Yelp Pleasanton

8/4/2016

Service was great & the iced coffee was amazing. The only reservation I have about coming here again is that my sister and I left half of our food on our plates. I ordered the French toast and it was not good at all so I picked off of my sister's food. I may have ordered the wrong thing so I might give Skillet'z another try one day

8/4/2016

This review is for my experience w/ Donta only. So, after reading all the good reviews about Donta, I decided to have a consult w/ him about 2 yrs ago. He didn't feel comfortable cutting my hair so I ended going elsewhere-which was fine. Soon after, I told my mom about him and she scheduled a consult. He cancelled on her and she had to see some other stylist. I recently scheduled an appt. 2 WEEKS in advance because of an event I was going to. The day before I called to confirm, and 12 hrs later (midnight) I receive a text saying he was sorry but he had to cancel due to to an event he…Read more This review is for my experience w/ Donta only. So, after reading all the good reviews about Donta, I decided to have a consult w/ him about 2 yrs ago. He didn't feel comfortable cutting my hair so I ended going elsewhere-which was fine. Soon after, I told my mom about him and she scheduled a consult. He cancelled on her and she had to see some other stylist. I recently scheduled an appt. 2 WEEKS in advance because of an event I was going to. The day before I called to confirm, and 12 hrs later (midnight) I receive a text saying he was sorry but he had to cancel due to to an event he thought he told me about, and wouldn't make it back in time and he'd give me a discount on the next service. I don't think I would've heard anything if I didn't call to confirm, I'm glad I did because I live too far to show up for nothin'.

Now, I was in a bind and had less than a week to find someone else. He didn't recommend me to anyone else in the salon either. Anyway, after calling 8 OTHER STYLISTS I found someone to squeeze me in on the day of my event...thank God. I'm cool, I won't be back & I ain't got time for flakiness. I could've easily got in w/ someone else if they too had a 2 WEEK NOTICE but anyway, I found a great stylist last minute.

8/4/2016

Old Taro is a no frills, friendly, small mom & pop Taiwanese restaurant.  For what it's trying to be, it's delivering solidly.  

Folks really need to set their expectations properly.  You're in Fremont, in a nondescript shopping plaza off of 880, and you've probably complained before that there aren't enough Taiwanese restaurant options around.  Don't come in here expecting Michelin star chefs, wine pairings, and "multi-note flavor profiles," then give lopsided negative ratings because it's a basic mom & pop.

As my dinner partners said, this is a place to revisit down-to-earth,…Read more Old Taro is a no frills, friendly, small mom & pop Taiwanese restaurant.  For what it's trying to be, it's delivering solidly.  

Folks really need to set their expectations properly.  You're in Fremont, in a nondescript shopping plaza off of 880, and you've probably complained before that there aren't enough Taiwanese restaurant options around.  Don't come in here expecting Michelin star chefs, wine pairings, and "multi-note flavor profiles," then give lopsided negative ratings because it's a basic mom & pop.

As my dinner partners said, this is a place to revisit down-to-earth, nostalgic Taiwanese food.  If you were scootering through the streets lined with small businesses and eateries on the first floor and housing on all other floors, you'd likely pop by a place like Old Taro on the way home to grab some bentos for dinner.  Or, you'd brave the summer humidity and get a quick, inexpensive bite at a place like this with a few friends, washing the meal down with cold wintermelon tea or some other icy drink.

You aren't going to recreate that experience in the Bay Area.  But, you can be like my friend who had a whiff of the $8.95 fried pork steak plate and had a really intense moment of deja vu back to her hometown.  Generous portions - the plates come with minced pork on top of ample rice, sauteed greens, a soy sauce egg, and pickled daikon.  We also split the Taiwanese pickled cabbage and it was exactly what she was craving.  Sweet with a vinegary, sour tang.  The wintermelon tea really hit the spot although it was a bit sweeter than I would normally ask for, but again, expectations.  This isn't tea shop-level customization and the wintermelon tea is made in one pitcher.

My friends agreed that this is a perfectly simple place to grab a simple Taiwanese meal.  It doesn't even have the poor customer service that so many Asian restaurants seem to suffer from.  We'll be back the next time someone has a craving for beef noodle soup or Taiwanese bentos.

Cash only.