Tianchu Restaurant
613 E William St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104
Tianchu Restaurant Menu
Sorry, We are updating this restaurant menu details.
Visit below restaurant in Ann Arbor for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Ann Arbor for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Ann Arbor for healthy meals suggestion.
Sorry, we don't have Q&A for this restaurant.
Sorry, No Coupons available for this restaurant.
-
Address :
613 E William St
Ann Arbor, MI, 48104 - Phone (734) 769-1368
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 11
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : No
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
Categories
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.
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
Looky Weed - Buy Marijuana Online
Looky Weed is here to help you navigate the maze of legalized marijuana. We provide you with a complete dispensary directory.
Andrea Y.
The highlight of my meal was the pajeon appetizer. There were two kimchi dishes, both of which weren't tasty at all, and the only other banchan was a smattering of cauliflower that looked shy. The jjamppong was fine, although nothing to write home about. The steamed dumplings I tried seemed to lack flavor. The place seems like it's trying too hard: Chinese restaurant name, Korean dishes, dish titles in English, Korean and Japanese (and notably no Chinese characters on the whole menu, except for the name of the restaurant). Maybe it'll speak to the student population, but they won't get any regular foodies there by any stretch. The wait staff was definitely new and inexperienced. But as they're in their first month of service, I'm willing to cut them some slack. For the price, the service, and the quality of the food, I doubt I'll go back. It wasn't horrible, but it isn't better than nearby options, either.
(2)S L.
Really enjoyed the fresh veggies stir fried and the great service. The owners and team are warm and friendly. Tucked away in a corner, this one is a hidden gem if you are looking for chinese food in a place that feels like china. + they are open till late and they deliver!
(4)Francisco F.
Decided to try out this before heading to a concert on campus. Ordered the Pad Thai. Was very different from what I was used to, but it was quite tasty. Not my favorite style, but I would venture back to try some of the other items on the menu.
(3)Brian c.
I'm with everyone else who gave this place 2 stars or less. Do your stomach (and tastebuds) a favor by going a block down to Maru, the best local Korean spot in the "downtown/Campus" area. Growing up in the San Francisco bay area, I know how bad Chinese-owned and operated non-Chinese Asian restaurants are. If Chinese people can barely make their own food taste good, let alone $1 Chinese takeout spots, what makes me think that they could do Korean? A sign that says "Daily Special" ZaZiangMien 3.99 with purchase of Large Tea Drink, should have been a sign already to turn around. ZaZiangMien is sacred and should never be discounted like this. Nor should it ever be paired with a tea drink. This kind of Asian fusion just doesn't work. My girlfriend and i got the ZaZiangMien anyway and right off the bat we noticed that there were 3 kinds of noodles -- the typical kinds you'd expect in ZaZiangMien, a thicker round noodle, then a clumpy flat white noodle you see in some Chinese noodlesoup dishes. CLEARLY, they were not supposed to use those flat white noodles because a) it just became a clumpy mess b) as a result it didn't absorb the sauce well. Plus it made me think that "hey we ran out of noodles, better use some leftovers." The sauce was way too salty. Kind of tasted like the zaziangmien sauce you could get straight out of the instant varieties. And why were there strips of imitation crab meat in there with the cucumbers? Does anyone really like imitation crab meat? And was I supposed to think this place is "classy" because they threw in some imitation crab meat? Anyway, this place has a ways to go, but I would avoid this place even if it is a cheap deal.
(1)Cd S.
I had the Galbi and was very unimpressed. Not tender enough, and the brown gravy was bland and not like the garlicky, sweet, spicy delectable sauces I've had elsewhere. The accompaniments had a "been in the fridge too long" quality. With Haru down the street I see no reason to go back to this place.
(1)Ibrahim H.
I would give it 0/5 if possible. The food was almost not edible. The bi bim bop I ordered didn't really taste like bibimbap and I feel normally this is a difficult dish to mess up. The beef had no seasoning and and the chili paste was unsweetened and bitter. I added soy sauce and seasoning from home to the jap chae.
(1)Rohit A.
No flavor and sub-par ingredients. I added BBQ sauce, pepper, and garlic powder to my dish and it still tasted bland.
(1)Shanshan C.
i decided to give this place a positive review after weighing the pros and cons. it's not a great place to hang out cuz the space is really limited. good service is not guaranteed, depending on the waitress' mood on that day. this being said, i still like to go there sometimes just for the food. it's probably too salty and spicy for some, but i love their spicy chicken!! absolutely the best in town!! haha if you like super duper spicy stuff give this place a try. you'll come out with sausage lips trust me LOL
(4)Amy S.
Wow. The previous reviews make me wonder if I was in the right place. I visited Tianchu with my brother and my boyfriend to use a Living Social voucher. I read the reviews before I went, and honestly, was terrified. Everyone was so negative that I warned the fellas that we would go just to try out the voucher and if it was horrible we would leave and go somewhere else. We ordered some dim sum items: a mushroom bao dumpling, a shrimp shumai, and chive cakes. All were good. Nothing amazing, nothing horrible. But tasty, we were all happy with it. My brother got the Pad Thai with Tofu since he is a vegetarian. I tasted it...it was good. He was happy with it, I have tasted better. My boyfriend and I split an order of Bibimbap, which I thought was delicious. We were very happy with it. I would go back for a decent meal, although there is so much good food in Ann Arbor, I probably won't because I want to try other places. But over all it was good. I am glad I read the review that stated that the waitress added the tip to the bill already..otherwise, I would have tipped her twice. My only suggested is get wood chopsticks...the metal ones are terrible to use!
(3)Siddharth G.
please. don't. go. here. period.
(1)Eliza Jane C.
i got a decent, cute little lunch box here for only $7, it had all kind of tasty little tidbits (fresh steamed broccoli, one dumpling, one piece of sushi, small scallion pancakes, dipping sauce, some kind of potatoes, and white rice) included with my General Tso's chicken (which was not exactly conventional, but still totally satisfying). really nice waitress, very fast and attentive service, quiet and tidy spot, tasty cheap lunch.
(3)Lily A.
I visited Tianchu years ago. Recently, I have visited few times again and I found great improvement. The food is delicious. The mixed vegetables stir fry with chicken or pork or beef are really good, (with very thin slices of meat) even better than some other good restaurants) they use very good rice. (Should be short-grained rice) very soft and freshly steamed. The small dishes are good too. Bubble tea has tea favor. Maybe I am not young, so I love the soft bubbles. :-) They are being run by a family, and they open from 11:00-11:45 pm daily. Other people complained about the service charge added. But I would love to be fair, when we buy the coupon online, it is already clearly stated in the coupon website. We all know that is not easy to run restaurant, especially in the campus...when holidays come, most students gone. That also explains even La Marsa, Five guys closed. There may be some other ways other guests don't like, but if we focus on the food, we should appreciate how hard people work and the chef's efforts. The soup noodles are good too.
