Joy Restaurant

Joy Restaurant is a great Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant located in Foster City. The patrons are usually Chinese speaking and so are most of the staff. Family and relatives like this restaurant and therefore it was a place for us to all meet on a Saturday for lunch. For breakfast items, we ordered the savory soy milk and the sweet soybean milk with their fried long "donut." The savory was good, but not the best I've ever had. The sweet soy milk and donut were pretty good. Other items we ordered that were pretty good were the eggplant, lions head meatball, fried fish, chili oil wonton, their signature soup, clams with black bean sauce, and beef chow fun. We ordered so many dishes that I didn't even get to try them all! We also ordered potstickers, basil fried chicken, and another diced fried chicken. The food was well-liked by our party and we had plenty of leftovers. The decor at Joy Restaurant was pretty casual and not too fancy. The service was not bad. It probably helps if you speak Chinese. Joy Restaurant is a great, authentic Taiwanese restaurant.

Have been coming here for my entire lifetime with my family and the food is good every. single. time. the food comes out quickly and is always cooked/fried well and the service is friendly and helpful. I recommend the hand cut noodles, the potstickers, and the green beans!A must try

I used to eat here when it was just a small little mom and pop shop. It had expanded to almost 3 times the size of what it used to be since my last visit eons ago. Legit Taiwanese food that is so good, better than most in the Bay Area. Price had gone up significantly but quality remains unchanged. Generous portion too. The highlight was the boneless 3 cup chicken and preserved mustard greens with tofu skins. Can't wait to go back again.

Jumping jubilee and joyous jumbo jinks... it's Joy Taiwanese restaurant. Or is it Joy's Taiwan style... The possessive form of the name is on the paper take-away menu, but it's printed as Joy on the business card. Not dissimilar to the Pike (versus Pike's) Place words smithing, some might wonder about the Seattle attraction its proper title. And the answer in that case is Pike; no apostrophe, no "s". Here at Joy (or Joy's), Jade is overjoyed to find the joyful food and ample portions extensively enjoyable.A very helpful nice touch is that Joy's menu is, half-way through, a picture booklet. Several popular dishes caption with large photos so you have a precise idea what the food looks like. Not every item had this though, including the seafood I ordered: fish in black bean sauce. The fillets were nicely generous and plentiful, but all the fish was battered and fried so the texture was unexpected. Obviously that's the signature way they prepare it, whereas I was hoping for a moist tender flakey fish sauté execution not anything hard fried. I should have thought to inquire more about it first.. Nevertheless, the fish was indeed tasty.Chung Hua pot stickers are also different than the ones you get at most other Chinese restaurants. They are long dumplings -- almost the form factor of an egg roll -- lined up in a row of six then crispy fried altogether. Not for the faint of cholesterol heart. Absolutely delectable nonetheless. Black mushrooms and baby bok choy is an excellent veggie order. Every piece was cooked to peak ideal texture in a lovely smooth opaque sauce and tantalising tender fresh. Chefs here bring out the joy in eating vegetables.Spacious open comfy dining room, busy busy place, but tables turn fast. Service and staff are congenial, efficient, courteous, and food arrived promptly after ordering. Whether "Joy" or Joy's, matters not. I am joy-tastically jolly over this savoury juggernaut of Taiwanese cuisine.

It's a decent place to come here on weekends to have Taiwanese liked breakfast (i.e. soy milk, rice roll, etc). Generally, they were heavy-handed with salt. The stinky tofu was tasty but again, soaked in soy sauce and fermented bean paste made it extremely salty. The " salty" version of soy milk really knocked it out of the ball park in terms of saltiness. Luckily, they were able to give me some neutral flavored soy milk to dilute. Another reason I gave it a 3 star was because of their XLB. The dough was extremely thick, the wraps were all torn, making the XLB dry.

Came in here for a group dinner with college classmates who live in the Bay Area. We are meeting once a year to catch up. The restaurant is owned and operated by a Taiwanese chef, so they ate authentic dishes. We ordered a few dishes to share: Potstickers, Clam soup, Boiled fish, Bean curd with shredded pork and Mapo stinky tofu. Never have Mapo tofu prepared with steamed stinky tofu (usually served deep fried). It was an unique combination and tasted great. Feel like having great home cooked meals with old friends around to catch up.

I've been missing Taiwanese food for a long while, and I've noticed that there aren't a lot of Taiwanese restaurants in the area. Good thing I have Joy Restaurant in my city!I got the braised beef noodle soup, the house special chicken with Thai basil, and the pan fried noodles with assorted proteins (shrimp, beef, and chicken). The chicken with Thai basil was a flavor I've missed for a while now and brought me some nostalgia, and the beef noodle soup was really flavorful and a bit sweet. The soup was fairly heavy and oily, but nevertheless still satisfying on a cold night. The pan fried noodles were enjoyable, with some crispy bits throughout the dish. Portions are big and definitely meant for groups. Service was also really really good. The person helping us was friendly and bilingual in both Chinese and English, which was really helpful. He also personally helped with putting the leftovers in boxes.Definitely need to come back, and I'll get the stinky tofu! Not a lot of places to get that in the area, and it's a nostalgic food for me. :)

I really wanted stinky tofu after the restaurant in San Mateo closed down, so my friend took me here for my bday. We came right before the lunch rush and got the last table. For some reason all my tables for this bday were all near the door. I guess it's better than not getting a table. We got the salted soy milk which was so tasty. It was a little oily but it had scallions and the chinese donut in it. It hit the spot that day as it brought bck so many memories of eating this in Asia. Next we go the beef stew with noodles. This was a huge dish and i knew we can't finish it. The beef was tender and the noodles were cooked just right. I wish they gave us another bowl for the noodles as i didn't want to use the same bowl i used for the soy milk. The three cup chicken came next and i was surprised that the chicken came with no bones, which was perfect. I liked how there was basil in it and it tasted very authentic. Next came the stinky tofu, which i didn't find stinky enough. I was a little disappointed with this dish as the tofu was over fried and a little on the hard side and i wish they added a little more sauce. The XLB was nice and this dish did have a lot of soup but i wish the skin wasn't to thick. As i did like the food, i did order an additional three cup chicken to bring home and it was like a rip off. The dish was so dry and completely opposite to how i had it in the store. I can't trust them if they did this for to-go orders. The server was nice in the beginning but as it got busier his attitude took a 180 change. When you come here, please note the restaurant is by the water and that it can get really cold every time that door opens.

Came on a Sunday night around 6pm and was seated right away. After ordering the food came out so fast and in large portions. The potstickers and chicken fried rice were my favorite! I found myself getting thirds of the fried rice and eventually cleaning the plate. The pan fried noodles had too much sauce and the cucumbers were lacking salt and vinegar. I loved how the menu had plenty of pictures.

A lovely place with great men and women servers. They were friendly and attentive. The basil chicken, green beans, and cumin lamb were some of our favorites. Plenty of parking space and the place were buzzing with hungry families and friends dining in a good restaurant. It sure brings joy and satisfaction when you leave the restaurant.