Ku Shain Taiwanese Restaurant 故鄉台菜

Reviews

• Jessica L.

  star star star star star_border 3 June 2026

  We ordered takeout for dinner from here today. We got the pork chop and bean curd bento box as well as the stinky tofu. As soon as we ordered, the bento box was already ready, as if it had been sitting there for a while, which was a little bit strange, but we had to wait about 5-10 minutes for the stinky tofu to be prepared and fried. I liked the pork chop because it was flavorful enough. The bento box included rice, vegetables, bean curd with mustard greens, and pickled radish. The pickled radish was good too and the bento box was filling, but I don't know if I would order it again. It was also pretty large.
  As for the stinky tofu, it was my first time trying it and I was not a big fan. First of all, as the name implies, it smells. It smells kind of like fart but when I ate it, I did not taste any of the scent and it was actually like eating regular fried tofu except that it has a different taste. The sauce definitely makes it taste better, but I could not bring myself to eat more than a few pieces. For $8, I would not buy this again, although I can see why stinky tofu is a hit or miss dish.
  The lady who took our order was nice and gave us some recommendations based on what was popular. I may come back here again to try their other dishes, and while I enjoyed my dinner from here today, I would not order the same dishes again.

• George W.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 30 May 2026

  Extremely disappointed. Owner changed, food does not taste authentic anymore. Waitress is rude and loud. Rice has gone bad. DO NOT go there unless you want to be disappointed and pissed off

• Gerald S.

  star star star star_border star_border 19 May 2026

  Gu Shine Taiwanese Restaurant on 39th Street, Flushing, NY, is a small mid-block kitchen that I had walked by dozens of times without noticing, but in the deep windy freeze that blew last night, I was most happy to finally see it, and take shelter within with family and friends.
  
  The house has only six or seven tables, but their largest was just right for the seven of us.  It was far enough from the front door to allow us to slowly defrost.  The menu was two sides of a laminated sheet, offering Taiwanese specialties and a few other dishes from farther reaches of the empire. The small dishes of roasted peanuts on the table were a nice touch. From there we ordered far more than we could possibly eat in one sitting, but not too much to carry the leftovers home for later enjoyment.
  
  My choices were Hot & Sour Soup and Oyster Pancake.  Others chose Stewed Chicken in a Special Sauce, Bamboo with Pork, Tofu with Beef, Noodles with Shrimp & Squid, Shacha Beef, and Salt Shrimp.  As it was someone's birthday, we had the good fortune of a Lady M Thousand Layer Green Tea Cake for dessert.  All were good to exceptional.  The Hot & Sour Soup was a tureen big enough for everyone, full of a variety of mushrooms, tofu, black fungus, and just the right type and amount of vinegar.  It was wonderful, and exactly what we needed to warm internally.  
  
  Honestly, the other dishes blended together in my mind, and I can't recall each precisely, other than the Salt Shrimp, which was not shelled, but had a lot of spices attached to it.  Everything but the tip of the tail was edible, and great finger food.  The quality of each plate was apparent. The meats were lean, and the noodles long and clinging to strong sauces, all of which pleased the palette, and filled the stomach.  Oh, and that Lady M birthday cake was a beautiful green with a light sweet cream throughout. Those thousand layers made for some difficult slicing without real knife, but once pulled apart, was a pleasure to consume to close the festivities.
  
  I volunteered to retrieve the car that was parked several blocks away and allow everyone else to keep warm until I returned. Somehow, the weather was not as biting to the bone as earlier, perhaps due to the food stoked in to revive me earlier. I fast walked down Main Street to 137th, hanging a right, putting the wind at my back. With it pushing me forward, I reached the wagon near College Point Avenue, and wound my way back to Gu Shine.
  
  Locked in and loaded, I heard each of my passengers slowly fall into deep rhythm breathing; leaving me to pilot us home with the wind still howling at the windows.
  
  Cash Only.

• Marcus C.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 17 May 2026

  Extremely sad to report that the ownership has finally changed. The era of this restaurant dominating the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Scene is over. Even the entire staff appears to have changed. It is totally understandable that the restaurant itself would absolutely not have survived if it continued to operate the way it used to. Downtown Flushing is simply too competitive a landscape for low prices and big portions, I guess?
  
  Food: the quality of the beef noodles have gone way down and I can no longer recommend it. The oyster egg with spinach item is unique here now. The three cups chicken is now too sweet.
  
  Service: the new lady at the cashier counter now has some type of watch she speaks into for, at least what appears to be, communicating with the kitchen. I initially thought that she was losing it when she spoke into her wrist. Ha.
  
  Decor: the interior has now turned much more religious; pretty sure the owner must be Buddhist.

• Jane Y.

  star star star star_border star_border 15 May 2026

  I used to come here for lunch with my co-workers frequently. In groups of two we would get the lunchbox, but if there were more of us then we would order the 3 dish and soup. Never a bad idea to visit, however sometimes it gets crowded so its uncomfortable and the wait time gets crazy. Often times one of us gets there first and holds a spot and the rest of us joins...so our group may start out as two then quickly become a group of 6...so we just keep eating here, LOL!!
  
  The food is delicious....the cooks are native Taiwanese and truly hit the hometown taste. The pork chops, the beef with peppers, the fried oysters, the beef noodles...just like you would find in Taiwan except you can get it here in Flushing.
  
  Well, most recently we decided to come here during lunch one day and it just wasn't the same. It wasn't crowded, the food portions are much smaller, and the taste wasn't what I remembered.
  
  I am not sure what happened, maybe many other lunch hot spots opened up around here or maybe they had an off day, not sure. I still have fond memories of this place being great. Just not this time.