(5)Shirley L.
How I wish I could rate them 0!! Bad service! Bad experience! Bad bad bad! It is the worst restaurant I ever come across!! We had lunch there on our graduation day. Since we were in a rush to attend the graduation ceremony, we asked for quick meals and had their guarantee. Then we waited for about 40 minutes until the meals served! Well. They refused to accept my Groupon. They only allow one card to one bill. And they even attached about 19% service fee to the bill! 19% for lunch with such bad service! After a few weeks I ordered a take-out meal to use my Groupon voucher. They lied to my boyfriend who came to take the meal that there's certain items only valid for this Groupon and are printed on the website. They lied just to deny my Groupon! Yuck! Now I'd rather letting the Groupon expire then coming back again! So awful!
(1)don l.
Used my groupon .. I am do glad it was a groupon or else I will be more than just frustrated and depressed . The menu looked promising not until the food came out ! The tofu with mixed veggies was floating in oil ! The lo mien and soon dubu jigae was like it came out from the pacific ocean as it carried all the salt out from the ocean waters! way too salty! but if your a person who needs a more sodium for fluid retention in your diet go for it ! What irritates me they want an automatic 18% tip for using a group on !!!! I should have checked the ratings prior to getting a groupon deal !! Omg !
(1)John D.
This place is one of the shittiest places ever!! They had a Groupon for 11 bucks which would give you 20 bucks but the fine print say stable at 18% as fee. Basically what that means is you are paying full price of the meal. this is not even a deal!! The lady behind the counter acted as if she was happy to skim money from me and was shooing me out the door! I would never go to this place ever again and hope I can have some followers on my lead..
(1)Shelby G.
So I totally understand the negative reviews. Does this place have a lot of misses? Oh yeah. But similar to how a fish will go it's whole life thinking it's stupid if you base it's intelligence on how it climbs a tree, you can't judge how good this restaurant is on the random stuff they serve. Or long story short, get their noodles. Holy moly it's so good. The chefs are basically from northern China, which specializes in noodle and other carby goodness. The zha jiang mian is amazeballs. And the beef noodle soup and seafood noodle soups are soul reviving. Don't waste time and stomach space on other stuff- stick to the noodles.
(5)Zhuoqun Y.
Horrible Service! Unfair Price! the fish is not fresh. Taste bad but cost us about $70!
(1)Karl Z.
Disgusting food. Rotten fish. Unfair price. The place should be shut down immediately.
(1)Adam A.
I hope i can choose 0 star. It was worst chinese restaurant i have been. i was wait 45 min when their just have 2 tables. The attitudes of waiters is really bad. It was the worst service i had seen. But they still let us pay 19% tips to themï¼ï¼ :-D Their food look like so greasy and dirty. I also saw 2 hair on my noodle^_^ i dont know how this restaurant can exist on ann arbordowntown. In a word. if u want waste time and money ，taste greasy food and feel worst service of ann arbor. Tianchu is your best choice :-D
(1)Christina K.
Two of my friends who used to work here let me know that they reuse their banchan appetizers when previous customers don't finish, so unless you're into getting herpes and whatnot, avoid those. Otherwise, if you're going to order here, stick to the bubble tea (cheap) or dim sum and ask for recommendations. There are a couple dishes that are half-decent, but the rest are huge misses. General tso's is an abomination, for example. Service can be pretty off some days, and sometimes your dishes come in 10 minutes, other times it may take 30 minutes.
(1)Nicky W.
I went here for a hooked app deal for 1 dollar boba tea. The boba tea I received wasn't worth a dollar. The tapioca itself was disgusting and the flavor of the tea was sickening sweet and overwhelming with artificial sweeteners. Never again.
(1)Jennifer X.
This place is...not good. It suffers from serious identity crisis. Is it a Chinese restaurant? Is it Korean? It is Japanese? And what is it about the free bubble tea? I'm not even sure why it's still around because every time I show up it's pretty much deserted. I always have this vague idea that they are cheating me.
(1)Liz T.
It's off the beaten track in Ann Arbor, but a nice local place WITHOUT a 45 minute wait as some of the fancier A2 places (and not nearly as expensive). The Bibimbap was wonderful - pretty close to what I ate in Korea. I will be back here
(3)Bridget K.
Update: They changed their chopsticks and they're no longer horrible. Seriously five stars now :).
(5)Echo T.
if you wanted sticky noodles smell like leftovers, If you wants to pay 4 dollar for 4 quarter coin sized squid ball, if you are used to pay 20% service fee in a Chinese restaurant, if you are trying to loose weight by agetting diarrhea the meal, Then THIS IS THE PLACE for you. GOOD LUCK!
(1)Christina C.
Okay, two stars rather than one because this place delivers until midnight, and sometimes, you want late night Chinese food. A serious flaw of many Chinese restaurants is extensive menus the chefs cannot keep up with. We ordered the scallion pancake and the kimchi pancake. The scallion pancakes were just okay - a little undercooked and looks like it came from the freezer pre-made. The kimchi pancakes were extremely questionable. They probably didn't wash their scallions or something because it felt like I was eating sand. Also, I have never heard of kimchi pancakes made with eggs (but correct me if I'm wrong), and the eggs were barely beaten. It didn't taste like kimchi at all. Needless to say... instant regrets.
(2)Fine G.
I have mixed feelings about this place, yet I keep on returning here again and again. The pros: this place is rarely completely packed, so it's actually possible to hold a conversation. The service is fantastically efficient--place your order, and 5 minutes later it's steaming on your table. They also usually bring you a bill before you even ask for it. The food is pretty good and the portions are generous. I tried doenjang soup, which was excellent, sweet and sour soup, and a fairly well-done mongolian chicken. Red-bean paste buns are ok. To my chagrin, the bubble tea is pretty bad--I had it 5 times and 4/5 times the bubbles were softs and mushy. The waitress is very welcoming, although everyone else is usually rather sullen and not very attentive.
(4)曼
Food are not good...and low quality.... when i walk in... smell bad...
(1)Portia H.
