Donna D.

It saddens me to see so many bad reviews! Me and my family have never had a single bad tasting here and they are extremely picky with their food. I am obsessed with their beef noodle soup... It is so flavorful and delicious. Their Peking duck and most other dishes are really good too. You can probably order anything and it'll taste good. They lost a star because we found the little plastic band that binds (kinda like a rubber band) the vegetable together in our food and when we told them about it, they just took it out and reheated it but then we found the band again ... But that was one time out of the many times. If it happens again we won't be coming back.
(4)
Lea L.

What an absolute waste of time. Waited here for 30 minutes. We got seated, ordered, and waited patiently for our order. After a while I asked what was taking so long---she said it wasn't even on the goddamn computer. Even though we ordered 20 minutes previously. From the same waitress. And of course I wasted my lunch hour on this. They have lost my business as a customer. Don't ever go here unless you like nothing for lunch.
(1)
Gary Y.

I've been here many times and just recently went for the last time. Food is pretty average - it's nothing spectacular but not terrible in any sense. What makes me not wanting to ever come back it's the lying and deceitful staff. So we came here to grab a bite before a movie that's showing across the street. We ordered two dishes - both of them noodles. The first one came out within 10 minutes of ordering. Half an hour later, there's no sign of the other order. People who sat down after us got their food. At this time I told the waitress if they haven't started preparing it, we would just like to cancel because we have a movie to catch. We saw her go over to the chef and told him about our order. No wait - we wanted to cancel! I call her out on her obvious betrayal with our request and her response was that they were already preparing it. The noodles came out about 10 minutes later ... about the same time it'd have taken to make it from scratch. So yes, this is how you lose a customer forever. Never eat food from dishonest people - it'll just leave you feeling disgusted and angry about the whole experience.
(1)
Wayne L.

This is one of my favorite Taiwanese Restaurant in the East Bay. The decor is upscale and the food is consistently good. Service is efficient. The price is on the expensive side for a Taiwanese Restaurant. My favorite dishes are: spicy duck tongue, fried stewed tofu, Hainan chicken rice, roast Peking Duck noodle soup, and their sautÃ©ed vegetables, pork dumpling. My family tend to end up ordering too much food because they have so many items on their menu.
(5)
Candace S.

!!!HOLY BARF BATMAN!!! One of the hosts was sitting outside cough up a lung - then after were seated she walked to the back grabbed water went back outside scratching and rubbing her nose. The restaurant smelled of old fish and the two dishes we ordered so nasty that we couldn't finish them. I had duck and rice, but the juice the duck was in smelled really bad and my boyfriend some sort of beef noodle soup that I could not readily identify right away..... Oh I forgot the food floating in his water.... YEP sooooooo NO!
(1)
Elliott D.

TL;DR: Pretty decent eats, especially the Peking Duck, though you have to be ready for this Cantonese interpretation. THE DEETS: ***æµ·å—é¸¡é¥ [HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE] Those of us who have lived in Singapore have very particular requirements for Chicken Rice. The bird should be pleasantly chilled, with soft skin & tender plentiful flesh (meat-heavy, bone-light). The rice must be fried in the oil of the chicken, then boiled in its broth with whole chunks of ginger, garlic, & green onion. Lastly, the accompanying cilantro, cucumbers, and chili sauce must be fresh and of the proper variety. A little thick sweetened soy sauce drizzled on top as the perfect finish. The chicken used at Food Talk Cafe was chilled, but quite dry, wiry, & bone-heavy. The rice was a bit oily and reasonably flavorful, but it didn't taste like it had been properly fried. There were no cilantro or cucumbers, and the chili sauce used the wrong kind of pepper. There was an accompanying green sauce (ground ginger, green onions, garlic, cilantro) that added some pleasant notes and was welcome. Unfortunately, for all it had going for it, this wasn't the chicken rice I know and love, but a second tier counterfeit. ***åŒ—äº¬ç‰‡çš®é¸ [PEKING DUCK] This dish might as well have been called Canton Duck. This is not meant as an insult, but a descriptor to highlight stylistic differences. Peking Duck is served in boneless slices, carefully preserving the crispy skin, delicate fat, & soft flesh beneath. It's to be wrapped in thin powdered dough wrappers with cucumber slices, thin white strips of scallion, and ç”œé¢é…± [sweet bean sauce]. This 'Canton Duck' was basically just crispy strips of duck skin, separated from but lying on chunks of duck meat, bone-in. There were a few little chunks of fat left over on the skin, but most of it had been removed. There were no cucumbers, and the sweet bean sauce tasted like a grocery variety. Rather than wrappers, it was served with steamed mantou bun flaps. Don't get me wrong, the flavors here were still rather exquisite. The skin was particularly crunchy & sweet. The meat, when removed from the boney chunks, was pleasantly soft & well flavored. And the pillowy mantou actually made an incredible partnership with the crispy skin, creating a harmony that dare I say exceeds standard wrappers. ***å°ç¬¼åŒ… [XIAOLONGBAO] Not bad in the realm of Xiaolongbao. Nice thin wrappers, plenty of soup, tender filling. Served with dark vinegar & ginger strips as it should be. The flavors were slightly off, though. Not in your standard low-end ingredient Cantonese way. Just...a tad off somehow. But not bad. I think I'd come here again, at least for the duck.
(4)
Jack R.

Let's talk about their mediocre food shall we? Met my friends for lunch down here, and had to hang my head in shame for recommending this place after finding it on Yelp. Their duck was so fatty...how fatty was it? This duck has as much fat as Roseanne Barr, okay? Also, their jellyfish salad was quite plain. Needs some sesame oil, or something else. Their eggplant dish was super spicy, which we weren't prepared for. Oh, and it was greasy. The Hainan Chicken was a joke. Give me a rubber chicken any day over this dish. The only thing that bumps this up to 3 stars is the service and the dumplings. We ordered tons of their dumplings because 1) We were still hungry 2) We were too tired to go anywhere else. But their dumplings were good. Not great, just good.
(3)
Jana C.

Your standard chinese offerings. came for late lunch, and was not very impressed. $8 lunches until 1430. tea had no taste and our sever, he was very very odd!
(3)
Alyssa W.

Been coming here with my family for many years now, although since they raised their prices, we come much less often. Pros: The food is actually really good. Peking duck is amaaaazinggggg. They make it really well. Same with the xiao long bao. I actually consider their XLBs to be one of the best in Fremont. Definitely recommend those two things. The service is also pretty great. There's an enthusiastic canto man there that cracks me up. And when I took my grandma here to eat he was especially nice to her so I was really appreciative of that :) Cons: THE PRICE. My god...their XLBs are amazing but like $8 for 6 pcs??? No way Jose. Only come here when you're feeling in that TREAT YO' SELF mood. Overall: Food Talk has quality food, but until they lower their prices, I'll only be coming here once in a great while.
(3)
Tiffany H.

I'm not sure I'd consider this a Taiwanese restaurant per se, but it serves food that my Taiwanese family loves. Our all-time favorites include the XO xiao long bao, Hainanese chicken rice, and stewed tofu. Runner-ups are the roast duck with mantou, scallion pancakes, and sauteed veggies. Their regular xlb isn't bad in terms of texture and thickness of bao skin and the amount of melted gelatinous goodness hiding within, but the overall flavor is bland (probably because they don't use MSG here...DTF, at least in Asia, does). Adding the XO gives it some kick. Now, the Hainan-style chicken and rice dish is probably the main reason why I'd make the drive here. The chicken they use is free-range or organic or something to that level that one would not typically associate with Chinese food in Fremont. It's very clear this isn't your hormone-pumped Costco chicken the moment you take a bite. Judge me all you want, but I also love chicken skin (and duck skin, and pork skin, etc). The skin here is splendidly flavorful and firm. And their rice is right on par with their meat, magnificently aromatic and wondrously oily from all the chicken broth. Accompanying the dish are two sauces, their garlic and ginger paste being my current obsession. Unlike some places, the stewed tofu here is served hot. My mom thinks they're bland and in need of some chili oil, but I think it's perfect. A good balance between spongy and firm, with that fresh bean curd taste that I love. An excellent appetizer for you soy lovers. Surprisingly, their roast duck isn't bad either, but the quality is definitely lower than that of their chicken. Some pieces can be grisly and there's usually a lot of fat. But I still like it (since, um, I like duck fat) and it's tasty with either a bowl of soup noodles or with their steamed white buns, raw scallions, and hoisin sauce. The green onion pancakes here are a treat too, but they're usually sold out by the time we roll in for lunch and they're pretty pricey for what they are. The selection of vegetarian dishes seems more limited as well, but any time we've ordered a sauteed veggie in season, it was good. Competition is fierce in this area, but I think Food Talk Cafe holds their own. Staff is mostly competent and the restaurant is surprisingly clean. All in all, would recommend.
(4)
Tiffany H.

After the sixth visit, we decided to say goodbye to food talk cafe. The very friendly guy who knows what we like is no longer works here. The ladies, they don't know what they doing. Our bill was charged with extra item and the seafood dish that we asked to swap with chicken was overcharged. Although, we will miss the salt and pepper pork ribs, it's time to go somewhere.
(2)
Kristine F.

I love the fried rice with tiny shrimp and shredded scallops! It's not oily at all and made with only egg whites. The Peking Duck is a favorite here and yesterday's order seemed to have much crispier skin. The Hainan chicken is cold but the ginger/scallion oil dip/sauce is sooo tasty! I have no idea how they make that but it's delicious. I've tried their soup dumplings and they're pretty good too. My first encounter with the potstickers was phenomenal: fresh, almost steaming filling enclosed by a slightly chewy yet delicate wrapper. The second time it was just meh. I'm amazed at how simple some dish names are-- you would have to read the description in order to know what you're getting. For instance, the fish cake with green vegetable contains leafy snow peas. I had the fried tofu for the first time here and they basically fry one or two 4"x4" squares of tofu and slice them into log shapes before serving it on a pool of lightly sweetened broth. One time my friends and I stayed here for so long during an odd hour (right before dinner) we were given complementary black sticky rice soup dessert. Yummy. I go back here frequently when I'm in the area. It can get packed when there's a wedding reception at Asian Pearl though. Parking during that occasion bites!
(4)
Denise C.

Xiao Long Bao all the way! (Pork dumplings on the menu) Love their dumplings, always fresh and delicious, the skin isn't too thick and the soup just oozes out of the dumplings. To know how good their dumplings are, every time I come here if my boyfriend isn't coming with me, he asks me to bring some home. Even if they get cold they're still absolutely delicious. Other menu items are always fresh and I've honestly never had anything here that I didn't like. The only time I was ever disappointed was a recent visit where I ordered the spicy minced pork noodle, it was good but the recipe seems to have changed from the last time I was here (granted this was over a year ago.) It used to be the closest in flavor to the one my Grandma makes at home but the current version was more salty and very saucy. The previous version was the kind served with cucumber for freshness, this was served with bean sprouts. Again, this was still delicious, just not the same as what I had before. Everything else ever ordered is good, I've ordered the dumplings with truffle when they've had the special and that was sooooo good. Hainan chicken is always good, their ginger-onion-oil paste (however you call it in English) is always fresh and balances well with the rice and chicken. Roast duck has always been nice and tender with very crispy skin. Really if I lived closer I'd be coming here way more often!
(5)
Kay L.

Ordered: 1. House special savory beef...beef very tender and delicious 2. Imperial Peking duck.....duck was not salty like at other establishments...I think they actually marinate and cook the duck on premises. 3. Salted fish and chicken fried rice.... Didn't get to try because the waitress didn't put the order in. Service was slow even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. Super duper clean restrooms Waitresses were very nice. Menu for various Peking duck options were very confusing. In the end, I just told them I wanted half Peking duck with buns. They aren't very good with English, so they couldn't really tell me what the options were. Overall, definite come back. Minus 1 point for no AC on a hot day! Be prepared to roast along with the duck! Lol
(4)
Alexander S.

I came here on a trip visiting family in Fremont after reading reviews raving about their dishes, but I can guarantee you won't be talking about how great their food is! The cheesy name aside, the dishes at Food Talk Cafe are mediocre at best and does not even compare to other top Chinese restaurants in the area -- actually there aren't many... being from the 626 aka SGV (San Gabriel Valley) in SoCal spoiled me! The small portions are also a joke. The half roasted duck served with steamed buns had enough meat and skin for maybe one person. The Hainan chicken was overcooked and also served with more bones than meat. The xiao long bao was about the only decent thing going for them that we ordered. I guess people come here for the nice ambience because it's great to eat in a restaurant on a record-breaking 90Â°F day with no AC, right? There's a couple tables outside for outdoor seating, but they're reserved for large parties. Okay I'm wrong -- I did talk about their food after all, but it's not in a good way.
(3)
Alice H.

I've eaten here a couple times over the years, but this is my first review for them. Stopped by this past weekend after probably not eating there for over a year or even two. Not much has changed. I've always liked their attempts at an aesthetic interior, and their fusion take on Chinese food (and the abundance of noodle dishes on their menu). It's one of the few places I've been to that offer beef noodle soup/variants of authentic Taiwanese cuisine. I came during their break time, but the friendly old woman resting outside still insisted on serving me, so I sat down outside (they were cleaning inside). It's very peaceful eating outside during the time period right before rush hour and right before the evening, when that part of Pacific commons becomes crazy busy. There were few people around, and as a result I was able to enjoy a rather private dining experience along with quick service. I ordered a beef noodle soup, feeling nostalgic, and got the seafood pepper udon for my boyfriend (if you're not that acquainted with traditional Asian dishes like he is, being Caucasian, this is a safe bet. So is anything stir-fried, the beef black pepper noodles, or any other dry, fried, etc. kind of noodle dish). As expected, the seafood udon was delicious and very palate-friendly. Could use more actual seafood though. The beef noodle soup was.... Legit, but honestly not the best out there. Could use more flavor, and the beef needs to be more tender. Real Taiwanese beef noodle soup would put theirs to shame, so if you're looking for a true taste of home with that dish, you won't find it here. Stick with those stir fried udons like I said, because those are always tasty. Or the Taiwanese vermicelli, that one is good too! The servers were all very friendly and sweet (and worried over what my boyfriend was going to eat. Hah). Overall, not the best place for authentic Chinese/Taiwanese cuisine, but close enough and not too bad either. Great for casual dining.
(4)
Melissa P.

We wanted to eat before we went to Snowflake next door to this place. It was the only restaurant open at the time (2 - 5). I'm glad we did come here because the food was really good. I ordered small so I didn't get the full extent of what I could have tried but the fried rice and dumplings were delicious. Our waitress was a nice older lady, she helped us with the menu and smiled continuously at us making us feel very welcomed. The tea they served us was Oolong (my favorite). I recommend everyone to have lunch or dinner here, they are worth trying!
(5)
Mikey H.

Food here is good. My daughter loves the noodle soup with Peking duck. The deep fried frogs are wonderful, expensive and the chow fun with xo sauce is great.
(5)
Chival N.

So CHEAP AND DELICIOUS! My new favorite Asian hang out spot :). We originally came to the plaza for milk tea from Super Cue Cafe. When we got hungry, we just walked out and went into the first restaurant we saw. Thank goodness that place was Food Talk because I discovered a new place in the process! Just looking at the large and mouth-watering menu, I had a hard time deciding what to eat because all the pictures on Yelp looked so good and the prices were so cheap! All the appetizers were no more than $7 and they had "snacks" like Xiao Long Bao, Sticky Rice, Shiu Mai, etc. for no more than $8. Awesome! We got an order of Honey BBQ Pork ($7), Xiao Long Bao with Pork and XO Sauce ($7), Sticky Rice ($7) and Half Peking Duck ($13) to share between two people. Sooo filling and the total added up to $36 before tip. Like Rachel Ray, this restaurant made me feel like I, too, could eat for under $40 a day. Next time, I'm bringing friends back to try the XLB and other snacks, appetizers, noodle and rice plates that they have. Service was also good for an Asian restaurant. FOUR STARS for Food Talk! Consider me a fan!
(4)
Irene L.

Food is ok-good. The green onion pancakes were a little greasy, eggplant too, but everything was tasty and service was quick and attentive.
(4)
Tiffany T.

Get the XO Xiao Long Bao & just Xiao Long Bao. They're amazing! Came here for dinner & we ordered the most randomest combo of food. The Xiao Long Bao, Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, and Salt & Pepper Fried Shrimps. The spicy beef noodle soup tasted awkward, some ingredients were definitely missing. The salt & pepper fried shrimps were way to salty. I had to gulp down a whole cup of tea for each shrimps that I ate. The hi-lt of the meal was the XO Xiao Long Bao (XO dumplings). I have tried it at so many places, included House of Dumplings which specialize in dumplings, but it still cannot beat the ones here. The little dumplings were packed with all the right flavor and juice. I kinna wished that I had ordered more than one portion and omitted the rest.
(3)
Lesley T.

Had a late lunch here because other places close mid afternoon in this Plaza. We ordered from their lunch special menu: a BBQ rice plate, hainan chicken rice, stir fry beef rice, and sweet and sour pork rice plate. I know that's a lot of rice, but we were hungry. I would say the taste and portion size were standard. No issues to report. I wouldn't come here again though because there was nothing that stood out to me.
(3)
Trisha S.

This a great place. Beautiful inside and great service. The food, especially the beef stew and duck are to die for!
(5)
Bobo C.

we ordered the: 1) Peking Duck---the duck had no meat, lots of bones 2) Dried Scallop Fried Rice--pretty good but I had better 3) SautÃ©ed Beef---flavorful Food was not bad, I would go there again.
(4)
Mei Y.

Came here on a Friday for lunch. The menu was huge and we had a hard time deciding so we went with the safe choices. XLB, Peking duck lunch plate, Pork chop and another small appetizer that I can't remember...ops, it has been a while. All the dishes were great and they even give you free soup. Our bill came out to $30 and I was amazed for the amount of food we got. I would come back again for dinner and try some different items next time. Their XLB is one of the best in the East Bay!
(5)
Derek S.

Came by for dinner the other night as the venue next door was a huge disappointment... While waiting for a table, the menu seemed tasty. Started off with the Wintermelon Littleneck Clam soup and it was okay. Moved on to the Hainan Chicken and it was fair. The chicken wasn't too fresh nor too moist... The Peking Duck entree didn't have any buns nor was the skin cut off?!? ...it was the highlight of the meal... The XO XLB were also okay at best. ...nothing spectacular despite a kick from the XO sauce... Ended off w/ the lotus leave wrapped sticky rice which was no good...too much rice and not much filling...seemed like leftovers... :( Service was sporadic...typical of Chinese restaurants...
(3)
Raquel Y.

Meh..ok food, terrible service. I mean I expect to have terrible service at Chinese restaurants, but I also expect to have delicious food to make up for that. Their porridge was TERRIBLE. NO flavor whatsoever. I tried drenching it with soy sauce but it was still disgusting. I can make better porridge at home. 1/5 Their Taiwanese noodles were good. 4/5 maybe, being nice. Peking duck, supposedly what they're famous for, is good. 4/5. But it still can't be the all time favorite duck in NYC, Ippudo. Shanghai dumplings, or xiao long bao, was ok. I liked how there was a LOT of soup inside, so much that my sister's bite squirted my eye, but the flavor of the soup could be better. 3/5. And their spicy beef noodle soup was bad. The soup was good, but the noodles were so THICK that by the end of the meal, it soaked up all the soup and there was none left -__- 2/5. OVERALL: If you're going to have bad service, make sure your food makes up for it. Your decor is nice, but I'm not coming here to stare at your walls...
(3)
Alison W.

Taiwanese type of food, I think. We came for the xiong long bao (xlb). But ended up ordering so much food. We got the fried pig intestines as the other appetizer, shrimp and runny egg wide rice noodles, seafood stir fried udon, and spicy beef egg noodle soup. And that was the order in which I liked the entrees. The shrimp and runny egg noodle dish was fabulous. I liked the flavor of sauce and there was a good amount of it with the eggs and shrimp. I could eat that every day. The udon dish was nice too - slightly salty but lots of flavor and seafood in there. The soup noodle dish was my least favorite because it was too spicy for me and also the egg noodles were overcooked and a bit soggy. Maybe get it with a different type of noodles. Most of the noodle dishes, you can pick your preferred noodle - rice, egg, udon, etc. Also the portions were huge as they should be because each dish was about $10. The xlb dumplings were nice - skin was thin with lots of soup inside and tasty pork. The pork intestines were basically all fat so we all really liked that a lot too. So many options, I would def come back to try more.
(4)
Sunny L.

i came in here only for the Shanghai Dumplings... :) The restaurant is nicely decorated and modern. There are a few beers on tap. I enjoyed the vibe it gives. The staff were nice and fast on there feet; probably due to the fact that the place was almost empty. As we sat into our seats, the host quickly set up the hot tea and cups in place; ordering the standard dumplings. The dumplings came out within a reasonable amount of time; spewing hot steam as it was fire itself. The host performed a dazzling movement with the spoon and placed it on top of the dumplings. Upon consuming this dumpling, i thoroughly enjoyed the soup like liquids and meat. It was a good dumpling :) Definitely a place to try dumplings; you won't be disappointed. Pros: Dumplings, Price Cons: The pillow thing on the side chairs Stars: 4
(4)
Marissa C.

I've been here a few times since I used to work a couple doors down awhile ago. The place has changed. It used to be WAY busier to the point people would be waiting outside for a table (even on weekdays). My boyfriend and I came here on a Monday night and there were only maybe 2-3 other tables already seated. We ordered the Mapo Tofu and the Hainan Chicken Rice plate to share. The Hainan Chicken Rice plate said it came with their Chicken Broth rice, but it for sure tasted like coconut rice (and I'm allergic to coconut!) Well...I learned the hard way later that night in the bathroom. It was definitely coconut rice lol. Overall, this place is okay if you want Chinese comfort food. Prices are kind of high still but I think if you come with a decent group, you can share family style and split the bill.
(3)
Bob H.

This place serves HongKong food. My husband loves their "beijing half duck" dish. Every time he goes he always orders that one! It's delicious. The service was fast and the waiters were very professional. Food was served fast and the ingredients were fresh. Food was not spicy or salty at all. More of southern light flavor.
(5)
Suzan S.

I was there on Thursday pm and the food was salty but ok. What I don't like is they over charged my credit card bill by 50%. This is unethical and bad practice. I just called and they said they will fix it, but I will NEVER be back.... BE CAREFUL and check your receipts
(1)
Christine S.

This place is always crackin' during lunch time for some reason. It's not bad Taiwanese food, but you can get better and more food somewhere else. I came here with some of my co-workers because they suggested it. The space isn't very small, but the tables and chairs were placed pretty close to each other, making it seem really cramped. I ordered the typical Taiwanese pork chop dish. It comes with sauce over the rice (yum), a half a plate of fried pork, a tea egg, and a bowl of soup. Although the pork was good, I felt like it was sliced too thinly - too little meat and too much breading. I had some of my friend's eggplant dish, and you can definitely find better eggplant dishes elsewhere. The service here is like any other Asian restaurant - they're so busy trying to help everyone that it will seem like they have no time for you. This restaurant isn't somewhere I would go out of my way to eat, but if I needed to eat somewhere in the area, I wouldn't mind eating there either.
(3)
Candy C.

1) Unlike the other patrons that were led to their tables, the hostess/waitress pointed out our table to us and we sat ourselves. 2) Nobody handed us a menu. My daughter had to get up to grab menus from the front. 3) Unlike other patrons who were served a complimentary soup before the entree, we were completely missed! 4) The waiter was abrupt and rude. And so in a rush!!! 5) The waiter was really very abrupt and rude. I cannot get over how disgustingly unprofessional he was that I have to mention this twice! No matter how good the food is (and frankly it was okay), the customer service left a nasty taste in my mouth.
(1)
Amy P.

Their peking duck here is awesome!! we always go here for that. other favorites here: -fried silk tofu -green onion pancakes [very small portion though, wish they gave you more and bigger portions!] -pork dumplings -snowpeas sauteed in garlic -Beijing peking duck -House special fried rice everything we've had have been good here. my family and I usually order the above and it's become the usual for us when dining here. clean restaurant too and the service is not bad for an Asian restaurant
(4)
Alana C.

This is one of my go to Chinese restaurants in Fremont. It's not usually very busy. Service is decent. It's fairly priced. It has yummy XLB. All around I'm a fan!
(4)
Chou Y.

Had the Hainan chicken lunch special. Comes with rice, some pickled veggies, and steamed cabbage. I wish there was more meat...a majority of the chicken was skin and bones. The scallion/ginger salty (in a good way) sauce is probably the only good thing about it. I wouldn't get this again if I came back though. I've had better. My friends come here all the time since they work down the street. One gets the wonton noodle soup every time. The other always gets the beef stew noodles. We shared the pork dumplings. There are two kinds. The spicy or regular. We opted for regular. Dumplings were ok. I wanted to try the lotus leaf sticky rice but my friend mentioned the last time she was there they didn't have it. So we asked if they had it today. They did not. Umm..it's 1130a and you just opened. Take it off the menu if you're just not going to serve it.
(3)
Leme K.

I loved and Hate it. I came here for lunch because what i really wanted was some tea but i havent eaten all day. So i came here to eat. It was about 2pm now. Lunch rush is over, came in, place was kinda empty. Had only two workers but they were busy. One noticed us and said to sit anywhere we'd like. I sat down, menus came and left us be to order. Returned about 5 minutes later, brought us tea and asked if we were ready to order.I ordered off their lunch special. One hunan chicken and one five spice duck. Both comes with soup. Pro and Cons: five spiced duck: Pro:perfectly seasoned. meat was moist and tender. Con: wished i had more for the portion was oh so small. Hunan Chicken: Pro: the rice was perfectly seasoned with the broth. Con: The chicken was cold and the rice was half under cooked. Our soup were forgotten till the end too. It didn't really make sense to me how those things can occur. How you can have one without the other. Servers tried their hardest. i know. but in the end Im a bit disappointed but im willing to come back.
(3)
Sandy Q.

I had lunch with a friend last week and since we haven't tried this place yet, we decided to drop by. We ordered the Hainanese chicken with rice, green onion pancake and scrambled eggs with seafood with rice. The chicken and rice was delicious. The green onion pancake was good but a little too oily. I have no comment on the last dish since I didn't get to try it. The decor is pretty updated and clean. Since this place is so close to where I live, I will definitely drop by in the near future.
(4)
Haley G.

It was SO easy to overindulge at food talk cafe. I came in with my boyfriends family, and we ordered a lot of food for the five of us.. I'm pretty sure I ate half of it. The peking duck was to die for, and I could not put down the salt and pepper squid. The bbq pork was delicious and flavorful. I tried a few other things that I didn't get the names of, but whatever they were, they did not disappoint. Every mouthful I had here was delightful and I'd love to return ASAP. I'm pretty sure I've had a few food-dreams about that peking duck since...
(5)
Kelly C.

Just the highlights. PROS: Stir fried seafood noodles was delicious. Perfectly cripsy on the outside and the inside was wet and flavorful surrounded by fresh seafood. Lotus leaf rice- you get two for the price of one. It was yummy. Tofu wrap mushroom and duck appetizer - cold plate served right. CONS: Service - It can be better. We had to ask the same waitress twice for take out boxes. They forgot to bring my milk tea drink. It seems like nobody knew which table they are suppose to serve. Shanghai dumpling was disappointing. It was too big and not tasty.
(3)
Bowen W.

1. Food quality is OK 2. Portion is extremely small! 3. Long waiting time for services 4. Great environment and higher end remodeling than avg Chinese place.
(3)
Amy H.

I have been on a streak of eating xiao long baos and am trying to hit up places nearby til I find my go to spot. Well this place isnt it but oh well. I had been here before for wonton soup which is always delicious but I guess the go to items for Shanghainese food is beef noodle soup and and xiao long baos. The three of us split the XLB and it was sorta pathetic. It only comes with 6 pieces for $6. A dollar a piece for those pipsqueaks? That is sorta lame but I had to try it. The skin is actually really soft and the soup remains in the bao but something about it was off. The meat wasnt as flavorful as other places and the soup tasted murky and not so hawt. The beef noodle soup was better and I was able to choose my favorite white flat noodles like you would get at TK noodle. The soup was a tad spicy so I felt the bloats when I returned to the office. The beef was chunky and flavorful but there were hardly any veggies. I might come back here for the beef noodle soup but probably wouldnt order the XLB. On to the next place! **TIPS** 1) This Asian place accepts credit card. Shocker :O 2) XLB is not so hawt and expensive for what you get. Skip. 3) Enjoy!
(3)
Jackie C.

The Chinese dumping is not good, the Peking duck is tasty tho
(4)
Raman S.

It is a good Hong Kong style cafe. We like their Hainan chicken dish and satay flounder with vegetables. They are busy on the weekends but you will get seated pretty quickly. Their service is very fast too. Their menu is very extensive. We will surely go back to try other dishes.
(3)
Ann L.

2nd time trying Food Talk Cafe. We weren't very hungry, but we still managed to eat. I got Hanainese chicken ho fun noodle soup $8.50 - maybe 3 slices of chicken peices mostly wing/bone. Totally got ripped off. Huge pot of noodles, soup, & some greens. I don't recommend it. B. got pig ears again. Average. Sauteed hollow steam greens $9.95 - big pile of greens, just ok. Total $26.05 before tip. Charged it. They have an Ecolab binder - Pest elimination customer service log - great, but at least they are taking care of it - I think!
(3)
Wei-Hong C.

This place serves a variety of food, but unfortunately I did not find anything very authentic or impressive. The service is so so, the speed is on the lower side, and the food size is quite small especially in view of the price. Will not come here again.
(2)
Simon S.

