Taiwan

Whenever I wander my way to the Richmond or the Sunset, I feel like I’m home. Cantonese flows down the street, ducks and pork slabs hang in restaurant windows, fruit and vegetable stands crowd the sidewalks. It felt even more like a misplaced homecoming with Natalie, an old friend from my life in suburban Los Angeles who I hadn’t seen in years.

She met me at the Green Apple Book Store on Clement, where I had been wandering the aisles in search for cookbooks and comics in a state of wonderment. We were both starved and decided to eat at Taiwan, which was conveniently located across the street.

The restaurant front was unassuming. Nothing fancy, no bright lights, but there were Asians inside—the sign of a good Asian restaurant. (The last time I ate at a Chinese restaurant in SF was at Ton Kiang on Geary and 23rd. Stevie and I were the only Asians in the place and we knew something was awry.)

Natalie and I stared at the menu, so many choices and at such good prices. The waiter was kind and knowledgeable and helped us choose the wonton soup, green beans, and country chicken. The green beans and country chicken were the restaurant specialties. And, I noticed plates of green beans sitting on almost every other diner’s table, so it couldn’t be that bad.

The soup came first. It was a tasty clear broth with mustard greens and dumplings filled with pork and shrimp—a nice way to warm ourselves up from the Richmond cold. The beans came next. A large plate of sautéed long beans with dried shrimp, pork, and fried garlic. And, finally, a clay pot filled with steaming chicken, ginger, and basil.

The beans were salty and good. I scooped up the fried garlic, dried shrimp, and pork bits and mixed it with my rice, like I used to when I was younger. The fried garlic was so delicious that by the end of meal, I was just picking up garlic with my fingers and popping it in my mouth. The chicken was tender, with meat just falling off the bone. The taste reminded me of all the meals my mother made with chicken in clay pots, and the basil was an interesting addition that worked well.

Natalie and I sat there for two hours, eating everything as our tea was getting cold. We decided that we would make that our hangout spot, trying everything on the menu, and maybe we could even make it for their $3.95 lunch special.