Mama Liu

The husband and I have been wanting to come here for the past year-​ish, however we never seemed to be around when they were open. Finally, we had a chance to check it out… We got the 滷肉飯 (braised pork belly over rice), stinky tofu, and fried popcorn chicken. Overall, Mama Liu was nice and friendly, however it is on the pricier side, and portions are small. Even though I may be biased, but I felt like I could make this better at home. I don’t see us coming back here in the near future, as we can now cross this off of our list.

I came here for the stinky tofu, but also got the pork belly. My boyfriend got the popcorn chicken + pork chop combination.
The pork belly was drier than I hoped — I wanted something braised, fatty, and soft, but this pork belly was dry. It tasted fine when it was shredded and mixed into the rice though.
The stinky tofu isn’t as «stinky» as I had hoped. I judge the awesomeness of stinky tofu by its stench, and this one needed more. However, it was really crispy and paired well with the pickled vegetables and sauce. I’ll come back for more when I have a stinky tofu craving.

I live for taiwanese street food, I grew up eating it! and so far I think they are probably the best authentic Taiwanese street food joint in the Bay Area. The menu is not that large, however, everything they sell is really good and authentic. Definitely recommended!

BEST STINKY TOFU IN THE BAY AREA
hands down, no competition, its not even friggin close
on par with stinky tofu in taiwan, which is really saying a lot

Oh Mama Liu, how grateful I found you!
I’ve been seeking for stinky tofu for some time now. After the place in SF Chinatown closed, I have yet to find stinky tofu that satisfy the craving. HK is just too far to go all the time.
I got the stinky tofu and the porkchop snack. Both were very good but not worth the 5 star good. The pork chop was so juicy. It was lightly battered and you can taste the marinate that Mama Liu put into her porkchop. Definitely gives me the authentic Taiwanese taste that I have tasted elsewhere. Ultimately, the porkchops were freshly made.
Let’s get down to the tofu… It smells and it was juicy. The ones I got, I thought it had sat out for a little bit. The stinky was a little tough, It just wasn’t as fresh as the porkchop, hence the 4 stars. You can taste the fermented-​ness of the and the crispy outside. HK people normally eat it with hoisin sauce and hot sauce but I know it’s Taiwanese so not expecting that here. The sauce was excellent with the fermented cabbage.
It was a great snack and I will be coming back and looking for Mama Liu!

Mama Who? Mama Liu!
I can’t say too much about this food truck as I had brought lunch for myself that day. HOWEVER, I did sample some of the stinky tofu. It was stinky and it was tofu. I can’t say that it was something I find myself craving to try again.
My friends seemed to enjoy their dishes which came surprisingly neatly packaged from a food truck. I will give Mama Lius another chance for a full meal in the future.

I follow Mama Liu on Facebook so I know when and where I can get yummy stinky tofu dinner. My order consists of fried stinky tofu (very authentic with garlic soy sauce and side of fermented cabbage), pork chop rice and winter melon tea.
My 6 year old daughter is quite adventurous and has even followed my footsteps in eating stinky tofu street food.
Overall, good price avg $ 13pp, flavorful, authentic Taiwanese food!

A little mom and pop kind of food truck with delicious Taiwanese food. Doesn’t look like all those other modern food trucks, but the food is here tasty. I got the pork belly combo that came with stinky tofu. The pork belly was delicious, not too fatty and came with a fairly large serving. The bentos also come with half a tea egg and some vegetables. The stinky tofu is an add on if you’re hungrier. It was honestly my first time trying stinky tofu, and I really enjoyed it! It really does stink of a garbage like smell but it tasted great with my pork belly. The chili sauce on top of the stinky tofu was great too. Next time I would try their teas and drinks that they had. They looked good, but I didn’t get one. Overall, great food truck, the prices weren’t as high as some other ones too, my total came out to $ 11.50 for the bento and an order of stinky tofu.

Was introduced to Mama Liu at a private event. I love Taiwanese food, especially stinky tofu and pork chop. Southland Café in Cupertino is indeed one of the best places to get Taiwanese food so naturally I did a lot of comparisons between the two.
I went with the $ 10 pork chop and stinky tofu combo as it was #1 and I really enjoy pork chop. There were only two people in the truck (Mama Liu… and daughter? Or helper?) so we expected a wait. After a good 15 minutes, we finally received our orders and sat down to eat.
First impressions, bento comes with a lot of your typical Taiwanese sides — soy sauce hard boiled egg and pickled vegetables. There’s was a pretty generous portion of pork chop on the side, which was quickly eaten. I thought it was mediocre and sadly served cold. For the stinky tofu, we could sense the smell even from outside the truck. Arrived in a small container paired with chili sauce and more pickled vegetables. Overall, crispy enough but not as delicious as Southland Café.
All in all, there are limitations to cooking in a food truck and I admire Mama Liu for opening up a venture in this uncommon area for Taiwanese food. I honestly think the menu needs to be trimmed to speed up the process and make only a couple of crucial items (pork chop, stinky tofu, stewed pork) in bulk and served warm. Oh, and cash only.