This is honestly the WORST food I've had in this decade. Yes, I said "in this decade". I saw the reviews, but still decided to try it because I really, REALLY wanted steamed pork buns. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you, my fellow Yelpers. I took one bite of the steamed pork buns and literally gagged. I now feel nauseous and light headed. The dough was unnaturally thick and rough in texture and the meat didnt look "real". It look eerily similar to the meaty looking dog food. So, basically I had to GNAW through the bun to reach unbbq'd DOG FOOD. Im starting to feel sicker and sicker by the minute. It wasn't just badly prepared food, but contained cheap, subpar INGREDIENTS... and it was evident by the smell and sight. Not to mention, they didn't follow my requests (no tapioca in the bubble tea). They used too much dried onion soup in the Wonton soup base (yes, all of that happened). On top of that, the delivery guy looked like a psycho killer. With all of this going on, I'm surprised I made it out alive. I think I'm going to call the the Health Inspection Department on Monday morning to report this...and I've NEVER done that for any restaurant. This place ought to be ashamed and the city of Ann Arbor should board this place up. Beware, friends. This food is dangerous.
(1)Patty S.
Over priced comparing with the size of the meal you get. The seafood soup is $12 comes in small bowl with 2 medium shrimps and tiny other mixed seafood... BBQ dish has about 30% meat and the rest is vegetable stir-fly with lot of oil ...They give only one free small side dish and will charge $1 extra for a refill (most authentic Korean restaurants I've visited would provide 5-8 small sides for free and unlimited refill).
(1)Daniel D.
This place isn't very good. Plain and simple. The best thing on the menu is the wonton soup. Egg rolls cold. Chicken is not authentic. Sauced up too much. Service isn't very good. He sits down when we ask for a check. Go to Tomkun noodle bar. You'll love it.
(1)Tiff A.
Low and poor quality service and really cheap staff. I've gotten stuff from there a few times to try them out and give them the benefit of a doubt but really they just aren't good. If you order takeout they either don't include the utencils so no plastic forks, napkins, etc. or ask if you want them. (Like who does that? Just include them!) I ordered a Taiwanese mince pork rice dish and the egg was so salty it was unbelievable! The price was also not worth the meal and i find that if i eat there they would calculate the tip for you already on your bill. Cheap cheap people! Just want your money and as soon as you pay basically you are deadmeat to them. The restaurant female owner's attitude is usually ok but her son is super rude and have the worst customer service ever. Will not be coming back.
(2)Christian M.
How they stay in business, I'll never know. I've tried them 3-4 times over their four years of operation (it's close to work), but swear I will never waste another meal in this dump. From the filthy, grungy, and dog-eared menus, to the sullen service, and the extraordinarily oily and flavorless food, they rank as the worst food of any sort in Washtenaw C. I always think, "oh, they must have improved", but oh I'm wrong.
(1)Courtney F.
Waitress wasn't interested but the food was great! It was my first Korean meal, Bibimbop. I'm pretty proud of myself. The place was small but had an authentic feel to it. I cane with good people to recommend the place and food. Even tried bubble tea! I don't get the point, but the strawberry milk one was sweet and delicious.
(3)Kevin L.
This place is not worth it. I asked to sit at a larger table and was told no b/c they were holding them for large groups of people. One person was already sitting at a large table and I was the only other customer there. I love Korean food but this food was just there w/minimal flavor. I ordered bulgogi. I got two small dishs WITH NO KIMICHI. Where's the KIMICHI. I also ordered chop chea (had to use my $20 groupon) the chop chea was discolored and just wasn't good. I went to pay my check, the bill was $24 and some change. I used my groupon then all of the sudden I had to pay a service fee for using the groupon of 20% WHAT THE DEUCE! I could have purchased another groupon for this restaurant but I won't, it's not worth it, don't waste your time. THUMBS DOWN for Tianchu Restaurant.
(1)Patrick T.
Went here because I got a free groupon instant deal. The food is just not that good. There are so many better places to eat. They also automatically charged me tip on the bill for two people. Unknowingly, I paid some extra tip, only to realize after I walked out the door that the meal should not have costed those couple bucks extra. Don't go here.
(1)Jessica R.
The food was eh (aside from one dish, which was good). The service was eh. The ambiance was nothing to write home about. We ordered a kimchi pancake to share (that was the good dish), and then our three entrees were Gal Bi, Bulgogi, and a tofu and seafood soup. Four dishes of banchan were brought out immediately. I was hungry, and so happy for something, but they were just eh (aside from the potato, which we did like though couldn't figure out what the sauce was). The pancake didn't come, didn't come, didn't come, we kept wanting to ask the server if the order had been put in, but she was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile we've all drained our small waters and were parched for more. First the Gal Bi is served. No pancake, no other entrees, no more water. Maybe 5 minutes later we get some water, then the Bulgogi comes out (my entree). By now the Gal Bi is getting cold. Then comes the pancake, which we devour. It was eggy and good, though not all spicy like kimchi. No sauce was given with it. Finally, 5 minutes later (maybe 10), the soup entree comes out. That is scalding hot, and as we all dig in, my friend burns his mouth badly. So we have one dish that's cold, one that's scalding hot, and mine right in the middle. Only, mine wasn't good even then because it didn't taste at all like Bulgogi (it was drowned in a thick sauce), and the sauce made me feel sort of sick while eating it. And an hour later, I did indeed feel sick. We never got the soup that was supposed to come with the Bulgogi or Gal Bi. The chopsticks were very hard to hold (they're metal and flat). The bathroom was dirty and in a state of disarray. (I couldn't get out of my mind the longheld thought that the bathroom upkeep gives you an image of how the kitchen is maintained.) The seating is awkward. They have only tables for two, or two tables for 4 or 6 (which are stuck in the back together, which makes the back of the restaurant too loud and the front very quiet). I don't think I'll be going back.
(1)Debing S.
I have to admit, I tried, But sorry, this restaurant will forever lose a Chinese foodie who bleeds chinese food. lol. a. It seems to offer many types of Chinese and Korean food. But neither of them are well prepared. b. The food, I tried Korean beef soup once and Chow How Fun the other time. Too salty or it is simply not close to the taste. c. I read a review by a Chinese, claiming the bubble tea is not bad. OMG, it is really bad. Never ever try to the bubble tea there. I try not to be picky, after all AA is not China, Korea or New York. But come on, at least make it close to Chinese or Korean food a little bit.
(1)Bruce S.
I had broiled Chinese eel here, and it was ok. I've had kimchi soup, and it was fine. I ordered tonkatsu here, and it was terrible. The meat was very thin, and the breading wasn't even panko. It looked like it was breaded in egg. I came back again and tried the bulgogi. It was ok, but when I asked where the kimchee was, I was told you have to pay $3 for it. What! Kimchi is a staple of Korean food. You get it whether you ask for it or not. If I go back here, I'll stick to the Chinese menu.