My coworker and I came here for lunch for the first time. We were the third guests to place our orders. Five minutes after our order was placed many more customers started to arrive. 15 minutes after our orders were placed we still didn't have our food but some how all 5 to 8 parties that arrived after us had been served already. We waited patiently for another 5 minutes and it was obvious our order was not a priority. After politely asking our server to voice to the manager our complaint, the manager didn't seem to be bothered by our dissatisfaction but instead he continued to attended to the customers who showed up after us. My coworker and I were not impressed with this place and would not recommend it to anyone.
(1)
Ryan M.

Just came back from my lunch at Food Talk. I had heard from several coworkers that this place was a gem, so I decided to try it out. When I came into the restaurant, I waited 3-5 minutes for anyone to come to the host stand. Though it was very busy, the lady was very rushed and seemed annoyed that I was a party of one. She said 'sit outside' so I did. I sat outside for about 10 minutes waiting for someone to take my order. Meanwhile, a Patron (seemingly somehow affiliated with the restaurant) smoked about 4-5 cigarettes at the table next to me. I am not sure what the laws are in California, but in most every state Ive traveled, this is not ok. Nobody that came to give him food/drinks asked him to stop. Finally, after 10 minutes of waiting she came to take other dishes (from previous guests) off of my table and said 'are you ready?'. I placed my order. She didnt acknowledge me, she just left. Food arived pretty quickly. (I ordered a pork spare rib/pineapple/rice combo). Though the food was tasty, and the flavor was there, there wasnt much meat, and the meat that I did have was mostly bone. Waiter never came back to fill my water, ask how I was doing, nothing. Finally, about 15 minutes after finishing my lunch, I went inside. I waited another 3-5 minutes for someone to come to the host stand. I had to ask for my own bill so I could leave and go back to work. Though im sure the food is good, I wouldnt come back purely based on this experience.
(1)
Katherine L.

Came for dinner with a friend. We got Peking duck and Hainan chicken. My friend brought me here specifically for the Hainan chicken. I felt like it was pretty good and I really liked the sauce that it came with. I thought the rice could be a bit more flavorful and the chicken more meaty. The peking duck was nice because it came with the buns I love but the duck I felt like was a bit skinny. I did like the service here. They were really nice. I think I need to come back and try so me other dishes.
(3)
Neil H.

THEY STEAL FROM YOU EVEN IF YOU TIP THEM WELL ALREADY. I found this out by matching my CC receipt with the statements, and I found out that Food Talk Cafe charged me an extra dollar over what I wrote on the receipt. BE CAREFUL. This is shady practice. Considering that the service was REALLY slow that day, and I was very irritated, but I still tipped them the regular 20%. Mind you, I have no problem tipping, but they still sneaked charged me an extra dollar on top of it. This is unethical and who knows how many others they have done this to! I called my CC company, Discover, who was very helpful. But this is very unethical nonetheless. I used to like this place, but now I won't go back due to their practices. Shady.
(1)
Lydian L.

The service is really slow, almost finish our noodles, and the side order is served. they also give me wrong drink. the food is okay, although they have some Taiwanese food on menU, but they are totally not familiar with taiwanese food. i would recommend you only order those hong kong food only, if you want to have a exactly authentic food.
(2)
Tiffany D.

Based on the exterior from the outside, I was not expecting the interior to look so modern-fusion Asian! I like the decor, but the ceiling or walls makes the sound volume quite dense or feel compacted. Wine Chicken in Clay Pot came out sizzling hot! Every bite of this tasty chicken was savory! BBQ Pork was succulent and their Cold Bean Curd Dish was a bit on the salty side, but it was still tolerable if you eat rice with it! Their food and service is above average in terms of modern Taiwanese cuisine dining experience. It's a great cafe for a Taiwanese meal. The restaurant's name could be renamed to make it sound more appealing or enticing to go to.
(4)
Karen P.

Food Talk Cafe had it's up and downs over the past year. We stop coming at one point because the food was extremely salty (as in all the dishes we ordered, not just one) ! I am glad they finally hire a new chef and revamped their menu a bit. For now I'm giving them 3 stars, I hope they maintain their current standard and keep up with the consistency! Good service, please keep up with the great work.
(3)
Vivian Y.

this restaurant is not bad. We was here for Shao Mountain but a always there's a long queue outside of it and we were so starving. This restaurant serves Taiwanese and xiao long bao. the tastes are good. next time I am here for Shao Mountain and it's crowded I will consider food talk cafe again =)
(3)
Rita V.

I came here with my family for lunch, since Asian Pearl was pretty crazy and super crowded. Food Talk Cafe was a few stores down, and it was not that crowded. We were able to get a table right away. It was nice to be inside and warm, since it was freezing outside. Since I was still cold, I decided to order wonton noodle soup. The service was pretty good here. My noodle soup came out within 10 minutes. There was so many plump wontons, and they tasted great. There was enough noodles to be filling and the soup was good. I'd definitely come back here to try other dishes.
(4)
Tiger L.

Peking duck 2 stars Fry pork intestin 2 stars Winter melon with little neck clam 4 stars Frog porridge 4 stars
(3)
Crystal H.

This is for the food that I ordered to-go. So I was sick with tonsillitis for a long time so all I can eat is porridge. I ended up ordering their preserved egg with pork porridge within two days. It was good, not too salty for my throat. There could be more eggs though! I think it was like $6-7. Good amount for my tummy. The staff was nice too. They offered water while we waited for our food. It closes in the afternoon for few hours in between lunch and dinner.
(4)
Lively G.

Great savory food. Love the Peking duck. The buns are just perfect. Tonight we had egg white fried rice, seafood tofu claypot, beef with two kinds of mushroom and white flounder with chinese broccoli. All were very tasty. Highly recommend this place!
(5)
John T.

This is the only Chinese restaurant in the Bay Area that has really friendly service. The food was very good and distinctive. The menu is off the Beaten Path. Dishes like duck jaw, oxtail in wine sauce, frog in wine sauce and fish head are some of the more tasty delicacies. If you like sauted onions and roasted garlic, this is the place to be. The chef also take it easy on salt, vinegar and sweets in flavoring which makes it much better for tasting the real flavor of the featured ingredients like the actual meat or vegetable.
(5)
Cynthia A.

I use to love coming here. The food was tasty but even I can only give so many chances. The big no no? Hair in my porridge.. not once but 3 separate times! UGH do those people not wear hairnets in the kitchen? So gross. So 3 strikes and I say adios! *shivers*
(1)
Lyn C.

3.5 rounded up. Recent meal updates: XLB- I've had better. Not much flavor in these soup dumplings. Beef noodle soup- default soup order. pretty good on a chilly day. Duck lunch meal- rice, duck & soup. my other default order if wanting rice.
(4)
Byron P.

Too much rice...
(3)
Jennifer N.

At first glance, this place is like an upscale Asian cafe with subtle reminders that we're in America with the neat table settings and spacious walkways. Most Asian cafes I go to barely have any walking space, let alone comfortable seating or big screen tvs. Okay, maybe some. Anyway, we ordered Peking Duck over rice and Hainan Chicken. The Peking duck over rice was pretty good, above average for what I had expected. The skin of the duck and succulent and crispy and it's pretty separated from the meat. Peking duck lovers should know what I mean. However, it was very fatty and I got a little sick of eating it after 20 mins. The plate overall was very tasty and I do think they gave me a decent portion for one. The Hainan Chicken was the biggest disappointment! Not only was it extremely unauthentic (and I use unauthentic very loosely here..), it was just your basic yellow chicken with rice. Hainan chicken is supposed to come with a chicken oil sauce over the rice with a spicy red sauce on the side but this one was plain. I thought they maybe made a mistake but looking through the pictures on Yelp, it seems that's how they make it. Hainan chicken is usually pretty liberal, and can be made based on what the restaurant wants but there are certain staples that HAVE to be on the plate to "authenticize" it otherwise it should be a crime. A CRIME! It's like eating fried chicken without the chicken. It's THAT important. Overall, I would not recommend this place. They are overpriced, and mediocre for a pretentious meal I could find somewhere else. The quality of the food isn't made with care or precision... they pretty much just stuff you with rice. I didn't even mention that the hainan chicken plate had mostly joints and stuff. Look at my pictures of it and you'll see what I mean. I've had better cafes in the area for simple Chinese cafe food.
(2)
R S.

This is my favorite chinese restaurant in Fremont because the interior is stylish modern, friendly service and they speak good English! Best of all I can have german beer on tap with my meal. For lunch I always order number 11 (beef with crisp fresh vegetables - snap peas, carrot, etc) , a great dish with balanced flavors. For dinner they have an array of delicious choices from their popular noodle soups, crispy tofu to peking duck which comes with steamed buns.
(5)
Donna T.

We came here for dinner on a Saturday night. It was not busy. Service was fast and attentive. However, the food portions are extremely small for the price. For example, we ordered the stewed beef appetizer ($6.99) there were only about 8 slices. The same holds true for the fried dumplings, wonton noodle soup, and the oxtail claypot. Also, the oxtail was cold to lukewarm when it was brought out. Seems like they took it from the freezer and just reheated. The server did take it back to get reheated. So two stars for the better than average service compared to other Chinese restaurants. Food tasted ok, but too pricey for the tiny portions.
(2)
Ee Vonn Y.

Considering that I was here on a budget, the amount food I got was decent. I marked it down to 3 stars because a tiny bowl of rice smaller than my hand should not be $3.50. We ended up spending more than $40 to feed 3 people. The price took away from how enjoyable the food potentially was. The inside is nice, noisy, and clean. Within this small amount of space, they were able to create a hip fusion feel. Even though there were only 2 waiters managing the entire restaurant at this time, everything ran smoothly. Our waiter was courteous enough to allow us to sit outside even after we got settled and forgot to tell them we preferred outdoor seating. We ordered the hot pot casserole with a combination of pork intestine, garlic, chicken, squid, and other things in wine sauce. It was good except that there wasn't enough wine sauce and it seemed like all the dishes in the restaurant were cooked with this ingredient.
(3)
Bonnie S.

This restaurant was quite disappointing...I came here for lunch and it seemed popular among businessmen around the area. We ordered from the lunch special menu: a Hai Nan chicken rice plate, and also the stir fried eggplant rice plate. The eggplant was better than the chicken, but both were not worth the price or calories. They gave us a disappointingly frugal amount of chicken and what seemed like two bowls of rice. Hai Nan rice is usually very flavorful and tasty, but the one here is bland. I almost mistakened it for plain white rice if it weren't for its slightly tinted yellow color. The eggplant was, as I expected, very oily. It was freshy stir fried , but could have been a lot more flavorful. A disappointing meal. Hai Nan chicken and stir fried eggplant deserve a lot better.
(3)
Ted C.

Winter melon and clam soup: OK, a little too peppery Shao long bao: Good, standard. Small. Flounder with Chinese broccoli: very good. The tables are a little too close for comfort. I would only come back if it is not crowded.
(3)
Amy T.

Peking Duck and Xiao Lung Bao! Those are delicious here and I definitely recommend them. Also had the Sweet and Sour Flounder and this Beef Chow Fun noodle dish. Those two were okay. Service here is good and the place looks really nice. Their bathrooms here are really fancy looking as well!
(3)
Lorianne E.

This place is absolutely delicious. I haven't eaten good Chinese food in a long time and this place definitely impressed me! Better than the restaurants in SF Chinatown! We ordered the Egglant and Basil (Mmmm!), peking duck w/steamed buns, Shanghai dumplings, a sizzling steak dish, and Westlake soup. Everything was delicious!! I wish they would serve the Shanghai dumplings with the soup spoons so that you can put that sauce on it. Either way, still delish!! We plan on eating here again soon! The restaurant is nicely decorated and the servers were nice and accommodating (for an Asian restaurant - haha).
(4)
Lawrence L.

Came in with some old colleagues of mine and decided to try their "business lunch menu". Had the sea bass and snow crab XLB with fried pancake with beef filling. 4 XLB's (as opposed to 8 per their regular orders) were piping hot, but the outer skin was a little on the thick side, and filling was sort of tasteless - should have just ordered their standard pork filled XLB's. Otherwise the fried pancake was pretty good. Overall, not my favorite combo due to small portions vs price of the meal @ $8.95. I must give them kudos for the free iced green milk tea though... I usually like this place for their noodle and rice dishes. Next time I will stick to that... Friendly and fast service as usual. Just picked the wrong lunch item...
(3)
Mona L.

Good service, clean place. They serve very authentic Chinese good. I've ordered the Peking duck, Hainan chicken, and pig intestine. It's all very good. The wonton soup was very good as well, nice broth. The frog legs were disappointing, no need to order that again.
(4)
Anna Y.

Bad experience, will never come back. Planned to go to Shao Mountain for dinner but the waiting was too long. So tried this one for the 1st time. Issues: 1. The description in the menu does not reflect what you get. "Succulent shrimp" are so small that they look like in the 51/60 category. 2. One dish we ordered was clearly forgotten. We reminded them twice and got "on its way" reply but only got it when we finished the whole meal. No apologies whatsoever. 3. Worse of all, we ordered Xiao Long Bao. It was lukewarm when I ate it. It was on the table for a while so did not complain. When I took a bite, the skin felt sticky. Did not think too much about it with kids messing around. On our way home, I realized that they were not cooked through. YUCK! Felt sick for two days!
(1)
sophia j.

I never go into a Chinese restaurant with high expectations so I was impressed by how friendly the staff were and how clean the restaurant was. The food was definitely good, however I've had better xiao long bao elsewhere.
(5)
Leslie P.

Since the last time I came (just over a year ago), the menu has changed, prices gone up and quality of food has gone down. My parents and I ordered pancake wraps (steamed buns, sliced marinated beef, onions), seafood udon in black peppercorn sauce, & hainan chicken rice plate. My favourite was the udon; the black peppercorn was delish! The beef buns were okay, as was the chicken. The waiter was willing to give us more of the minced ginger green onion sauce. It's a little pricey for just okay food. The major let down was that they do not have the sesame shredded chicken cold noodle dish. That was the only reason why I picked to come here!
(3)
Alex L.

First off, this place has a weird name. What is a "Food Talk"? And can someone please explain to me what their quote means on their menu? "Our flavor shares of heavenly feast, earthly epicure hardly tastes". WTF? This needs to go into the collection of "Chinglish" jokes that circulates the net and emails. Did the owner just randomly pick out some words out of the dictionary and try to be elegant without consulting his ESL teacher first? Ok, now the food. First off it is priced much higher than regular Chinese restaurants for everything except the Pan Fried Seabass. We ordered the beef noodle tendon soup, the prawn egg noodle, dumplings, and of course the seabass. Everything was quite good especially the seabass which was moderately priced at $15 for a decent sized slab and it was perfectly seared. We were stuffed and I had food for lunch the next day :) Now if only the food can talk and menu make sense. No worries, I forgive you FOBI Chinese restaurant owners. You made up for it with good food.
(4)
dexter p.

Watch out for the hidden trap on the menu!! Since when did Peking duck = Cantonese roast duck???? How are the two the same thing??? Clam soup = some frozen clam in a pot of MSG water!
(1)
Matt J.

Been here several time now: I have never been let down... lets see if the third is the best! Great fried noodles and sea food! Beer to complement! Where can you go wrong? great service, clean place, gets bust though...
(5)
Nancy T.

My boyfriend and I were in the area almost headed to our usual spot in that plaza (little hot pot), but we decided last minute to try something new so we ended up here. We ordered the spicy beef tripe, the Peking duck with rice, and the spicy beef & intestines. The spicy beef tripe is a usual appetizer that my bf and I get when we go to a Taiwanese restaurant. I'm not really sure if this is a Taiwanese place, but anyways the dish was pretty tasty and I was satisfied. The Peking duck came with a side of rice and cabbage. The Peking Duck was quite delicious although it was a little on the greasy side and the duck was pretty fatty as well, but the taste was good! The skin was also crispy. The cabbage that came with it was yummy as well! I was very happy with the spicy beef and intestines. The jalapenos were spicy and everything was just delicious! There weren't that many people there, but service was still good. Every time I looked up there was a waiter looking over at us to see if we needed anything else. I will definitely go back to try some other things on the menu.
(4)
Craig D.

My wife and I along with a couple of relatives had lunch at the Food Talk Cafe yesterday. We were impressed. The clams, dumplings, and kung pao chicken were all wonderful. The staff were pleasant and gave us just the right amount of attention.
(4)
judy c.

I think the food has gone downhill since my last review. The Peking duck isn't consistently great and they no longer serve the coconut pudding. Not sure what's going on but it was closed for business recently...I would like to try their lunch special again (roast duck) to see if I need to continue dining here.
(3)
Jenny A.

Ugh. One word: disappointed!! I ordered the JJ noodles, and it came out in a PLATE!!! Not a bowl, but a plate. And there was no boiled egg in there like there traditionally is. It was really one note too and could've used a little more salt, and idk..FLAVOR?! We also got this chow fun with egg/beef. That was good. Meat was soft, it was saucy and it was the best thing we had. We also got fried pork intestines. PUREEE FAT. We had no idea it was going to be with the skin and fat. We thought it was just going to be the intestine itself. It was so fattening that we didn't even eat it. And why was it paired with pineapple?! WEIRD. Will not be back! Direct your business to Mama Chen!!
(2)
Stacy C.

Nice place for lunch. Great customer service, good ambiance, and delicious food. Came here for some Peking Duck and left super satisfied. Decent pricings too. Not overly expensive. Good place to go with coworkers, friends, on a casual date, etc. ***their bathroom is really nice***
(5)
Annie C.

They put MSG in their food according to their waiters!
(1)
Gayle M.

Rice plates are overpriced. $7.99 for bland honey chicken BBQ. Service is slow and weird. Nice ambience but the food is just not good. I wouldn't recommend this place to anybody.
(1)
Richard M.

Definitely try the Hainan chicken. It says Asian fusion but it's mostly southern Chinese food. The green onion pancake is awesome, but for $3 you get four tiny pieces. Food is good but value isn't.
(3)
Sally T.

Went here with my cousin once. Not bad Taiwanese food, but for some reason I couldn't remember much about this place. Fried Crispy Tofu was the only dish I remembered.
(3)
Miffy L.

first visit here, not bad at all! ordered hai nan chicken + jellyfish / scallop egg white fried ricee. nom nom nom
(4)
Kari C.

I don't know why this place only has a 3.5 star. The restaurant was clean, there was great service. We ordered the chicken and wine claypot and honey bbq pork noodle. The food was so good, nicely flavored, hot and fresh! Super fast service too, and the waiter was attentive when taking our order, superfriendly and made jokes.
(5)
Megan L.

#NAME?
(3)
Joey N.

place obviously gets banged up but i enjoy this place. I prefer aberdeen but that place has less things for the significant other. In anycase the pekking duck is great - better than aberdeen, the slice beef with bun, the gai lan, the hanain chicken... all pretty awesome. Plust my gf gets to get her fried pig guts.. I must say that is pretty good once you get past the fact that you are eating guts.
(4)
Proper D.

Excellent little restaurant in a random, tucked away Asian plaza in Fremont serving authentic, homestyle Chinese food. This is not a cafe in the normal sense of the word, so don't come here expecting that. It is a nice, sit-down restaurant. PROS: Hands-down the best customer service I have ever received at a Chinese restaurant; Nice ambience and decor; Excellent presentation and flavors; Huge selection; No MSG; Child-friendly (lots of parents with kids here for dinner...this could also be a con!); Good draft beer selection. CONS: The ubiquitous flat screen TV taking away everyone's attention; Every dish is about $1 more than your typical Chinese place, but you get what you pay for here so this is not a big deal; The place is pretty small so you end up sitting very close to your fellow patrons Bottom line: Terrible name, great food.
(5)
Eric L.

Good food, attentive wait staff, and a personal favorite Kirin beer on tap. Pretty much all I can want. I have gone here with family and friends for the past year. From parties of 10 to a party of 4 (including small children), they always go out of their way to make our experience plesant. They even offered to provide milk to our kids one time when we forgot to bring some. As for the food, must try include the Bejing Duck and their dumplings. Very very flavorful and are always on our must orders whenever we have a meal. We haven't gone wrong from various rice dishes, to seafood, to any of the meats. They have pretty much been on target.
(4)
Swati R.

This now has become my fav chinese restaurant in the area. Last two visits food has been consistent. The place is clean with nice decor. The food is not too oily, has good variety and seems fresh. Fried rice is very good, sea food hot sour soup was good. The spicy flounder was just fried fish with chilies and garlic, it does not have gravy. just so you know. Service is warm and friendly, have felt welcome.
(4)
Jet D.

Waiter was very attentive and service was fast (note it was before the dinner rush). The place is very clean, kid friendly and the food was excellent. Stand-out dishes were the Peking duck and beef noodle soup. Worth going out of my way to eat there again.
(5)
Aimee R.

They have porridge again! It's awesome! Some other items that I like to get: -Sweet and Sour Chicken -Runny Chow Fun Noodles with Egg and Shrimp -Eggplant and Basil Same great service.
(4)
hanna l.

A friend brought me here last weekend and I'm always down to try new places. They have a huge selection in terms of what you can order so I narrowed my choices down to noodle soups. I got the wonton noodle soup as recommended by the waitress and the best part of the dish were the wontons. The soup was bland at best. And they gave me a TON of noodles but I didn't even eat half of it b/c it had no flavor. I'd be open to going back but I'd probably try something else. Maybe I ordered the wrong dish.
(3)
Gino C.

Good food. I would visit this place more often had I live nearby. We ordered the house special fried rice, spicy flounder and a tofu/seafood dish served on a sizzling plate... So yummy!
(4)
Perry N.

Went here this past weekend with the family for Chinese food after an afternoon around the South Bay. At around 7PM, the place was packed, it was the first time we had to wait in line to get into the restaurant and that was very surprising (we usually go at 5PM). To start off the service was pretty meh. We had a table of regulars sitting next to us who got the star treatment which made us feel ignored. (They also got priority seating as they knew one of the waitresses), but as we were about to complain another waitress came to take our order. The rest of the service was good as another waiter was flying around the whole room answering requests. Some of the foods I want to highlight are the Pan Fried Carrot (?) Cake and the Hot Milk Tea. Both were really good, the cake was very crispy and was delicious and the milk tea was prepared very well. One note I should add is that the Milk Tea WILL keep you up at night (I think its full of caffine or something, so beware!). The rest of the food was OK, the Hainan Chinese Rice was OK as usual, and the fried rice we got however was missing something. All in all 3/5!
(3)
James N.

Chinese food? It's the first thing I basically ate once I came back to the United States. Quite simply it's probably one of the easiest choices next to a burger joint here. Food Talk Cafe is a nice restaurant that is located nearby Zen Cafe and can't be missed. The restaurant is somewhat crammed with tables but there's plenty of walking room on the aisles. Service is quick and efficient and can be a bit impatient (maybe at our own fault). I wanted something simple and small, and opted for the lunch version (a bit smaller version, you'll save a buck) of the Yang Chow Fried Rice which is basically a shrimp fried rice. My two other friends on the table went for a beef brisket rice and noodles. The two brisket dishes actually looked very good. Though I didn't get to taste it it definitely smelt nice. Sadly, I wasn't able to say the same thing for my own fried rice. It is okay and the best part of the dish is actually the shrimp itself. The shrimp was nice and plump and juicy while the fried rice is a bit dry. I borrowed my friend's D90 to take pictures of the food. The food did looked pretty nice but there's no real presentation on the dish besides the food itself. ------ + Pro: Quick HK style chinese food. - Con: A little pricey. ( @_o)k Overall: A good place for some chinese food.
(3)
Lorna M.

Here few days ago with coworkers! Omg are you kidding me? Their food was just ok but their Peking duck is so pricy and not even fresh! And the service was horrible! Will not be back
(2)
SF A.

Great food and service. Will definitely return . Only thing I would change is not having to watch Michael Bolton live in concert on TV. Put on some Asian music!!
(4)
Johnny J.

Portions are crazy small. Service was bad even for a Chinese joint where it is expected. Won't return and I give very few bad reviews.
(1)
Bill H.

Contemporary decor and authentic Chinese food usually don't mix, but not at this place. For a Chinese restaurant, the service is decent and the place is quite sanitary. It kind of surprised me that they have beer on tap, specifically hefeweizen. Their Peking duck and shrimp wonton noodle soup are some of my favorites.
(4)
Hoiling W.

I agree that this place isn't the best, but the one thing that keeps me coming back is the peking duck! I'm not sure where else you can get duck with such crispy skin and fresh buns to go with it for the price they charge! YUM...other than that...yea..this place is alright.
(3)
mui chu C.

although the restaurant is a bit small... but like the food there~~
(4)
jess l.

We've been there 3 times, while the decor is tidy and interesting for the kind of restaurant, the rest has been hit and miss, and perhaps more miss than hit. First time we visited there, we notice some dishes were labeled "Taiwanese style" so we gave those a try. I had a soup noodle bowl that's supposed to be a typical dish, but it wasn't even close nor good for a soup noodle. On 2nd time we were there, we figured enough people are dining in there, they must have some good food. So I went with the hong kong style food and jelly grass milk tea, while wife had bbq pork rice, another typical dish. This time, we were happy with the food's quality, even ordered a 2nd jelly grass milk tea because it's really good. We left happy that day. We went there for lunch today, hoping to relive the experience. When my beef stew noodle came, I took a bite and it was obvious the noodle was not cooked, i had wife to try and she confirmed it. We told the waiter about it and he took it back to the kitchen telling the kitchen that noodle was uncooked, then mumbled with other waiters about never had anyone complaining about noodles being uncooked. Nice, we were sitting at the far end corner of the restaurant from the kitchen and we could hear their conversation, maybe they said it purposely so we could hear. To be fair to the food, we are overall satisfied. The pumpkin cake was perfectly fried, while center was soft and creamy, highly re commanded. If they fix waiter's attitude, they'd have gotten at least a solid 3+ from us.
(2)
Bridge M.

The little section of fremont has blown up in the past 5 years. Granted, i haven't been to all the cafes/restaurants in the back 'asian alley' (behind costco), but this place is definitely my go-to place for a more laid back, quick but good meal. It's a little pricey as everyone says, but i tend to stick with simpler dishes when i eat here anyways (niu rou mien was great, with good noodles, spicy broth and a generous serving). If i wanted to get something pricey, i would just head next door Asian Pearl.
(3)
Christina D.

I've been here numerous times. Each time, I always order my favorite dishes which are the Peking Duck, the Hainanese Chicken, and the BBQ Pork over rice. My kids especially love the BBQ pork with its sweet flavor and tenderness. The service here is always good. This is our go to restaurant in this plaza.
(4)
R T.

quality and service has gone DOWN.
(2)
H T.

i came here for lunch today w/ my parents. we got here super early, around 11:30 am, and there were a few patrons in there already. by the time we left at 12 (service is swift here, and we ate fast!), it was getting packed. between the three of us, we got the fish filet congee, an order of deep fried tofu, hainan chicken rice, and wonton noodle soup w/ egg noodles. the portions of congee and hainan chicken rice were huge, but the noodles were a normal size. we ended up having to take most of the congee home, which was really tasty and light. the decor here is modern, and the bathrooms are really clean. they even have many beers on tap, and you can order apps and small dishes and have them w/ beer.
(4)
Jen K.

I would think the food would be outta this world if you had to wait 30 minutes to get a table, but not really. XLBs are good (wait, aren't they ALWAYS good?! :p) and the porridge totally hits the spot on a cold night. They have some pumpkin dessert/dimsum dish that's pretty light and very good. Don't think I'll come very often especially since every time I pass by this place, there seems to be a line... :-/
(3)
Peter L.

went here for dinner last night based on co-worker's recommendation. the name of this place in chinese is "food god". i guess that would be inappropriate in english... the decor was pretty nice, of course being new. it has a modern style, like most of the newer places in taipei. there is a 50inch LCD tv in the middle of the place. i like the decor. though it was pretty fancy. service was pretty good, despite what other yelpers have experience here. we got seated right away, then after we ordered, we got moved to a bigger table. we order peking duck, xiao long bao, and pork-chop over rice. my friend always wants to eat pork chop over rice at every taiwanese place we go to.... i talked him into getting the peking duck and xiao long bao. the peking duck was $22. price about right. it was ok. well, the last time i had peking duck was in taiwan 5 star hotel restaurant. the only drawback was that it would have been nice if they slice it so that i didnt have to de-bone some of the meat myself. all the skin was sliced ok. but, i had to de-bone alot of the meat so that i can put it in the bun. usually everything is de-boned except for a couple drumsticks. xiao long bao was decent. nothing special. it was juicy. just typical. pork chop over rice - the pork chop was cook differently. it was more like tonkatsu. they also have a sweat and sour sauce. this is not chinese style. it was pretty good since i like tonkatsu. overall, i like the place. would definitely go again to try the different dishes. service was excellent, maybe cuz we spoke to them in chinese. all the dishes came really quick. bill was $42 + 7tip for 2 person. 3 star for the food + 1star for nice decor and service.
(4)
D Y.

the food is pretty good, but a lil pricey for it. the service is sub-par. had the siu gao noodles and taiwanese fried noodles.
(2)
Three XL T.

GOOD FOOD! A lil rough on the wallet though. Overall I will be returning. Service was above average.
(3)
Jon L.

Food is a little pricey but pretty good. The peking duck alone makes this place worth visiting, the skin is crispy but the meat retains the juicy flavor well. I can do without the other dishes as they all seem average to me, but like other posters the peking duck keeps me coming back.
(4)
paul t.

The food here is okay, little greasy needs more flavor! blah
(3)
Brian H.