10÷28÷14: WOW, Mama Liu is one BRAVE person to sell stinky tofu from a food truck. I think if the vast majority of Americans even catch a tiny whiff of the stuff they’d go somewhere else. And glad to say I could not smell it at all standing at the cashier! They gotta patent whatever they made to keep that smell in!
1. Pork Belly $ 8.50: Another wow! So, I wasn’t expecting much when I ordered this cause I’ve had authentic Chinese food from trucks before and they were horrible. But this one is just as good as what you’d find at the very best Taiwanese café restaurants out there! The Pork Belly is slightly spicy as it says, and is VERY seasoned without being salty or overpowering. The taste is delicious. The only thing I’d criticize is that some of the non-​fat lean meat is a little dry, but most of it was not. Rice was cooked perfectly with some Chinese pickle topping. Comes with a soy sauce egg which was good. Also some cabbage. Man, that Pork Belly is super good. If you are Chinese/​Taiwanese (like me) I think you’d be impressed, especially given this is a food truck. ⁹⁄₁₀.
2. Zon Zeyi $ 3 (otherwise known as Zongzi on wikipedia, or «Chinese tamale»): Their version is a little on the small side – it’s in between the dessert kind and the typical meal type, if you know the references. It has a lot of flavor coming from generous amounts of dried shitake mushrooms and more fatty pork. The pork here is a little less fatty than I’m used to for this dish – maybe to please the more health conscious people of the bay area. One thing to note – the rice sticks a lot more to the bamboo than I’m used to. A little messy to eat. Not sure why. Anyway, taste is great. Maybe a little small for the money. ⁷⁄₁₀ (would be 8 if the rice didn’t stick so much to the bamboo)
Very impressive. An older lady took my order and was very nice – I would guess that would be Mama Liu.
Good job being the first authentic Taiwanese /​Chinese truck to have pulled it off!
⁵⁄₅
#truck #taiwanese #chinese #porkbelly #zongzi

Come here for the stinky tofu! Probably one of the better ones I’ve had in the south bay, the smell and taste was much stronger than most other places i’ve tried!
Also had the stewed pork rice bowl which was good and had lots of sauce with it. Bf got the pork chop bento box which he thought was passable but would not get again.
Maybe a little pricey, but I would come back again!

Stinky tofu aint my thang. Now Ill eat it but I certianly dont seek it out. This truck is just pungent enough where Im not sure how they got away with hanging by the apartment building I saw them at. I wasnt hungry but I could eat so I ended up with the pork chop snack. Coated in sauce, lightly fried. It tasted pretty good. However is the stank of the tofu so high that it permeates the other food? or do they fry it in the same oil as I get some of that pungency on the chop too. For less strong stomachs that might be a problem

This is one of the best places to get stinky tofu in the Bay Area, The stinky tofu is freshly fried and has a delicious crispiness with each bite. It also has just the right amount of stinky tofu taste.
I’ve also tried the popcorn chicken and minced pork rice which are just as tasty and authentic. Would definitely recommend this to all who dare eat stinky tofu!

I am obviously addicted to this place, I just cannot resist these juicy aromatic stinky tofu… (more mouthwatering photos)
oooh and we ate by the food truck today with the cute chairs provided for Mama Liu. That was a cool street food experience, we felt like cool hipsters!
The stinky aroma (for those of you who are not familiar with this dish, DO NOT TRY AT HOME KIDS!) really came from her homemade sauce. It’s a bit spicy with the seeds from the chili & savory tanginess in your mouth. The must have: marinated cabbage/​veggies are the perfect complement to cool off your palate.
Stew Pork Rice Bowl ($ 5.50): I really think this ought to be her signature dish since this is a local’s favorite. I loved the saucy pork pieces drizzled on top of the glistening white rice (I know ya’ll care about the calories and everyone keeps on telling me to eat brown rice but I don’t care: P) It comes with a marinated tea egg, some of the pickled veggies and a broccoli.
Taiwanese style Pork Chop Rice ($ 7.50): The flavor was definitely there in this pork chop dish and it also comes with pickled veggies and 3 broccoli pieces. I think I prefer the fatty pork belly stuff though (will try next time and will take pics for you guys)
Again, this is a rare authentic find in the South Bay and MaMa Liu: please stay in Milipitas so I can eat here every weekend!

