ploy for extra tip? Don’t know but not liking it very much.

This review is an accumulation of my two visits to this establishment. On my first, I came in solo for a quick lunch and oh man, I feel so awkward. This place is more suitable for communal eating, big round tables and menu listing entrees that’s huge enough to share for 2 – 4 people. On my second visits, I came in with a bunch of friends and it was a much better experience, since I can sample more of their food.
Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. A must try!
The epitome of Taiwanese comfort food, it comes with a huge metal bowl — taste wise, excellent; deeply savory and suggestively spicy. This is the only place, where the spicy was actually spicy. Favorite part has got to be the beef– it was flavorful and chopstick tender. Yum~
Other dishes we tried: the oyster pancake, which were disappointing; very bland and soggy. The deep fried pork chop and rice was actually decent. They did an excellent job of masking the porky smell with the spices. Lastly, we had the crispy chicken and it was no flavor whatsoever. Not a fan!
Overall, the whole experience wasn’t as memorable as I had hoped. Service was good and efficient, and they seem to cater to lots of Taiwanese clientele (authentic?). I will certainly give this place another shot, as their beef noodle soup was worth coming back for.
Tip: they don’t accept cc unless it’s $ 25 and above.

decided to give this place a try. I ordered oyster pancake and beef noodle soup. Oyster pancake was very thin, oysters inside did not taste fresh. The noodle soup had a different seasoning in the broth that I did not care for– very disappointing.
The place is very small inside. The staff was nice and accommodating. Unfortunately I will not be returning there again.

We came here to try out the food since we love Taiwanese food and thus are always willing to give new places a try.
We ordered soup noodles, a rice plate, taiwanese sausages, and a veggie plate.
1) soup noodles — IMO there is was an abundance of noodles but not enough of everything else. Noodles were ok. I felt there was something off about the soup.
2) pork chop rice plate — The rice was clumpy and the pork chop was too fatty and not crispy. Not my preferred style of pork chop rice.
3) Taiwanese sausages — I like the garlic but it wasn’t cut into thin slices. Also the sausages were so so. I’ve had better at Shin Ba La.
4) Veggie plate A Tsai — this was great. It came with a little bit of pork on top and was very tasty.
People said the oyster pancakes and beef noodle soup are good so we will be back to try them. Maybe we just ordered the wrong things. Out of the four things we ordered, we would only consider ordering the veggie plate again.

Came by for lunch the other day and it was decent. The signage to the restaurant is still Min Min Hotpot.
Service was excellent by the talented waitress.
Started off with the special beef noodle soup and the broth was spicy while the noodles were al dente. Beef cubes were okay… they could have been more tender.
Popcorn chicken was fresh and flavorful. Portions were decent too!
The ground beef roll, Taiwanese Hot Dog & Hamburgers were okay, although a tad odd.
…they do have A/​C which they finally turned on by the time we left.
They do take credit cards.
~$ 20/​head after tax and tip for brunch/​lunch.

I stopped by briefly for a quick lunch and had their beef noodle soup. The soup base is fairly spicy which I liked. It was a large bowl and reminded me a lot like the beef noodle soup in Taiwan — especially the noodles, though I thought my noodles were slightly overcooked. There were more than enough beef pieces in my soup and I couldn’t finish it all despite my crazy hungry stomach. Overall, it satisfied my month long craving for beef noodle soup! I also tried the Taiwanese hamburger (gua bao) which comes with 3 small «hamburgers.» Pork was fatty but still lacked the really homey infused flavor that you find in Taiwan. Also could’ve used a bit more of the pickled mustard greens on top.
Overall, good lunch. Food came really quickly. Mostly Taiwanese people eating. I want to come back to taste more of their other plates.
Note: Bring cash. Also the sign on top of the restaurant still says Min Min Pot which they probably should really change…

Huge portion sizes 3−4x of redhot wok.
Family owned. Like eating at someone’s taiwanese home.
Oyster pancake unique tong ho or some veggie in it. Very good.
Fantastic prices for the portion sizes; half price of similar restaurants in cupt and mtn view if you include the portion size.
Good for takeout because of large portion sizes and low prices.
Very nice family. Mom’s daughter is waitress; very sweet. Hope they grow!