My experience at Food Talk Cafe was, how shall I say this, like eating dirty noodles from a fancy bowl. I came here with a friend today because he said that it was pretty good. And I must say, the moment I walked in, I was pretty impressed. The dark wood/concrete/metal decor was rather striking, especially for a Chinese cafe. Even in the waiter's kitchen, the cabinets and flooring are consistent. I voiced my pleasant surprise to my friend. That's where the good stuff ends. First, our server. He came by a couple times before we were ready to order. When I was finally ready to order, he answered a question of mine, I gave him my order and got ready to take off saying, "Not ready to order?" We had to stop him, repeat my order, and then have my friend order. I, the "Beef Brisket Soup Noodle" and my friend, the "Beef Varieties with Rice" (e.g., tripe). A couple minutes later, I realized that the waiter never asked me what kind of noodle I wanted, since the menu listed: "(flat noodle, rice noodle)." When I got his attention, he told me that he just put down rice noodle because that's the standard order, sort of in a "you should know that" tone. I politely protested that while that might be common knowledge among the staff, I wasn't aware. Moreover, the menu only lists them both as options, not just the flat noodle. But he insisted on keeping the order as is. To make a long story short, he refused to change the order. Alright, fine. I'm not going to be an ass, because that's not who I am and I don't want you to spit in my food. Second, the food. When I finally got the food, it wasn't bad. Cantonese-style beef brisket, FYI. It was a standard, not large size bowl. But it cost $7.50. That's pretty steep for a bowl of soup noodles, even more so for an okay bowl, and even more for a bowl with cheap rice noodles. My friend had a large plate of rice, but just a few pieces of tripe and a few twigs of veggies. I'm sure it was fine, he didn't saying anything about the taste, but it seemed like a rather meager portion for about $7.50. So what's the bottom line here? If this place didn't charge $7.50 but $5 and if the decor were more like the bottom of my shoe, then I would probably have given this place a 3 or 4 star. But as it stands, Food Talk Cafe has oversold itself. The bowl might be fancy, but dirty noodles are dirty noodles. Food Talk is still basically a hole in the wall joint and you should simply walk in expecting that. I wouldn't pay to go back, but if someone decides to treat me, I probably wouldn't object. And if the service is better or I hit upon an amazing dish, I might reconsider this review.
(2)
Jon M.

The wait staff was rude and rushed us in ordering. I found their food to be decent, but not good enough to endure the rudeness. The place is decorated nicely with a contemporary feel, however that didn't make up for our bad experience. I had the fried porkchop over rice and it wasn't anything to write home about.
(1)
Dan R.

My friend brought me here last night. We ordered the peking duck and it was GOOD!!!. The price is also very reasonable. I definately will recommend this place to others.
(4)
Kathleen M.

So I was craving ramen and a friend brought me here. I ordered the F4 (Shrimp Wonton Noodle soup with egg noodles) and my husband order D4, some kind of porridge, and boy were they good! The shrimp was huge and delicious and the ramen fulfilled my craving. Next time, I'm going to try their peking duck with Mandarin pancakes. I heard that's what this place is really known for. Oh yeah, and the service was fast. We appreciated that since we sat outside in the cold (unfortunately, they ran out of gas for the heaters).
(4)
Carmine W.

This place is clean and the decor is nice. Their food is decent and their pork dumplings is good but ... heir Hoinanese chicken was not cooked and the rice was hard. We also ordered the Crystal chicken and it tasted exactly like the Hoinanese chicken with sprinkled fried garlic on the top. Their beef stew noodles is good, only if they could cook the beef stew a longer time (the beef was not soft enough). Oh! Their Peking Duck is good.
(3)
V L.

The Honey BBQ Pork / Cha Xiao / Char Siu is the best I've found in the bay. None of that dried out meet with pink food coloring that passes for cha xiao around most of the Cantonese places in the U.S. This is the real deal, moist and flavorful with just the right amount of fat. The rest of the menu is a greatest hits list of Canto-Taiwanese cafe favorites. The basics are done pretty well in a comfortable setting. This is what a real modern Chinese restaurant looks like in Shanghai, Hong Kong or Taipei. Ignore the haters, but I'd stick with the basics. Probably not the place to spring for the $25 duck when everything else is at or under $10.
(4)
Enid C.

I was in CA for a weekend and came here twice. The first time was a pleasant surprise. The beef brisket was really tender, the roast duck was perfectly crispy and pretty lean for duck, and most of all it's pretty authentic Asian food and totally satisfied my craving for good, decently priced, and quick Asian food. The second time was still good and left me wanting more! Next time I go back, I'll probably be found there :) Service was alright. Some of the waitresses got a little emotional and were crying in the restaurant which probably freaked out some of the customers, but there were many who made up for the awkwardness and lack of service during that time.
(4)
Kevin W.

Nice and clean restaurant, good for its Peking duck and Hainan chicken
(4)
T. N.

Our new favorite neighborhood restaurant. The chicken and rice dish never fails. Also tried xiao long bao. Pretty good. And the cold noodles with Peking duck. Awesome.
(5)
rice r.

We ordered --- 1. Xiao long bao - no soup, not to my standard. 2. Wonton noodle soup - wonton is good. Noodle is not bad... the soup base is a miss. It was served warm - not hot. 3. Beijing duck - the skin was good, crunchy. However, it's too much FAT on the skin. I think they can do better. 4. Beef stew noodle soup - pretty good 5. Hainan chicken - acceptable. So we tried this place. Nothing really 'whoa' us. but not a bad experience either.
(3)
Ken C.

Good food. We especially like the duck (Beijing roasted duck). The price is a bit expensive but the duck was delicious.
(3)
Shannon T.

The service here is quirky, but if you speak cantonese and are easy going, it's entertaining. They do try their best to be fast. We came on a super busy Sunday lunch hour and even though the place was packed, they got our food out with quickness. I love their dumplings, haven't had better outside of din tai fung in arcadia. i also really liked their peking duck.
(5)
Jenny Y.

My first review and the first review for this place?!! Yay! Hubby and I dropped in on this restaurant because Costco was experiencing a power outage today around noon. We were originally planning to eat the Pho Saigon but decided to go here instead when we found out that it had just opened (and the decor looked nice) and they were having a 10% OFF promotion (until the 15th of next month, we were told). Not knowing how the food would taste, we decided to be cautious and ordered only a few items to share after consulting two of the restaurant staff. One who looked like the owner/manager (tall guy with longish hair) recommended the Taiwanese pork rice dish but another person, a lady we recognized as a staff (former?) from the nearby Yogi House, told us to try the Shiao Long Bao and Beef Noodle Soup. Since her recommendations seem more appealing, we decided to go with her suggestion and add a seaweed appetizer. Unfortunately, they didn't make the dish today so we ended up getting the spicy duck tongue, which was probably a better choice. Two of the dishes - the duck tongue and beef noodle soup - turned out pretty good but the Shiao Long Bao needed work. It was suppose to be "soupy" when you bite into it but we didn't detect much "juice" in the dumplings. The top of the skin (where the folds were) seemed a little thick. Lastly, the loofah pieces should have been long slices for better texture. That said, the other two dishes and the service were good enough that we'd want to go back. The duck tongue was fresh and perfectly seasoned with soy sauce and light sesame oil. The tongue pieces sat on a bed of similarly flavored peanuts that Hubby liked a lot. The beef noodle soup wasn't the best we've had but the broth had good meat flavor, the beef pieces were tender, and it had good greens. The best part about the restaurant though, which we didn't get a chance to try today, was that they had several (5 or 6, I think) beers on tap, including Kirin. Hubby says he will try to find some time to go back when he can try the beer with some snacks. Overall, we're glad to have a more upscale (but not expensive) Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant like "Food Talk Cafe" in Fremont. We hope that the rest of that shopping center will develop so that there will be other good eats! *Incidentally, the website doesn't seem to be up yet.
(3)
Carol T.

affordable, good quality food and CLEAN (no typical sticky chinese restaurant tables/floor). get the beef brisket dry noodles and the hainen chicken w/ rice. service is a little slow so dont be afraid to ask for more water/tea, forks, your bill, etc. Otherwise, you might just die of thirst and never leave (or resort to dining and dashing).
(3)
Henry C.

So, I read through other people's reviews and decided to put in my 2 cents. When you come to Food Talk Cafe, you really need to know what to order. Like everything else, set your expectation right. If you expect everything to be perfect, then this is not the place. If you're a die hard noodles person, do yourself a favor, don't eat there or you may be disappointed. To me, you go there for their duck, chicken, and goose plates. Interestingly, all poultry dishes, and so far, all the poultry dishes I tried are all satisfactory to my taste. I give it 4/5 stars (but really should be 3.5/5. I threw it 0.5 star for them as a bonus since I can't do 3.5) because that's how much I enjoy their ducks, chicken and goose. Yes, it's noise and crowded there. Yes, it may not be as clean as other places, but that's just the way it is and that's why they're not earning 5/5.
(4)
K J.

Some very authentic dishes, also some great variations on some classic dishes. That being said, obviously the food's good - if you get what you order. Service is what really kills the experience for me. It's a very busy restaurant and it becomes overwhelmingly clear that the staff is not capable of handling that kind of volume. There are order mix-ups, extended waits to get your food and I've never had to make such an effort to pay a bill. It take forever for them to calculate and then forever to get the credit card and forever to get the signature slip back. Bring cash and save yourself 30 minutes on your next meal there.
(2)
Gilbert G.

this place was surprisingly decent. i ordered the hainan chicken noodle soup and my friend ordered the hainan chicken rice. i liked mine, it was good, but nothing special. i think it was about $8 for each of our dishes. next time i want to try the peking duck that everyone on yelp raves about.
(3)
R K.

had the chinese beef brisket, wontons, and chinese broccoli. the food was so-so. not bad, but nothing great either. they actually messed up on our order. we ordered two chinese beef brisket with noodles, dry style. they brought out one dry style and soup style. when this issue was brought up with one of the waiters, they were very hesitant to correct the order. we decided not to argue and just kept the order as is. i would have to agree with the other post that the hostess did not seem to be very friendly.
(3)
Claire Y.

some of their appetizers are quite good (deep fried seafood rolls & ducks). I think their stuff are abit pricey thou.. but the atmosphere is good.. a nice place for both lunch/dinner. : ) will visit it again soon.
(3)
eileen y.

An alright place to eat. The wait can get a little crazy, and the tables are closely packed into the restaurant. The food? Let's list what I have had here before: 1. 'Siew Loong Pau' - Pretty good 2. The other dumpling with vegetables in it - Not bad either 3. Peking duck - Average. Not the best. 4. Shredded duck with cold noodles - Pretty good. Hubby likes this dish. 5. Porridge - Good, though you can't really go wrong with that 6. Hainanese Chicken Rice - poor. I guess I am so used to the Malaysian version, and the fact that my mother is Hainanese and makes a great version of this at home. 7. Za Zang noodle - average 8. Fried intestines - Yummy So all in all, average food with some better items on the menu, but might not be worth the long wait.
(3)
William W.

Peking duck is the bomb. Worth the money!
(5)
kc l.

We've been to Food Talk Cafe several times and are fans of the food and service. Our favorites are their duck (which seems to have much of the fat removed), their pork cutlet, and dumplings. It's a nice place to eat when it's just the 3 of us or with friends.
(4)
vivian l.

The decoration of the restaurant is modern and up to style which provides an good atmosphere for the customers. The presentation on food is neat. In terms of taste, uh...it's alright. Too much MSG that made me feel thirsty after. Not on my list to make my trip back here.
(3)
Retired B.

Over priced and not so great service. They basically try to get you in and out as fast as they can. The chicken cold noodle dish gave me a stomach ache. I could have gotten twice more noodles at QQ Noodles on Thornton.
(3)
S C.

Great place to have a simple dinner with family and great friendly service. Should try their pork chop over rice and fried tofu was a good choice too.
(5)
Sam J.

Finally I don't need to go to Berkerly to have the Peking Duck. This new restaurant has the best Penking Duck ever..... Hai Nan Chicken is also good. I would definitely give 5 stars to this Cafe.
(5)
Alvin W.

Food Talk Cafe is average to me. Although the restaurant's decor is very chic, the food is so-so. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but I wasn't too satisfied with my dish. I ordered Taiwanese Style Pork Chop with noodles. What I got was a bowl of egg noodles with some brocollini and a tiny 5oz pork chop on the side. Totally disappointed. The pork chop was crispy and not too greasy and the noodles were cooked al dente. We tried a couple of other items such as the the steam dumpling with soup. These dumplings were not served in soup, but had soup inside the dumpling. They were good but not the best I've had. We also tried the Taiwanese Chicken Cold Noodles. It was made with peanut and sesame oil sauce. This dish was pretty good but needed a larger portion of ingreidents. The last dish we had was a smoked tea duck. I really couldn't taste the tea flavor. Each item was $7.95 and the dumplings were $8.95. Kinda pricey for a pork chop and egg noodle in broth.
(3)
Susie S.

The only good thing about this place is the decor. As for the food, it's like any other cafe style place but way overpriced and way under portioned. If it's atmosphere and decor you are after then thsi is the place. If you want to get the most out of your $$, skip this place.
(2)
Gary T.

hit or miss? 3x here, lunch and dinner time and its always been a miss.. i'm craving for porridge/congee and they always run out for me SOMEHOW then i order something else and they seem to be out again. the only time when they actually had my food i wanted the first time aroun.. dumpings + vermicelli.. .. still only 2 star worthy.. i'd give an extra star for their combo platter.. but if my coke takes longer than the combo platter to come,sorry you don't deserve that 3rd. Will review this again until i satisfy my craving for porridge.. until then, meh...
(2)
Chloe H.

peking duck was 4 star & everything else 3 stars....have been there a few times but not very consistant on the food they serve.....one time hubby ordered some kind of ground meat with tomato sauce & it was horrid...
(3)
T L.

I'm surprised this restaurant doesn't have better reviews. Overall, I thought it was really good-- nice/modern decor, good, fast service, and solid food. The peking duck was really good-- it wasnt as greasy as other peking ducks i've had bc they peel the fatty part off (how thoughtful!) while leaving the crispy skin on top. The buns w/ oyster sauce were really good too. The xiaolongbaos were soupy and tasty and this veggie dish we ordered was really fresh and done really well. We had an early dinner, but it was really crowded when we left. I'd definitely come back again!
(4)
karina o.

i've been here multiple times and never really had a problem with their customer service. the food was a miss the first time i came here. = / i don't remember the name of the noodle dish i ordered, but basically it tasted like spaghetti but with egg noodle. needless to say i barely ate it... the older server, a guy with glasses, noticed how my plate was pretty much still full and asked if everything was alright. i didn't really want to say "it tastes like spaghetti", but he probably noticed i didn't really enjoy it. after he cleaned the table, he came back with mango pudding that he said was on the house. ( = i've been back many times since then and usually order the dishes that i see other tables get. seems like i enjoy the dishes some of the other reviewers have written about... wonton soup, bbq pork, roast duck, and hainan rice. i think i'll give the pecking duck a try next time~ ( =
(4)
Amy C.

Yes, "Meh I've experienced better." This place is okay. My mom and I've been here a few times in the past either for dinner or lunch. Then last night we had dinner here. It was pretty much empty with one other table. It was silently quiet up in there. We ordered our food & then while we were eating; the servers blasted the music SO F'IN LOUD. Seriously, WTF?! Startled us for sure & they didn't apologize. WTF does that? Then the server burped really loud. Gross & so unprofessional. There was a dessert thing my mom have had there - avocado & durian puff- but they don't have it for a while cause the "chef" isn't there. O....k. I doubt I will come back anymore.
(2)
Justin Y.

Working nearby this restaurant, I eat lunch here approximately once a week. Most of the time I order a "wat dan ow hor fun" or loosely translated to a beef hor fun in smooth egg gravy sauce. Though the food is consistent I must admit it is not the best I've had. Occasionally the dish is a little bland and a little greasy, but most of the time it is pretty good and sufficient for my 30 minute lunch break. The key for that dish is to smother the noodles in the gravy sauce because the noodles themselves are bland especially the pieces that are folded over themselves. Ive tried the hoi nan chicken with rice a few times due to it being a special at lunch. Sadly, this meal is sub par. The pieces of chicken you receive do not always come from the best part of the chicken, so once in a while there are pieces with little or no meat. The rice is not (or doesnt seem to be) prepared the way hoi nan chicken rice should be prepared. Normally, the juices from the chicken is cooked in the rice giving the rice a smooth, salty flavor with a hint of the chicken in it. Thus, the rice is not actually supposed to be yellow (instead it should be slightly brownish), but for some reason a lot of restaurants choose to have this as the default "traditional" color. The rice here is very bland so most of the time I have to add some salt or mix in a bunch of the ginger sauce to make it taste better. Also there does not seem to have any of the covenant chicken essence flavoring in the rice which is truly saddening. All in all, I would consider this a DECENT restaurant. It's consistent, but not the most flavorful food. For people looking for a quick asian meal at a good price this place is good. But for those looking for a truly authentic asian dining experience, you should look somewhere else. Happy eating, JYu
(3)
Siva L.

Although a bit pricy, it is one of the most tasty Chinese food I hd here. Very elegant flavor and not modified to meet local preference. And its portion is not that huge as u normally see in other places. Wl be sure to visit again and add some weight as a result of it.
(5)
Victor C.

Don't get why some people think this place is amazing. The xiao long bao here is just okay but everyone blows it up to be godly. Then all the other food is just so-so as well. They make pretty oily onion pancakes, and it tastes like something you can get at the supermarket. Prolly would opt for better option next door at spicy town.
(3)
Anna C.

Quality has gone down at this place since is opening a few years ago, that's for both food + service. We came here on a Sunday morning and ordered Fish Fillet Porridge, and a few Dim Sum items. The waiter must took the wrong order because when the porridge was presented, it was with beef not fish fillets. When they corrected the order and brought out the porridge with fish fillets, there were green scallions but I specifically request no green scallions. For the same price range, there are other choices that I would go instead.
(3)
Christine P.

I have a chinese boyfriend and his tongue is sharp. He ordered the peking duck plate and i ordered the chicken plate. He can tell whether the duck is roasted or peking, and it was roasted duck instead of peking duck..hm my plate was ok, the rice tasted funny. maybe it was suppose to be like or maybe not i am not sure. i dont think i would be coming here again because the bf didnt like it since hes picky on good chinese food and also very experienced
(3)
Jal T.

Best duck I've had in my life. Garden Grove duck ain't got nothing on this place. Prices are also decent and you can easily have 5-6 dishes under a hundred.
(5)
Lafite R.

Food was so-so.
(3)
Eric O.

I wasn't expecting much in the land of strip malls but this turned out to be a decent dining experience. Went with the family and ordered a variety of dishes: pork, tofu, crab, veggies, wonton noodles, chicken corn soup, and xiao long bao. I didn't think the xiao long bao was as good as everyone hyped it up to be, just alright. The pork was OK and the corn soup could have used some more chicken. However, I was a fan of the crab (good quality and only $20!), veggies (simple but tasty), and wonton noodles (my favorite). Service was quick and I liked how a receipt is printed and handed to you immediately to confirm your order. It helps to track and make sure you got everything you wanted. Overall, nothing mind-blowing but if I were in the area (god forbid), I wouldn't hesitate to come back.
(3)
Samantha C.

The place is pretty good. I usually order their braised beef noodle soup and soup dumplings. Their peking duck and taro tapioca dessert is good as well! Minus starts for the dark ambiance and the annoyingly loud music (english or mandarin) that is always played for the enjoyment of the staff.
(3)
Katie L.

I've been here quite a few times since they first opened and have remained a fan. I highly recommend the peking duck (YUM especially with the sauce and the white bread), xiao long bao (I think they've gotten bigger), hainan chicken, and broiled tofu. My parents like the pig intestines although they've never really looked appetizing to me. Their milk teas are also pretty good and not too sugary. Minus a star for the long waits. Service can be slow when they get very busy during peak hours.
(4)
Mo W.

I was a bit disappointed with the experience I had last night. One of the waiter, forgot one of the entrees we ordered. Then my friend's entree didn't even come until everyone else was almost finished with their food. The food is pretty decent, but the service is pretty terrible. On top of all of this, the waiter who forgot our food, had her family to come and eat at PEAK hours. Taking up a large table and invading our private space. You would think that they would be more respect to help the business right? but instead, they do the opposite. The food is pretty decent though, if you are craving for good chinese food. But you have to think to yourself, if you want to deal with the bad service.
(2)
Randy F.

Travel-worthy Chinese cuisine in Fremont?!? Who would've thought! (no diss to people in Fremont) Being much closer to the Chinese meccas of cuisine known as Cupertino Village and Milpitas Square, I was a bit skeptical about the decision to drive 15-20 minutes further to try a place in Fremont. Upon arriving, we were greeted by a huge mall complex on Boscell Road that was a mix of Asian-inspired eateries (Cafe Zen, 37 C) and others (Appleby, Yoswirl, and In-N-Out). Being a holiday weekend, the entire complex area was mostly empty and I only saw crowds heading to Food Talk. "Great!", I thought. Either this place is really good or we've sadly chosen the only place in Fremont people go to. The decor is casual and the ambiance is loud and noisy, befitting a cafe. The food, despite the Yelp descriptions of Taiwanese or Asian Fusion, is most certainly not and is correctly classified as Cantonese or Chinese cafe food. While the place is not large (seats about 50-60 people I'd guess), it was crowded and as our orders came pouring out (within 10 minutes of ordering), I realized why. This food was damn good! There were a few misses, but overall, I was impressed. Deep fried stomache intestine - chewy, hot, and delicious. I know, a strange description of food. But I downed several pieces before even asking what I was eating... Duck tongue - a small plate of delicious and tasty duck tongue. What?! You've never had duck tongue? Well, it's a delicacy you will sometimes see at dim sum places and the version here was great. Stewed Beef over dry egg noodles - the beef was tender and well flavored and the noodles were dry, but had enough sauce that the plate was devoured in minutes Xiao Long Bao - I believe we ordered both a vegetarian and a pork version. They came out in steaming hot bamboo platters, but this item was a complete miss. Absolutely no soup and fairly flavorless and forgettable. Fried tofu - long pieces of soft tofu were deep fried and flavored with soy sauce. It doesn't sound like much, but it was delicious. Peking duck - Food Talk's specialty is supposedly their Peking Duck and we had a large platter. The duck skin was nice and crispy and the accompanying buns were warm and freshly made. I found the duck meat to be a bit overdone and not tasty enough...I've definitely had better Peking Duck at many places in the Bay Area and would not order this pricey dish again. Hainan Chicken w/ steamed rice - this large platter consisted of half a chicken that was tender and juicy. I still consider Hong Kong Saigon to have the BEST Hainan (free ranch) chicken, but Food Talk's version wasn't bad. The accompanying rice (which you can order by the bowl) is TOP NOTCH. Warm, rich, and flavorful, I could eat a bowl of this rice by itself. Beef noodle soup w/ flat rice noodles - Although the beef was the same as the dry noodle dish, the soup wasn't as strong. This dish was ok. Steamed taro and milk egg cakes - an absolutely delicious and surprising dessert. Again, like the duck tongue, you'll sometimes see this offered at Cantonese dim sum houses. Here, it came out steaming hot in the bamboo platter and absolutely put the best finishing touch on our meal (and made me too full to try Yoswirl next door). Food Talk Cafe made the long drive to Fremont worthwhile for our meal. While I'm not sure I'd drive here just for the food (since I have so many places like Broadway Bistro and Hong Kong Saigon within 15 minutes of me), if I'm in this neck of the woods, I'll know where to go. P.S. I noticed very average to poor reviews on Yelp, yet this place is absolutely packed and with people out the door. Our eating companion even asked me to write a lower rating. It's a Fremont conspiracy, I tell you.
(4)
C C.

Food Talk Cafe has always been an okay place, offering food of generally fairly good quality in a generally clean decor. However, since it opened, it has really gone downhill. One constant has always been the terrible service and I finally feel compelled to write this review due to the final straw received a few weeks ago. Usually, there are a bunch of the wait staff running around looking busy and not being attentive, as in it's super hard to call anyone over due to all the staff having typical tunnel vision. This time, however, I wasn't even seated before being completely ignored. A staff told me to wait 2 minutes, which subsequently turned into more like 15 minutes. Then, a couple walked in and got seated immediately, to my astonishment. My girlfriend gets pissed and goes up to the waiter to inquire, to which he casually pointed to a table and told us we can sit there. WTH?! I am not just picking on this one waiter, who might actually have forgotten; but what about the other 2 people roaming around pretending to be busy in a half empty restaurant while we were seated in the waiting area? They didn't bother to think why two people were just waiting by the door? Inexcusable! Both my gf used to be frequent patrons of this establishment but this experience has left a particularly bitter taste in our mouths. We will not be returning.
(1)
Jon H.

Let me just say this: Food Talk Cafe is pretty authentic Chinese food. The dishes are really traditional (Peking Duck, Beef Stomach, Pig Ears, Seabass, etc). But the prices are RIDICULOUS. If I go out to any semi-decent chinese restaurant (old school style ones) I can get a dinner for four people for $50. At Food Talk, the same dinner, maybe with a bit of lavishness (read: $25 Peking Duck), costs $125. I'm not even exaggerating. I can't look past the bill. Four of us came here and were promptly seated. Started off with a traditional chinese cold meat plate of Beef stomach and Pig Ear. Pretty good, well seasoned and braised, and served pretty fresh. A plate of jellyfish followed, a bit salty but with the right amount of crunch. Next came a Garlic Seabass, Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice, Peking Duck, garlic greens, and shumai. The seabass was literally square pieces of fished braised and tossed with, literally, 20 pieces of WHOLE GARLIC. I mean, its really good flavor, but who the heck is going to eat (much less pay) for a plate of garlic? The Fried rice was pretty good, nothing too amazing or unique, garlic greens were perfectly cooked and traditional tasting. The Peking Duck was crispy, fatty, and the steamed buns / condiments were perfectly traditional. But seriously, even though I loved the food, left full (with a little bit of sadness about charging per bowl of rice, but happy we got free dessert), but I can't get past $120 for four people. Sure you pay for style and modern food, but for me, Chinese is about old school food, not new school food. Until then, I'll take my chances at some of the various, un-translatable, hole in the wall, sort of dirty places.
(3)
Jennifer D.

I always been a Peking duck fan. My friends recommended this place to me so I wanted to try it. I ordered half a Peking duck and it came with 5 steamed buns. When it came out it was very fresh and a decent portion for one person. the green onions were nicely cut and the sauce was good. The duck itself was good but half of what I got were mainly bones. I wasn't too happy about that but I do recommend coming here for the Peking duck. Maybe next time there will be more meat than bones.
(4)
Miss H K.

I had high expectations for Food talk after reading positive reviews, however I have to say I was disappointed. I ordered the beef udon noodles (yaki style). My meal was okay but was lacking that "kick" flavor I was looking for especially with all of the ingredients used, etc. They also were out of the popular XO sauce that night which we were looking forward to trying. My friends also thought their meals were just okay but also lacked flavor. Service here was not great-we were seated promptly-however we had to flag down our waiters to get any attention since they were either chatting among themselves or helping other bigger tables. There seem to be a few other restaurants in the same area with similar cuisine so I would definitely try those next time over food talk.
(2)
Angela L.

FOOD: 1.) Westlake or Westside .. err.. Westside?? Am I just being ghetto? Whatever it was, the egg drop beef soup. lol. It was regular. Love slurping it down with rice soaked in it! yum! 2.) Chicken in wine in claypot = ooh, tasty, crispy.. 3.) Xiao long bao - twas okay. Gon hafta go back to Shanghai Dumpling King to do comparison SERVICE: Service was okay. Took a while at the end, but they did box everything up for us, which was pretty nice of them ATMOSPHERE: Kinda trendy, posh, except they should put a nice heavy curtain between the service station and the dining area. The soda machines and beer tap is kind of unsightly.
(4)
Tammy L.

Came here on Monday night around closing time. My friends and I were deciding where to eat in that plaza and we happened to stand in front of this cafe. We were reading the menus that were posted on the window. All of a sudden an asian momma literally popped out of nowhere and told us to come and sit. So forceful...must obey. As we were deciding what to order, she kept popping up, asking us if we're ready. We said no. So she came back....twice...within 5 minutes. Kinda scary...she's like my mom or something. Eccck. So we just ordered the house special fried rice and shes like ORDER THE IMPERIAL DUCK!!! Yes ma'am....so we got the imperial duck. Boy was it gooooddd! But then, the portion was kinda small. Great place for roast duck. They remove all of the fat from those crispy strips of duck skin to save you from a heart attack. Decor is nice and has a modern flavor with the dark color scheme.
(4)
Louisa L.

it's a pretty regular spot for me. Always go here for lunch with coworkers and sometimes dinner with family frds. i used to order the noodle soups and rice plates for lunch, but now they changed their menu and added a lot of new dishes so me and coworkers always try their new dishes on the menu. Their pekin duck is pretty good. Fried rice/noodle are also good. I like the seafood fried udon with black pepper sauce. Their appetizer dishes are good too. xiao long bao is just average because i've had better. scallop siu mai is decent. people might think price is on the higher side, but it's not like very expensive. you would expect lunch to be around $12-15....i guess depends on what you ordered. Now they have speical lunch menu, it's combination of 2 different dishes. I've never tried it, the price is around $10. Don't be mislead by the word "fusion". I would still consider this place as chinese, and it's decent chinese food =)
(4)
David H.

So I'll be upfront. What keeps this place from being four star is it's price! It feels almost too expensive for what you're ordering. Not drastically expensive, but two or three more dollars than you expect to pay. As for the food itself, I highly recommend the clay pot sea bass with garlic, and the peiking duck is the absolute best! I've had peiking duck at a lot of places and it's definitely best here! The fried crab claw is a solid starter here as well, so don't miss out on those three dishes next time you go! The fried chili crab here is just so so. It seems a tad too oily for my tastes! Pros: great Chinese food and pretty dang authentic! Good service, and sometimes if they like you, free dessert! Cons: slightly expensive, sometimes the wait is horrendous to get seated.
(3)
Jacki C.