(2)John M.
This place is dreadful. Do not eat here. It is dirty and the food was horrible and the staff were churlish to say the least.
(1)Sam G.
This pains me to write. I was avoiding writing this review because I really, really liked the waitress (quite possibly also the owner?) - extremely warm and kind. I also liked the interior quite a bit - simple, clean, cozy. But if I am to rate the food I have to go with two stars, regardless of my desire to go all soft and give them a three- or four- star review. My partner and I split a variety of dishes for dinner. The best part of the meal was actually the rice (which was perfectly steamed and really flavorful). Steamed dumplings were pretty decent as well. The ban chan (the little appetizer dishes traditionally served with Korean food) were uneventful and bland. First time around we ordered Korean (Jap Chae and Mapo Tofu). Dishes fell short. Lots of oil, not a lot of flavor. The BiBimBop was good but BiBimBop is a really hard dish to mess up! Second time around we thought maybe we had missed something so we ordered from the Chinese side. The sweet and sour sauce was electric red and syrupy, with a little bit of sweetness and nothing else. The chicken seemed fairly processed. If you can imagine what you would get if you ordered this from McDonalds, that's what it was. If the food was better I could see myself going to the restaurant regularly - it has that kind of vibe that makes me want to be a regular. But the food really needs to decide what it is. As it is now, it is neither good Chinese nor good Korean. I'm with another reviewer - please, please get a better chef, so I can give you the rave review I want to give you!
(2)Leslie T.
By the time I got here, I was starving so anything would have been delicious at this point. I was also craving Asian food, anything Asian. That being said, the food was still pretty good. I ordered the Mapo tofu with pork and a dumpling soup. The service was fast and friendly. I was immediately given water when I walked in and a waitress came to take my order within 5 minutes. The food came soon after. The tofu was a big platter with a small bowl of rice. It was spicy, but good. There might have been more peas in the dish than pork, but it was still good. The soup was simple. You can't mess up dumplings in soup. My main complaint was the open door. Flies flew around and it was a nuisance to deal with. Overall, good but not great. I'll come back again for a quick meal when I'm starving.
(2)Linbo Z.
I went there for dinner again because of a Groupon. And another review said they were better after my first review. I have to say that their food quality was not even as good as it used to be. The dishes last night was salty. While the food quality is not the only reason for 1-star rating. According to Groupon website, they answered questions about drinks. They said we can order anything we want for the 43-23 groupon and drinks were not mandatory in this groupon. It turned out that the 2 drinks were mandatory, we can not use the 7 dollar included in the Groupon because we didn't order drinks. As I said in my earlier review, 18% TIPS was always mandatory with Groupon. But they didn't say anything about the TIPS on the Groupon at all. I don't oppose trying to make more profit from customers, but I have to emphasize that honesty is very important for a business owner.
(1)Cassidy P.
First of all, I'm not a big fan of Korean food. Or at least, not Korean BBQ (which describes most of the restaurants where I lived in the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco). Typically I think of it as very meaty, with lots of pickled stuff on the side. But, I walked in here, told them I wanted something not too heavy, spicy, with fish and they brought me a very tasty (huge) noodle dish chock full of all sorts of different seafood (see pic, I'm afraid I forget the name right now). Recommend this dish, specifically. Also, the waitress was super nice and very helpful! I came back for a second time and got a special (steam bun) to go. As others have noted, specials here aren't great. It took a very long for the to go food to come out and then it turned out that their "green onion" bun have pork in them (foolish me for thinking you'd need to be explicit about this on your menu). Wasn't super happy about that and although they replaced the food, it took forever and made for a less-than-happy second experience. But the seafood dish was good and my first waitress was very nice, so I have to give them 3 stars.
(3)Jason C.
Tianchu took over the Rio Wraps place on East Williams, which has been empty for some time. The name will throw you off, because they advertise themselves as Korean restaurant, but the name is Chinese... either way, I was looking forward to the place opening up. Got the word they were open, so met up with two buddies of mine to have lunch. I had picked up the menu the night before since I was in the area, so I studied the menu before I went. We got seated and ordered the following items: - Kimbap ($3.50) - Spicy Rice Cake ($6.95) - Kimchi Fried Rice ($7.95) - Steamed Dumpling - 8 pieces ($5.95) - JiamPong (Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup) ($8.95) - Jjajangmyeon (Noodle with Bleak Bean Sauce) ($8.95) We placed the order, the server said, we get two soups, but will bring three, soup options were: Egg Drop, Hot & Sour and Miso. We all ended up ordering one of each. The Hot & Sour and Egg Drop soup is what you would expect from typical Chinese restaurant. I had the Miso soup and I wouldn't consider this a miso soup, rather Seaweed soup with tofu and some hint of miso. The taste was okay... I would think twice about ordering this soup again. As for banchan, you get five items: Kimchi, Radish Kimchi, Cucumber & Mushroom Kimchi, Potato and meat stir fry and dried tofu dish. Of all the items in the banchan, potato was the best. Kimchi was not good, the radish kimchi was not fermented enough. Kimbap - a typical Korean kimbap must have: carrots, seasoned radish, spinach, egg, and either Spam, hotdog or kimbap sausage. These five make up a true Korean Kimbap... now, there are different varieties out there... those with bulgogi, fish cake, and additional items. I would rate the Kimbap at 3 stars, although my buddies stated that they did not like it. Spicy Rice Cake - if I could give a negative star for this dish, I would. The rice cake was overcooked, mushy and overall taste was not comparable to a typical Spicy Rice Cake. It was more of stir fry with vegetables, rice cake, chili powder and some chili oil. It really had no taste and I was beyond disappointed with this dish. I would highly recommend that you SKIP this dish. Kimchi Fried Rice - the key ingredient in Kimchi Fried Rice is 'Kimchi'. Kimchi makes or breaks the fried rice. If the Kimchi served with the banchan is good, then expect good fried rice, but if the kimchi served with your banchan is mediocre... you'll have issues... One of my buddies took a spoon full of kimchi fried rice; thereafter he could not eat any more and gave up. My other buddy and I ended up eating the fried rice. It was edible, but it's not something that I would order again. Steamed Dumpling - this is Chinese style dumpling, we think it's homemade. The dumpling wasn't bad, the dipping sauce needs to have little more vinegar to make it little sour, but overall, we all enjoyed the dish. Jiam Pong - I don't know what to say, Jiam Pong flavored Ramen tastes better. The soup broth is oily and not spicy enough. The noodle was little over cooked. Emerald City has better Jiam pong and I'm not a fan of their jiam pong. Jjajangmyeon - Chappagetti taste's better in my opinion (that's the Ramen version). The noodle again was over cooked. Not enough sauce. I could make the sauce at home myself... the sauce had onion, zucchini, pork and that was about it... Service - the wait staff kept asking us if we were done and if we were expecting more dishes. As a wait staff, they should know if we got all of our food or not and not ask the customer if we were expecting more dishes. Otherwise, the service itself was decent. The wait staff checked on us, filled our drinks, etc. When we asked for more banchan, he brought them out. Overall, their food takes on lot of Chinese flavors, so if you truly crave Korean food, think twice about going here. But if you want Korean food and because all other Korean places close at/around 9pm, you may have no choice, unless you want to wait until next day. Folks will go here because they are open late. I know that I will not go back, knowing that there are other Korean restaurants that serve better Korean food. So I can't really recommend anyone to give the place a try... that is up to you and you alone! All I'm going to say is, I was disappointed with the food itself.