Mmmmm… the reviews nailed it again. The Beef Noodle Soup is the best I’ve tasted in the valley. Not too spicy and broth is full of flavor. The Duck Noodle Soup in my opinion even better. The soup is flavorful and just the right amount of meat and noodle. The only other dish I tried on my first visit us the deep fried chitterlings. The dish was perfection. I’ve had ones that were cleaned just so-​so; this place did a great job.
Will be back soon to try other dishes.

Man this space turns over fast. I think ive been to three other concepts in the last two years. I liked min min pot. But only got to go once. The current incarnation is still solid but it’s a much smaller menu. Shrimp pancake, black pepper lamb, fried pork chop and Taiwanese chow mein. Were all really good. The place is fast two as all of our dishes streamed out. There was just two people working while we were there but as it was late they took good care of us. I hope they do well as id like to be able to try other dishes and at least be able to come back to this space more than once per concept!

Taiwan Liu He Snacks is the newest tenant of the San Jose Lion Supermarket plaza adjacent to Ramen Tenma and takes over the former space of short lived tenant Min Min Pot.
Focusing on Taiwanese small eats and street food, Taiwan Liu He is a welcome addition to the area. Besides Taiwanese classics such as beef noodle soup, pork chop rice, and oyster pancake, they also serve snack size items like Taiwanese hot dogs, popcorn chicken, and Taiwanese meatballs.
The interior space is a small but clean one with a variety of smaller two and four person tables. I arrived at opening hour and should placed my order.
House Special Beef Noodle Soup — $ 7.95. Served in a shiny steel bowl, the noodle soup is piping hot and full of large chunks of beef, bok choy, and round noodles. Broth flavor is good with solid beef flavor and medium heat with the chili peppers. Overall, it reminded me of the rendition of Formosa Streets and is much better than Liang’s Village and I thought better than Mama Chen’s. I think AJ’s is better and Cooking Papa’s Cantonese version has better beef but that’s comparing apples to oranges.
Oyster Pancake — $ 6.50. Despite the popularity of Oyster pancake, I don’t see it on a ton of menus so it was nice to find here. As a side note, it’s disappointing that Taiwan Liu He Snacks doesn’t serve stinky tofu, probably the most popular Taiwanese snack. Preparation of the pancake is solid with runny yet crispy egg mixed with a solid amount of oysters in the middle and a good amount of the slightly sweet red sauce used to top the dish.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal here. As I enjoyed my pre-​meeting meal, I watched as an 80+ yo old man dragged his 40+ yo grandson to this latest restaurant find. He excitedly ordered four dishes between the two and in Cantonese and Mandarin exclaimed how he never let his grandson down with good eats as they enjoyed their first bite of the flavorful dishes (they ordered popcorn chicken, hot dog, pork chop rice and beef noodle soup). I realized then as I watched the elderly man, I had seen my future self. :)
Taiwan Liu He Snacks accepts credit cards but only for orders over $ 25 and not American Express. Below $ 25, its otherwise cash only.

Tainan-​style traditional Taiwanese foods. Expensive range. Quality and great portion sizing. Small storefront.
Those are my takeaway points about this Taiwanese restaurant named after a famous night market in Kaohsiung (Liu He Ye Shi). Came here for Saturday dinner with the family around 6:30PM. The store is REALLY small… it fits about 8 groups with only two larger tables for parties over 4. I wouldn’t come here for large family/​friend gatherings, but with another person or a smaller family is fine.
The owner (Lisa) is a well-​known and respected figure in the Taiwanese food restaurant group. We know her from her previous restaurant, but that’s another story. All of their «key» items like oyster pancake, cold noodles, and sticky rice in bamboo cup are tasty. Food came out in a quick manner, and service is typical Asian style – meaning no-​fuss, efficient, and crass. All of the diners that night were all Asian… probably Taiwanese, but that’s why it’s so good!
We took home some of their food because portions were amazingly doled out, but the bill was the bummer. We paid over $ 70 at the end (plus tip/​tax) and we usually always pay about $ 10 per person when it comes to Taiwanese «xiao chi» for dinnertime. We used to go to Potsticker King in Cupertino (quality went WAY down), and were hoping Liu He could be our new «go to.» Unfortunately, the pricing is a turn-​off especially with our cheap standards (Asians whoot!), but I definitely see us visiting Liu He again, just not every month.
Pro Tip: Credit cards allowed, but they prefer cash. Their cold noodles (liang mian) was my favorite dish. To finish off your meal, go to TLeaf for pearl milk tea after dinner for the truly Taiwanese experience!