This place is overpriced, service is crappy and the food so greasy it makes you feel like you're wearing lipgloss...we went there last night hoping to find a new favorite restaurant but we were sorely disappointed...we ordered the westlake soup, peking duck, choy sum with garlic, and soy sauce chow mein. Well the peking duck was just a roast duck swimming in grease...the choy sum ended up being cailan and the westlake soup was bland...ah then came the soy sauce chow mein AKA..."lipgloss" on a plate....their Stella on tap tasted like budweiser or something else that was substituted in...don't go here...service was bad too! The restuarant was empty when we came in and requested to sit further away from the door, but they say no. WTF??? We won't be back.....If you really want lip gloss, just get it at Sephora, don't come here. You'll thank me for it...
(1)
Sheena T.

Um, yeah, this place is definitely another one of those Chinese places that are on the pricier side. However, credit cards are allowed here, so that's a bonus .. I guess. The first time I came here, we were rushed by the waitstaff since they told us they were closing soon. Um, way to go against the traditional Chinese saying of "man man sik" (meaning, slowly eat or eat slowly, whatever works). I ordered a Hainan Chicken noodle and my dad ordered two Vegetarian dishes, which were pretty dang expensive if you ask me. The dishes were fairly big, though, so I guess that's okay. There was a dish made out of bamboo but looked like it resembled goose, and I found it to be delightfully tasty. By the way, my bowl of noodles cost $8.50. I guess since it has Hainan chicken, it's a decent price... The beverages here are more expensive, ranging from $3 and up for some drinks, so I just stuck with the good old tea. Don't get me wrong, though, I think they give you bigger cups - cups that look even mug-like. All in all, this place is okay, but again, a bit pricey.
(3)
Eva Y.

The food here is pretty good but the wait is a bit long on the weekends for lunch. The crispy duck is really good here as well as the Shanghai dumplings. They now have the porridge back so be sure to try it. Aside from that their stir fry udon and rice noodle dishes are also pretty good. The atmosphere is nice but it can get noisy. There is a limited outdoor seating area if the weather is nice. As far as for the service, it is spotty at times since this place can get pretty busy.
(4)
Tavis S.

Clean. Extensive and large menu selection. Authentic. Great and fast service. So far everything I've had here has been pretty good: Preserved Egg and Pork Porridge Shanghai Steamed Dumplings (Shao Luong Bao) Beef pastry pocket Beef Noodle Soup The only dish I've had that was just ok: Beef Porridge (the meat was a little tough, and the porridge lacked depth)
(4)
Doris W.

My family and I came here on Christmas Eve. This was the third time I've been to Food Talk Cafe. The first two experience were great and I had no complaints. Could it be that my expectations were too high coming into this third? Being that it was a Saturday evening and a holiday. we made reservations for 7:30. I was expecting that the restaurant would be packed, considering that it's not exactly a large place. To my surprise, we fould only about three tables occupied on a weekend, the eve of Christmas! I was scratching my head wondering what was wrong. I have to admit the seat are comfortable, the atmosphere is homey and there is large screen T.V. The service is friendly. However if you can't speak Mandarin, then it can be a bit difficult to order. There are few Cantonese speaking servers though. We ordered the Westlake Soup, Eggplant with Seafood, Fried Tofu, Half Hainan Chicken, Fried Rice, Beef Stew, and Steam Buns. Our soup came out first and it was pretty good. There was a lot of flavor and it was nice and hot. Then everything came at once and our table started filling up. The fried tofu, fried rice, chicken and steam buns came out. Although the rice bowls were pretty big, I was surprised the one serving of the fried rice filled up only five bowls. I'm used to having a serving of rice and getting seconds. In this sitution, that wasn't the case. The portions seemed a big smaller that what I had remember from before. The slice of meat to put inside the buns were fairly thin and not large enough to fill up the entire bun. There seemed to be a lot of bones, but not too much meat on the chickens. I didn't expect the beed stew to be deep fried. The tofu was a decent size, just enough for each of us to have about one slice. We ended up ordering xiao long bao, which came with ten, so each of us could have two pieces. I enjoued the dish the most. It didn't seem as good as I remembered it to be. I would come back t Food Talk Cafe. However it won't be anytime soon.
(3)
Jim L.

Duck went up to $28.75, still good, but sometimes not enough meat, other times, not enough skin. Still worth it. Some of the original items are gone, so don't be too surprised. Might not survive the competition with new place next door.
(4)
Tracy H.

I had always had great experience here, I see some complaints that some people made on yelp but I surely don't have much problem with this place. The food and services are great compare to many other businesses! I see some bad reviews wrtitten by others but look carefully those are just picky customer who always give out bad reviews! I recommend the Peking duck SautÃ©ed beef with on hoy Hainan chicken -I find them the best in town And the three cup chicken Sometimes the waitress gives us free desserts but sometimes not but come on they usuall cost money when u go other places too anyways! Why not a free something and of course you gotta be nice to the waitress that how they can be nice back t you right
(5)
Jennifer W.

2x beef noodle soup 1x wonton noodle soup 1x fried bean curd in soy sauce 33$ The fried tofu was great. It was nicely soft inside. The soy sauce was light and not too salty. The noodles are fresh and hand pulled, but the flavoring of the broth is very concentrated. Still, it's good. The wontons were pretty good too, probably because they were also freshly made. Obviously, I'm hooked. The place was real packed tonight. We walked in around prime dinner time and there was a long line on the list. Luckily, there was one last table available, which we took of course. Service was fast and the food came not too long after we ordered. The servers were nice and attentive. More napkins. Chili sauce. Red vinegar. Bill. Change. The requests were not forgotten. It got to us fast, probably helped by the fact that there was a long line at the door. Luckily for the restaurant, we were eager to leave even after a delicious meal because someone at the table across from us was hacking up the biggest package of bacteria.
(4)
Chrys U.

4.5 stars for their cleanliness, service, extensive menu, modern atmosphere...oh yeah, and their bomb-ass FOOD! =D Items I've tried here include the fried soya bean, bbq duck, roast pork, jellyfish, salt and pepper prawns, and the Hainan chicken rice. Everything has been really good...full of flavor and very tasty. I have yet to try the xiao long bao dumplings and the Peking duck, which seemed to be popular dishes with the surrounding tables. Prices are a bit high, but I think it's worth it. I'd definitely recommend trying it out!
(4)
Michelle M.

The food was ok. One dish we had was chicken porridge, and the chicken was not fresh. The service was pretty bad, and in insult. Two of us was sheeted right away. Then right when our food was ready to serve, we were moved to another table to make a room for another party. When the owner found out, she apologized and promised to offer dessert for us. And of course, dessert never came, What a joke!!!
(1)
Henry H.

Food is OK the price is reasonable. 3 stars
(3)
Janet H.

The last time I ate here, I found a rubber band in my noodle soup. I told the waiter about it but all he did was replace it with a new bowl of noodle soup. No apologies, no 'I won't charge you for the noodle soup'. No way I'll eat there again.
(1)
Lyn L.

I came here on Saturday around 12:30 or so with two of my cousins. The place was completely packed! We put our names down on the waiting list and waited about 10-15 minutes or so before we got a table. We would have sat at the tables outside, but they were in the shade which made it a bit chilly. We ordered a half order of peking duck to share as well as an order of their xiao long bao and everyone ordered a bowl of their beef noodle soup. We were hoping that the xiao long bao would come first, but everything came out at the same time so our entire table was crowded with food. And those bamboo steamers take up a lot of space! It would have been nice if they left the lid on the steamer for the xiao long bao to keep it warm until we were ready to eat. They get cold pretty quick if you don't eat them right away and then they don't taste as good. The spicy beef noodle soup here is very good. They use the thin noodles and they are not too chewy or overcooked. The broth is also very good. It would be nicer if there was more beef than tendon in the soup though. The peking duck is a must try. They come with the steamed bun wrapper to put the skin, green onion and sauce in. The size of the bun wrapper is larger than most restaurants too. I found the duck meat to be super tender, which is usually not the case at most restaurants. The place is small and the tables are close together. And from what we could tell they didn't have enough wait staff. There were only two waiters serving the entire place and ringing up people's bills, so they were super busy and it was a little hard to get their attention.
(4)
Amy G.

Mmmm Dumplings... if you're in the mood for soup dumplings this is the place to go! That little dumpling is jam packed with flavor! We also get the beef with xo sauce, duck, chicken and greens. I must say the food is pretty authentic and the service is great!
(4)
Jason F.

fast service! nice ambiance- not your typhical chinese restaurant. we had roasted duck with bun, black bean sauce clam, savory sauteed beef, pan fried noodle with beef, salt and pepper pork chop- they are all good! price is not bad. waiter was nice too
(5)
Cynthia C.

After about a dozen trips here, I'm officially hooked. It's good clean Chinese grub & quite popular-packed during lunches & even weeknights. FTC definitely has a loyal client base. Definitely order the whole/half/entree size bird dishes: Peking Duck, Hainan Chicken. The soupy noodles are great, very simple satisfying & have all the basic food groups: protein, veggies, carbs, fat. Their Giant Pea Sprouts are priced well below other restaurants, generous in portioning & cooked just right. Transferring to a few of my Tri-City lists!
(4)
Jen C.

I came here again recently with a friend for dinner. The food was mediocre and the one thing on the menu we both really liked was unavailable at the time. The service was whatever too...we had to keep trying to call them over to take our order/bring our check/etc even though there were hardly any customers. Eh, we're probably not coming back.
(2)
Jennifer n.

Funny how my sister was bragging about a place that served great Peking duck but to my surprise it was a place near home that I have been to. The place has a great ambiance but serves down to earth food. Like I have mentioned in my last review, it is like a mom and pop store but extremely CLEAN. There are restaurants that serves great food but the smell or the service keeps me from coming back. Anyhoo, back to my review. $22 Peking duck with steamed floured buns= The skin was extra crispy as it should be and a basket filled w/ freshly made buns :) YUM! $6.25 Deep fried tofu with spiced soya sauce=YUM! $6.25 Fried avacado salmon fish roll= my brother likes it but not me (p.s) he really doesn't have good taste! It tastes like regular bread wrapped around the filling and fried. Gak! My heart fills clogged thinking of it! $7.95 House special salt marinated duck over rice= Warning chicken is cold but the ginger sauce compliments it nicely. $7.50 Won ton soup= I will pass on this one. The filling was not so tasty to me but the broth was yummy. $1.75 Fried ice cream = mango icecream battered and fried. So this dinner was a hit and miss on some entrees but I still like this place and so did LM. Can't you tell by the photo? :D
(4)
Dflipsyde D.

This place is just ok. Doesn't suck but won't be anything you remember. We ordered the imperial Beijing duck which she said was just like the Peking duck but it definitely was not like any authentic Peking duck I've ever had. Also duck is served here with small fluffy pancakes as opposed to the more traditional thin crepe like pancakes. Skin was not that crispy. :( Xiao long bao were dry and had no soup in them. :( We ordered a couple of other things that I can't seem to remember right now but obviously weren't too good if I can't remember them lol. Who knows, maybe we just came on an off day. We'll give it another shot next time and order the Peking instead of the Imperial. :))
(3)
Kristi T.

it's food is okay but when it comes to customer service. I have to give it 1 star. On a Sunday afternoon, I walked in and told the owner (a lady) that I've a party of four with 2 kids. She said the table is cleaning up and ready in 5 minutes. I asked if I need to drop down my name to hold the table? She said no and the table is for me. So, I walked out to grab my kids. When I walked in the cafe in 2 minutes, she told me I have to wait for another table since there's another party ahead of me!!! WTF!!! w minutes before you told me the table is for me and the other party just walked in. And she lied that they are here before me. I have no problem if you tell me that i need to wait since there's another party ahead of me originally. But don't lie!!!! How can you told me the table is mine 2 minutes before and gave it to someone else right away!!! WORST customer service. I know even making reservation, they will seat their "preferred" customer and cut in line.
(1)
Michelle L.

I would give it a 2.5 but round it up to 3 because the service was better than expected. So...I ordered the roasted duck (entree size since it was just me and another girl). The duck was disappointment. It was nothing like the "Peking Duck". It's just like the Cantonese style BBQ roasted duck. (It was tasty but the crispy skin was missing) My friend and I also ordered the siumai with goose liver pate. We didn't find that special at all. The goose liver pate was just a gimmick. We ordered a Taiwanese style stir fried rice noodles. I'm not sure about its authenticity; but it tastes good. The chicken wings with garlic was OK. It tasted fine; but nothing really special. Skip the drinks section. I tried the yogurt green tea and it was not that good. I feel like the offering on the menu has too many gimmick, e.g. steamed dumplings with black truffle, siumai with goose liver, scrambled eggs with black truffle, etc....I'd rather the restaurant provide solid quality than random gimmick. I will re-visit this place and hope to come across with the crispy yummy Peking duck that every one talks about. (I do wonder if my experience turns to a negative one due to the fact that I ordered the entree portion instead of half a duck.)
(3)
Tracy T.

I don't need to mention all the things that I have mentioned before that prevented this restaurant from any more stars. Reservations were made in advance for our party of 14 (Reminder: This restaurant is NOT good for a large party or even for more than 5). When we arrived, we had to wait like normal patrons without a reservation. What was even worse, our party was split amongst three different tables and each table had different wait times. Orders were not written down and I had to repeat almost every single order at least once. One of our chicken noodle soups had a dead baby COCKROACH! That's when service started becoming better and the waiters/waitresses all of a sudden became slighty (just a little) more accommodating. I guess we know why! I'll pass on Food Talk from now on, because there is nothing more to talk about...
(1)
Takumi Y.

My family loves this restaurant, it is Taiwan style. They are not too much salty taste, but good taste. We are here for almost every week and I don't get any bad service. Highly recommend.
(5)
Briget P.

They have many noodle soup options but I'm not a fan of brothy soups in the summer time, so I ordered Peking Beef Chili Dry Noodles. It was the only thing that stood out to me on the menu that sounded like it had flavor. When the dish came...I was STUNNED. It was as literal as it could get. Noodles covered in minced beef chili! (lookin' like it was straight out of a chili can) Man, I can't stress it enough, it looked like an eight year old prepared my food. It was spaghetti noodles in beef chili. I guess I am to blame for ordering it. Also, right when my dish came out, it was cold. I felt bad for telling them to take it back to heat it up, but no one likes a cold entree when intended to be hot! I added loads of hot chili oil to the noodles so I could at least get through the dish. We also ordered an appetizer but it didn't come until AFTER our entrees...avocado and salmon stuffed fried roll sounds good right? Well, it tasted like I was eating just the fried outer roll because the rest of it was as tasteless as I could describe here. In conclusion, as I said earlier, an eight year old could have prepared my dish!
(1)
Jennifer C.

Food Talk Cafe has quickly become my go-to for Chinese food. It's a place that is guaranteed to please both discerning parents and picky friends. The decor is nice, the place is clean, and there is always a line out the door. I usually get the beef noodle soup, hainan chicken, and the soy sauce fried tofu. When I'm with my family, we'll get the Peking Duck; it's delicious but pricey ($22) so I try to only order when I don't have to pay. :X Yesterday, my friends and I ordered the Taiwanese spice chicken and the meat was surprisingly tender and delicious. This may have to replace my go-to of Hainan chicken. On a separate note, I kind of love that they have beer on tap and always have these epic concerts playing in the background. In the many times I've been there, I've gotten to eat to the stylistic sounds of Yanni, Celine, Dido and the Eagles. Hahaha random, but awesome.
(4)
claudia y.

sunday night was a pretty busy night for them. it was a full house at around 8 and there didnt stop being a wait list while we dined there. the place is not big and kind of stuffy. they do have outdoor seating but the heatlamps didnt work. but even sitting inside we were sweating by the end of the meal. there are some items not on the menu that they recommend if you ask. from that we got goose intestine which were surprisingly good. they just boil it or steam it and serve it over sprouts with a spicy soy sauce. we also got shiao long bao which he claimed was what they were known for but ours were soupless inside and not very impressive at all. the beef noodle soup was ok as well. the peking duck was very good. the duck meat was very tender. vegetarian goose and frid tofu also good appetizers. for dessert i saved room for the pumpkin pastry which was very good.
(4)
Tammy S.

They placed the birthday cake that I had brought as a surprise for my mother in front of her still in the box and plastic bag, with the candles still sitting on the outside. Seriously - I went to the trouble of getting there early to surprise and mistakenly assumed they could bring it out with the candles lit so we could sing happy birthday. Instead, I humiliatingly unwrapped the cake, took it out of the box, placed the candles on top, and lit the cake while my 61-year old mother looked on. Pathetic. Would have given two stars had this not happened, but the food is just not that impressive. Follow the advice of the other reviews - the service is horrible and they downright go out of their way to make you feel bad.
(1)
Judy P.

The Verdict: "Just another below average joint ." Items Ordered: Taiwanese Style Wonton Noodles Soup, Peking Chili Noodles, Salmon Avocado Egg Rolls Pros: Nice modern decor, fast service, relatively cheap prices Cons: Food is just below average - nothing special, service is fast but not polite (except for the server's helper who did a good job at refilling water; however our server himself was curt), wonton noodle was boring and the appetizer was tasteless (came with what looked like a dish of mayo...yeah that's right mayo?!), the chili dish looked like barf...honestly) Would I Recommend It?: No, save your money. *You have just read a review in the style of "juju yelp lover's rating system". If you liked this review style, follow me on my many yelping conquests!
(1)
D R.

They were out of the cold noodles - which was what drew me into this place to begin with. Ok...I was there already, right? I'm a vegetarian, but I was pretty impressed by some of their meaty items - I have no idea how they taste, but if you're looking for frog or pig intestine their prices were pretty good. lol I went for a standard veggie eggplant and basil. The Basil was fresh, which was nice. The eggplant got over cooked (not so nice). They don't have brown rice as an option. The server was attentive. If three stars is A-Ok, then 3 stars is dead on. I'd be interested to go here with omnivores and I still want to try my cold noodles. That might get them an extra star next time.
(3)
David P.

Was hungry for some Sushi but no sushi was open on this stretch of Asian eateries on a Saturday lunch hour. We picked the one place that looked most popular. We where seated quickly. The waitress spoke in Cantonese which I did not know what the hell she was saying. We looked over the menu and ordered the goose soup with flat noodle and the duck soup also with flat noodle. For appetizer we had the fried chicken wings. The soups came fast and pipping hot. The goose soup was bland and tasted like chicken. In fact it could of been chicken and I wouldn't of known it. I would pass on this one. I had the chance to taste the duck soup which had much more flavor. But overall I was disappointed. I could of opened a cup of ramen and made something much better then these dishes. The fried chicken wings where nothing to talk or write about either. Crisp crunchy garlic chips on top made no difference. Did not give the appetizer any wow factor. I was very disappointed and did not understand why this place was so pact? Maybe we ordered the wrong lunch dishes. All I know is I would maybe try this place again and give something else a try. But it will be a while before I do.
(2)
andy k.

Very fresh food here, and the chef know exactly the right balance to bring out the best of the food taste, no oily, no heavy taste, just right! Like a girl who is pretty already, but also know how to dress up and bring out the best in her! Healthy and so yummy! Everything they serve are in good quality. Every time I came here, the great taste of food always stick in my mind for few days! If you have acne problem, they even have this traditional asian dessert, which made with a special type of leaves!
(5)
Marie B.

I love, love, love this place! The Peking Duck was absolutely divine...as was all of the other dishes. The noodles were quite gooed and I loved the sauteed spinach. There is just so much to describe...oh, why bother? Try it yourself!!
(5)
David H.

Fused with what? Just simple and is pretty decent Shanghai cuisine... Roast duck is very tasty... This is definitely not your "trying to please Western taste buds" kind of place so come prepared for a lot of unusual (to Western taste buds) food offerings... I like the fact that I can get some lukewarm duck on a bowl of rice with some simple greens... Now that's my idea of Chinese food... Yum!
(3)
AC N.

Food Talk Cafe is a beautiful blend of new and old world. Its decor is clean and modern chic employing old-fashioned dark wood installations and classic Asian knickknacks. The kitchen is made up of Chinese and Taiwanese flavors; but the restaurant's jazzy name and its locale inside a busy Fremont strip mall call upon their American side. And, the food here, though authentic, come with an ounce or two of artistic flair. The roast duck here is a solid choice. It's tender with a dark meat sweetness that you can find in Hong Kong. Though distinctly traditional in flavor, the fat has been well separated from the skin with air and, perhaps, melted away with heat, leaving just a thin crispy delicious layer of golden duck skin behind. The dish is coupled with a large tray of steamed pancakes and hoisin sauce. I also recommend the Shanghai dumplings here: the burst of broth that oozes out of the dumplings is delightful and delicate. The ginger-vinegar-soy sauce sauce that accompanies the dish may accent the dumplings should you find them too light for your tastes. The wonton-mein, sauteed spinach, and cold chicken are also favorites here as they are textbook Cantonese cuisine. The large portions of these dishes, however, harks to the American appetite. The service provided is fast and efficient. The waiters here do not small talk or pamper, nor do they have time to do so as this small restaurant is extremely packed during prime lunch and dinner hours. This is not a slight to the customers. As a result, I have always enjoyed my food experiences here. === UPDATE - June 15, 2011 === The head chef recently left this establishment. As a result, the food has marginally declined in quality. Food Talk Cafe's line cooks have retained most of the cooking techniques and flavors of their signature dishes. However, the quality control, as managed by the former head chef, is noticeably absent. Of my many times frequenting this restaurant, I have never had a misfired dish until my last two very disappointing visits. Therefore, I have downgraded this restaurant from 4-stars to 3.5-stars.
(3)
Vincent L.

I've been here twice and only been seated once. First time, I was here the service was relatively bad even to Chinese restaurant standards. After my friends and I were seated, no one came to our table and served us for about 15 minutes after waving a server down. Typical Chinese service. We got the roasted duck, nam king chicken, and shiao long biao. Food was pretty good especially the roasted duck. I usually get this for dinner, but having it for lunch was great. Overall, this place has decent food with standard Chinese service.
(3)
joan e.

I like the food here. The best dish to me is the 3-cup chicken or seafood combo. I don't remember what is the name on the menu but this is a Taiwanese dish cooked with rice wine, soy sauce, oil, garlic and basil. The version served here like most other dishes has a Cantonese taste but it is good enough for me. I also like Peking Duck the first few times despite the version served here is not really Peking Duck. The Peking Duck I remember is served boneless with little or no fat and comes with tortilla like pancakes. What they call pancake here is really a bun. I no longer order it because of the fat and some parts are too chewy for my taste. I give it a generous 4 stars because I like the food.
(4)
Pachi C.

Food: Most excellent Service: Friendly and fast Price: More than expected Stopped by here after a snowboarding trip to Tahoe. We were starving, so me hopes that didn't sway any of my reviews in the positive direction. Everything was fantastic. We called in 1 hr prior to reserve a spot. Our table wasn't ready, but somehow hubby convinced the hostess to comp us with complimentary soup for waiting for 5 minutes. This is unheard of in a chinese establishment! This place serves up some mean cantonese style dishes (although a lot of dishes are also taiwanese) in medium sized portions to share. I can't think of a single dish that disappointed me (except for the comp'd double boiled soup, which I thought was watered down, but darn, it was free). Standouts: 1. The cha shu Honey BBQ Pork plate for $6.50. Deliciously flavored, perfectly cooked, just enough fat to meat ratio in the meat cut selections. Yum. 2. Peking duck with pancakes. Fresh, fluffy man-to and crispy, deliciously prepared duck with the standard hoisin and green onion. $25 3. Spicy Ma-lah tripe special. I hate tripe. This was deliciously flavored and had some good heat! 4. A-Choy. The dish was cooked as you expected it to be, but they pair it with a side of perfectly blended fermented bean curd dipping sauce. It paired quite nicely, I have to say. 5. Green milk tea with grass jelly. Spendy at $3.50 but I would say it rivals Fantasia in flavor! Other dishes include the Hainan Chicken (perfect mix of ginger and scallions), Taiwanese style deep fried pork chop, beef dry noodle, the coconut pudding dessert. All were great. This place does great things with the pairings - they will throw in some sides with standard dishes (ie: dry daikon radish, or pickled radish) and make a typical dish quite atypical. Would've given this place 5 stars if the bill had been lower (we paid $23 per person). Ok, so we had 9 dishes for 5 people. And although we gobbled it all up, the dishes could've been bigger, and plus, we just had meat and veggies and carbs - no seafood. Can't wait to get back!
(4)
Simon S.

This Chinese cafe is one of the better decorated in recent memory, but most importantly the food is mediocre. Xiao Long Bao is definitely a standout though, as it is MUCH better than the absolute baseline: Din Tai Fung in LA (which is terrible). Other than that the pork chop bento and seafood noodle soup were plain average. Plus you are definitely paying steep prices pretty much for the better ambiance. Luckily I had a good spot to watch the World Cup so that kinda made up for it.
(3)
Minako S.

YUM! For someone who loves Asian food, especially Chinese, this place was a dream come true. Most everything was delicious and nothing was bad. West lake beef soup: good. Peking duck: Could be softer with more meat, but still good. Shanghainese dumplings: Could have thinner skin, but still pretty juicy for the most part. Chow fun: oily but that's what makes it delicious! Overall rating: Service: Good Food: Good Value ( price for quality ) : Good Atmosphere: Good
(4)
Lydia W.

My family and I love this place. We come here whenever we dare to brave the wait on weekends at lunchtime. Also it's slightly pricier than your average Chinese food joint. Food Talk is our go-to joint for Roast Duck. The amount of fat is minimal, so there is a guilt-free feeling of biting into a chunk of meat with the crispy skin on. Mmm... the meat is always tender and tastes amazing. The guarantee of satisfaction is consistent. Also, they have the best Xiao Long Bao within a 20 mile vicinity. The texture of the dumpling skin, the amount of soup, and the quality of filling are on point. A great thing to share. We often get the fried tofu soaked in soya sauce as an appetizer. So good! Recently we've been into the fried crab claw that comes with 3 crab claws covered with fried shrimp meat. I just made it sound disgusting but believe you me... when it's freshly fried, not only does each bite taste delightful, they are very aesthetically pleasing! The won tons are also notably tasty. The noodles used are reminiscent of HK style noodles. My parents approve (which is major). The broth is also well done. I recently had Roast Goose in noodle soup and let me tell you - BOMB DOT COM. So good. Obviously the RG cannot compare to the freshness of Hong Kong RG but the taste was good enough to trigger very pleasant sentiments. Also the cold noodles are pretty good. I like the Sesame Sauce Cold Chicken Noodles. The portion is smaller than expected, though. The porridge is also parent-approved. Normally I am not a big fan of porridge (so filling and bland!) but I always have to get a baby bowl of it to sample. Warms my soul! ALSO their Hainan Chicken Rice is pretty delish. We recently saw a couple order a half chicken and just get two orders of the special oily rice. I think that might be more economical. Ooh they have these fried pumpkin flaky pastries that are to die for. Gotta try them! Their mango pudding is not bad, only gripe was that the mango chunks in it were kinda dry and hard. Their dessert-soup usually involves some kind of coconut-taro concoction which is pretty tasty. Main issues have to do with the long wait sometimes. But it's pretty much worth the wait!
(4)
Amethyst H.

Very fresh food here, and the chef know exactly the right balance to bring out the best of the food taste, no oily, no heavy taste, just right! Like a girl who is pretty already, but also know how to dress up and bring out the best in her! Healthy and so yummy! Everything they serve are in good quality. Every time I came here, the great taste of food always stick in my mind for few days! If you have acne problem, they even have this traditional asian dessert, which made with a special type of leaves! Have I mention it's beautiful and cute here? Stylish and clean looking, the owner told me the food style here is Hongkongnese & Taiwanese mix, I love it! :)
(5)
Aivy C.

So, my friend Stephanie (completely unrelated to my last review) took me here upon recommendation from her family, and I was really wishing I hadn't eaten an In-N-Out cheeseburger (protein style, natch) like three hours prior to that because I'm sure I could have put away much more than I did. We had peking duck, chinese broccoli, crispy fried pork intestines, and for my drink I had Coffee Jelly Milk Green Tea - SO good! I have passed this place on my way to YoSwirl on occasion, and now I know why lines snake out the door and they're all actual Chinese people (we waited 40 minutes for a table) - this is definitely a place for authentic food at decent prices. I would love to take my parents here and I can't say that about every place I've been to - a good sign, for sure.
(5)
Alison T.

We ventured over this way since we were headed to Yoswirl, and walked up and down this strip of (mostly) Chinese restaurants to see what appealed to us on the menus. At around 7:45pm, most of the restaurants were empty, with the exception of Asian Pearl, Food Talk and Spicy Town. Gotta love those supa Asian names! Given the price point difference between Food Talk and Asian Pearl (average dish=$12-15!), and the fact that we were not in the mood for spicy, we picked this place. The server (might be owner) was very nice and not condescending at all and took our orders quickly - we had wonton noodle soup, gailan (Chinese broccoli), xiao long bao, and the beef brisket over rice. Here are my thoughts on all: XLB - tasty but not the best I've ever had. 8 pieces for $8.95. Was it worth the price? Maybe not. Wonton noodle soup - the wonton were filled with big bits of shrimp and the pork filling was well seasoned. The egg noodles we got were nothing special and the broth was just okay. Definitely not homemade soup base that's for sure. Gailan - cooked to perfection (still bright green), tender and delicious. Ho yao (oyster sauce) served on the side. Beef Brisket over rice - this was the best dish of the bunch, with three pieces of bok choy on the side. It wasn't a superstar, but it was comfort food for sure. And at $7.95, it would be a very affordable dinner for one. The ambience at Food Talk is trendy Asian, but the food is more down home. The servers were good and I can't believe that the bathroom was as clean as it was! They even packed up the food for us, which is not typical for Chinese restaurants at all. Bottom line: Decent for a bite, but expect no earth-shattering culinary epiphanies here ...
(3)
Mg C.

I'm come here often to order food for lunch. I've got to say the seafood udon with black pepper is on point!
(4)
Jennifer C.

