One of the best Chinese restaurants I've had in OC! Growing up in SGV I've grown up with some of…read morethe best Chinese food, and was struggling to find a good spot in OC. Most places I've found were overpriced and underwhelming. This spot is the first spot I've found that has truly authentic Chinese food that I grew up with at fair prices. Not only do they have your normal dumplings and buns, they have some of my favorite childhood dishes that were harder to find as well. We ordered the braised pork, wintermelon spareribs pot, kung pao chicken, pork and shepards purse bun, pork and cabbage dumplings, sautéed potato & green pepper & eggplant, and fried udon noodle with beef, and wok fried spicy pot cauliflower and let me tell you there was not a SINGLE bad dish! Everything was incredibly flavorful and delicious. My favorites were the eggplant and the wintermelon spareribs pot. I can understand some of the comments on the service, sometimes a reminder was needed, but the food makes up for it twofold and the waitresses were overall very kind and friendly. The restaurant itself is cozy, but spacious and not too hectic which made is a perfect space to catch up with friends. Highly recommend! Will definitely be my new go to spot for Chinese food.

Even though there's absolutely no shortage of trendy and popular eateries in Irvine (and OC…read moreat-large), there was something about Tai Chi Cuisine that just called out to us. In part because it reminded me of so many of the eateries I come across in in the Bay Area, but also because we love places like this. Of course, it didn't hurt that the photos of their Braised Pork Rice Bowl looked so good on Yelp! Inside, the restaurant doesn't look all that special, but I love how relatively new and clean everything felt. What's more, even though we saw a steady stream of folks walk in ahead of us both times we came here, we've never had to wait for a table, as they have a good amount of seating to offer. As for the menu, it's on the simple side, but there's a good mix of dishes and options to choose from - breakfast options, buns, dumplings/wonton, appetizers, soups, noodle soups, dry noodle dishes, rice bowls, cold dishes, stir-fried dishes, and a bunch of Sichuan-Hunan specialties. They also might have a hot pot offering as well, but we didn't see it/try it since we were here for a late breakfast. -- SOY TOFU PUDDING This looked terrific when it came out, but it tasted more solid than spectacular. Although the portion size was great and the tofu part was good, I wish there was more meat in this and it had a stronger savory element. -- CHINESE CURELLER/DONUT To be honest, this looked almost artificial when it first came out, but it was actually great. The donut was a nice, golden brown, the dough wasn't dense, and the texture was great - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Plus, it wasn't the least bit oily! -- CHINESE SAVORY CREPE Pretty solid overall. Although a few of the slices of beef were a touch dry, they tasted great and were complemented well by the eggs, hoisin sauce, and the seasoning on it. Plus, the crepe had a nice texture to it - crisp with a slight chew. -- FRIED PORK BUN Ehh...these were fine, I guess. Sadly, the bottoms looked more burnt than browned and the buns themselves felt a little bready. Still, I liked how soft they were and the filling had a nice bit of porkiness. -- WONTONS IN CHICKEN SOUP While it may not be an exciting dish, this was actually my favorite thing here. There was a generous amount of wontons, which were juicy and had a lot of shrimp in it, and the soup was so warm and comforting. -- PORK & SHRIMP DUMPLINGS Pretty standard, but not necessarily in a bad way - it tasted the way it should. Every dumpling was plump and I liked that the skins weren't very thick. As for the filling, it could've been juicier, but it was largely fine otherwise. -- BRAISED PORK RICE BOWL Just like most of the dishes we've tried, this wasn't bad, but it amaze like we hoped it would. At a glance, this looked great and came with a lot of braised pork. That being said, most of the chunks were super fatty and I wish there had been more of the sauce. Based purely on the food, Tai Chi Cuisine is decent enough of a spot, but it's hard to look past the service issues we've had. The first time we stopped in, the servers were efficient, but we have had to ask multiple times for things that don't always get delivered. For example, during our most recent visit, they never gave us the white pepper we asked for nor the Stir Fried String Beans we had ordered. Thankfully, we didn't have any problems getting the latter taken off our bill, but it was ironic that the one who did it for us at the register was also the one who told us twice that she would come back with our dish. All in all, I can certainly see why folks might like some of the dishes we had, but I can't say that anything that we tried really set itself apart from what you can find elsewhere. As such, THREE AND A HALF STARS for the food feels about right, but easily rounded down for the service.