I got to try Mama Liu’s Food truck when it was at the Cupertino’s Mother’s Day Festival. They only had 3 items for sale that day (Stinky Tofu, Pork Chop with Rice, and Stewed Pork over rice).
This food truck was the only one with a long line, so I decided to try it. I ordered the Stewed Pork over rice for $ 5.50. It took about 10 minutes before my name was called. When I got my dish, I noticed there was a lot of rice but a super tiny portion of stewed pork. Most of the pork pieces were super fatty, too. The flavor of this dish was ok, but it was disappointing to get very little pork. It felt like I was just eating plain steamed rice.
Overall, I“ve had better Taiwanese food. I’d rather get better quality food at a restaurant.

Taiwanese food in the Bay Area, especially the East Bay, is not that easy to find. But this is in the South Bay, where Taiwanese food is just a tad bit easier to find than the East Bay. I wish there was as much Taiwanese food here as there was in the LA area, but I digress.
I first found out about this place through Eat on Monday’s twitterfeed… they posted about it on the first day it opened on a Wednesday in early March. I just happened to be in the south bay for the afternoon, so I thought, «perfect, I’ll stop by on my way home & get food to go.»
This food truck has stinky tofu, along with bento boxes (choices include pork chop, 3 cup chicken, grilled steak, Taiwanese sausage, popcorn chicken). A combo of a bento box with half order of stinky tofu is $ 10. Bento boxes on their own are 7.50.
The bento boxes come with rice (just OK, a little dry), half of a soy sauce hard boiled egg, & pickled vegetables.
The stinky tofu comes with pickled vegetables & sauce.
The food is made to order.
I liked the tofu. Their pickled vegetables that came with the stinky tofu & bento box weren’t pickled/​tangy enough for me.
I’ve had the pork chop bento box & 3 cup chicken bento box, both were pretty good.
I’d like to try their Taiwanese sausage next time.
I’ve only gotten my food to go, but they do have bright colored plastic stools set out if you want to sit around & eat. Kind of reminds me of the street-​side stalls in Taiwan with the tables & plastic stools.
They’ve been posting their schedule on facebook, & it’s been evolving, but it looks like they’re there in the same spot most of the time. No lunch on Mondays, so they start 3pm. Otherwise, lunch starts at 11:30. They’re there until 8pm during the week, 5pm on weekends. They haven’t been posting on twitter, even though they’re on there.
Cash only.
Parking: street parking, or park in one of the shopping center parking lots. I’ve been getting a drink from Fantasia to go with my food, so I’ve been parking in the Milpitas Square lot & walking over. Easy on a weekday. I haven’t been on a weekend, so I couldn’t tell you how crazy that is, but can only imagine.
Parked on the east side of Barber Lane, in front of the old Chevy dealership (you can still see letter markings on the building, not because I’ve been around the area that long), where they were the first time I visited, or Ulfert Plaza.
To find them:
Website:
facebook: Mama Liu Taiwanese Street Food
twitter: @mamaliutruck

When we randomly decided to grab Fantasia the other day because we were close to Milpitas, we saw a food truck parked right down the street from the plaza. We aren’t food truck fanatics, but my fiancé said we should check it out just for fun…
As we walked closer to the truck, I immediately recognized the aroma & my fiancé knew he made the biggest mistake of his life (he HATES stinky tofu! and to think he has Taiwanese roots… shame on him…) while I got SUPER DUPER excited because I LOVE stinky tofu!!!
Apparently we were already really late for the food truck because they already sold out all of their bento lunch boxes & only had stinky tofu left… perfect! Their stinky tofu is fried to near perfection and I love the Taiwanese-​style cabbage kimchi that they serve with it. I did wish that they would drizzle more sauce on the tofu rather than having most of it only in a cup… sauce is very delicious also, BTW!
The serving size is perfect for 2 as an afternoon snack, but because my fiancé doesn’t like it (he only tried one piece and complained of his «stinky» breath for the rest of the day)…I had a hard time finishing the whole box by myself.
This is the very first stinky place we’ve encountered in the Bay Area, but it’s definitely authentic! I’m totally bringing my mom and sister here next time they’re in town!