Food talk Cafe is a good place to go for a quick bite. The speedy service and large variety of dishes on the menu keep me coming back every time. Try the Taiwanese pork chop over rice (you can also get this with noodle soup, but I suggest you skip it because the soup lacks flavor), the Hainanese chicken, or the Beef Stew noodle soup. All their rice plates come with a side of steamed/boiled Chinese veggies, a great and healthy little addition! They have great appetizers as well: Peking (roast) duck, Shanghai dumplings (xiao long bao), tea eggs, fried tofu, etc.... everything is delicious! Go with a group of friends and do a family style meal to get the most bang for your buck!
(4)
Lauren Y.

i wish someone would open a place like this in the San Mateo area. Clean restaurant serving Classic Chinese dishes with no tacky stuff. This cafe reminds me of something you'd find in Hong Kong, Shanghai or Vancouver. My coworkers all had the Hainan Chicken noodle or rice plate. You know its authentic when the chicken comes with bone. I had the fried pork noodle soup. I wasn't impressed with that, but the Hainan Chicken rice plate was really good. The table next to us ordered a plate of bbq pork and duck and it looks really delicious.. thumbs up: menu, clean, hainan chicken thumbs down: bees flying around if you sit outside, the overload of MSG after you pay your check.
(3)
Andrea L.

Pretty decent Chinese food. I was pleasantly surprised. Apparently, the owner is taiwanese, the chef is from shanghai. I didn't pay much attention to prices b/c it was a family get together, but prices were not particularly expensive especially for Bay Area Chinese food, which is generally overpriced for what you get imo. Quick run through of the dishes shao long bao - surprisingly good. skins were the right thickness and not over/under-steamed when they arrived at the table. A fair amount of soup in the dumpling with a nice porky flavor. about 10 dumplings per steamer. shen jian bao (pan-fried steamed buns?) - don't bother. you can find better elsewhere (LA). not crispy enough on the outside. a little too steamed on the inside. no sesame seed coating. filling was pretty bland. portion size is small, only 3 per plate. wonton soup (no noodles) - not bad. shrimp wontons which were mostly pork (that's fine w/ me but didn't meet my parents' standard "Shrimp wontons should be 100% shrimp!). Soup was full of MSG. I didn't count wontons. roast duck - decent/good. Actually the duck meat was extremely tasty. They cooked it with its fat so that it was very moist (and oily) very flavorful. However, they didn't remove the meat from the bone (SUPER ANNOYING). They did a decent (but not great) job of taking the fat off the skin. The bao were nicely steamed. This duck is NOT Cantonese style. Good portion size in general, a little skimpy on the meat. (Lu Ding Gee in LA is still the gold standard for beijing style roast duck in CA if not the US.) pi dan sou rou zhou (rice porridge with pork & thousand year egg) - fine. lots of pi dan. a bit of MSG here as well. Basically, good execution on most dishes. A bit of MSG in the soups, but you can probably ask the chef to cut down on it. Lots of parking. Interior decoration is typical of trendy Chinese-run Chinese restaurants. Service was fine, but we spoke in Chinese. I would eat here again, which is saying a lot because I don't think highly of Bay Area Chinese food at all. Their menu is all over the place in terms of region, but the chef seems to handle himself well. Better eat here before he gets poached by another restaurant.
(3)
Dave S.

We went here because the place is always packed and busy and the restaurant looked clean. The menu items, as mentioned before, are a mix of Cantonese and Taiwanese. Beef with soy and peanuts appetizer was a nice salty start to the meal. We tried a Taiwanese spicy chicken. Not so flavorful and overdone - the meat was dry and several pieces were too tough to eat. Bandsaw-cut chicken may be authentic but I'm still not a fan of making a few bones into many smaller bones. Dumpling soup from the specials page was tasty, with a large tail of dumpling dough balancing out the meat and shrimp filling. Overall, the food was ok but not great. Celine Dion's horrible keening emanating from the wall TV may have contributed to a negative star. A singing Quebecois stick insect can dampen anyone's appetite.
(3)
LeeLee C.

Good food! This place is not big but very popular because it offers delicious food. The seating arrangements are quite tight so that it can sit in more people, I don't recommend people with kids bringing their strollers inside due to limited rooms to maneuver. We love the peking duck and always order it. The steam buns are fresh and smell so good when they are brought to the table. The ducks are moist with crispy skin. Alternatively, using beef is also good. The sticky rice fry rice is good, lots of ingredients and not overly done. The portion of their fry rice in general are quite big, good for sharing. Their weekend dim sum rice ball is OK, could have been more flavorful, but still OK. Not the best in value for 2 pieces at $3.95 though. The waiters are courteous though quite busy. The price is not ultra cheap but the quality is good.
(4)
Charles C.

Went there for dinner. Pricey for cafe style. Ordered 3 dishes: 1. Roast Duck - very salty 2. Frog - very salty and meat is tough. Not fresh frog. 3. fried rice - taste OK. I will not go back again period
(2)
Derrick V.

What other Asian place around here has Stella, Kirin, Sapporo and a few other beers on draft? None that I can think of really. This place gets points just for that. They also have an extensive selection of soups, noodles, dumplings, and fried appetizers. We tried the XLB dumplings which were one of the better versions I've had, nice and soupy. We also had some of the fried shrimp balls which were plump, piping hot, and went perfect with cold beer. I had the Hainanese chicken w/rice, which was served room temperature, a nicely cooked half chicken or so. It came with 2 sauces, a red spicy one and a green onion/ginger sauce. The nicely cooked rice had a subtle flavor of chicken so this dish was definitely satisfying if you're in the mood for chicken. I'm not an expert on this Singaporean specialty but it's probably a pretty decent version. My friend had one of the wonton soups but he thought the broth was on the salty side. The wontons looked good, pretty good size to em. I don't usually comment on decor but this place is definitely nicely decorated, has a modern chic feel to it. I would come back just to have a couple pints and some appetizers with the boys. UPDATE: Had the Hainanese chicken noodle soup. The broth was just chicken bullion, the egg noodles were thin, not chewy, but the chicken was good. Stick with the rice dish. The Taiwanese cold noodle dish isn't that great either.
(4)
Vivian W.

You really need to know what to order here. As you can see, I've updated the reviews on this place more than a couple of times. If you order the wrong thing, like wonton soup or any type of noodles, you aren't going to enjoy your meal. BUT, if you order the A-Choy with tofu sauce (I'm not sure how to describe this delicious yellowish sauce), the roasted peking duck with steamed buns (the highlight of this place), the XLB, tofu, sticky rice, and barbeque pork...you are good to go. We have a favorite waitress here that is always very attentive and once in a while hooks us up with a yummy dessert afterwards. I would highly recommend this place. Just order what I tell you to. ;)
(4)
Jessica T.

Chinese cuisine both from Taiwan and somewhere in China. Despite the place being super busy and crowded, the family and I still managed to get good service. I love the chinese decor of the restaurant. waiters and waitresses with straight black uniforms and black walls give it a professional look. The food here is delicious depending on what you get. They're known for their xiao long bao which comes in a very big portion about 10pcs I'm assuming. Americanized chinese dishes you can get here like fried rice, wonton noodle soup, etc are 2x the price, but here the taste and quality are much better than regular chinese restaurants. Their pei king duck is not bad, but I don't really eat roasted duck. I would highly recommend this place, but the only problem are the prices for the food. I would say though that my favorite dish is their beef udon stir fry and their xiao long bao.
(4)
Shannon L.

**TAKEOUT ORDER. Fried Avocado & Salmon Fish Rolls: NASTY! The taste was so strange that I could not take another bite. The avocado wasn't fresh either. Taiwanese Style Shredded Chicken Cold Noodle: The sauce was peanut based and a little watery. Perhaps this would've tasted better if I ordered it in the restaurant. They were generous with the strips of chicken but overall, this dish didn't stick out to me. Roasted Peking Duck wrapped with Mandarin Pancakes: Of course I had to get this again. The buns don't taste good when they're cold. And they went skimpy on the spring onions. Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Porridge: Good as usual. I had this with some chinese donut which was crispy. I wish it was more doughy but crispy is a nice change. The salted pork seemed more like regular strips of pork. They give this to you in a plastic container which is re-usable. Quite cool since I don't see that often. Chinese Broccoli: Good! They give a LOT of this; enough for 5 people. They blanch it so it's still quite crisp when you bite into the stems. Ordering was a little crazy. I called the first time and the phone kept ringing until it eventually just hung up. I called right after and someone picked up. And this is how it went... Me: I would also like C1. Lady: Beef roll? (I think that's what she said; couldn't tell through the accent). Me: No, C1. Lady: You mean A, B, C, D1? Me: No. I mean A, B, C1. Lady: Fish roll? Me: Yes. I highly recommend just dining in.
(3)
Winifred X.

Went there for dinner with a few friends, it's an average Chinese cafe. - decor: very chic, dark wood, more of a dating place than a group restaurant. - service: excellent, always had hot tea on our table, the waiter came quickly when someone on my table had some special request. Even gave us extra vegetable because one person asked for it on his rice plate. - food: this is why I am giving it 3 stars instead of 4. The food is not bad at all, but the quantity does not match up with the price. It came in nice presentation, but different from your avg Chinese hold-in-the-wall places, it does not "pile on". Which is fine. So overall, probably a 3.5 star in my opinion, will drop by if I go to Yoswhirl next time (it's right next door). But nothing to rave about.
(3)
Cindy C.

Love the food here!
(4)
Rain E.

Two thumbs up for this place. There's interior and exterior seating and the overall interior design gives off a very Asian-feel. Plenty of tables for customers and all the waiters/ waitresses were very friendly and helpful. The menu is Everything that goes on here is quick paced. Maybe a little too fast when they help you order and when they hand you the food, but the place was indeed very very busy. All the cups, plates, bowls, & utensils were clean. No evidence of oil stains, fingerprints, or left over food. *Yay* Food here is absolutely delicious and tasty. Definitely give these a try~ [[Steamed Pork Dumplings w/ Soup]] -- Some didn't have soup in it because it leaked. Good, but could be better. [[House Special Vegetarian Bean Curd]] -- Soft and wrapped really well. Don't judge by it's look.~ [[Deep Fried Tofu w/ Spiced Soya Sauce]] -- Tofu lovers: Try this! Made with very smooth tofu and it goes perfect with the sauce. [[2 Delicacy Combination Over Rice (Your Choice)]] -- Choose from Chicken, Cha-Siu, Duck, etcetc. Very good. Fresh greens too~ [[Roasted Peking Duck Noodle Soup]] -- Slightly oily, but the noodles was indeed duckily juicy. [[Mandarin Pancakes Wrap Soya Beef Shank and Cucumber]] -- Beef Shank was soft and tender, not too much fat. The pancakes were fresh and warm too. Comes with fresh green onion shreds and oyster sauce. [[Fried Durian Pastry]] -- For the Durian fans, here's the one to try. Fresh, soft & crunchy, spectacular aroma. Must try!~ Photos Uploaded~
(4)
Shirley W.

A must to get while you are at food talk: xiao long baos and the fried durian pastry. The xiao long baos were steaming hot when we got it and the juices were still in the dumpling. The durian pastry was fried but the flaky crust melted in my mouth. The durian inside was not too sweet. The other food on the menu is just average, you can get it anywhere else and expect the average price of a dish be ~$10 a plate.
(3)
Tramy V.

This is one of my fav places to go to! I think the East Bay lacks these types of restaurants, and this place is Ooo-soo-Yum! Cute little place with some waiting time during the weekends, but always a good meal. Great variety on the menu. Here's a list of the things I've tried: *Deep Fried Crab Claw Wrap with Shrimp Meat Paste: Good and as expected. Similar to the ones you get at chinese wedding banquets. *Wonton noodle soup: Yummy! I love how they put more shrimp than meat in the wontons. *Xiao long bao: Good. Soupy. Fresh. One of the must-order items for me! *Taiwanese style chicken cold noodle: First time trying this dish. Can't say I'm a huge fan of it though, and I have nothing to compare it to :P Peanut sauce could've been less watery like. *Za jian mian: A-OK. I think I've had better. *Tofu: Pretty good! Comes with a light soya sauce.. and is a good sized portion. *Beef shank with steamed buns: Comes with hoisin sauce and onions. Yummy! I also tried a rice plate with a choice of two of their meats. I can't say I was all that impressed though... (since I can find better BBQ meats at one of those chinese shops that have ducks & chickens hanging in the window. LOL) Overall, service is quick and friendly. Nice decor! Great food!
(4)
Steve J.

Not sure if I understand the name "Food Talk Cafe" (can someone enlighten me). So we just did the unconventional desert first at Yoswirl ( yelp.com/biz/yoswirl-freâ€¦ ) before coming over here for dinner. This place serves tasty Taiwanese and Cantonese styled dishes. I initially had no expectations of this place but was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the food here. Good flavors and tastes, not too salty broth. Not too oily nor too fatty for my beef brisket with the right amount of meat and tendon. Prices are reasonable mostly in the $6-9 range. We ordered the: * F6 Taiwanese Style Deep Fried Pork Chop Noodle Soup (with rice noodles) $7.95 * F10 House Special Salt Marinated Duck Noodle Soup (with flat noodles) $7.95 * F11 Beef Brisket Noodle Soup (with flat noodles) $7.95 * F16 Slice Spiced Soya Sauce Beef Shank with Cold Noodles and Sesame Seed Sauce $7.95 [See pix] We overheard people ordering whole chicken/ducks here. Our impression is that the fowl is good here based on hearing other customers requests and the tasty chicken and duck we've ordered. We figured that we may try the other chicken, duck and squab dishes here next time (Hainan styled?). The Shanghai dumplings will also be on our try list next time. Service was decent. Nicely decorated contemporary interior with a trendy Asian-bamboo theme and seats about 60 inside. Two outdoor heaters to seat approximately another 20 outside. Huge flat screen tv with speakers connected into the restrooms as well. New contemporary restrooms. foodtalkcafe.com
(4)
Vicky L.

I went here a weeks ago, and I can't remember the prices, but i really think it was over priced for the amount that we were getting. The quality of the food was even worse. we ordered a cold tofu appetizer. It was so cold, that it was icy in the center. We also ordered the xiao long bao, which was also warm, not hot the way it's supposed to be. we ordered a few other dishes, but i only remember the lukewarm food and icy tofu dish. the decor is nice, but we're packed in like sardines, I could hear the tables next to us, on both sides clearly.
(1)
Jesse W.

Greasy, cheap, and fancy looking. For a lunchtime joint (it's walking distance from my office) it's pretty decent. Per one of my friends reviews, I will confirm that the free milk tea that they offer tastes like its laced with something real bad. Short of that, this place serves up decent lunch specials, I had the fried rice and shared in the dumplings/egg beef dish that my colleagues ordered. It's not bad, but it's not good, lunchtimes are SUPER busy, so get there early.
(3)
XinYi X.

The menu is all different now. The waiters are all different. I don't know why they bother to hand out the old menu. Most of the items are crossed out. The new menu is just a list of dishes, with no discernable organization. The Peking duck was still good, though the skin wasn't crispy-crispy. The XLB now comes in 10s. The wide noodles with Hainan chicken was not as good as it used to be. Looking around the room, most people order some sort of fried rice or noodle (huge plate), XLB, duck, noodle soup. Don't expect to eat a balanced meal here. The vegetables are way overpriced ($13), small dishes, and not that tender. I repeat: eat your vegetables at home. You don't have to eat healthy leafy greens at every meal.
(2)
Veronica S.

I've only been here once, and after reading the reviews, I guess I had a "hit" experience and will update you on further times dining here, later I guess! So far, so good!!! The pecking duck was DELICIOUS! Super soft...I hate when I get my pecking duck so dried out. We also had fried shrimp balls, salmon-filled egg rolls, fried tofu (the tofu inside was way soft)!, xi-fan (porridge), and noodles with meat. They were all pretty good and tasty. The prices are also decent, but expect to pay $25 for the duck. If you wish, you can order 1/2 order of the duck for $12 which is nice if you just want a taste of it The fried shrimp balls reminded me of dim sum, but yet they were good =) Looking forward to come here again =)
(4)
Chia L.

It was good, but definitely not Taiwanese. If it were a regular restaurant it'd have 4 stars, but since it named itself Cantonese-Taiwanese fusion... maybe just 3. This place has a very nice interior, again rather similar to what you'd see in Taiwan. The service is slow, but they are ok nice. - Peking Duck-- not all that authentic, not enough skin and definitely not crispy or flavorful enough. Though overall it was good, especially the steamed buns. - Pan-fried buns-- very good. The chewy dough skin was nicely crispy-ed from the hot oil but the cabbage and ground pork filling inside was fluffy instead of lumped together in a big blob. One fault though is that it's super oily. - Three cup chicken-- was not authentic at all. I would say that it's good as a chicken dish, but terrible as a three-cup-chicken. It was too sweet and definitely did not have the signature flavor this famous Taiwanese dish is suppose to have. - Steamed xiao long bao (dumplings) were more of mini buns than dumplings since it had a thicker crust. It was juicy nonetheless. - Har Gao (shrimp dim sum) is.. typical. - Fried/broiled tofu was good! Very soft tofu with crispy thin crust in a pool of light soysauce/stew broth. Overall the food is decent, but only maybe one or two dishes are above average. On the pricey side though, and rather slow.
(3)
Brian W.

It's not worth a long wait-- but if you only have to wait 10 minutes or so, it's worth it. I can wait a little bit for ambiance *and* good food at a reasonable price. It's not as dirt cheap as some other places but that's the price you pay... and the won ton mein is very, very good. The noodles especially are just right, and the shrimp inside the won tons... mmmmmm. The xiaolongbao, though, are just okay; they're pretty good by USA standards (honestly, short of Din Tai Fung and a handful of other places, who measures up?), but they're not quite right, either in skin texture, soup taste, or delivery. Not to mention the fact that they're pricey! The menu is concentrated on the basics as far as Chinese food goes. They seem to be pretty good at it, at least. About the only odd thing there is the peking duck, which is actually a pretty complicated item for a place like this.
(4)
Leslie C.

I really like this place. Some of their items are a hit or miss but the ones that are good are really good. I also like their appetizer sponge cakes. Yummy!
(4)
Jon T.

This place... well.. how can i put it?.. sucks went here with 3 of my friends, we all ordered 3 different things and we all hated what we got, i got the "za jian mien" not sure how you would say that in english but basically it's this chinese style noodles with sauce... well what i got was basically noodles (nasty noodles if i might add) with..some sweet and sour sauce..which is NOT how it is supposed to be made. I could go on for days to describe how nasty it was, same goes for my friends. service was decent... i was pretty dissapointed at how BAD it was so i went home to tell my parents, surprisingly they shared a similar experience with me on the food but had another story to tell regarding the service so here goes! my mom and dad went to eat here and one of the bowls was dirty, no problem my mom asked them for a new one, once again it was dirty... so she kindly asked them for another one.. STRIKE 3 still dirty so my mom asked again for another one (explaining each time that it was dirty) so the 4th time the brought the bowl they threw the bowl across the table towards my mom very rudly and the bowl was even spinning around the table almost falling off...is this the right way to treat your customers for your own inability to clean bowls? DON'T GO HERE, it's a waste of money and waste of a meal, your tummy deserves better
(1)
Jack L.

There is a PF Chang's nearby. Patrons there should head to Food Talk Cafe instead for inspired Chinese cuisine. The place is on the high end compared to the usual Chinese fare, but still appropriate for family dining. This place is the poster child for fusion done right.
(4)
Nha T.

The only good dish here is the peking duck. Everything else is bleh. My family came here for a dinner and we ordered several dishes. None of them were good except for the peking duck, of course. The crystal prawns/shrimps were practically not cooked (my mom had diarrhea RIGHT after she left the restaurant from this). The soup had this weird taste from the old ingredients that they used. We all loved the customer service at this restaurant. They were very attentive and nice. But the food was just nasty. We would not go back here again.
(2)
Ailee F.

The food here is generally good, the peking duck is very delicious, skin cripsy and not too much fat underneath. From a waiter's recommendation, we tried the fried glutinous rice which was delicious but it doesn't sit well in the stomach. I've heard great things about their soup dumplings and my brother loves it so much, but I'm allergic to shellfish and I've heard the dumplings has crab meat. The waiters does not seem very knowledgeable about this, because I wanted to confirm if it's indeed true and he was very iffy about his answer.
(4)
Mike C.

This is the place I usually go with the family when I am in need of some Taiwanese food. It can get quite busy so coming around the early parts of lunch or dinner would probably be the way to go if you don't like to wait. They have some pretty good food and I usually order the crispy duck with bread, fried tofu, steamed dumplings, ja jang mein noodles, and some sticky rice. The parking just like the restaurant can get pretty full so again, make sure you come before the rush.
(4)
Lai T.

Everytime we come here, it gets more disappointing than the previous time. I think we've finally given up on this place. Its gone downhill in the past year or two. I think it is because the original owners aren't there anymore, and the menu has also changed a little. The food is overpriced and not that special. Lots of other places in Fremont make similar food, tastes better, and is half the cost. I think what this place has working for them is the location, if you happen to be at Target / Costco / Lowes....Service is slow, they either forgot or messed up my husband's simple noodle dish, because his plate did not come out until I was done with my plate, and he had to keep bugging them about it. Also, if you're not a regular there, you don't get the free dessert / extra dish that I keep seeing the owner give to her "friends". Really makes the rest of us feel like second class citizens.
(1)
Cola C.

Be aware! This place change menu all the time and their food quality is not consistency. They no longer have xlb,which was my favor. One waiter said the xlb chef got fire, another waiter said the xlb chef is on vacation indefinitely.!?! Which is which? Anyways, I made the hours trip end up eating so called " Taiwanese pork chop set meal" sucks! They make it like Tokatsu. not even tasty. The appetizer ( jelly fish) not fresh. What else have I ordered?, can't remember. But I will never go back again. Low food quality.
(1)
Francis L.

I've been here half a dozen times since they opened and the quality of the food has just slowly gone down hill. When I first had the hoi nam chicken it was top notch. Being so good the first few times I raved about it and wanted to go every chance I get. But good things didn't last long as they started to give me the odds and ends of the chicken like the back or some crappy pieces. Yet I still go back because I have faith! Turns out faith doesn't cut it because ordering the duck with rice noodle gave me the same odd and ends pieces with it even being burnt on the skin. My soup was flooded with burnt particles from the duck. The flavoring remains the same good taste but it seems like the manager is out of the country.
(2)
Erica S.

Came here for lunch with friends since we were in the area. My husband told me they were known for their Peking duck, but we ended up not ordering it. Some of the dishes were foreign to me. I think the only memorable dish for me was the Pork Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao). Service is EXTREMELY slow that it took forever to get out of here.
(3)
Mike M.

Was back here recently and was blown away again. I had the honey BBQ pork over rice and it did not disappoint. I also had a bite of their dumpling soup and the egg noodles were just yummy. Next time I come here, it'll have to be with a bigger group so I can sample more dishes. But make sure to come early as the restaurant gets packed quite easily.
(5)
Elise G.

I'm not too familiar with Taiwanese food, but I thought it was pretty tasty. The duck was good. The skin was crispy with just the right amount of fat on it. Eat it with the buns, sauce, and green onions like a little sandwich. Then eat the meat over rice. The Shanghai dumplings were yummy. It was soup in a dumpling. It's nothing I've ever had before and quite a surprise when tasted. Eat it in one bite or else it'll pop and all the goods will spew out. The fried rice was not too heavy, oily, or salty. It had shrimp in it and was fluffy and crumbly. It was a good side with our other dishes. The food presentation was nice. Everything looked appetizing. Split between two people, it was a lot of food and there were left overs. But it was good to get variety. I like how it came out hot and relatively fast. The place was pretty crowded at 12:45 P.M. on a Monday. It' was a small restaurant and was a bit noisy and drafty. My brother and I sat nearly elbow to elbow with the neighboring tables. But the servers were pretty accommodating. After a table next to us left, they conjoined it with ours since we ordered a lot. I would go back again just for the duck.
(4)
Adrian Y.

I eat here quite often with my family. The menu has changed quite a bit since they first opened along with a lot of the staff. A couple of the waiters don't speak English too well or not at all. But we always get great service here. Beef Chow fun, Xiu Lung Bao are my favorites at this place. I'll get porridge rice with chicken(Congee) here a lot too. If I'm in need of some chinese food, this is usually my first choice to go. There can be a wait to get a table at this place because it can get pretty busy, especially if the restaurant down the way (Asian Pearl) has a wedding in the evening, so many of the people that wanted to go there, end up at Food Talk.
(4)
Hideki K.

Food Talk is a solid Taiwanese / Chinese restaurant in a strip mall in Fremont. They serve a variety of dishes, including roast duck and xiaolongbao.
(3)
Victor H.

Sometimes I just want to eat old school food in the 21st century. Does Chinese food come without bright red walls, dragons, corny decor, round tables, ugly chairs... you get the picture. I don't mind paying more for ambience and food talk cafe is one of those places. The food is also pretty good. I think most of the stuff is pretty average (which I am perfectly okay with) and they do have some stand out dishes. Their little dumplings, peking duck, and roast duck are all worth the price. I have to say they have one of the best roast ducks that I've had. I'm not sure where they get their ducks but I've never had a duck with so much tender meat before. This is also one of those places where I never just naturally go to. On the flip side, it's also one of those places where when I am there, I wonder why I don't go more often. Hard to explain but.. I can't figure it out myself.
(3)
Daniel N.

Peking duck was good. Dumplings and hainan chicken were ehhhhhh.
(3)
Mike W.

For what they charge, I expected to be blown away. Unfortunately I wasn't. We'll start at the top with their xiao long bao. They're average sized, but for something that size I was expecting a thin delicate wrapping. Instead I got doughy. The soup and meat were clean though a touch on the unseasoned side. The chicken was well prepared (excellent job on the skin). Unfortunately I've seen and eaten chickens at the street markets (shhh PETA) with more meat on them. I can understand the need to limit fat, but not at the expense of meat. The crab claw shrimp balls were fab though out of place ordered for dinner. Ditto for the siu mai (that's what I get for going dinner with my dad). We also had their za jiang mein, and I had to go into portion control mode along with everyone else. Not what I'm used to with chinese. At least the sauce was decent. Service is quick and attentive though nothing spectacular. Priced at the upper echelons of chinese, sadly the food doesn't match up with it. Food Talk is solid, but $80+ after tip for 4 people will get you far more (and for some dishes better) elsewhere.
(3)
Jessica L.

I am a fan! For the Fremont area, I think this place is pretty darn good. I really like the atmosphere inside...the decor, the big flat screen tv, the setting. I have been there quite a few times in the past couple of months, and I have never had bad service. The guys working have always been friendly and fast. I usually come on week nights and have never had to wait for a seat. Maybe I'm just lucky? *shrugs* Anyway, the food is pretty good. So far everything we've tried has been pretty good. The xiao long baos, the shrimp wonton noodles, the veggies, the hainan chicken rice, bbq pork, beef noodles, etc. I always leave satisfied. I think next time I will have to try the roast duck!
(4)
Maya T.

Food Talk Cafe is a good fast food cafe (like what you would find in Hong Kong) that serves authentic Chinese cuisine, especially if you like Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Dumpling), Peking Roast Duck, Hainan Steamed Chicken and dumpling soups. Food: Above Average Service: Average
(3)
Christopher L.

A mix of street-food-style dishes from several places in Asia, most notably Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. While some of their descriptions are exaggerated and laughable as pointed out by some previous yelpers, the food is actually quite good. Their menu is large and while some dishes are not as fantastic as they may seem, at least they are made without failure. Portions are generous and the service is friendly albeit occasionally rushed during busy hours. There's a TV (when it's on) in case you're bored, but the wooden decor and lively crowd give off a pretty positive vibe - a nice place for a laid-back meal with friends... or for some "Food-Talk??" (wtf)
(3)
Jessica C.

Modern Decor - Fast Service - Good Food I came here during the lunch rush hour. Our food arrived quickly and with friendly service. We had the fried tofu, peking duck, chinese greens, won ton soup, chicken broth rice and steamed dumpllings with soup. The stand out of the meal was definitely the peking duck. Don't waste your time on chicken broth rice. Good old fashioned steamed rice would have hit the spot better. Don't expect your hole in the wall chinese food restaurant when dining here. The prices are a tad higher but the food, decor and service are much better. I'd definitely come back again to try out more of their menu.
(3)
Wendy T.

LOVED their ribs dry noodles (very tender!) Special duck with buns - I was impressed with this dish because they actually took all the fat off the duck skin when it was served. The duck was not dripping with oil either (like how most restaurants make it). XLB taste good but NO SOUP at all, so I was dissapointed. But loved the Hainan Ck! Nice atmosphere. I wanna try their: noodle soups (won ton, roast duck), coconut jello, za jian mian , Fried intestines, taro roll (the steamed ones) and egg custard rolls for desserts, and beef rice with sauce. Update: XLB skin is too thick now, although the soup is there! The peking pk over dry noodle is da BEST (very tender)! The beef gravy ho fun is not bad too (shrimp is fishy).
(4)
Eileen H.

I'm counting the days until I can come back. It's better to come with a group since you'll be able to try more things on the menu. Steamed dumplings Salmon avocado fried roll Wonton soup Roasted duck with bun Everything was tasty!! Especially the roasted duck, everyone was complimenting on the texture and how it did not taste too greasy. Can't wait to come back!
(4)
Kevin C.

Some dishes were ok. Some were below ok. But overall dinning experience was ok. I was planning to give it three stars. But we had the left over boxed and found a piece of plastic wrap inside when we got home. One star was taken off because of this.
(2)
Kris I.

