Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks

I made a mistake and accidentally ordered the fish ball soup without noodles. I offered to pay the difference but the folks were kind enough to correct my mistake. This is one of my go-to places when doing my shopping at Stonestown. I like it enough that when my family visits from out of town and we are doing our regular farmers market/grocery shopping, I'm happy to make a stop for lunch here.

We got the rick box and drink combo - Treasure Rice Box with Sour Plum drink. We also got the plum fries. The chicken thigh in the rice box was really salty to me and I had to eat it with the rice or the pickled veggie in the box. I really like the pickled veggies. I thought the sour plum drink was alright. I wish the wording on the ordering machine wasn't "no boba" or "extra boba" because it made me assume there was boba included. I would have added boba in my drink. The fries tasted sweet but it was also pretty salty like the chicken.

My go to place when I miss Taiwanese hometown food. Food taste a bit different in my last visit. Feel like someone forgot to add the most important part the fragrance secret powder. Overall is good value and when the food under quality control, it actually taste better than the Berkeley Shihlin.

The fried chicken is pretty good here. We had the mango shaved ice $10, popcorn chicken $10, XXL Chicken Thigh $10. The XXL beast one was sold out due to shortages. Their seasoning reminded me of food from Quickly's. The portions are good for what you pay for. Please note, there's no longer a cashier. You have to order through an ipad type of device. Which is kind of weird.

Well lunch was not bad at all. Pop corn chicken is tender and flavored. The fish ball was tasty and over all it’s good. Price well it’s in a food court. What did you expect from food court. But over I would come back!

Waited about 30 mins in line and about 30 mins for food. Ordered popcorn chicken and the xxl crispy chicken (leg and thigh), original bubble tea, brown sugar milk with boba, and lemon and jelly drink. Drinks came out pretty quick, but food did take close to 30 mins. We got half sweet for the drinks, we all liked the brown sugar boba, the bubble tea need little more sugar, and the lemon jelly drink was.very refreshing. We got spicy level hot for both popcorn chicken and the xxl crispy chicken. Both were good, I myself liked the crispy chicken better but other friends liked the popcorn chicken better.

Got popcorn chicken, sweet potato fries and original milk tea. Everything is really good, love the seasoning and the boba is cooked perfectly. However, the wait is quite long even when there's no line ordering. The wait is like 30 minutes at least. Most people seem to wait for their drinks and then finish drinking the whole thing while waiting for their food. I wanted to eat and drink it together, but I waited so long that all the ice melted by the time we got our food. Tastes really great, just don't come here if you're in a hurry!

Liz Donut

We got the rick box and drink combo - Treasure Rice Box with Sour Plum drink. We also got the plum fries. The chicken thigh in the rice box was really salty to me and I had to eat it with the rice or the pickled veggie in the box. I really like the pickled veggies. I thought the sour plum drink was alright. I wish the wording on the ordering machine wasn't "no boba" or "extra boba" because it made me assume there was boba included. I would have added boba in my drink. The fries tasted sweet but it was also pretty salty like the chicken.

Margie Wu

My go to place when I miss Taiwanese hometown food. Food taste a bit different in my last visit. Feel like someone forgot to add the most important part the fragrance secret powder. Overall is good value and when the food under quality control, it actually taste better than the Berkeley Shihlin.

Jeff Ho

The fried chicken is pretty good here. We had the mango shaved ice $10, popcorn chicken $10, XXL Chicken Thigh $10. The XXL beast one was sold out due to shortages. Their seasoning reminded me of food from Quickly's. The portions are good for what you pay for. Please note, there's no longer a cashier. You have to order through an ipad type of device. Which is kind of weird.

kuang huang

Well lunch was not bad at all. Pop corn chicken is tender and flavored. The fish ball was tasty and over all it’s good. Price well it’s in a food court. What did you expect from food court. But over I would come back!

Ron Lui

Waited about 30 mins in line and about 30 mins for food. Ordered popcorn chicken and the xxl crispy chicken (leg and thigh), original bubble tea, brown sugar milk with boba, and lemon and jelly drink. Drinks came out pretty quick, but food did take close to 30 mins. We got half sweet for the drinks, we all liked the brown sugar boba, the bubble tea need little more sugar, and the lemon jelly drink was.very refreshing. We got spicy level hot for both popcorn chicken and the xxl crispy chicken. Both were good, I myself liked the crispy chicken better but other friends liked the popcorn chicken better.

iya P

Got popcorn chicken, sweet potato fries and original milk tea. Everything is really good, love the seasoning and the boba is cooked perfectly. However, the wait is quite long even when there's no line ordering. The wait is like 30 minutes at least. Most people seem to wait for their drinks and then finish drinking the whole thing while waiting for their food. I wanted to eat and drink it together, but I waited so long that all the ice melted by the time we got our food. Tastes really great, just don't come here if you're in a hurry!