(1)Lena L.
Food...was just ok. Decor and cleanliness...was borderline diner quality. Disappointments were two tries at bubble tea and both were failures. Secondly, the Padthai was slightly better than No Thai but not coming back. I have my go-to Pad Thai craving restaurants.
(2)David F.
I honestly don't understand all the negative feedback. The food is actually really good. I've tried both the Korean and Chinese options. The bubble teas are the best in town. The owner is very friendly; yet not so attentive a waitress. Overall, I would say the experience is above average. It is definitely a great deal with their groupon.
(4)Danny M.
The only things good here is the authentic chinese food. Don't order any dim sum items because they are all prepackaged from the freezer. The bubble teas are good. Noodles are great. Authentic chinese dinner dishes (the menu that reads all chinese) is above par. You just need to know what to order.
(4)Ching T.
WORSE restaurant EVER!! First time in the restaurant without even reading the review because of Groupon. The food we've ordered were all so salty, we couldn't even finish (we ordered some Chinese dishes and some Korean dishes - ex: Jap Chae). Bubble tea was WAY too sweet that we've to keep adding water (more than half cup of the bubble tea cup). It wasn't even a good service, waiter was rude and mean and never once checked on us whether everything is good or not. Water glasses were all empty due to salty food and never got filled up and waiter was no where to be found. In the end when we were paying our bill they CHARGED us 18% of tip (only 4 adults) and we had to argued to the manager as we were only 4 ppl, not 6. Save your money, don't even buy Groupon. WORSE!!
(1)Dani S.
I as well am not sure why they have such a low rating. Yes, it is an older building, but I have eaten here in the worst winter weather and they were keeping everything clean and tidy. Sure, they could have paid a little more attention to when my glass was getting low, but overall. their food is fantastic and so reasonably priced! My husband and I are regulars and have been disappointed with every other Thai restaurant as they just cannot measure up to Tianchu's deliciousness!
(4)Ben K.
Might as well start from the beginning. Wife and I ordered drinks. She ordered hot green tea and got cold bubble tea. The waitress made no attempt to correct the situation when notified that it was not what she ordered and told us they couldn't of hot tea. No big deal, moving on. Pad Thai with steamed tofu came out with fried tofu. No big deal again, just notify the waitress that it was not what we ordered. Nope, an explanation on how they can't do steamed tofu with Pad Thai (weird bc I have been to many restaurants that can handle this). The kicker, we were told after having our food for 3-4 minutes and taking a bit from the noodles, "if you don't touch the tofu we can reuse it." My General Tsao's chicken came doused in an utterly tasteless radioactive red sauce. I opted to not eat the tasteless chicken and I was informed they forgot the spices. Got taken to the cleaners on that groupon. Not a picky eater or overly critical diner but there were enough missed opportunities to make up for mistakes topped off by an awful meal and the thought that maybe I was served food that was served to someone else. Terrible.
(1)Kevin Y.
All they have are flat chopsticks that are impossible to use. Don't buy the coupon they say... " NO TAKE OUTS!" Oh yeah sure I wasted my money I say.
(1)Meeta B.
I know I know! I said I would never go back. But someone was treating me to lunch and asked if I would go there because they had a Groupon. What was I supposed to do? Be ungrateful and say, uh no thank you??!! So we went, and I just hoped for better. Well, it was actually better! So this is what I learned, order off the dinner menu and stick with the Korean food. My guest and I (or was I their guest...I guess they were treating me...so I was theirs?) ordered the edamame, the spicy squid dinner and the kal bi. Everything we got was fresh and delicious. I actually took the Kal Bi back to the office, and gave it to someone else who said it was quite delicious. So I learned my lesson. Don't totally write this place off yet, but stick with the korean food...the dinner menu at lunch time ;)
(3)Bryan P.
Tian Chu? Pee-yew! I was unfortunate enough to go into this place with a groupon deal. The service was horribly slow and utterly unconcerned about us. I would say the food was mediocre, but as it was sub-par it would be inappropriate. The bibimbap had no flavor and no sauce was provided. We would have asked for some if we could have gotten a server to pay attention to us after we got our food. But, the very specialest moment of the night came at bill paying time, as others have commented. After my credit card had been run by the grand matron of the establishment, I noticed a 20% tip had been added. I was livid. As a server myself, I'm acutely aware of how inappropriate it is to add gratuity to a table of 2, especially when there has been no warning whatsoever. I stayed calm and asked calmly and politely why a tip had been added to my credit card. She said it was a standard part of the deal, despite no mention of it on the groupon itself. I considered contesting this move, but decided it wasn't so bad since I would never set foot in the restaurant again. If you desire to feel cheated and neglected, going to Tian Chu would be a quick fix for you. If you aren't feeling masochistic, however, I recommend you get a groupon for laser hair removal or spider vein treatment before you consider one for Tian Chu.
(1)International S.
I always get a Water Boiled flounder fillet with brown rice : this dish is one of her specialties. The super hot and spicy fish fillet works well with the mild rice. I love it! She has this magic hand to this dish! I don't go there for anything else: besides the shrimp dumplings i tried occasionally i feel they need to work on those: too much dough and i only get 4 tiny dumplings, my buck is worth more! Service is moderate! However it depends on what day you arrive.If there are few people you get more attention! So just time it out well! this principle should be applied to all restaurants! Sometimes she surprises me and tips herself: that was hilarious!However, I recognized the diligent work she does to run that restaurant! Well for Ann arbor I'd expect this hippie cute little Asian restaurant to be efficient for college acquaintances, its not fancy but its effectively open until 12midnight... after all aa is not a big city.. and Tianchu does a good job in accommodating immediate Dinning Emergencies: if you need a real burst of flavor drive yourself to Chicago.