I didn't think it was possible to get quick, quality Taiwanese in a well-decorated restaurant, but then Food Talk Cafe was created! PROS: -good seating capacity with variation--tables in middle and couches on side --wide selection of food with a constant price range (i.e. 8 different types of porridge to choose from and all of them were $6!!) --nice servers (they had a bit of an accent, but I could understand them, and they weren't rude at like other Asian places) -plenty tea CONS -they never asked if I wanted water :( i NEED water...
(4)
Judy L.

Love the Hai Nan chicken and the Dorian dessert roll. Yummy!
(4)
Melanie B.

Food Talk Cafe has a good selection. We ordered the Xiao Long Bao that came in a hot bamboo steamer. We also ordered the Deep Fried Tofu with Spiced Soya Sauce, Taiwanese Style Deep Fried Pork Chop, and Roasted Chicken Wings and Spice Fried Dry Garlic. Everything was very tasty! The restaurant has a hip, trendy, and loungy vibe. The restaurant is very clean and great service. The menu selection offers a good range of food from Hainan Style Chicken, Roasted Peking Duck wrapped in Mandarin Pancakes, Porridge, Noodle Soup, Rice Plates, Vegetarian Dishes, Milk Teas, and Desserts. I would definitely come here again. The prices are affordable and you can't come to this place and just order one thing. You're tempted to at least order 2 or more things. It's close by to my house and right across the street from Costco. So, you can run errands and stop by here for a hearty home-comfort meal.
(4)
Andy L.

I can't recommend coming here unless you like to spend money needlessly or are a fan of interior design. Don't get me wrong, the food is good .. but its not what you'd expect and definitely not for their prices. You can tell just by glancing at the menu, there is not a single entree that jumps out at you screaming "FUSION!!!" or "I'm worth $15". Everything on the menu can be found around the Bay (or next door) for cheaper and better. Eating here is just like someone paying $15 for an In-N-Out Double Double meal at a fancy cafe. The burger's no doubt going to be good, but why $15? Again, it's not worth the price of admission here. If you don't know your way around the countless Chinese plazas around the Bay then I implore you all to go out and explore with your Chinese acquaintances. Then of course there's the other reasons why I wouldn't come here, for example the service is horrendous. My group and about 5 other tables sat there while 3 waiters and their friend stood there drinking beer, just chatting away.
(2)
Chris S.

Nice ambiance with good food. Friday night was very clouded, so don't even think about it. Unless you get there early, don't know how early is good, but get there early is the best. You have to try the duck, the one that cost about ($25) pak king duck I think that's what they name it. The dish is good for 3-4 people, but not for two. The sauce that come with and the bunn are sooo.... good. We also order the cougie ($6.50) and another dished ($8.00) it a steam vegetable with oyster sauce and the beer, the beer here are draft beer with cold glass ($4.50), if you know what I'm talking about hummm.....
(4)
Wils G.

2009/12/26 Peking duck and shanghai steam dumpling are couple of things I always pickup when I was there. Food is as good as anytime I been there before As usual service isnt great, but today it really pain me, especially if you are being skipped after waiting there in line. Come on lady,... are you really blind by giving my table to the other person when I already stand over there for a while and I have keep checking. Another thing that make things isnt better is, I saw all other table gotten their desserts.. and I spent like $40ish for 2 person, didnt even get one.. what a piss of place.... As I said food is good but service can be better before I put it back to 4 star....... a very annoying customer..........
(2)
Grace T.

it's probably a good thing that when i was living in the bay area i did not live that close to this place...now that i'm in san diego, i live even farther (obviously)... nonetheless, although i've only been here a handful of times, i must say that the peking duck is so good that every time i think about getting it my mouth waters and i contemplate possibly moving into the costco nearby so that i can eat at food talk more often! most recently my mom, the bf, and i had (along with the duck of course!) other delicious dishes...the fried pork noodles, the lobster rice cake platter, and the fried tofu...yum yum yum... it can get crowded so parking can be crowded at times (despite it being a large strip mall-esque buildling) and they "take reservation" (although not sure how closely they adhere to them), but believe you me, the wait is worth it...the ambiance and decor of the place is quite nice and it's a great family/friend gathering type of place... now if only they'd open up a place near my parent's place in cupertino...
(5)
Wayne C.

This place confuses the Yelper in me. I went there for lunch today on the advice of a persuasive birthday girl. The restaurant has a very asian fusion vibe to it. I was a bit surprised that coming on a Friday around 1pm, it wasn't very busy. The interior was a bit stuffy even though it was nice and dark inside. We were promptly seated and given tea. The server quickly returned to ask us for our order. We asked for a few minutes. He came back. We gave him our drink order. He was back almost immediately asking for our order. We finally asked him to give us a couple of extra minutes. I like prompt service but it felt more like we were being rushed outta there. As for the food, it was a mixed bag. They offered us some complimentary soup. Cream of corn (one of my all time faves!) However, when we tasted it it was a bit sour. Not sure if that's normal so we passed on it. Our lunch plates were good. I had a beef stew with rice that was very tender. And my date finished her lunch (which is better than me!) However, we also ordered fried tofu with soy sauce. That was disappointing. While it was fried perfectly, the soy sauce was bland. Not sure if they skimped on it and diluted it. The highlight of the meal was the drink. We ordered the coffee drink with grass jelly. While it looked very diluted, the taste was perfect on a warm day! As I said, I had mix feelings about this place. Food quality and price was just average. Service was a bit rushed. So how did I feel about Food Talk Cafe? Let's just say... I enjoyed the lunch date but I think it was more to do with the company than the restaurant.
(3)
Prascilla L.

Good Xiao Long Bao, of course not as good as Yank Sing (SF Downtown), but it is good enough for Fremont =) The restaurant is distinctive. For me, it carries a "different" variety of food that you don't usually find at other Chinese restaurant. It is not really fusion within the dishes; but fusion with different areas. For example, Peking duck from Beijing, XLB from Shanghai, Beef noodle from Taiwan etc. Of course, there are always some hit and miss - like the deep fried salmon and avocado roll - hmmm... not so good as it sounds esp when they are not sushi, but roll in piece of bread and deep fried it; but overall they are good different. I am happy to see that in a restaurant, thinking outside the box in terms of menu. Some of the recommendations other than XLB are: The beef brisket noodle soup Pumpkin Pastry Coconut pudding (served in the coconut) If you're in the neighborhood, give it a try. Oh, another plus for the restaurant, they iced their beer mug. That's what I call the "WOW" factor!! It is definitely a 5-star place; but to be fair, not sure about the service on a regular bases since we know the chef...
(5)
Shanna W.

I tried a couple of the dishes from the new menu (I haven't been there for almost one year now), the two dishes were really not that good, and I had this after-meal taste in my mouth, the food made you "burp with a foul odor" afterward. I had the stir fried flat noodle with shrimp and egg whites, and the beef pancake, both were not that good. I don't think I will go back again.
(3)
Charles L.

If you are craving for PEKING DUCK, look no further FOOD TALK is the place
(5)
Adrienne K.

"Our flavor shares of heavenly feast, earthly epicure hardly tastes." - This statement is printed on their menus and business cards. I like this place. I think most of the food I tasted were very good, and price is reasonable, but not flawless/perfect. I have to honestly disagree with this statement. Here are some of the dishes I tried: C1 Fried Avocado Salmon Fish Rolls ($6.25) - I didn't like it. Thought the salmon was too dry and the fried toast and avocado made it too sweet. C5 Deep Fried Crab Claw Wrap with Shrimp Meat Paste ($6.95) - Good. Quality equivalent to the ones serve at banquets. C6 Deep Fried Shrimp Balls ($6.95) - Tasty A1 Steamed Pork Dumplings with Soup ($8.95) - Good. You can actually bite into a pouch of soup in each dumpling. F4 Wonton Noodle Soup ($7.95) - Good wontons; more shrimp than pork in each wonton. Good seasoning. B12 Roasted Chicken Wings with Spice Fried Dry Garlic ($6.50) - Too dry and not much flavor. I didn't like it.
(4)
Dennis O.

During the cold season, it's usually best if you go for Asian food, in this case Taiwanese food. The last time I had Taiwanese food was when I lived in Hong Kong for a short time. The only thing I remembered was that the noodles were usually thicker and spicier than most Chinese dishes. Or maybe that was because of the menu? Anyway that was long time ago. I wasn't really impressed. This restaurant was just right next to a few Asian cafes and even YoSwirl in Fremont. Same location as the Automall Parkway which is a haven for Taiwanese Electronics Companies. My friend told me there is usually a line outside during lunch time particularly at this restaurant. I was a bit hungry and I was craving for congee. My friend ordered the flat noodle and dumpling soup. I also ordered salmon rolls which has salmon and avocado. It looked good on the menu. So while being relaxed in a short table (yeah all the tables are next to each other. Must be terribly cramped in here during the day time) and watching Yanni on their flat screen TV, I just took a look around. The decor is nice, clean and the utensils are pretty alright. The only thing that bothered me was that the place was small. The ice machine was in front of me so I would hear the loud woosh every time they slam the ice box. The soda fountain and utensil cupboards were on my left where some of the servers usually stand around. What an uncomfortable place this must be if it gets busy. The congee and soup came out ahead of the salmon rolls. I was surprised the serving was big enough for 2-3 people. It was clean and free of the usual additives that some restaurants put in. The same with the dumpling noodle soup. It was huge. How much are they? 6-7$ a dish. Pretty good. I did see some people order duck dishes which look pretty good. I'll try that next time. I didn't like the salmon rolls. A bit dry inside. I wouldn't order it again. it's like a western appetizer with a really thick fried crust served with mayo. Not really something you would expect from an Asian restaurant. Other than that, I do like the food, just not the cramped space. I wouldn't recommend coming here with more than 2 people especially during the busier hours.
(4)
Mari P.

Service was slow and not very attentive. However, the food was pretty tasty and if I could, I would give it 2.5 for the food. We went there on a Sat night, only 2-3 others table filled. The hostess didn't formally greet us, she just took the menus and sat us down. Come on... a smile and hi welcome doesn't hurt does it?! Then the server seemed to be spaced out in la-la land because I had to keep flagging him down for drink refills, chili paste and for our check (and again, not that crowded). They were out of my first choice of snack/appetizers and same goes with their beer selection, so we were not impressed. Then the food came out, it was piping hot (we ordered the beef house special w/ bell peppers & onions and the beef w/ those wide/flat noodles) and both had lots of flavor we cleaned out the plates. So again food they had in stock was tasty...but not sure service is worth another visit.
(2)
Stacey P.

I've been to Food Talk twice. Both times were quite good. The xiao long bao were good both times. I remember everything being tasty the first time I was here, but only remember specifics from round 2. Our dishes consisted of: Dan dan noodles, Peking duck (I will discuss this later but YUM), Xiao long bao, cold chicken noodles, and chinese broccoli. They gave us a free taro/tapioca dessert too. The peking duck with the "mandarin pancakes" (i think that's what they call them) is AMAZING. Yes, I could only eat that. The duck is so crispy and delicious, and the pancakes are perfect consistency, they taste great together. I've had this dish at other restaurants where the dough was too hard, too chewy, or the duck was undercooked, underflavored, etc. NOT HERE. A+! The Xiao long bao was good but not the best I've had. The bao part was a little flimsy, but the soup was good. Everything else was alright but the main thing that stuck out in my mind was the DUCK!!!! LOVE. IT.
(4)
Stephanie H.

Pros: - Peking duck: nice and crispy w/ NO fat but with all the delicious fixing! - Chinese broccoli: cooked well, generous portions, cut to bite size portions (its so annoying when you gotta gnaw on the whole stem) - Deep fried intestines: nice and crispy w/ a little bit of chewiness & accompanied with some sweet and sour sauce - Deep Fried Pumpkin (dessert): My husband LOVED the crunchiness & the sweet filling inside - Mango pudding: Nice light ending to a mostly fried food lunch! - Service was quick, our food was pretty much out 2-5 mins after we ordered it (suhweet!) Cons: - preserved egg & pork porridge: it wasn't bad, BUT i've had better. The flavors of the porridge was bland. I'll be back for the peking duck & the fried pumpkin dessert for my husband!
(3)
Gary T.

FOOD TALK!!!! let me talk about the food here! yesh! amazing food here if you're craving some good chinese food. when i come here with my friends, we ALWAYS order the same thing regardless if it's 6 of us or 2 of us. 1) the roast duck...WOOOOOW JUICY! 2) xio long bao...eat with caution...the delicious juice will burn your tongue if you aren't patient. 3) fried tofu...when you hear fried tofu...what's so special about it? just order it and find out for yourself! 3) gai lan...OH HHHHHHHHELLLLLLLLL YEAH! crunchy, fresh...my favorite veggie! 4) white rice...who doesn't eat all this stuff without rice? i kid you not...that is exactly what we ALWAYS order. ahhh i'm so glad food talk opened up in fremont. =)
(4)
Charlie W.

Solid three stars. The food is pretty good, but nothing very special. One of their famous dish is the peking duck. Its relatively good, but for someone that's of chinese descend, it is not quite up to par. The duck, the bun and the sauce is made very traditionally and it actually tastes quite well. Their pork chop and rice was a good choice as well. However, nothing else really stood out. The noodle soups were a bit salty. The salmon and avocado roll was very bland. I wouldn't recommend it. One star for the food, one star for the decoration and one for the service. It's a pretty chill place to come eat on a week night. Usually the wait is not very long. The atmosphere is very nice and the interior design is quite nice. Good for an every day casual night out.
(3)
Thomas M.

Food Talk CafÃ© has an appealing, home-feeling and a very decorated atmosphere. I like the fact that it's located in a plaza that has plenty of parking, absolutely had no problem finding parking. The server is friendly and very attendant of our visit. They serve lunch specials Mon-Fri, but we came here on a Saturday, so we kind of missed out on that one...bummer. So I ordered the roast duck over rice $7.95. It was very tasty; I finished my plate pretty fast...lol. They serve friendly portion so I was satisfied with my meal. My girlfriend ordered the duck noodle soup which was pretty delicious also. I can't complain about this place, the price and the comfort. I'll be back here for sure.
(4)
Cinderella T.

Yum to the Peking duck. This is probably the best that I have ever had. There is very little fat compared to other Chinese restaurants. The dumplings are also quite tasty here. I have to say that things are a bit pricey here so I don't come very often. I have been here on several occasions and if you come during the weekend at dinner time, expect a long wait. Service is OK but not excellent. They do not come by and check up on you. You would have to flag someone down to get service. Tip: Earlier dinner time = no line = more time to digest = me happy
(4)
Shu C.

I like their egg noodles. The noodles themselves are good quality. I end up always ordering the dry egg noodles with dumplings. Shanghai dumplings are surprisingly good here. It's not the best I've ever had but pleasantly surprised at the quality. The dumplings need to have more soup inside. Really busy place for lunch. The two restaurants next door are pretty empty so you have choices if you absolutely can't wait for a table here.
(4)
Michael T.

me and wifey been here twice decided to bring dad. they are pretty dog friendly so boston biggie has been here once with his internet buddy brownie while we were sitting outside eating. So dad likes the taiwanese beef noodle soup, my favorite is the fried durian and the sponge roll desert. Oh yeah the taiwanese style pork chop was good too. I also like the Taiwanese style cold noodles and the decor. One of my favorite places for taiwanese dishes.
(4)
Nancie T.

My dad is a retired chef of chinese cuisine and my mom is a homemaker who cooks up the most delicious vietnamese dishes. So you can imagine - dining out with them is like bringing my boyfriend to meet them for the first time: they either approve and say he's a great catch, or disapprove and give me that "what were you thinking" stare. So naturally, I was walking on eggshells as my parents sampled each dish because I really hoped they would enjoy it, from the: bbq pork, hainan chicken, beef noodles, shrimp porridge, duck tongue, shanghai dumplings to the durian puff dessert, they gave the nod of approval to each dish. The bbq pork was succulent and moist, the hainan chicken perfectly seasoned and tender, shrimp porridge that was tasty and not bland, and the durian puff stole the show at the end of the meal when my (actual) boyfriend sitting across from me almost passed out when he took a whiff of it. It is quite pricey so its not your everyday mom-and-pop type of place, but definitely a place to impress and be impressed. This is one boyfriend that is worth keeping.
(4)
Vanna S.

I was taken here by my BFF with her mom and roommate yesterday 6-11-09. Since she is also a foodie, I know I'm in good hands. We ordered the Peking Duck, Soy Sauce Tofu, Blanched Sweet Pea Sprouts, and Crab Balls with a side of steam rice. Everything we ordered was cooked and flavored well. We had a wonderful meal. Peking Duck's skin was very thinly carved out for the accompanying steamed buns with you stuff with also hoisin sauce and shredded scallion. The meat was well seasoned and juicy. Soy Sauce Tofu was drenched in earthy sauce, so flavorful and silky with just enough frying to lightly crisp the skin. Big Sweat Pea Sprouts was nicely blanched and more to the bland side so you can add your own dosage of the fermented tofu sauce. I love the freedom to add the sauce as needed. Crab Balls are huge chunk of seafood meatloaf wrapped around real crab claw meat and best of all--fried to a nice crispy coat. Ambiance was fresh clean feel with modern Asian decor. Food, everything we had was well cooked and beautifully seasoned. Service was friendly, but a little slow. Parking was plentiful. Price was fair.
(4)
Rachel H.

Because I am from Shenzhen, I am loving all the dishes in this restaurant. I recommend all the dishes, it has to depends on what you like. I recommend to arrive to the restaurant before dinner time, because you will have to wait a long time during dinner hour.
(5)
Vy P.

My best friend and I came here for dinner after our friend raved about the beef stew noodle soup. After browsing the menu and looking around to see what others are having. The both of us decided on the peking duck $25), noodle soup and 2 cold glasses of beer = $80 One word for the peking duck..DELISH!!! As you can tell, I'm not the only one on here that is hooked on their peking duck. I will have to head back here for the duck soon.
(4)
nell l.

Went here for dinner with my family and some friends. We got there at about 7pm on a Saturday and had to wait 20 minutes, a good sign for me, considering many of the other places in the same plaza were empty. The decor was pretty modern, with a lot of dark woods, some bamboo accents, and stainless steel appliances at the waitress/waiter station. The food that we ordered, though, was pretty much standard Asian fare, not much "fusion" in my opinion. The xiao long bao wasn't the tastiest I've had. The soup inside the bao just wasn't that flavorful. The cha siu pork and peking duck were the best dishes of the night. The pork was topped with a glaze that was a tiny bit sweet -- this was the only non-traditional touch that I saw with our meal that night. The meat was tender and went well with the rice. The duck looked like any other order in a standard Chinese restaurant (crispy skin, steamed buns, cut pieces of meat, and hoisin sauce), but there was a lot more meat than what I'm used to -- usually I get a piece with mostly bones and skin, but there was decently sized pieces of meat on each piece -- I definitely recommend this dish if you like duck. We rounded out our order with Chinese broccoli, fried pork intestines, and Taiwanese-style soaked chicken -- all good, but nothing above what I've had before at numerous other Chinese restaurants around the Bay. The total bill was almost $80 for 4 adults and 2 kids, which is more on the expensive side for Chinese food in my experience. I'll come back to Food Talk Cafe, but only if I happen to be in the area or with friends-- otherwise, for me, it wouldn't be worth a drive out just to eat here.
(3)
Irene K.

Very very good Char Siu!!!! Plus the Fried Tofu in Special Sauce, Peking Duck, Fried Shrimp Balls...and the Cantonese Style Porridge/Congee...the best in the area! We usually order some plain congee to go with the dishes we order. What can I say...I haven't tasted good Char Siu and Congee in the Bay Area except this place. If you love those two like I do, you must try it yourself then you'll know what I am talking about.
(4)
Rob C.

shared half duck, bbq pork, XLB, sliced beef shank with buns mostly cantonese dishes, some taiwanese, some items a bit pricey and risky to order in fremont roast duck is decent and fatty. (not peking style with roast crispy skin removed) bbq pork a little worse, sweetness off and very chewy. XLB had some juice. overall ok.
(3)
Kenny L.

With each time I visit this place, the Xiao Long Bao gets better and better. The skin of the bao is, for a lack of a better term, al dente while retaining the juices inside. That is what Xiao Long Bao should be.
(5)
Darryl L.

This place is really good. It's decorated for nicely, is clean, and the waitstaff are, for the most part, attentive and helpful. I highly recommend their noodle soups (won ton, roast duck, etc.) Definitely one of the better Chinese restaurants in the Fremont area. One question though... why is this place called Food Talk Cafe? The Chinese name isn't even close to that.
(4)
Shaoting C.

It's a nice Chinese restaurant in Fremont area. I like their BBQ dishes. Didn't find anything surprising there, but it's a place I'll go for dinner when I'm nearby.
(4)
Heidi C.

been here a couple of times and I must say that I'm never really disappointed. Last time my friends and I went, we ordered the following: Whole Roasted Duck - Very good and really fatty/oily.. The way it should be! Very juicy. Pork and 1000 Year Old Egg Porridge - Some places can really screw up on porridge, but this place makes it pretty damn good. GaiLan - Wasn't over or under-cooked. Tasted VERY fresh. Fried Tofu appetizer - A little bit on the salty side, but I love tofu also. Seating took a little while only because we were a group of 6. Service was speedy. They're always playing some weird Music DVD thing... I've seen Michael Jackson the past 2 times which isn't a bad thing! Bathrooms are clean! I actually can't put my finger on as to why I'm giving this place 4 stars instead of 5.. I guess I just don't want to be too nice. I wish YELP.COM allowed 1/2 stars. This place isn't the MOST ideal place for large groups considering it's small size... but it's a good spot to go to with a small group of friends. I live in the city next door, so I'll be coming here a lot more and hopefully, I'll be giving it 5 stars =)
(4)
Pika C.

I've been here twice. The decorations are pretty cool...the bathroom is awesome! It's got this cool sink w/an automatic faucet and automatic soap dispenser. The food is decent..but a little pricey for what it is. The duck isn't that bad...but it's 25 bucks. For that amount, I'd expect a really superb dish. For the duck, I'd probably go somewhere else...
(3)
Anna V.

I came here with a friend and tried to order some porridge and noodles but they ended up not having any porridge which made me super sad. Instead, I got their braised beef noodle soup and my friend got the XO noodles. The XO noodles is just their version of chow fun which I liked since it has a bit of a kick to it. The beef noodle I wasn't a fan of just because it wasn't my thing. It was just a bit too salty for me, especially since my stomach was upset at the time. Service wasn't that great. Not sure if it had much repeat value to it since it was a bit pricy for typical chinese food.
(2)
Tin-Tin M.

I, too, walked in because the decor was nice and the pictures outside made me want to try the food. The woman who seated us was nice enough. We didn't know what time they closed but we walked in and were told to sit at a table by the door. Then this older man stood above our table, shouted something at the woman who seated us and raised his hands up in the air--a universal WTF if i ever saw one. I didn't understand what they were saying, but I'm pretty sure they're conversation went like this: HIM: WTF?! We close in like 2 minutes!!!! HER: SHUT UP. BE NICE! HIM: HMPH. Make them hurry up and order then. So she tells us we have to hurry since the kitchen is closing soon. We rush through the menu and pick some dry fried chicken wings, pork chops and fried taro rolls. The pork chops were not anything special. Chicken wings were so-so. Fried taro rolls were good. Portions were small for the meals and I felt like I could get a lot more food for my money elsewhere. Then when we were waiting for our check, this woman who was obviously eating with her hands turned and put her hand on my husband's chair (where his jacket was hanging!) to help her get out of her chair. She then got our check and handed it to us, greasy hands and all. It seemed as if everyone who worked there was eating dinner and couldn't be bothered to wait on the customers who were foolish enough to walk in and try to eat there.
(1)
John N.

At first the name "Food Talk Cafe" makes you think of a food court or some lower-end kind of establishment, but after visiting here for the first time today, I can say that this place is quite different from what I expected. When you enter the door, there is a large clay decoration and waiting area, and the decor is a nice dark color, setting the ambiance nicely for your meal. After being seated, you'll be given a nice looking bound menu with various items like dumpling soup, noodles and dry dishes, appetizers etc. with a few color pictures in case you want to get an idea (or just look at your neighbor's table). Having tried the dumpling with rice noodles, I was surprised by how light and tasty the dumplings were, and the soup was nice and smooth (not oily, big plus!). You can also ask for vinegar if you like that for your soup. The tea they serve went well with the meal (not sweet or bland, just complementary). Having driven by the place several times before without going in, I now know why its never empty. I'm going to have to come back again soon!
(5)
Kevin C.

Let's talk about Food talk cafe... It is definitely not a place to go to for conversations or business discussions. It is a small venue where we had to squeeze through other patrons to get to our table. The service here is good, but that was expected given the short distance that the waiters/waitresses are maneuvering between tables and the kitchen. The food is good too, except their pork xiu long bao (xlb) with loofah and their preserved egg porridge. Their regular pork xlb was delicious and there was a lot of the broth in it. But at $10 per order, which comes out to over $1 per piece of xlb, I thought it was a bit pricey. With that said, I think FTC will tickle my fancy again...
(3)
Tobias B.

Let's see...rude waiters, no reasonable flexibility to accomodate one of our party's health problem, and everything overladen with MSG. Then they DOUBLE charged our friend who made the request. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. Avoid this place!
(1)
Thuy P.

I've been here several times and come here for one specific reason, their peking duck with mandarian pancakes ($25). If there is another place that serves this, I would gladly try that out, but I haven't gotten around to looking for one. The service at this place is extremely slow, I've been here about 6 times over the past 2 years and it has yet to change. Now, this place isn't even that large, it's cafe sized, about 4 (4person) tables across by 3 tables wide, plus outdoor seating. They normally have 3 servers avialable and yet they can't seem to have attentive service, whats the issue? I see them standing around chatting or just taking their sweet time, yet I still have a hard time flagging them down. Now, food does come out quick after you order it, but to get the order taken takes a while. I'm a tea drinker, and drink lots of it, so when my tea is done, i expect it to be refilled. And when I'm done, I also would expect to be able to get the check after waving a waiter down. They're lucky their duck is so damn good. Everything else on the menu is decent to good, but easily gotten elsewhere. Minus 2 stars for service. Oh, they aren't cheap either, on average it comes out to be $25 a person, regardless of the group size, which really is quite a bit when its chinese food. So i try not to go here often, but like I said, their duck is too good to just not come back...
(3)
Mary T.

Third and final stop of the chicken wing quest, part one (part two at a latter date). Originally, we wanted to check out the wings at China Station because of Herman's ROTD, but it's closed on Tuesdays! Darn. We also wanted to end the day at YoSwirl, so we decided to try one of the restaurants in the same plaza. Luckily for us, this place makes garlic fried chicken wings! The space is really nice. The bathroom is clean and smells clean. The service is pretty good. And I'm bitter that my parents didn't teach us kids mandarin. People always speak to me in chinese and I know about .002% of it. Anyway, we ordered the peking duck and buns, the fried tofu, and the chicken wings! Everything was really good. We didn't think the peking duck would be as good as it was, but now I know where to get some in Fremont! The chicken wings were good, but not as good as Wingstop, and probably not as good as China Station's. We were super full by this point, so good thing we didn't plan for a fourth chicken wing stop.
(4)
Christina Y.

One of my new favorite places to eat for LUNCH! :) I've probably been here more than a handful of times just in the LAST MONTH! I know, I know.. but I really like it! ..as long as I stick to what I like. The first time I came here, my mom & I had the salmon & avocado roll-ups, fish congee, the braised beef over rice, and the taro buns. The salmon & avocado roll-ups weren't my cup of tea. They were fishy and too only for our tastes; so they went home, boxed, and hardly eaten by my dad. Other than that huge disappointment, everything else was really good and flavorful! What surprised me the most, were the taro buns (or roll-ups?). If my mom hadn't picked them out, I wouldn't have had the fortune to try them. Seriously, they're so yummy! Things I also like: Taiwanese Style Pork Chop: Sometimes when they serve it to me, it looks burnt as hell, but somehow it's still frikkin good! Like the braised beef, it's flavorful and comes with Chinese broccoli. As an added bonus, you get a hardboiled egg. Mmmmm.. Half of this dish usually comes home with me and after a few minutes in the toaster and some Louisiana hot sauce on the side, it's a new meal! Pumpkin Buns: So light and yummy Braised beef & noodles: Nice little dish to have on the side, but very similar to the braised beef over rice. Fish congee: Nice, not too fishy. Overall, I really like this place! The service is good and ambiance is nice. Note: One star off because sometimes they're closed when they're not supposed to be? Although they leave notes on their door specifying they will be closed for a specific amount of time, sometimes they don't even leave anything at all!! ...leaving people, including myself, confused and hungry. Also, obviously there's always a long wait on Saturday nights. So beware as their facility is small & packed. Be prepared to sit at tables with other people you may not know directly beside you ;P
(4)
david c.

It used to be pretty good but the food has gone down hill and the service is poor. The price is on the high side. For the same amount of money, there are better value else where.
(2)
Tsou D.

I still hold firmly that this pace is just EH. Here's another person who wrote an extensive review on how blah it is. eat.tanspace.com/2008/09â€¦
(2)
Terrance M.

Just came back after a horrible experience with take-out. I called in to pick up and I was early so I hung around. After 10 minutes I went back inside to check if it was ready and the owner said no... so I hung around longer. After another 10 minutes one of the workers noticed and asked if I was waiting for something. I told him about my to-go order and it was RIGHT BEHIND the owner the whole time..............................................Â. wow. After I brought the food back I noticed one of the items was wrong. I know they're fairly new but everytime I order more than one item they mess up. The owner didn't even apologize to me after they noticed this mistake. Time for me talk about Food Talk's wackness to others. Sorry, you had your chances
(1)
Lindsay L.

Crispy duck + pancakes = party in yo mutha effin mouth! I've tried some of the soups, but none were memorable. If you're gonna give this place a try, make sure to order the crispy duck. You'll be glad that you did :D
(3)
David Y.