You order through a self-service station at the counter, which allows a good amount of customization (level of spiciness, sweetness, ice, etc). When the order is ready, they call out the number on your receipt. Our food was a mixed bag – sweet plum sweet potato fries were tasty, crisp and tender, popcorn chicken was fine but pretty oily and not super crunchy (although the flavor was good, and I appreciated being able to dial between not spicy and extra spicy), oyster mee sua was very disappointing, mostly soup and with a less than generous amount of small oysters.

I tried their XXL Chicken Thigh—large, tender, and succulent, meticulously marinated and fried to a golden crisp. Though delicious, the crust is a bit oily and heavy. Overall, a flavorful treat that could be improved with a lighter touch.

Jennifer Teu

You order through a self-service station at the counter, which allows a good amount of customization (level of spiciness, sweetness, ice, etc). When the order is ready, they call out the number on your receipt. Our food was a mixed bag – sweet plum sweet potato fries were tasty, crisp and tender, popcorn chicken was fine but pretty oily and not super crunchy (although the flavor was good, and I appreciated being able to dial between not spicy and extra spicy), oyster mee sua was very disappointing, mostly soup and with a less than generous amount of small oysters.

Alice Hou

I tried their XXL Chicken Thigh—large, tender, and succulent, meticulously marinated and fried to a golden crisp. Though delicious, the crust is a bit oily and heavy. Overall, a flavorful treat that could be improved with a lighter touch.

I was in the mood for some popcorn chicken and wanted to check this place out. Touch screen self order for some hot fragrant popcorn chicken and fried king oyster mushroom. It cost $20 for both which is a bit pricy for snacks but the portions are rather large like for group sharing. I didn't finish my food because the quality simply wasn't there for me. While the chicken again was large I felt they could have cut the pieces smaller there was a lack of flavor. The spice level was there but I didn't even taste the taiwanese salt and pepper. It felt like they forgot it and just put the spice unless it's really light on seasoning. I did select regular and there was an option for extra but I worried it would be doused with hella MSG. The mushroom tasted better but the preferred the stem pieces vs. the cap. The flavor was better than the chicken surprisingly. Anyways won't be back as it was kind of a let down.

They don't know how to clean off the tray where they spice all of their chicken. I ordered a mild treasure rice box which has their fried chicken cut up. The problem is the workers that work there don't clean the spice tray where they spice the hot chicken that still has oil on it. The hot oil clings to ALL the spice left over from every order they spice on the tray PLUS the spicy level I ordered. Which can literally be from mild the extreme.... Making my mild chicken turn into the spiciest of the spiciest chicken around. The restaurant isn't as busy as when it opened so I don't understand why they can't clean the tray more often? They spice tray is literally caked in dark red spice. The workers at the front kind of stand around and talk. I get it, I've been there but it's a simple task. Beware if you order a mild like me it's going to turn into an order of "extreme" spicy.

James Deperalta

I was in the mood for some popcorn chicken and wanted to check this place out. Touch screen self order for some hot fragrant popcorn chicken and fried king oyster mushroom. It cost $20 for both which is a bit pricy for snacks but the portions are rather large like for group sharing. I didn't finish my food because the quality simply wasn't there for me. While the chicken again was large I felt they could have cut the pieces smaller there was a lack of flavor. The spice level was there but I didn't even taste the taiwanese salt and pepper. It felt like they forgot it and just put the spice unless it's really light on seasoning. I did select regular and there was an option for extra but I worried it would be doused with hella MSG. The mushroom tasted better but the preferred the stem pieces vs. the cap. The flavor was better than the chicken surprisingly. Anyways won't be back as it was kind of a let down.

Johnny A

They don't know how to clean off the tray where they spice all of their chicken. I ordered a mild treasure rice box which has their fried chicken cut up. The problem is the workers that work there don't clean the spice tray where they spice the hot chicken that still has oil on it. The hot oil clings to ALL the spice left over from every order they spice on the tray PLUS the spicy level I ordered. Which can literally be from mild the extreme.... Making my mild chicken turn into the spiciest of the spiciest chicken around. The restaurant isn't as busy as when it opened so I don't understand why they can't clean the tray more often? They spice tray is literally caked in dark red spice. The workers at the front kind of stand around and talk. I get it, I've been there but it's a simple task. Beware if you order a mild like me it's going to turn into an order of "extreme" spicy.