(4)Rhubarb K.
While it looks like some folks managed to get some decent food here, the food I had here was really bad. Given the bad experience that many people seem to have had, I am puzzled as to how this place has stayed open for the past few years. My current theory is that this place is a front for an Asian mafia.
(1)Jonas L.
As Jason C.'s excellent review notes, this is a Korean restaurant opened by Chinese people. While this wouldn't be a bad thing, the food confirmed my worst suspicions. The banchan selection is paltry and seemingly un-Korean. Potatoes that taste like cold tater-tots? Yuck. The kimchi seems straight out of package, and a bad package at that. As for the mains, their japchae is overly salty and sorely lacking in sesame oil; the bibimbap is adequate but barely so. With so many other Korean places around town, cooked with Korean flavors, there is absolutely no reason to go here. Maru is two blocks down and much much better.
(1)Wally S.
I can't believe the negative reviews here. This is a cute place, decent food, prices that won't break the bank. I'm not an expert in this type of food, but I have reasonable taste. I ordered the Bibimbap which fit the bill nicely. Sizzling rice, veggies, beef, bean sprouts, and a fried egg on top of it all. Together with the hot, spicy sauce, it filled my appetite just right. I started the meal off with a hot and sour soup which wasn't the best I've ever had, but it had a unique taste, sour with only a slight burn. It was a great compliment to the main course. My wife ordered miso soup and sesame chicken. She's not much of a soup person so I was able to have the miso soup also. I really didn't care for it much, the taste just doesn't hit the spot for me. Her sesame chicken came to the table in a beautiful, sectioned, wooden box. The chicken was very good, and the rice and side veggies really hit the mark. The only thing that I didn't care for was the hot tea. I don't know what the flavor was supposed to be, but it had to be either miso leftovers or dishwater. Disappointing in light of how much I like everything else. So, decent food, great presentation, comfortable, serene setting, very good service. I've got to go with a 3 star for this.
(3)Eric L.
Avoid! Horrible service. The kid that works here has no manners. Maybe he doesn't know how to talk? This place deserves 0 stars. Food tastes weird. We ordered one milk tea and one milk tea with taro; they showed up with two milk teas without taro. Then when we told them, they seemed confused, walked back and grabbed the drink (the non-taro milk tea) from me while I was drinking it. They could've just grabbed the one we weren't drinking??
(1)Hij H.
Just don't go please. I don't usually spend much time in writing a review here. But I had to. I am very curious of why even some folks gave this place more than one star. Sympathy? If you are doing this way, it will really decrease the utility of checking reviews here to find a good place. Be considerate to others. If you really liked their food, which Korean restaurant did you dislike? I am very curious. I have been eating Korean foods in more than a hundred restaurants (probably between 500~1000) so far. Trust me. Conclusion? The Worst. Even it is far below than the second worst Korean restaurant in my life. Even if I calm down myself and think again, it is the worst. A shame that Ann Arbor has this place in downtown. Why do you try to waste your money so hard? I would like to another tip: DO NOT BUY A GROUPON!
(1)Barb O.
The restaurant is small without a lot of inviting decor, very plain. The wait staff was friendly and service was quick. I was disappointed they were out of both of the seafood specialty dinners that I want to try even though it was only 4:30 pm. It makes me wonder if they were out of those two dishes simply because I was using a Groupon. Instead they down sold us on the sesame chicken & shrimp with vegetables both were good but a bit salty. The crab cheese was very tasty.
(3)AloisSchicklgruber H.
AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. I came here only thanks to a LivingSocial voucher I had (pay $10 get $20 for food). 1) QUIBBLING over the terms of the voucher A prominent display both outside an inside the restaurant states that if you order these certain dishes you get free bubble tea, everyday 11am-4pm. So I go for one of them, and the ladyboss kindly informs me that this "free bubble tea offer" doesn't go with the voucher. I could have quibbled back, stating that nowhere was it stated that the "free bubble tea" was some sort of *special* offer, since it is offered EVERY day of the year; this is akin to telling me that the prices I see on the regular menu are "special offers" not valid with the LivingSocial voucher, the "real" prices are on a secret menu, and are double those you see on the regular menu. OK whatever. I let it pass. 2) No Banchan refills. I am not an expert on Korean dining traditions, but my impression is that usually you can refill the Banchan as many times as you like. But Tianchu is no Korean restaurant. When I asked for a refill, the lady told me they only gave one serving, which was unprecedented in my lifetime of Banchan consumption. 3) Why not just call it "Greasy rice in a stone bowl"? I had the Beef and Beansprouts Bibimbap, and it was just a greasy bowlful of rice, with one egg on top, an occasional shred of beef, and a small handful of beansprouts. Wholly unimpressive, yet still added heavily to my calorie count (mainly by means of the grease, rather than from any real food). What you'd call a "guilty non-pleasure". 4) A magical 20% tip added. When the bill came, I was astounded to see that a 20% tip had been added to the bill. NOWHERE on the LivingSocial voucher state that this will be automatically added: This is what LivingSocial writes: "Tax and gratuity are not included; don't forget to tip on the pre-discounted amount." NOR were we in any way warned about this. 5) Help yourself to one (01) fortune cookie Ladyboss decided it'd be a good business proposition to withhold, by default, the fortune cookie that one expects at the end of any meal in any "Asian American" (i.e. unauthentic) restaurant in the US. Instead, you have to go to the front and get it from a little plastic container, where it says "One free per customer. Three for $0.50." This restaurant is run by your archetypal penny wise, pound foolish fools. Penny wise: Saving on banchan, fortune cookies and bubble tea; illegally (?) adding a 20% tip. Pound foolish: no repeat custom and a 1 star Yelp review. I had expected them to go under within a year (they started summer 2010?) but surprisingly they are still alive in their second year. Let's see if they make it past this summer. Even though these Groupon/LivingSocial deals are generally awesome, I will NOT be buying the next Tianchu one I see. (Tianchu has a deal once every two months or so, because they have no business otherwise.)
(1)Paul W.
WARNING! Groupon deal for two people ($20) is actually more like $28+. The boss lady mentions AFTER your meal (NOT before your purchase of the Groupon) that you owe a 20% "service fee". Service fees are typically not applicable for parties of two and must always be disclosed before the meal. They don't know how to do business - we'll vote with our wallets and not be eating here again.
(1)S P.