If you only come here once, make sure you try the Shanghai Dumplings. I have eaten these things all over the bay area and Food Talk is the most consistent, juicy dumplings out of them all. They have never failed to satify my cravings. Previously, their menu was a little limited, with the standard bbq plates and noodles but they have branched out to a much more diverse selection. To me, I consider this place where I can get some comfort food. If you have 4 people in your party - go for the Peking duck too!
(4)
Aaron W.

Piece of crap service. They discriminated our group because we didn't order in Chinese. They lied to us 30 minutes in, saying the food was on its way, but turned their backs on us and told the chef that they needed to start our order. This, of course, was spoken in Cantonese, which we understood, but they thought we did not. And this was also after they realized we could speak Mandarin and switch languages to try to trip us up. Many other orders from other customers that came after us arrived far before ours. This place stank so much I made a yelp account just for the sole purpose of expressing how crappy it was.
(1)
May C.

I recently went back there and the service has improved. Food is great if you order the right dish. I fav dishes are - Beef noodle soup - Peking Duck - Stir fry green vege (it is call "hallow-heart vegetable") yelp.com/biz_photos/8NpOâ€¦ - Duck tongue
(4)
Stanley C.

This place used to be alot better when the original chef was here but unfortunately that chef has left and opened his own restaurant in Milpitas. Now this place is only a shell of it's former self....so sad.
(2)
Henry L.

Tried this place out and came away amazed that I've never heard about it from friends and family. More of your typical Taiwanese cafe with all of the favorites you remember. Started with the steamed pork dumplings and these were really good. About $10 for 8 pieces or so. The outside skin was perfectly chewy and had some texture, a big plus. The meat and soup on the inside made us forget about the cold night. Then we had the shrimp wonton noodle soup and wow these were big wontons. Plenty of meat inside and the mein was pretty good too. We finished off the night with the peking duck! Be warned that it's $25 for the whole duck and steamed buns but it's worth every penny. The duck was skimmed of almost all fat possible so you're left with bone-in duck meat and trimmed skin. Quite possibly the best duck I've ever had. This place is definitely worth a try for those in need of a homestyle meal with a little flair. It can get pretty packed during dinner, but it's worth the wait.
(5)
Sandy L.

Of course their dim sum taste good. I did not feel good afterward. My throat dried up and I was dying for water. They use too much MSG. The correct name should be MSG Talks. Do not go there if you do not like heavy MSG seasoning
(2)
Aldrin L.

The food here was just ok. Nothing spectacular. We did try their xiao long bao, which was probably the best thing there. It was good, but not great. The atmosphere was nice and clean, and the staff was friendly. The reason for the low score, besides the "just ok" food is for the following: 1) Lost order. One of the dishes we ordered was never served. 2) Miscommunication. Even in their native language, one of the dishes we ordered was miscommunicated as being a $1 special, and they charged us full price. 3) Maybe this isn't so much a negative, but their card and ads say that they are closed on Mondays, but we happened by on a Monday, and they were open.
(2)
Eleen W.

Their xiao long bao were really tasty as well as their pressed tofu. Their beef noodle soup was alright, nothing spectactular. The decor is really modern and fun though. I'm eager to come back and try their duck that everyone is raving about on here...
(4)
Art L.

Decor is contemporary and waiter is a humorous guy. I'm not too cool with the silver slippery chop sticks. But the food is good. It's a combo of HK style fast food and a few Mandarin dishes along with some Taiwanese food. I had recommendations to try their whole Beijing (Peking) duck and duck breast. But, I wasn't very hungry and chose a noodle soup. HK style yellow soup noodle soup is almost like those from HK. Can be on my top 5 in the bay area for that. The BBQ pork is so-so, but edible. The marinated duck is a little bland for my taste. I saw many customers ordering the Shanghai dumplings. Maybe I'll give that a try next time. I've had a good experience with the dining experience here: relax and unrushed unlike most Chinese fast food restaurants.
(4)
David C.

To be honest with you, I was put off by the pricing of this restaurant until today. For the type of food they serve, I thought the price could be a bit more reasonable. After today, though, I totally would think it's worth it. my gf wants to eat some good chinese dessert, and I just wanted to eat so we picked this restaurant outta a selection of them in this mall. First off, contrary to a lot of people, we have had pretty good service here. For a little more fancy Chinese restaurant, I would think the service is pretty accommodating and efficient. In terms of food, this is what we ordered: Avocado and Salmon spring roll Garlic chicken wing Taiwanese style pork chop with noodle milk tea with grass jelly and coffee jelly custard roll cake and I have to say, all of them had a good tasting to it with a twist in how they prepare the food. The milk tea had a lot of tea flavor, the chicken wings were actually cooked (you'd be surprised how many places I been to where the inside of the chicken wings/ drumstick is raw after I took a bite into it), and was simple and tasty with quite lots of garlic flavor. I like the way they handle the noodle, the broth was more tasty than most other chinese place has done them, and the pork chop was not too dry. The custard roll cake is my recommendation to your dessert, it was fluffy and tasty but not overly sweet. It was one of my favorites already. I will make sure I come back to (hopefully) be able to upgrade this restaurant to 5 stars. Next time it will prolly be appetizers and desserts' galore!!
(4)
Ahray L.

I ordered the Hainan rice noodle there two weeks ago. I still can not tell you how their Hainan chicken taste because they only gave me bones. NO MEAT. Just the back along the chicken spine. I complained to the waitress and she shrugged her shoulders. That is the way it is. I complained to the lady at the registrar. She said next time will be better. Well, my son went there with his friends last week, ordered the same thing and got the same treatment. He fumed and complained. Nothing happened. The place is too expensive for what they serve. The small brick of tofu went for 10 times what it costs at a super market.
(1)
Tina C.

I disagree that this place gets three stars. It should get five and here's why: Food: This isn't a regular Chinese food place in any traditional sense. It borrows from various Chinese cuisines and in that sense is very unique. It isn't quite Cantonese (Hong Kongese), not quite Taiwanese, and not quite Northern food (e.g. Sichuan, Beijing, Shanghainese, etc.). It is a good version of what I would like to call as "Chinese" fusion food- a blending of various spices, flavors, and cooking styles. There is something special about the blending that takes place at this restaurant. The place also has a variety of dishes that are pretty good. I've tried the following: Roasted Peking Duck wrapped with Mandarin Pancakes (or Beijing duck) ($25.00), Taiwanese style roasted chicken with spice fried dry garlic ($12.00 for half), Seasoned Jelly Fish ($6.25), Roasted Peking Duck over rice ($7.95 entree), Fried avocado Salmon fish rolls ($6.25), steamed rice ($1.00 per bowl/order), Taiwanese style prawns wonton soup ($7.50) /had only noodles since i did not eat the meat part of it), Taiwanese style chicken cold noodle ($7.50), dou miao (Chinese vegetable) (seasonal and was approx. $10 dollars), fried ice cream ($1.75), jasmine green milk tea with tapioca ($3.50). The duck was very good- crispy, tender, and NOT fatty. It appeared quite fresh and it came with 10 "pancakes" or breads. The duck was very nicely done. The flavoring was quite perfect and I saw other tables ordering the duck at this restaurant as well. It's on the Chef's Special list and I do concur that it's one of the top items at this place. I also thought the Jasmine Green Milk Tea with boba was very good at this place. You don't often get places that brew their own tea and do not use powder. Furthermore, the tea here is quite good- very fresh and as Chinese folks would say, it has a lot of "cha mei" or tea taste. The boba is nice and soft. It's not old and refrigerated. The size of the boba milk tea is ample since it comes in a beer cup (pretty big for an order of boba tea) and the restaurant is willingly ready to not give you ice and will not charge you more for customizing the drink. The Taiwanese garlic chicken was also very tasty. It was very lean and little fat. It was nicely roasted and offers a great aftertaste that made me want to eat more after each bite. The portions at this place is fairly good. It isn't "huge" for the price, but it's little at all. For instance, Chinese vegetables such as "dou miao" often shrink when you cook it. Considering the size of the plate (about 11 inches long), it was a decent size plate for the price and considering shrink factor. It's not a "cheap" place, but it's not considered expensive either. The wonton noodles were also very good and if you taste other wonton noodles, this one comes close to the type they serve in parts of Asia including Hong Kong. It's not everyday that you run into a good bowl of noodles (the flat ones are excellent here as well). Service: The service is outstanding here. Food, once ordered, is delivered fresh, quickly, and efficiently. The waiters (several) comes by to ask if things are okay and they speak various dialects of Chinese (e.g. Mandarin, Cantonese, Southern dialects, Taiwanese). They also speak English of course. This is one of the fastest restaurants in terms of service and waiting in line for a table. Once placed on the wait list, it took 20 minutes (not long considering there were 10 people ahead of me one Saturday night a few weeks ago). Parking: Plenty of free parking. Not so easy to get to with public transit. Location/Setting: In a giant Asian eatery center with other restaurants. The interior of the restaurant is nicely decorated and I like the bathroom decor- simple yet classy. The sink is neat and it has a trendy feel. Most importantly, the place is clean! I can't stress how important that is! You can also see part of the kitchen as you are dining since there is a small viewing area where the food is dropped by kitchen staff for the waiters/waitresses to pick up and disburse to customers. If you look carefully, the decorations has "ancient" Chinese writing and it's pretty neat and stylish for them to spend the time to make an entire side of the wall like that. It also reminds me of some of the "new age" decor that are found in places like Taipei, Hangzhou (China), and Hong Kong. Interestingly enough, they also play interesting blends of various background music both inside the restaurant and in the bathroom. Payment: VISA accepted. I think they also take MasterCard. They do NOT take Discover as I've tried to pay with one before. Hours of Operation: 11am-3:00pm, 5pm-10:00pm My only qualm with this place is that they should have a larger waiting area. It got pretty crowded when I went on Saturday night.
(5)
Cyndi K.

I luv their foods and services. I highly recommend this place. Very good atmosphere and great food. Great services. If you like Peking duck. It is out of this world compared to the regular Chinese restaurant. They are less greasy then what I had at other places.
(5)
T P.

If you come here, you WILL get top notch food... but of course you'll have to order the fortes of the place (like any other). Super, as good as it gets: 1)NON-artificially colored BBQ Chau siew pork 2)heaps of jelly fish 3) light and dainty, crackin' fried da chang (pig intestines): amazing, but you have to be into ethnic Taiwanese food, you know. 4)chinese deserts = hand made coconut pudding (expensive but the real deal), hand made Malay rolls Quite Respectable 1)Peking duck = the ones I've had are not nasty (as others have written) 2)Shuei jiao shrimp dumplings and noodles = amazing how tough to find good ones in the Bay Area. The ones here are succulent, fresh, and with a long pasta tail. What not to get: the Xiao long bao = soap dumplings (Go elsewhere)
(4)
Starla L.

This is a great place to get peking duck. It comes with a whole bunch of buns (pancakes). The duck skin is crispy without too much fat and the meat is cooked just right, perfect for sandwiching in the buns with the sauce and scallions provided. The wonton soup is good as well. It's nice to sit outside during the summertime, but service will be sacrificed as they will forget about you, and sometimes your orders. We ordered dessert while sitting outside once, and it never came out after we were finished with our meal. The waiter finally realized it when we asked for our check, and kindly took it off our order. Decor is nice, has a modern flavor with the dark color scheme, unlike the usual Chinese places. They have a big flat panel tv inside but the last couple times we went, they were playing some Rod Stewart VH1 concert special. Food is good, but service could be a lot better.
(3)
Juju F.

Can we talk?? The food was just ok. The service was horrible!! It started bad when I asked for the Roasted Peking Duck over rice and the waiter said its not Peking duck but just roasted duck. Well then why does it say on the menu Peking duck?? Nevermind...he gave me a rude response so I just said let it go. There were 3 of us at dinner. Two of us received our dishes and one never got her dish. We asked them 3 times (2 different waiters) about her dish. Each time they said they would check and NEVER came back to give us an update. We waited patiently. Finally we said we just want the check because the rest of us were already done with our meals. Of course that's the moment they walk up with the dish. The waiter gave an empty "sorry" and some excuse about being really busy. Incredibly rude. All they had to do was apologize, give us an update and rush our dish out. None happened. Did not offer a discount or even comp the dish that took an hour to come out. And of course, it took forever to get our check. We had to ask for it again!! As I mentioned the food was ok. It does seem that they try to speed things up by pre-preping beverages. Our tea in the tea pot was cold. I ordered a milk tea, but it was watered down like the ice has been sitting in the beverage for a while. My friend ordered a bowl of rice with the dish that never made it to the table. Funny enough they brought the bowl of rice and it just sat there getting cold.
(1)
John W.

Great Roast Duck.
(4)
Kristine T.

YUMMMY this place is freaking bomb diggy!! lol peking duck, fried tofu, shanghai dumpling, hainan chicken and the sampler platter with jellly fish& meat are a must!! skip the deep fried ice cream.. the ice cream was completely melted when we got ours!! make reservation or prepare to wait up to an hour so to be seated.. The place is small but very cozy!!! Definitely will be back.
(5)
Calvin T.

I am surprised at the inconsistencies faced with this place after reading some of the past reviews. I guess I was lucky and had a very good experience. My family and I do speak Cantonese, so that could have been a factor. The initial wait for a table was quite long, we actually sent my dad to go try to get a table at Spicy Town just to see where we could get in first. This was our first time there at the plaza and on a busy Saturday night. We eventually got a table here first and were seated. For food we saw others getting the HoiNan chicken rice, so we got one of those, XLB, an appetizer of the spicy cucumbers, and the waitress convinced us to get the Peking duck. The spicy cucumber and chicken plate came out first in a timely manner and we were surprised at the quality of the chicken and especially the rice. We've eaten the chicken plate at many viet places and thought this place served very tasty and well cooked rice. The chicken was also pretty smooth and didn't have much fat on it. Next came the XLB which were actually pretty good. The skin was thin and it was very juicy inside. The meat could have been a little softer, but good either way. The soy sauce and vinegar could have had a little less vinegar though. Strangely there was a long wait for the Peking duck, something had happened to the order in the kitchen, but we kept getting asked by the waiters if we were done or not. We kept telling them that we're waiting for the duck and they kept checking with the kitchen and kept apologizing for the wait. During this time, the lady in charged chatted with us because she felt bad that we had to wait for something she recommended. We discovered that the main chef who does the XLB's , all the roasted items and a couple other things is the same chef who had the same responsibilities from the highly respected Koi Palace in Daly City. We also had our plates cleared and replaced with clean ones and constantly had our tea pot refilled. Eventually the Peking duck came, and we were quite surprised for the quality for the price of $22. The skin for the most part was crispy and there was plenty of meat pieces to go along with the steamed buns. They were so sorry for the wait that they gave us a coconut jello desert on the house. The coconut jello came in the shell of a chilled young coconut which we got to scoop out for ourselves along with the soft and buttery coconut meat that was still on the coconut. The texture was pretty good while not being too firm or too mushy with just the right amount of sweetness. Over all, we had a pretty good experience there, mainly because the service was quite exceptional and the fact that they made up for their mistake by talking with us and keeping us informed about whats going on and topped it off with the free coconut desert. The food was also quite good and was of good quality. And all this is set in a very modern setting with dim lights and a nicely decorated eating environment. The only down sides and reason for the 4 stars were the initial waiting time and the strange choice of music they had and the loud volume they played it at. I plan to come back again to be able to try their other dishes and hope that the experience remains on the positive side, unlike the inconsistent service others here have experienced.
(4)
Alice L.

We initially planned on going to Spicy Town but ended up going here tonight since Spicy Town seemed a bit "dead" and it seemed a bit too spicy for some of us. The food here at Food Talk was just OK meaning it's cleaner than the usual casual chinese restaurant. This is not a revisit place. Food: 1. Pork chop and rice noodle were both extremely oily. They added pork fat in the rice noodle so it smells good but just way too oily. The pork chop (it's expected to be oily since it's deep fried) but it was also very fatty (where is the meat?). 2. Pork chop and rice were decent. Again, the pork chop is oily and fatty. 3. BBQ pork and beijing duck with rice was actually not bad. 4. The veggies that comes with the dishes were chewy and old. Service: 1. If you don't speak cantonese, expect to get poor service. The rice plates comes with a small bowl of side soup but since we spoke no cantonese, they didn't bring it to us. Meanwhile, others that spoke cantonese got their soup as soon as they sat down or once they ordered their food. WTF? Aren't we all chinese? I was pretty upset and confronted them in English why they didn't bring our soup while others got theirs? The waiter was speechless and brought it out and left it on the table and walked away without saying anything. BTW, this is NOT a Taiwanese restaurant, just another wannabe and it's more of a wannabe cantonese.
(2)
Maggie L.

I came here for dinner, knowing I was going to wait over 30 minutes. I've heard some great things, so I was prepared. I walk in and see that everyone has ordered the little pork dumplings and the Peking duck. I thought, what the heck, must be their specialty, so I ordered that too. Along with those, we also ordered the shrimp wonton with flat noodles, and the chicken rice plate ("hoi lam gai fan"). I thought everything was pretty good. The pork dumplings has a thin skin, which I like. It's also filled with tons of soup inside. All of that squeezes out as you take that first bite..... YUM! The Peking duck was pretty tasty. They scrape off alot of the fat that's underneath the skin, so that's a plus (since I usually do that with my own chopsticks). The meat of the duck is pretty moist too. The shrimp wontons are huge, and they don't skim on the shrimp filling either. As for the chicken dish, they cook this rice with a broth instead of the chicken oil/fat like some of the other restaurants. Still tasty, but not as flavorful.... BUT it is healthier. So it's a little give and take.
(4)
Kenny L.

Is za jian mian suppose to look and taste like spaghetti? Don't expect traditional Taiwanese here. And while is wasn't bad, it wasn't the best either. What I had: Fish porridge (mediocre, still never as good as the ones in Kaohsiung, Taiwan). What my aunt had: Za Jian mian. Enough said. What my uncle had: Wonton noodle soup. Still not a big fan of the Cantonese style wontons. Took awhile to get the check (had to go to the front table for it) but I think key to better service is to speak mandarin instead of English for better service :)
(3)
Terry N.

I have a cold, so I was in the mood for some noodles and piping hot soup. I wanted to order the noodles and dumplings but they were out of noodles. WTH?!! Oh well, I check the menu again and decide on the soup dumplings thinking I would at least have half of what I originally wanted. I was scratching my head over the difference in price though. The dumplings were more expensive than the noodles AND dumplings. I pay for my dumplings and wait ten minutes. The restaurant is pretty snazzy and it was somewhat crowded despite the late hour. Good signs of a good restaurant. I get a single paper to-go box commonly found in Italian restaurants. No soup. Open up the box to find 8 dumplings and a container of ginger and soy sauce. I pick up a dumpling with the chopsticks, dip it in the sauce, and take a bite. The whole thing explodes in my mouth. It's exactly like that Steven Chow movie, The God of Cookery, exploding dumpling special effect. The dumplings were excellent. I'm definitely interested in trying other items on the menu.
(3)
M T.

Food is pretty good when fresh, love the deep fried shrimp balls, roast pork, Taiwanese won ton noodles, stir fry rice noodles and lunch beef steak plate. So why the 1 star? Simply because of their deplorable service, serious ATTITUDE problems which is very off putting when you are being amicable.
(1)
Rick L.

ok ill be honest. the food is pretty darn good. but the waiters are really tricky. they'll try to get u to get the most expensive stuff. and my friends.. and i.. were suckers. so we said yeah we'll have the duck. they go.. peking duck, right? me being the cheapo and poor guy i am, wanted to outright protest and say NO YOU CHINESE WAITER, DUCK!! but dude that peking duck was 25 bucks!!! sheesh. and ordered shanghai dumplings.. they're literally $1 a piece. its a total rip off. and he said how about the crab one? and we, being dummies, said sure. that was 12 bucks. more than a dollar per. pretty good, not worth it. the fried tofu was very nice, and so was the jajang noodles (beijing spicy noodles... barely spicy at all). the A-choy veggies were good too. the peking duck was good, but absolutely not worth 25 bucks for slicking up a bbq duck and giving some buns. the duck itself, if i remember was totally expensive.. 20? the steam dumplings, even though they had soup inside of it, didn't have that fatty consistency that gives it that melting taste in your mouth. so there u go. food is good... but way, way overpriced. and them tricky waiters. and its too freakin dark in there. i can't see my noodles.
(3)
Doris L.

The duck - it's all about the duck!! Just had dinner here with my parents and it was my second visit. The first time I came was on a Sunday afternoon and the place was pretty packed. We had the steamed dumplings ("siu lung bao") and porridge which was good. However tonight, the duck just blew me away. It's peking duck with the steamed buns and the best BEST part - they take all the fat off the duck!!! So the skin you put in the bun is nice and crispy and fat free!! And then the duck meat itself is also fat free! So good..the best I've ever had. The rest of the food was ok, but not to die for. Really, it's all about the duck.
(4)
Sandy C.

I give this place only 1 star because of the annoying service and its ridiculously high noise volume. This place is way too loud. Besides the blasting of a Yanni concert on TV, there were way too many people, screaming children, and yelling waiters. I seriously could not hear myself talk, or shout, for that matter. We were greeted by a rude waitress when my husband and I first walked in. When I said, "Party of 4," she became irritated when she saw that the rest of our party hadn't arrived yet. She kept asking me when they'd arrive, and lectured me about how it's better to have entire parties arriving together...because they're so busy, how they don't have enough tables, and how they want to keep tables open for larger parties. I was in disbelief how rude she was...since when was it okay to lecture customers who walk in the door? So she seats us, and warns us that when a larger party arrives, she might have to move us. Unbelievable!! I know that Chinese restaurants aren't known or expected to have fabulous service, but this place really topped them all. The food was mediocre. Beef Noodle soup- Much too salty. Little steamed pork buns -- bland and too small. Pork chop noodle soup -- not enough flavor. Throughout the meal, we felt really rushed bec. the waitresses kept clearing things away without asking us, and we could see that they're getting nervous because there was a long line at the door. I doubt I'd be returning to this place. There's plenty of other new restaurants to try in this developing area, and I want to go somewhere that appreciates my business!
(1)
Thao T.

This place has amazing soupy dumplings (Shanghai dumplings). We had the pork one, which were really good, nice and soupy inside and the dough didn't break on the outside. It was so good to eat it on a cold, rainy day. We want to come back next time to try the sea bass and crab filled one. The peking duck was also really good. Nice crispy skin and tasty well marinated meat. They give a lot of duck too, so it was nice to be able to have leftovers to take home. My only complaint is that it's slightly overpriced since one I went to in saratoga called shanghai dumpling was equally good and about 2/3 the price. And Peking duck in los altos has good duck too, except I didn't get a stomach ache after eating at this place so that's another plus!
(4)
Tiff J.

XIAO LONG BAO and PEKING ROASTED DUCK (sliced) are my favorite. service is okay, nice and clean inside.
(4)
Lily L.

peking duck - a 1/2 order ($12) makes for a great appetizer for two. beef noodle soup - nice noodles, tender beef (not your run-of-the-mill A&J quality here). taiwanese dumpling soup - these suckers are HUGE. they use like one big sheet of wonton wrapper so you've got good filling to wrapper ratio. great flavor and great ratio. gotta love it.
(4)
Linda L.

if you love xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and peking duck .. this is the place to be!!!! the xiao long bao comes in a set of 8 .. which is not enough i swear, i wish they had put at least 10 .. its about $7. the peking duck is only $22! the best deal for peking duck anywhere! they do a very nice job taking out the fat off the skin, and preparing the dish ... the skin is so crispy and delicious! and the best part is they have great desserts! the mango pudding is very flavorful and not that sweet. my all time favorite is the egg custard rolled cake .. which is a steamed cake that is like a nay hwang bao (milky egg bun) but with chiffon like cake ... so DELICIOUS! this place is kinda cramped, you could be sharing tables near your neighbor, so don't expect an intimate dinner from here.
(4)
Ranier B.

I recommend the Peking Duck, Honey BBQ Pork, and the Noodle Wonton Soup. Thanks to fellow Yelpers for the recommendation, the duck was delicious. I can't remember the last time I had duck, but this was a healthy portion of crispy and juicy. On top of a bed of rice and Chinese broccoli you can't go wrong. Next in line was the Honey BBQ Pork. Juicy with a good combination of sweet and savory. Last but not least the soup. Probably the largest plate on our table, the noodles blended well with the classic taste of Wonton soup. The place is small, and seating is a bit cramped if you're dining with one other person. There is seating outside if you want a little more elbow room. It may be difficult to seat a party larger than six. The service was quick and straight to the point. I didn't get much of a friendly vibe. Our glasses were regularly refilled and we were given our bill in a timely manner. I don't know if my eyesight is getting worse, but the menu was a bit hard to navigate.
(4)
scott t.

This is in the new(er) Pacific Commons development near the auto mall. I remember going when it first opened and it seemed much more vibrant back then compared to this recent visit which felt like it had been open for awhile. Here's my breakdown: Xiao Long Bao - The soupy dumplings that are all the rage these days are not very good here. The filling didn't taste very fresh. I think I've had better frozen versions from the supermarket? Peking Duck - What they're known for. No complaints here, it's crispy, they do a fairly good job of removing any left over fat so it's just skin. Sliced well. Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) - Good tender pieces. It's hard to mess this up. Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork) - Good glaze on the outside but not a great piece of meat. Still had lots of fat and connective tissue which isn't very tasty. It was fairly tender however. Prices are pretty reasonable besides the $25 duck. Service was pretty non-existent.
(3)
C C.

It has been a year since I been back to Food Talk, mainly the businesses and restaurants in this corner of Pacific Commons have come and gone, though next door Kinder BBQ is still there. The Asian restaurants around Food Talk have changed even Yo-Swirl is dark and closed on a Friday night. Well, I decided to do a take-out and ordered the Imperial Beijing Duck. I had it before to dine-in over a year ago and it was good. Well, big mistake. I got home, all I have is a dried up duck pieces, not even looking or tasting like Peking (I know old name) Duck, nothing imperial about this either. Never again, and forget ordering take-out, Asian restaurants always cut-corners on takeout knowing no one will see the dish they served since you are not dining in. What a rip-off.
(1)
Tony L.

This place actually has some quality food. I probably been here 20 times in the last 6 months and the food is excellent every time. A good indication that a place is good is by the amount of customers willing to wait outside. During the weekends, it's hard to get a table because of the small space but it's definitely worth it. The good stuff: The chicken is really good if you like that "hai nam" style especially the ginger/green onion sauce if you are into it. The bbq duck and pork is really good. The porridge is really good if you like it. I don't but my sister and brother do. the so so stuff: Those crab balls - bleh. it's whatever Bottom line, It's a pretty good place that I would recommend cuz i'm craving some right now!
(4)
ting b.

Wow, some really bad reviews for this place! I beg to differ! My family and I come here to eat often. In fact we order so much food it covers two tables (actually this can be said of any place we go to). I am not a huge fan of their peking duck but I like their "xiao long bao" (little pork dumplings) and their jasmine milk tea. Also yummy is their wonton soup, preserved egg congee, and fried tofu with soy sauce. The prices are reasonable, their hours are long and their service is friendly + fast. The only thing is some dishes are not as yummy as others, so you just have to come enough times to try different things and sort out what you like vs don't like. Overall, if you live in Fremont and you like eating asian food, you should come here!!
(4)
Don L.

The food part was OK, the talk part was pretty annoying. We intended to go to nearby Spicy Town, but they were jammed even though we were having a late lunch so we wandered over and were basically roped into this place by the manic host, who also was our server. I shrugged my shoulders and said "authentic pushy Chinese host" but my friends were much more put off by him. This guy did talk a tremendous amount, and he basically ordered our meal for us. I guess most Americans would prefer to be basically left alone rather than jabbered at for long periods of time. Food was OK - we had an assortment of Hainan style chicken, a couple of bowls of beef noodle soup and I had a Taiwanese fried pork chop, which was passable. The pork chop itself was slightly oily and pretty bland (and this after getting a huge lecture about how there are no restaurants who do not use any MSG, any restaurant who makes that claim is a "liar" - if you're going to spike with MSG I want some taste, damnit), but the artificially colored sauce helped some. The best thing was their Peking Duck, which came with buns fresh in a steamer brought to the table. Crispy skin, not a bad portion size, all six of us had two buns each and there was extra skin left afterwards. My friends didn't like their beef noodle soup - one didn't want to drink the broth - too salty. My other friend declared that her broth was "full of junk." Maybe if you're really lonely and need someone to talk to this is the place, otherwise I don't really recommend it. Two and half star food, minus a half for annoying me. Still though - my advice to the manic host - less talk. Please.
(2)
Willie Z.

I wait it 20 min and people came after us got in first what is the point write the name on the paper i know to send you food to go never come again
(1)
Loren John B.

As a frequent visitor of Cafe Zen next door, I had to check out this place because there were usually a good number of people eating here. So the other day I went here to try it out with some friends because they noticed the place too. So I looked through the menu and noticed a pretty decent selection of delicacies and entrees. I kind of expected more rice plates for the sake of variety, but its still a pretty diverse menu. Apparently the peking duck is the specialty here, so 2 other friends and I ended up ordering the peking duck rice plate. Meh the taste was your typical peking duck, but mine in particular was a bit lukewarm. Considering the food came out kinda fast and their most popular dish is peking duck, I would think they cook a whole bunch of it to be served right away. I'm probably wrong, but thats the impression I got. The waiters were really responsive in getting us what we needed, and amidst the busy lunch hour, we were able to be seated right away. I need to come here maybe a couple more times to get a better opinion of the place, but it didn't meet my expectations that much. 3 stars it is.
(3)
Sylvia B.

