Yen's Cafe

I was intrigued to see a Taiwanese restaurant in VA, which is not so common. So I decided to give it a shot. To my surprise, the food here is very authentic and tasty. The dumplings we ordered have a perfect balance of vegetables and meat. I also got pork belly with bamboo shoot in mom’s sauce, this one is a winner too. It does taste like mom’s home made food that everyone would love! If I’m ever in VA again. I’ll stop by.

Most of the food was very good. It took quite a while before the dishes were ready. We were all starving and focused on eating immediately after the dish came out, so I forgot to take pictures of some of the dishes. Portion size is big but also a bit pricey. May come again for the things we like. Wouldn’t recommend the pad Thai though.

Wonderful authentic Taiwanese food 😋 Service was Attentive and welcoming and food was delicious. It felt like I was in Taiwan. Taiwanese popcorn chicken is a must try - white pepper with some salt, light outer coating and juicy tender dark meat cooked with dried basil. Also loved the beef noodle soup. Beef cuts were tender and soft with some chewy tension. Broth was so rich and strong. Happy to come back here with my family next time 😊

Updating review in 2026 - This is the best Taiwanese restaurant in town. They have been consistent with quality and taste since they opened this place. We always appreciate their service and the free dessert 😁 Loved the basil chicken, and spicy Lon green chilli chicken. If you are visiting add this place to your list. Old review: Don't miss the Taiwanese fried chicken! Mongolian chicken, crab Rangoon, fried rice, lo mein, and Taiwanese fried chicken were great! Disappointed with the Kung Pao chicken, chicken was very dry and hard to chew. Complementary dessert was delicious! Yen's Cafe is always been in my top Chinese restaurants.

The food was adequate, but the manager/host was very rude. When discussing the ingredients they ran out for the day and asking for an update on the food, he made it seem like it was our fault for being inconvenienced. In general, he had an entitled and non-pleasant manner of communicating. In addition, we noticed that a takeout customer and a delivery deliver also had to wait very long to receive their food. It seems as this is a common theme according to past reviews as well.