Tai Chi

Tai Chi
2031 Polk St (Pacific/Broadway), 441-6758.
Open 7 days, Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10:30pm.
Lunch Special Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm.

The First Edition (1982) of my book, San Francisco on a Shoestring showed Tai Chi with a Special Lunch, $2.75. I sampled that lunch and found the portion so large that I took a doggie-bag home for a second meal. To-day, the same would probably hold true, since the portion-size has not changed, only the price, from $2.75 to $4.25 in twenty years!

The food is still freshly prepared in a wok, with no MSG, and is comparable in quality to that found in some of the best Chinese restaurants in the City. The Hunan dishes on the menu signify “hot” dishes of the Hunan Province, and are marked as such. The restaurant has over hundred seats, and enjoys a very large lunch crowd. A look at the lunchtime kitchen shows about six woks in operation at any given time, an awesome sight.

Lunch special, $4.25, (with shrimp or fish $5.25) served with soup, rice, and tea. There is a choice of 25 dishes over rice, e.g., snow peas and beef, Hunan fish-flavored pork, sweet and sour pork, beef bean curd, curry beef, cashew chicken, red-cooked eggplant, tomato beef (a favorite), mixed vegetables, Hunan chicken, Kung Pao beef (hot), sweet & sour shrimp $5.25. Soup is usually hot-and-sour, a house specialty.

Lunch & Dinner

Appetizers, e.g., vegetarian egg rolls (8 pieces) $3.95, Shanghai spring roll with chicken (4 pieces) $3.50, crab cheese cakes (4 pieces) $4.25, potstickers (6 pieces) $4.25, fried won ton (12 pieces) $3.95, fried prawns (10 pieces) $5.95, green onion pancake with peanut sauce (4 pieces) $2.75, crispy drumsticks
(8 pieces) $4.25, chicken salad (a large portion of sliced chicken, with spinach, lettuce, red bell pepper, crushed roasted peanuts, crunchy rice noodles and showered with Mandarin dressing) $5.75.

Soups, (large bowl, enough for 4-5 persons as starter), e.g., hot and sour soup $4.50, chicken-corn soup $4.95, spinach and bean curd $3.95, shrimp noodle (hot) $5.95, pork won ton $4.25, shrimp won ton (hot) $6.25.

Seafood, e.g., asparagus with shrimp & black-bean sauce $8.50, Hunan prawns $7.95, mu-shu shrimp (with four crepes) $7.95, Hunan sauce shrimp $7.95, shrimp with black mushrooms & bamboo shoots $7.95, shrimp or scallops with black-bean sauce $7.95, Hunan scallops $8.50.

Sizzling Iron Plate, e.g., beef and scallops (hot) $7.95, shrimp or scallops (hot) $7.95, 3-ingredients with prawns.

Pork, e.g., sweet and sour pork $5.95, mu shu pork (with four crepes) $5.95, Hunan smoked pork $5.95, sautéed pork with green beans and broccoli $6.50.

Fowl, e.g., curry chicken $6.25, cashew chicken $6.50, chicken with asparagus $7.95, Hunan chicken $6.95, Mandarin chicken (chicken breast slices with snow peas & broccoli in a wine sauce, $6.95, mu shu chicken (with four crepes) $6.25, smoked tea duck (half) $9.

Beef and lamb, e.g., asparagus with beef in black-bean sauce $7.95, Szechuan beef with fresh vegetable (hot) $6.95, beef with bean curd $6.75, Hunan hot & sour beef $6.75, beef with tomatoes $ 6.75, Hunan Mongolian lamb with green onions & hot red pepper $7.50, curry lamb $7.50.

Vegetarian Special, e.g. Low Han Chai (bamboo shoot, fried glutton bean-curd, mushroom, fungus, baby corn, fried tofu, with tender greens) $5.95, hot & sour cabbage $4.95, mixed vegetables deluxe $5.95, hot spicy eggplant $5.95, tender greens with garlic sauce $5.95, mu shu vegetables (with four crepes) $5.95.

Rice, chow mein, chow fun, e.g., mixed vegetables fried rice $4.50, mixed vegetables chow mein $4.50, mixed vegetables chow fun $4.95, beef or chicken fried rice $4.25, sweet & sour pork over rice $4.50, Hunan shrimp over rice $5.95, tomato beef chow mein $4.75, curry beef chow mein $4,75, 3-ingredients seafood chow fun with garlic sauce $6.50.

House Specials, e.g., House Special eggplant (with shrimp, chicken, fried bell pepper, fresh basil in a spicy plum sauce) $7.95, garlic chicken $6.95, orange beef (beef deep fried and braised in a Hunan-peel sauce) $7.95. Szechuan minced chicken (white meat chicken stir fried with chopped white chestnuts, peas, crispy rice noodles with bean sauce, and lettuce leaves to wrap) $6.95, sole filet in black-bean sauce or Hunan sauce $7.95, lamb with sweet pepper in satay sauce $8.50, Hunan 3-delight (shrimp, scallops, fish, fresh veggie, spicy) $8.95.

Drinks. Beer, domestic $2.25 bottle, import (e.g., Tsing Tao) $2.75, soft drinks $1.25 can.