If you are a vegetarian, or a person with any special food needs, avoid this place. I am the official litmus test for cook flexibility. This place beyond bombed on that count. OK,there is fried tofu and there are veggies on the menu. Would they make my a dish those two things in it? Not on your life. They offered me greens "with a tofu in it." What did I get? A plate of just greens floating in a bed of grease. Maybe there was tofu added at a ration of 1/2 tsp per 1/3 C of grease. Then, to add insult to injury, they charged me $15 for said plate of greasy greens. Now would you pay $15 for just GREENS, especially when all the other entrees were priced closer to $7.50? I thought not. I guess that was my stupid tax for eating here.
(1)
Tiffy J.

this place is definitely one of the best Chinese restaurant in the bay area - if you are craving for some roasted (or peking) duck, porridge, Shanghai steamed dumplings, or even noodles, you definitely should come here. This is my all time favorite place. Peking duck/Roasted duck is highly recommended Porridge is also good if you are craving for some the dried noodles and noodles soup are awesome, beef stew is the best! service is good and waiters/waitresses are all attentive the price might be slightly more than the other chinese restaurant, but if you can get quality food and service, it's okay to pay a little bit more!
(5)
Josie H.

LONG wait kinda expensive average food We came here and ordered taro fried pastry thing. That was pretty good. However, we ordered two noodles, they were pretty bland. They need MORE flavorings! We also got like an appetizer, tofu, that was decent too. But still, three stars for being average and yet i waited 30+ minutes for this place! nonsense!
(3)
Stanton C.

Maybe 3.5 stars for the nice decor. The food was alright, though a bit expensive for what was served. Took my relatives out to dinner here tonight as it was a nice alternative to the usual sit down Chinese restaurant. The five of us split 6 dishes and 2 desserts which came out to about $92 after tip. Shanghai Dumplings (2 orders) - They were okay, though not the best I've had. 1 order has 8 pieces Peking Duck - Standard fare... nothing to write home about. Wonton Soup - Again, standard stuff - nothing to write home about Hainan Chicken Rice - Seemed small for my taste, but it wasn't too bad Soya Sauce Tofu - Pretty good actually and you get a lot Taro Root Egg Rolls (?) - Deep fried taro root in the form of an egg roll - it was pretty tasty. I'd go back for this. Egg Custard Cake Rolls - I liked this dessert, too - not too sweet My cousin had the Jasmine Green Milk Tea - I liked the way they made it here - not too sweet and a good mix of milk and tea. Overall, it was a decent place to eat, though again, I felt the prices were a bit high for the food. Ambiance - A bit loud inside, plus they had a plasma with the Eagles playing a live concert in the background... weird to see that while eating Chinese food... It was pretty busy for a Sunday night and the wait staff can be slow at times. I'd probably just come back for the dessert.
(3)
Nha H.

Love this place. It may be small, but if you go at a time when it's not rush hour, you will definitely enjoy this place best. The food is great and the price is actually good. They have my favorite flat noodle soup and the food reminds me of the way my family makes food. It's an intimate setting and the service was extremely fast when it wasn't busy. We barely ordered our food and it was in front of us a couple of minutes later. The waiter were always at our table asking if we needed something else. Great place to go if you just want to enjoy and nice relaxing meal and you're not in a rush.
(5)
Wayne C.

The 3 P's: People? (the People that where there): ===>>> an older family, kids (one even shouted my name (Kevin: WAYNE CHAN!)...yeah I got fans!, 3 Chinese cooks in kitchen, 3 waiters, a voluptuous Chinese in decent female & a well dressed young Caucasian male...on a dinner date that is romantically mutual, a young family, my father, my mother, my lil sister, ( turtlecomics.com and soysaucecomics.com ), my brother-ein-law, and the 5-6 people waiting...to seat as we headed out....so you know it's popular. Price? ==>>>$65 for 5 Adults...so about $13 per dinner...one had beer....me...they didn't have tsingtaobeer...so I got a heineken. Pretty Good? (My rhyme about Food Talk Cafe) Yo Food Talk Cafe Food Talk Kaff Fay Food Talk Coffee Why the hell are we? Don't morning time drink coffee? It's night time why are we here Oh what the heck I'm going to have a beer Hi hello...please bring 1 tsingtao near Oh what no tsingtao? then how about the ching chong ching beer? The what what what beer? um...SURE..so then a Heineken APPEARED Oh man...I wish my CUZ was HERE HK style duck sliders yummy where you assemble yourself or for your dear imitation crab balls with claw pointing out there to the dao miu (green sprouts?) and beer noodles, fried pig intestines, and fear that the loves of my life might steer away from me right here service was fair and I thought I had a voluptuous time as I pushed off the chair -turtlemonk
(3)
Jenny K.

I wanted to give this place a try because they serve authentic chinese/taiwanese food and this place is always packed at dinnertime. The food was mediocre at best and over-priced, but they're a lot of choices on their menu. I ordered the wonton noodle and the shanghai steam dumplings (i noticed every table was ordering it). All I can say, the shanghai steam dumplings didn't have enough juice. If you have tried the authentic shanghai steam dumplings (sui long bao) a good one will have juice flowing out. You always have to remember to eat it when there hot. I also noticed everyone was ordering the peking duck but I didn't get a chance to try it because there were only two of us in our party. It would've been better if there at least 3-4 people to order the duck. What I felt annoyed was all the tables are placed very close together so you can hear other people's conversation and you can notice what other people ordered. I guess that's why they name this restaurant "Food Talk Cafe." Note: they have several tables for outdoor seating, but it's better to sit inside. The decor inside is really nice!
(3)
Bernadette A.

Bland food. Bad service. Bleh.
(1)
Clement L.

I am not the type of person who write reviews left and right on the Internet, but I must say something about this little lovely place recently went from "specialty" to "ordinary". I have been a fan of food talk since they opened, and I keep going back to them every week. I was impressed by their delicious food such as the Peking duck, xiao-lon-bao, and other noodles soup that everybody talks about here. Their services can easily be the best in town for a Taiwanese/Chinese restaurant, every workers in there is friendly and responsive. I used to think this place is filled with it's own style with their food, services, and the atmosphere until recently they added their new Cantonese menu, What a mistake! I will say 90% of food on their old menu is good, but the entire new menu is just so so. I tried a several plates that they recommended on my visits and those plates were not any better than other Chinese restaurants that I can think of and we had to even return one plate since we think it is WAY too sweet with too much MSG as other complaints state, Yes, some plates are way too greasy as well. I strongly believe most complaints here about their food are from their new menu... Now, when I am going to this place, I will only order from the old menu, stick with the roast duck, xiao long bao, BBQ pork etc and try to avoid the new menu. It is like you will go to a Korean restaurant for their BBQ and not their sushi, House of Prime Rib won't be putting Hamburgers on their menu! In terms of atmosphere, they used to play their music out loud with a few different performers in their live concerts. I think it was cool even there were limited of selection, that was FOOD TALK STYLE. Now, they have their TV on, volume down with random channel... another ORDINARY restaurant. I miss Dido Live at Brixton Academy!
(4)
josh c.

Right now I would give it a 3.5 but I still like this place so i'll give it a four. The duck was SOOOOOO GOOD WITH THE SAUCE AND BUNS Ahhhhhhh pure satisfaction. IT can be a little pricey now since now most dishes cost about 8-10 dollars. But the food there is delicious. Good with the steamed buns and noodles and all. The waiters are nice and the food comes out at resonable times. If you go around 8 o clock, expect to wait a while as lots of people would be waiting in line.
(4)
Gogo W.

I can't believe people actually rate this restaurant this low. For me and my boyfriend, Food Talk Cafe is one of the few Chinese restaurants that we would wake up early in the weekend morning and spend TWO hours driving from Davis (I go to davis for school) just to get there before they close for their lunch break. We both think it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area because they really focus on the quality of their food (at this level of price). Yes, it's true that they don't have a big variety in their menu, in fact, kinda boring, Peking duck, Hoinan Chicken rice, Xiao Long Bao, etc. But we really think the overall quality of those common dishes are among the highest in the bay area. I'm sure most Chinese will agree with this. Also, we have tried many restaurants, even those fancy restaurants in Downtown SF and in Napa valley. We truly like this restaurant and rank it the best in this level. Our favorite dishes are Peking duck, hoinan Chicken rice, xiao long bao( I think it's even more tasty than the Ding Tai Fung in LA). and if you can take the smell of DURIAN, you should try the durian dessert, it's very fresh and tasty. We also like the drinks, I like J8 and my bf likes J10 (in the menu). Even my parents who are 100% loyal to Chinese food also agree that they make really outstanding food. I've recommended it to many other friends, they also love it. In terms of inside decor, it's actually not bad compared to other Chinese restaurant at this scale and price level. It's a bit small, but it's definitely clean and nice. the waiters and waitresses are friendly. Overall, it's a great restaurant we will keep going for a casual lunch or dinner. (well, it might not be great for anniversary dinner or classy birthday party)
(5)
Patrick S.

Great place for roast duck. They remove all of the fat from those crispy strips of duck skin to save you from a heart attack. I give them 5 stars for looking out for us!
(5)
Richard C.

Food was pretty good....but they had YANNI on the TV! oh mannnn.... More details next time. =)
(3)
Terry D.

This place is super good! The food is a cross between Taiwanese and Cantonese. Came here on a Saturday afternoon and it was super crowded. The wait was about 15 - 20 minutes so it's not terribly bad. Inside of the cafe is really small. It probably has about 10 tables all together but the food was excellent. Here is what we ordered: Hainan chicken noodle soup (with flat noodles) - generous portion, comes with green leaf veggies, soup base is really good. Not oily at all. Fried pork chop noodle soup (with thick egg noodles) - same as above. The pork chop is really small. Shanghai dumplings - very good. Comes with a lot of soup in it. Very tasty but nothing spectacular. What you would expect of a good shanghai dumpling. Dumping with green squash inside - can't remember the name but it was really good! very fresh tasting. I prefer this one over the shanghai dumpling. Special duck with buns - I was impressed with this dish because they actually took all the fat off the duck skin when it was served. The duck was not dripping with oil either (like how most restaurants make it). I would definitely come back to this place!
(4)
Angela H.

When the opportunity to have dinner in Fremont presented itself, we all agreed on one thing- the ball tip sandwich at Kinder's. All through the drive down from San Francisco, I salivated, thinking about the tender meat and spicy BBQ sauce. We were so worked up to having BBQ, that it was utterly disappointing when we got there 5 minutes before closing- alas, the grill was off and we were SOL. By then, we were hungry as bears and had to make a snap decision about dinner. Luckily, Food Talk Cafe was still open, still serving, and right next door. The decor was surprisingly nice- I was expecting more of a standard Chinese restauant look, but I must say that the bamboo accents and blonde wood on the walls lent a more sophisticated sheen to the place. Despite the somewhat more upscale look, the menu is fairly basic- lots of BBQ items with a Taiwanese twist. We really wanted to try the deep-fried pork intestines, but decided to try the XLB's instead. Their XLB was actually very good- the skins weren't too thick and the broth inside wasn't too fatty. The filling itself was a little too crumbly though, but it was still a very tasty dumpling. As for our entrees, I went with the Taiwanese style prawns wonton noodle soup- I asked for the rice noodle. My sister had the Taiwanese style dumpling noodle soup, her boyfriend the beef brisket noodle soup, while my brother settled for the deep-fried pork chop over rice. While the hot soups were satisfying on such a cold night, my sister and I weren't overly impressed with what we had ordered. The dumplings were nice- my wontons were full of pork and shrimp and we all agreed that the Taiwanese dumplings were very good, but they just didn't satisfy. My rice noodles were a wrong choice- they didn't go particularly well with the wontons. The beef brisket fared better, as the soup it came in was nicely seasoned, and the pork chop could stand up to the best tonkatsu, with a very crispy coating that was not at all oily. I think that we were just so psyched up to have BBQ that this lighter meal didn't feel like it filled us up, although the portion size is very good. 3 stars for a decent meal- I'd return to get more XLB and the deep-fried intestines, but for good noodle soups, I'd rather head over to QQ Noodle instead.
(3)
chloe w.

This place really really sucks. I mean its bad. I ate here with my friend and husband and every single item we ordered just sucked. The food was tasteless and we left still feeling hungry and mad that we wasted our stomachs on the food here. I got a wonton noodle soup which I have to say was the worst I have ever had. I had to pour soy sauce into the soup bc it tasted like water. The wontons were nasty and I couldn't even bring myself to finish one. The Xiao Long Bao's were better than the wontons but I have had better at other restaurants. Overall, this place was a huge disappointment.
(1)
YLC c.

Don't order Roasted Duck noodle soup or rice because you couldn't find any good piece to eat. The kitchen gave the super fatty roasted duck and only one or two pieces of meat you can eat. The waiter said this is NORMAL and duck is ALWAYS FAT, what????? I think if you oder the whole roasted duck (actually you won't get the whole duck, maybe only 2/3) maybe ok because it costs $$, but the noodle soup one, please don't order any, unless you like to eat the fat.
(2)
Joseph G.

Amazing Chinese food. Brought here to this restaurant by a good friend. We ordered the duck which was amazing. Super Crispy skin and perfect sauce and warm bao bread. The mustard greens were so delightful! Cooked perfectly! crisp and tender with oyster sauce. The salmon egg rolls were pretty disappointing. Dry and flavorless, even with the sauce. The duck tongue was pretty interesting as well. Loved the cold tongue with the spicy peanuts to accompany it. The steamed dumplings were soo good. Had a nice warm broth in inside. Beautiful place. Nice decor and really homey feel.
(4)
Christine S.

I feel like this place should be a solid 4 stars! I love eating and love trying new things so I often don't go to the same place twice but I keep coming back to Food Talk. It's not the cheapest Chinese food, but I think you get what you pay for. The food comes out F A S T! And 9 out of 10 times, everything is DELICIOUS. And for Fremont, this is pretty good dining. So, the breakdown-for $145 after T&T, 4 adults and 3 kids ate: 1) Peking Duck-SO good here, look around, most of the tables will have this, we got the full order and finished it (again) 2) Bamboo fungus and bok choy-this was ok, it's on their new menu, I like my aunt's bamboo fungus better, I probably won't order again. It was nicely presented though. 3) Spare ribs in clay pot?-on new menu, above the Organic Basil Chicken, the spare ribs were SUPER yummy, a definite must have, saw it on someone else's table and had to get it, I don't regret it either 4) Organic Basil Chicken-not so good, too spicy, husband said the chicken was chewy (I didn't notice), but definitely TOO many little bone shards, not safe for the kids, IMO, and a pain for me to eat 5) Fried shrimp balls-not bad, kids and my brother liked it 6) fried crab claw-not bad, again-kids and brother liked it 7) hainan chicken noodle soup-we are on the fence about this one b/c the kids and I liked it (the kids like most noodles and soup and the noodles were the skinny ramen type). I liked it b/c it was tasty. Husband said the chicken was chewy and too many bones. He wasn't impressed. 8) Big pea sprouts-EVERYONE loved it, stir fried with garlic, not overdone, just enough salt, didn't seem to oily, generous portion, not stringy 9) soy sauce fried tofu-I remember this dish to be better but we still like it and will continue to order it, a kid favorite 10) hainan rice-just flavored rice-it was good. we ordered four bowls for everyone to share and pretty much finished it
(4)
Janet X.

2.5 star Not sure what happened to the place, perhaps change of management? I have definitely had much better experience eating there before. I used to like this place because I thought it was a one stop shop for me to enjoy a few signature dishes from the various Asian cuisines. Went there last night for dinner, and half of their menu were crossed off. When we ordered the things from the non-crossed out items, they were not available. After a long struggle, we were finally able to order a few things on the menu. Huge disappointment. So a 2 for this The food is ok but definitely pricey. However, for Fremont standard, I would say the food is relatively good. Although the roast duck was fatty, I've had better elsewhere. Their hoinan chicken was decent. So a 3 for the food. O yea, a "thank you" would be nice. As we walked out of the restaurant, the lady boss saw us leaving and looked away. It was not my fault she did not do the right ordering and ran out of almost everything we wanted on the menu. Sheesh.
(2)
Nerizza M.

I will never return here. The food is decent, but their customer service is horrendous! I went here with a few of my friends. We were drawn in by the contemporary look and cleanliness of the place not to mention the food pics displayed on the windows. Not realizing we walked in shortly before their closing time, the host gladly took us in and sat us. The next thing we knew, we were mildly greeted by an anxious server. Anxious like, hurry up and order because my shift ends soon and I wanna get the hell outta here! This set the tone for our entire dining experience. So we placed our order. There. Happy now, Mr. Server? BUT he came back a minute later and told me they were sold out of what I had ordered (In fact, they were sold out of two items on the menu). I asked for a menu and managed to find something else that looked appetizing. After that brash intro by our server, me and my buddies got to talking and we're sipping on warm tea AND THEN someone else comes up to us and asks us to move to another table because they have to clean the table we are sitting at. We all stare at each other so confused by the request. What else can we do, but move? Ok, so by that time, me and my friends are laughing under our breath as we settle into our new table. We couldn't believe the tacky service and we hadn't even gotten our food yet! Then our food came and they got one order wrong, but at this point nothing was a surprise. Lastly, they started mopping the entire floor and around us while we were eating. There are many details I am sparing the reader, but this should sum up my dismal encounter with Food Talk Cafe. In conclusion, we were greeted by a friendly host and then "smacked around" so to speak by a grumpy waiter. I would have preferred they turn us away from the very beginning. Yet as we all know businesses need to make money so they took us in, provided horrible customer service and risked getting one star on Yelp.
(1)
Laurence H.

Decent contemporary Chinese food. Something you typically would not find in SF, but more in Taipei. Hits the spot for what it is. Recommend the goose.
(3)
Resa W.

Living in San Diego, my standards for Chinese/Taiwanese food have lowered tremendously... so after a long, long drought, Food Talk Cafe really quenched the thirst. I particularly enjoyed: - Xiao long baos. Mostly because you can't get these many places... yeah, they weren't soupy enough, but they were still good! - Yo tiao, or "Chinese donut" - overpriced at $2 each but when you have a hunger for deep fried, greasy dough, this is it. - Peking duck. Very oily and not crispy enough for my tastes but still tasty when sandwiched in buns with green onion and oyster sauce. I don't know where the rest of you find good Chinese food but I can't think of anything in Fremont that's like this. It does smell exactly like a Chinese restaurant the moment you walk in. The decor is also surprisingly cute. Borderline that wannabe-Asian-fengshui style, but still cute.
(4)
qirk z.

Talking food? Cool. But it's just in the name. There was a wait all along this row of asian restaurants. Ended up here cuz it seemed the shorter wait. Plus it was freezing outside and needed to warm up inside. Looked around to see what other folks are eating... I see lotsa roasted duck. I ordered the steamed dumplings with soup (being ABC, I was thinking soup, but it's actually 'soup' in the dumpling. duh.). Those were good. The roasted duck noodles were good. The hot soup warmed me up, and it tasted good. The hainan chicken was good, as well as the chicken soup flavored rice. The peking duck dish was $22.... but it looked all so good.
(3)
e c.

I have no idea what the hell 'Food Talk Cafe' means, but who cares because the food is good. And they have Stella on tap! I cannot tell you how weirded out I was by the fact that I was in a Chinese place with beer on tap. Noodles are good, I had the beef lo mein and my friend had the duck. Too bad they ran out of flat noodles 'cause I think it would've been much better than the rice noodles, but it was still good and piping hot. The dumplings are also surprisingly good, lots of soup when you bite into them. I'd stay away from the fried tofu app though, no flavor. And amazingly, the service was good. Not just good for a Chinese restaurant, but white people good! They get an extra star for that alone.
(4)
Juliana T.

3 stars but I'm actually tending towards 2 3/4 stars. I've had better Chinese food. I wasn't thrilled with the menu. It seemed like the same meats/dumplings over and over except the variations were rice, noodle, soup noodle and then some appetizers. The soup buns weren't not that tasty and the noodle soups looked like they had food coloring in them. The only reason I would come here again is if I was with a crew of people that forced me to come here. Won't be a favorite choice next time. I will say, though, that the decor is incredibly cute and nouveau. I enjoyed sitting in the restaurant.
(3)
Tim W.

Dirty and salty! Yes, I went there for lunch today, oh man the food was just aweful, so salty that I couldnt even finish my lunch. I am not sure why there is always people waiting there?! Oh I notice today the waiters that brings water use there silicon glove to grab ice, well they use the same glove to clean your table too! Thank goodness I didnt order ice water... Trust me not worth visiting unless you are looking for salty substance ....two thumbs way down!
(1)
Jen C.

unless you are really into beef body parts, DO NOT order the "beef varieties noodle" dish. the noodles seemed like they were right out of a package i could have gotten myself at ranch 99, and the body parts were....body parts. we're talking liver, tendon, tripe, joint, intestine, probably some tongue. that is NOT what i thought beef varieties meant. and the dish was SMALL...not worth $7.95 for body parts that the american restaurants don't want... the fried pork over rice was also decent, but nothing special. the only redeemable part of the meal: the shao long bao was pretty good, and served piping hot. at least they keep up with the times. dvd footage of michael jackson's greatest hits was playing on repeat on their flatscreen tvs.
(2)
Miran K.

Had the hainanese chicken - not a fan of cold chicken, but this was decent. the duck was very good!
(3)
Paul C.

Other than the contemporary decor that I think is pretty kosher, this place sucked! The food tasted like it came out of a wrapper..way too Top Ramen for me! There's one server who does pretty much everything! He's a bit pushy and jumpy, almost intrusive. i don't know what it looks like in there when it's busy (is it ever), but I can see him totally spilling a hot boiling bowl of soup on someone. That would be a sight to see! Overall, food is subpar, and server needs to cut back on Ritalin.
(2)
Raymond N.

Well, what can I say about a restaurant that is actually far away from my home, is it worth it? My answer is a absolutely yes. The Peking duck is to die for, this dish is a must try when you get there, we also had the beef stew noodles, fried shrimp balls, appetizer combo plate, stir - fried "A" vegetable, salmon roll, steamed shanghai style buns, fried pumpkin dessert. Everything is so delicious and the service is quick and the staff is very attentive. The restaurant has a very warm decor and clean, and the price is very reasonable. If you want an authentic and satisfying meal, this is it, my only complaint is that I wish they have a Food Talk Cafe in the Peninsula. Five Stars all the way!!!!!!!!
(5)
Edward C.

Ate here after a big walk. They kept serving late, which is great. Xiao Long Bao did not burn my mouth, which was awesome. Peking duck was good, less fat than I'm used to. There was a coconut dessert here which was really good. Big white coconut that you scoop out of. I''m a sucker for anything coconut, though...
(4)
Ronald L.

My family and I love coming here for lunch and dinner occassionally. Be prepared for a long wait on the weekends. I think their signature dish is the Peking Duck which I highly recommend. The hai nan chicken is good as well. What I love the most is the ice cold Stella's they have and serve in frozen mugs, which keeps the beverage cold. The best peking duck in the entire bay area.
(4)
Kerman L.

It's usually a good sign when you see people waiting to get into a restaurant. The few times we've passed by Food Talk, we've seen people waiting so we decided to give it a try. Since we had a larger group, we were able to try a number of dishes. The Peking duck was pretty good but the skin wasn't crispy enough for me. The wonton soup was very good with sweet tasting wontons and a soup that wasn't overly salty. The dumplings weren't the best and there are a number of other local restaurants where you can find better. The jook was right on and again not too salty where you can't taste anything else. Service is OK and the restaurant is great for kids with food coming out quickly and a good level of background noise. Overall, we liked Food Talk a lot and will be back to try out some more dishes. Recommended.
(4)
M. W.

Foods are good! try their Peking Duck...not fatty at all unlike other chinese restaurant. Dumpling is above average, very juicy, but the skin is not as thin. I was being asked to try their veggie special which is not worth it. Be aware. Finally, they had a special - Lamb Chop. $9 for two pieces....but it's to die for. In terms of the ambience, it's unike regular chinese restaurant with round tables can fit 12. It is a place for couple to enjoy nicely done chinese cuisine.
(4)
Marisa N.

OMG the peking duck here is GREAT. We also ordered some beef noodle soup (sorry can't remember that name) but it wasn't very go. The modern decor was nice and unexpected. I feel sorry for the restaurant because the shopping center seems to need a boost, it was completely desolate the night we went. i'm addicted to the peking duck, and i'll be back here often = )
(4)
Joe C.

We decided to give this place a try for dinner since it was a new restaurant. The food was just OK. The steamed dumplings looked good because everyone was ordering it - too bad it was a little on the bland side. The beef stew was actually better than I expected - the meat was pretty tender and had good flavor. The fried pork chop was a disappointment - I wanted more flavor here as well. As some reviewers have already mentioned, Yanni was playing in the background and it was quite loud inside so this definitely not the place to go if you want to have a nice conversation. My mother-in-law commented that the wooden seats were a little hard and uncomfortable since they had no padding. Service was slightly below average for a Chinese restaurant - they don't refill water/tea unless you ask, they brought out the bill before we asked for it, they were a little pushy when it came to taking our order and seating us. I wouldn't mind going back again to try some of the other dishes though.
(3)
Jeff O.

Food is above average. Very small place. Shanghai dumpling is good and Peking duck is decent.
(3)
Jennifer D.

I came here on a Friday night with some girlfriends and this place was happening! It was very crowded. The ambience is nice: clean, dim lighting, pretty interior. The service is mediocre: not super friendly faces, but we got refills on tea and water without having to flag them down. The food is definitely quality food: we tried the peking duck, hainan chicken, BBQ pork, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and Chinese broccoli. I was a little surprised by the price ($17 per person for 4 girls) and I didn't really eat a whole lot of food. It's definitely pricier here, but hey, at least the quality of the restaurant is pretty good!
(3)
Allan H.

Way overrated and not Taiwanese. Peking duck, obviously from Taiwan is pretty good but I"ve had better. I also ordered the "taiwanese style cold noodles" which i recommend no one ever eat. Last time I came here with 4 other people and we had asked the Cantonese speaking workers to make recommendations and we ordered everything recommended. either they don't know what they are recommending or I am just being grumpy. If you want "asian fusion" go to PF Changs.
(2)
Jessica A.

I've been here twice with my parents and the first time, I ordered a cold noodle with peking duck. It was delicious with thin slices of cucumber and some kind of hoisin sauce ( i think). The second time, I ordered the same thing again hoping it would taste just as good. Disappointed. The duck was extremely salty and I can taste the little grains of salt in it. The consistency seems off at this place. I will probably not come here again.
(3)
Gate K.

best peking duck in the states i've had. always crowded, not so great service.
(4)
Sansan V.

came here for the first time n i love the food. never had taiwanese food that good as the food here, and service is pretty good.
(5)
g s.

Our family have been coming here for a couple of years. We love the ambiance. Our favorite is the Hainan chicken over garlic rice or soup noodles. The peking duck rocks. We love coming here for lunch as we get the always popular steamed dumplings. They have wonderful bubble tea drinks as well. Their menu has changed recently so I must admit I"m a little confused but we still like coming here.
(4)
Marilyn Y.

Came here with family at 7pm. Peking Duck and the Za Zang Noodles were excellent! The portions are smaller than the usual Chinese restaurants, but great tasting food. The restaurant is small, so make a reservation before going during busy dinner hours.
(3)
J G.

The Peking Duck was so delicious. We had seen other people order it on the way in and I knew that was what I was ordering. We also had an assortment of noodles (hot and cold). I would definitely go again. The waitstaff was very attentive and our teapot was never empty.
(4)
Paul K.

I've been there twice. I have to agree with others that this place is a bit small. Not a place for conversations. Their service is beyond my expectation. What happen was they had beef stew on the menu but I wanted beef tendon only. And they were able to do that. You must also try their wonton noodle soup, deep fried pork intestines too! They are good! I have to say this place is not cheap, but then you get what you paid for...
(4)
KK M.

garlic chicken wings, xiao long bao and peking duck with buns!!! there are better ones in sf but in the east bay, this is the best i have found so far and it kills my craving every time... the tables are a lil close together but overall the food is just worth it.. i sometimes walk in seeing all the ducks hanging in the back of their kitchen.. you know they make it fresh.. service is good.. fast.. sometimes the wait is a lil long... but i like the outdoor seating during summer nites. its perfect for a light breeze :D
(5)
Jacqueline K.

Bleh! I have to lower my rating since I went back here again (first time was back in September, around the time they opened). I remember the xiao long baos (soup dumplings) were pretty decent but I ordered them again and they weren't good at all :(. I was expecting SOUP dumplings but they were actually regular, unjuicy dumplings in disguise. And 10 for $8.95?! I think even Din Tai Fung is cheaper (and 100x better). I forgot what my mom ordered but it was some sort of cold noodle with veggies and wontons on the side and she didn't like it either. We also ordered Chinese broccoli ($6.95.. bleh) which tasted like, well, Chinese broccoli; hard to make it that good or bad. Plus the service was practically nonexistent. Mainly I don't like how Food Talk Cafe tries to make itself seem like a high class Chinese restaurant when there are tons of other Chinese places in Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/etc that are cheaper and better.
(2)
Wilson C.

I just finish shopping at Costco and the kids didn't want to go out, but I didn't want to cook. So, we decided on takeout and try Talk Cafe based on reviews here on Yelp. My wife and I loved it. We had the garlic chicken wings, wonton soup, beef brisket with noodles and duck with rice. The wonton, beef and duck were all 5 stars. It was authentic Cantonese flavors. The garlic chicken wings were a bit greasy and the chicken hair was not completely plucked off, so I give that a 3 star. We will definitely be back to dine in.
(5)

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Address : 43755 Boscell Rd
Fremont, CA, 94538
Phone (510) 668-0898
Click To Get Directions

Opening Hours

Mon :11:30 am - 9:00pm

Specialities

Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch
Parking : Private Lot
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No

Claim Restaurant

Chinese Cuisine

The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.

Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.

There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.

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Food Talk Cafe

43755 Boscell Rd, Fremont, CA, 94538

Food Talk Cafe Menu

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