The first time I ate food from here I ordered in with s2yd (which I don't really recommend but that's another story) and I chose my favorite foods: pork buns, egg tarts, and those sesame bean paste rice balls. The pork buns were alright. But the egg tarts and sesame rice balls were weird. Every other place I have ever been makes them perfectly and always the same, but these ones were really poor imitations of that. I actually tried to make egg tarts once at home and failed, and that is what these egg tarts were like. Lumpy, not symmetric, not crispy, not tasty. The next time I actually went because I happened to be passing by and they had that deal with the Pad Thai and the boba tea. The pad thai had a different type of noodle than I'm used to and a different taste than most. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Even their formulation of Thai ice tea was different than the norm, though I couldn't say that it was better or worse. I've had a similar experience with a number of restaurants that serve foods from a variety of Asian countries. This one seems to be a Chinese restaurant but they serve Korean and Thai food, Japanese food (udon), and possibly more, since I didn't go over the whole menu.
(2)Anya P.
Now, I don't know much about Korean food, but I have a pretty good palate and this place wasn't bad. I ordered a beef noodle dish (sorry forgot the name) and it was a bit greasy, but the flavor was pleasant. And it was really fast. However, my partner's food was a shade of red that doesn't exist in the natural world. A little scary actually. He ate all of it though. He might be inclined to eat unnaturally coloured food though... The service was my biggest complaint. Though our waitress was polite and took our order quickly, we had ordered some sticky buns and never received them. I know that they take a while and I know that the order of food isn't always that important, but we waited quite a while after we had finished our main dishes and hadn't heard anything from our waitress. In fact we were pretty much ignored and it was impossible to get her attention in the TINY dining room. We left without ever getting them.
(3)Stephen H.
General Tsao chicken is amazing. Miso soup is too... You get a sushi roll, a dumpling, some pickled and spiced cabbage and rice in a unique square plate and stainless chopsticks. Service was quick and no nonsense. 10 dollars out the door. Interior is nice and not overwhelming.... highly recommended...
(5)Three Dog Night T.
Lunch at Tian Chu should be a no brainer. The selection, freshness, color and taste of the Chinese and Korean dishes amazed this yelper. I ordered the Mongolian Chicken. Half the large plate was covered on tender slices of chicken, onions, and bean sprouts, while the other half offered a perfect white rice (brown rice could be substituted). My lunch partner ordered Mapo Tofu, which shared the delicious red sauce of my dish, with the exception of one ingredient: soy sauce. The spice level on both dished should be classified as medium, though for the less intrepid ask for a milder version. Hot barley tea and a hot Coconut Milk Tea rounded out the meal. For a noon meal the place had space to breathe and talk. Most patrons chatted in Korean or Mandarin. The server remained pleasant and checked on us frequently. I do not understand the other negative ratings at all, neither should you, fellow yelpers!
(5)Lauren I.
Not often am I truly disappointed by a dining experienced, but I have to say my return to Tien Chu was nowhere near as good as my first (albeit mediocre) experience. The Ma Po Tofu that I ordered was a huge let-down, so much so that I couldn't justify eating the leftovers. Rather than being a thick, flavorful stew, it was basically pieces of tofu floating in a bland, thin broth (with bits of what looked to be peas and carrots?). What's worse is that aside from a slight tinge of vinegar and heat, the sauce had been depressingly void of flavor; even Sriracha sauce couldn't save it. Granted I had opten out of the pork, but I think that taking out the meat shouldn't have resulted in that much of a downturn. My Szechwan eggplant was better, but not good enough to merit a second visit. While, like others have said, I really wanted to love this "hole-in-the-wall" cozy kind of Chinese/Korean/Thai joint with what seems like a very sweet owner, I can't say that I'll be going back for a third try.
(2)Win W.
I believe this the worst place where to eat in town: - courtesy: 0/10; they just do not care of your physical presence. - food quality: 0/10; the food is not freshly made, the ingredients sometimes are close to be rotten (stay far from any of their "Al-" dishes). - service: 0/10; slow, and if you step in during their meal-time even slower
(1)Alina H.
I don't know about you guys but I've truly enjoyed my food every time I went in there. I actually crave their japchae and the eggplant dish (don't remember the name). Both a little on the oily side but oh.... so good! The kimchi is really good as well. Not crazy about the music they play in there but the service is decent, the servers are sweet and attentive.
(4)Kevin S.
Kimchi was very tasty! When we first walked in I did NOT want to eat here but my friends told me to try it :) The food was good but I got sooooooo sick later that day and all the next day.
(2)Cheryl G.
The food was not up to par, not even close. Their so-called korean dishes were just simply terrible.
(1)Josephine I.
WHY? Why is the first thing I asked myself. Why didn't I check my beloved Yelp? WHY???? I got lured by their 3.99 jajangmyon.. GOSH.. IT IS DEBACLE! What the eff is the taste??? It's like SWEET?? With imitation crab?? I wasn't sure whether they wanted to be japanese or chinese or korean. The kalbi was WAYYYYYYYYYYY too sweet. It tasted really really horrible... PEOPLE, THE OWNER IS KOREAN-JAPANESE. The chopsticks are iron/ steel because Korean eat their meal with this. Aside from that, this place is a 0 star. I feel bad, but they really really need to get a new chef. This place is an absolute horror story. OWNER : Please change your chef. If your chef is your husband, fired him please.
(1)Dil F.
Good bibimbap, delicious seaweed salad, super awesome service. Not sure what all the fuss is about in the other reviews. I thought this was a really nice café to duck into for a fast and affordable lunch. The bibimbap was good (though like MOST places in Michigan, the egg on top is already fried... my experience eating bibimbap all over the city of Toronto has always found the egg on top to be raw, and you gotta stir it in to the piping hot ingredients... not sure why there's a difference (legal?) but i like the raw egg better). The service here was exceptionally fast and friendly. I mean, RADICALLY friendly. It was nice. Kept me full, warm, and happy on a cold and wet winter's day. Maybe it's not as fancy as the Maru place that everyone is comparing it to (though I'm looking fwd to checking that place out too), but it's definitely fine for a fast and cheap bibimbap.
(3)Jay K.
So far I've avoided reviewing this place. It wasn't because I was unsure what to make of it but because I expected it to go out of business soon. I just didn't see a point. But it's still with us today. So here's my two cents. This place tries to win us all by offering a big menu with mainly Korean and Chinese dishes (although I've noticed that they're trying to be even more transnational now. Yay). But they fail miserably... I mean, come on. I know my way around Korean and Chinese food (grew up in Korea until 16 and lived in China for 1.5 years), but I like Americanized Asian food when it's done well. But this place? A big no. If you're thinking maybe you should give them a benefit of doubt, save your money and go elsewhere. Everything is equally bad, pretty much.
(1)Katie D.
