Han Taiwanese Restaurant

Not particularly good Taiwanese food helped seal the fate of this decade-old Irvine restaurant

For nearly 10 years, Han Taiwanese Restaurant served good enough Taiwanese food to be part of the same “where should I go?” discussions with A&J Restaurant, Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle, and O’Shine Taiwanese Kitchen, but it began to taper off in its final year through a change of ownership, then closed in 2023.

We never had a chance to visit the Irvine store, but used Fantuan to order delivery of some of its more interesting-sounding options, including Pumpkin Fried Rice Noodles, Taiwanese Squash with Crab Sauce, Special Crispy Beef, and Eggplant with Garlic Sauce. The prices were reasonable, and almost everything came with a carton of white rice on the side.

Unfortunately, we tried Han’s when it was on the way down the culinary drain. Freshly delivered, only half of the dishes – the tangy, semi-crispy beef and soggy, lightly spicy eggplant – tasted good, but they were decidedly not great. The sautéed squash and pumpkin noodles were bland and below par given competing local Taiwanese restaurant standards. Nothing kept especially well as leftovers, either, and we wound up tossing half of the reheated food as not worth eating.

Han’s was replaced by Kuan Zhai Alley, a Sichuan Chinese restaurant, which opened in mid-2023.

Stats

Price: $$
Service: Table
Open Since: 2013
Closed: 2023

Addresses

8691 Irvine Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618