Taiwan Bear House is nestled between many iconic restaurants and hair salons on Pell Street. Opened in June 2015, it is a cozy hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves authentic bento boxes (bian dang) of staple Taiwanese dishes. After attaining her MBA, owner Kris Kuo discovered a lack of Taiwanese representation and yearned to bring the taste of Taiwan to the US. Her mission is to make Taiwan Bear House feel homey and authentic to the Taiwanese people, which she does through her cooking and Formosan black bears represented throughout the store.

We tried a few of their most popular bentos: the scallion chicken, fried chicken, and crispy chicken bento boxes. Their bento boxes come with a tea egg, garlicky sauteed cabbage, and braised minced pork over rice! Another chef's favorite is the railroad pork chop bento box. They hammer the pork to make it thinner, fry it until the crust becomes fluffy, and then braise it for hours. Our personal favorite was the crispy chicken – the meat was so tender and flavored beautifully on the outside.

We also tried their popcorn chicken. It is a night market classic in Taiwan, and it's one of the most common street snacks. Their popcorn chicken is one of the best in the city – the crunch is perfect, and the chicken is flavored with the perfect amount of seasoning! You can get their freshly-made fruit teas and bobas right in the store to accompany your meal. Their passion fruit and lychee-flavored fruit teas are the most popular.

If your craving for Taiwanese food isn't satisfied yet, Taiwan Bear House also offers packaged frozen food you can take home. You can buy their lion's head mushroom stewed meatball, braised minced pork, sesame chicken sticky rice, and dumplings!

Whether you're in a rush for lunch or dinner, stop by Taiwan Bear House for a delicious meal of Taiwanese food. Afterward, stroll along Pell Street and get lost in Chinatown. You can't go wrong here!

📍 Taiwan Bear House
11 Pell St, New York, NY 10013