I really wanted to like this place, I really did. They have a great selection of food, but nothing tastes the way it's supposed to. The jap chai was bland, the pad thai tasted like chicken stock instead of peanut sauce, and the bubbles in the bubble tea were mushy. They owners are quite nice, and I feel bad, but I won't be back a third time.
(2)pz j.
We've been here a number of times for lunch and dinner and I feel like the dinner meals are often better than the lunch. I should also say that I've noticed that the food has gotten significantly better in the past 6 months - so perhaps that may be the reason for the earlier and more negative reviews. With that said, I like the roasted eel, bibimbap, the beef and onion pancake (which was more like a roll than pancake) and the gal bi. The banchan selection is good also. My boyfriend enjoys the ramen, which he orders often. I like this place also because of the service. The owner, Lin, is great and I appreciate that she tries hard to provide a good service to her customers as well as good food. The prices are decent, but if you get the Clipper magazine in the mailbox, there's always a $5 coupon for Tianchu.
(3)Dingle D.
The Korean food and soups/noodle soups are very good while the take-out style Chinese is decent, but not spectacular. The BiBimBop was well portioned and the noodle soups are hearty. I am torn between giving this place a 2 or a 3 star. Why? Pricing. This Asian joint would be a 4 star for having generally good food and a nice setting but their pricing is deceptive and unsustainable. If you go there during lunch, it is empty. Most places have lunch specials under 8 bucks, but they price their items at 8 buck, then charge you about 11 dollars. Inexplicable. Also, if you order delivery, the fee is 4 dollars on top of any tips you may want to give. If you've got cash to burn, this place is viable, but the superior Asian Legend just down the street charges similar prices but the food and service are still better.
(3)Cheryl W.
I'm new to the area and have purchased a number of Living Social vouchers to experience a variety of businesses. I wanted to like Tianchu - I love Korean food and work on campus, so this could have been a great place to spend $$ on a weekly basis, but this is one business to which I will NOT return. 1) Ordered appetizer seafood pancake and entrees Jap-chae and Kimchi fried rice. The dishes were delivered to the table in the (-) exact opposite order...with (-) at least 5 minutes between the delivery of each dish. (+) dishes were hot when they arrived. 2) Banchan - 3 dishes - radish kimchi, bean sprouts, and unseasoned/undressed cole slaw (I imagine it came directly from a bag with slivered carrots already added). 3) Kimchi fried rice - (-) where's the kimchi? (-) oily (+) hot and the eggs tasted fresh. 4) Jap-chae - what an (-) oily mess! Flavor was ok, (+)beef & 'shrooms were nice (-) although not plentiful, no (-) sesame oil flavor at all. 5) Seafood pancake - (+) nicely cooked, fair amount of seafood...(-) really late - didn't expect to eat it as dessert. Assumed it would come out as an appetizer as it's listed on the menu. 6) Charges did not total $30, but there was no offer from the wait staff for some bubble tea or dessert to get it up to total. 7) (-)(-)(-) Imposed 19% tip of $5.40 - NOT stated on Living Social voucher, and certainly not deserved considering #1 and #7 above. Quite frankly, our young server really wasn't friendly (-) at all, although she filled tea cups twice (+).
(1)Lily P.
They had miso or egg drop and I got the miso..it was okay :( I missed the ones at sadako that had seaweed, was warmer and etc. The chopsticks are metal which i guess is nicer quality than the wood or plastic ones but are annoying to eat with and way too heavy. The dishes they had were pretty standard, bubble tea under $3 so cheaper than other places in town, the menu needs to be redone since stuff is picture but not on it, and others are randomly added in. its mainly korean with some japanese and chinese food. They need to divide it into sections or do something about the huge mix. The noodles I had were okay...a bit undercooked. The seafood noodle dish was just all octapus but the picture made me look forward to a variety of them. I'm not sure what else I would have ordered beside the jap chae which apparently got a bad review. My friend got some noodle dish that was pictured but not on menu but they make it...she thought it was okay. Its not served anywhere else in AA but also was $2 than everything else on the menu that was a similar dish. Im not sure how I feel about this place..with so many other options. I probably wouldn't actively go back.
(2)Alan T.
My wife and I enjoyed Tainchu. The restaurant has plenty of space (unlike some of the cramped restaurants in Ann Arbor) and the decor is pleasing; we both liked the color of the walls. The strawberry milk tea was fine. The cool cucumber soup was a new taste to me and I enjoyed it. I liked that our dishes came with some sides: potatoes, spicy radish and bean sprouts. I ordered the Jap Che and my wife had Bibimbop. Though our food was okay, we both agreed we would order something different next time. The eel rice bowl caught my eye on the menu, so I might try that. Our waitress was very nice and handled our order well. I appreciated that they kept the water cool but used no ice. What other establishment does that? Usually by the end of a meal, my glass is 80% ice but that didn't happen here, so that earned a positive mark in my book! We will definitely try this place again, it was an overall nice dining experience.
(4)Kay L.
I bought the livingsocial deal for this restaurant, so i invited a couple of my friends to go and try it out. The food was terrible, not authentic at all for Chinese or Korean dishes. They only have 1 chef to cook Korean, and 1 chef to cook the Chinese dishes, so if your party of 5 all order Korean dishes, be ready to wait 45min to an hr before all of the food is served. We had the Korean food, it wasn't even close to being authentic, at one point the soon doo bu jigae was white, everything was very oily, and we waited for an hr to get all of our food. Never going there again...
(1)June V.
Three of us for dinner. Waitress very nice. Soup arrived immediately, followed within one minute with my entree, general tao chicken. The 2nd entree, BiBimBop, arrived shortly after the first. Then it was at least 10 minutes before the 3rd entree arrived. It was flounder and I guess it takes longer to cook that but I would appreciate if the kitchen coordinated it so all entrees arrived together. Also wait a bit for us to eat the soup before the next course. I had the cold cucumber soup and it was the best part of the meal. Nice very thinnly sliced cucumber in a nice lightly flavored clear broth. The general tao chicken tasted okay, a little bland. But it had that bright red food dye on it and the sight of all that red on the food put me off. My dinner partners were satisfied but not thrilled with their food.
(2)Yindra P.
okay, so I tried their food, once for a dinner party, it was terrible, bland, tasteless. I tried again for the sake of a restaurant.com certificate. We ordered a bunch of different foods, gosh it was really bad, soggy, tasteless, and although the owner was really nice I found the food overpriced and really not worth it. Save your money, go across the street to Maru and only come to this place for BUBBLE TEA! yes I said it, this place has really awesome coconut milk bubble tea, but other than that, it's really bad.
(1)