Ordered something and waited for my order number to be called out, it also came up on the screen. Hit the lunch from the person and it wasn’t my order. Asked the staff and they told me I made the mistake. Both me and my partner saw the LCD number and I heard the call out. Not sure what happened but it was in the staff and they were quite rude about it. Everyone makes mistakes, but this seemed on the staff and they were rude. food was average, but certainly ok for the cost.

David Spragg

Ordered something and waited for my order number to be called out, it also came up on the screen. Hit the lunch from the person and it wasn’t my order. Asked the staff and they told me I made the mistake. Both me and my partner saw the LCD number and I heard the call out. Not sure what happened but it was in the staff and they were quite rude about it. Everyone makes mistakes, but this seemed on the staff and they were rude. food was average, but certainly ok for the cost.

I ordered an oyster mee sis and there was only 3 pieces of oysters inside the bowl, the rest are all just plain noodles. I came at 7:35 pm and I guess they are selling me whatever that’s left in the pot. The taste was a bit too sweet comparing to the one I had at Taipei, the flavor was probably adjusted to tailor the American taste buds. $10 for this street snack with barely any oysters in it was just way too pricey.

Rhonda Lam

I ordered an oyster mee sis and there was only 3 pieces of oysters inside the bowl, the rest are all just plain noodles. I came at 7:35 pm and I guess they are selling me whatever that’s left in the pot. The taste was a bit too sweet comparing to the one I had at Taipei, the flavor was probably adjusted to tailor the American taste buds. $10 for this street snack with barely any oysters in it was just way too pricey.

I’ve only eaten here once, but it was not very good. I ordered the noodle soup, but the broth had absorbed into the noodles and vegetables, leaving everything soggy and with no broth left to enjoy. One of our orders also came out wrong (we asked for no cilantro or hot sauce, but it had both), though the staff fixed it right away.

I ordered a bowl of oyster mee sua last night, but there were barely any mee sua—it was mostly just soup. The main issue was that the oysters were really not fresh; they had a very strong fishy smell. Sure enough, I ended up with a stomachache today which I am quite confident is from this meal (I only ate fresh simple food I cook myself for my other meals the last few days).

Kristian Windsor

I’ve only eaten here once, but it was not very good. I ordered the noodle soup, but the broth had absorbed into the noodles and vegetables, leaving everything soggy and with no broth left to enjoy. One of our orders also came out wrong (we asked for no cilantro or hot sauce, but it had both), though the staff fixed it right away.

Capucine Tiens

I ordered a bowl of oyster mee sua last night, but there were barely any mee sua—it was mostly just soup. The main issue was that the oysters were really not fresh; they had a very strong fishy smell. Sure enough, I ended up with a stomachache today which I am quite confident is from this meal (I only ate fresh simple food I cook myself for my other meals the last few days).

Dominic Yu

My first and probably only time here. I ordered the Chia-Yi chicken rice. There is no person there to take your order, you have to order from a screen, where there is an outdated Covid sign telling you to social distance, and they also tell you that they will text you when your order is ready. 15 minutes after placing my order, I get a text that my order is ready. At the counter, the employee tells me that what I ordered is out of stock, and would I like to substitute with a different meal with a completely different flavor profile? Obviously I didn't want that, and I suggested something else from the menu, which I didn't particularly want, but which I considered to be the least bad option. The employee grumbled that it was a different price. Well of course it's a different price! Pretty much everything on that menu has a slightly different price by like at least 50 cents. I pointed this out, and also asked why I was being told now, rather than 15 minutes ago when I was ordering. The employee said that they called out my number after my order went in, but that nobody answered. Well, of course I couldn't hear you, you told me after I ordered to go away and come back when I got a text! So not only is the ordering experience bad, the food that I wanted wasn't even available, the substitute wasn't very good either (I had an upset stomach afterwards), and they couldn't even be bothered to let me know in a timely fashion so that I could order something else, and they never even gave me the option of canceling the order, and even if they did, I had already lost 15 minutes of my life waiting for food that was never going to appear. To be clear, I don't blame the employee. I blame the greedy owners who can't even be bothered to have someone greet you and take your order and let people know in a timely fashion if they're out of a particular item, which, for some reason, still shows up on the ordering screen even when they're out of it. I wanted to love this place because of my nostalgia for my time in Taiwan, but this place misses the mark so badly I don't ever plan on returning.