Mama Liu is a Taiwanese food truck with bento lunch boxes, stinky tofu, winter melon drnks.
locale: on barber lane in front on the long gone chevrolet dealership.
eats: stinky tofu (6)
–2 sqares of tofu cut into 6 pieces. tastes stinky allright, dipping sauce provided
–made to order
notes:
–bento box options: pork chop. 3 cup chicken, taiwanese pork adobo, grilled steak (7.5ish)
–mama isn’t cheap taiwanese fare, bring $$$.
–steady flow of patrons..

Somewhere in Belmont Off The Grid on a Monday night, crowds probably gathered around and enjoyed lining up hours and hours for lukewarm to cold gourmeh roach coach food, then feeling sorry for themselves that they had wished they spent the moolah at a proper sit down restaurant. Money all gone!
Elsewhere at the same time, further south in Milpitas, right across an abandoned former Chevrolet dealership nested between Milpitas Square and Ulfert’s Center, is a lone food truck, parked on Barber Lane. Drove past it and wondered what tha hizzy was it doing there in the middle of nowhere, slammed on the breaks like admitting guilt to a police car tailgating me, and went over to piqué my curiosity.
Then the Chinese words on a sign captured my eye like a pregnant Kim Kardashian.
CHOU DOU FU, aka STINKY TOFU
Holy cow…
And best of all, no stinkin’ hipsters and no lines!
The official name of the business is Liu Por Por Taiwan Xiao Chir, or Granny Liu’s TW street snacks… but comes out as Mama Liu Taiwanese Street Food.
This truck actually dishes out Taiwan style bian dang (bento), or humble lunch boxes. 3 cup chicken, minced pork rice, pork chop rice… They also sell stinky tofu fried to order.
I’m sure you can read the menu, but for those who can’t read the right side in Chinese:
Dong Gwa Tsa — winter melon tea (typical night market drink)
Sah Si /​Sarsae — Taiwanese root beer (but to me it tastes like ass. Bring your own Henry Weinhardt’s instead)
Jasmine green tea
Fish filet rice
Popcorn chicken rice
Taiwanese sausage rice
The Milpitas Square restaurants looked very sad and uninviting today, so why not take a chance with this food truck.
Mama Liu herself manned the truck and took my order. The entire transaction was handled in Mandarin (she asked me in English at first, thinking I was either ABC, ABT, OPP, BBD, YeahYouKnowMe, but not BBC) and it felt like doing the right thing.
One order of the stinky tofu please!
$ 6 and about 5 ish minutes later when I heard them deep frying the muddafuggaz, walked 20 seconds over to the provided table and bright green kryptonite stools and chowed down the cubed fried smelly chit while the Milpitas winds were blowing.
Truth be told, it was mildly stinky, but not that stinky. This is California, not Shenkiang Taipei county…
The tofu was a little spongy inside, hence the freeze dried variety… which is not a bad thing… because Chou Doufu Da Wang (Tofu King) in Rowland Heights uses the exact same type of tofu. To be fair, Tofu King is way better… but this is Milpitas, and from a TW mom. These folks should be supported at all costs, since the TW food scene is pretty much dying.
But lets get down to brass tax (or stinky tofu tax)
— the pickled cabbage lacks oomph. It’s only very slightly vinegared… but let’s KIMCHI this mofo up! A little spice, crunch, vinegar, fermentation never hurt anyone!
— stinky tofu dip sauce was an interesting sweet and sour kind of thing… can’t really describe it. Should have asked for chili sauce. The more authentic the condiments, the better this will be!
Which is where Tofu King does the finer details better.
But again, STINKY TOFU from a FOOD TRUCK that is at least true to form!
So please lend your support to Mama Liu, because Liang’s Village Cuisine is KFC in comparison.
If enough of you support Mama Liu, there may be others like it. Because you know the only way to get real good TW food in Silicon Valley or Bay Area is for moms and granny’s who know the way of the street food Force to come out of the woodwork and cater to the public, whether it be home cooking or trying to replicate the flavors of the homeland. Since the only do-​able «night markets» are food trucks, in parking lots, we need to do away with the fusion confusion, and have real TW peeps cook some real food, even if in trucks. It’s a small start, but a start nonetheless.

We came across this place today and discovered a taiwanese street food truck. Where can you get stinky tofu in the bay area and good one? HERE! We didn’t try anything else on the menu because we just finished dinner but found this to be the «stinkiest» tofu in the bay area. I highly recommend this place if you are a stinky tofu connoisseur! Extra crispy and extra stinky. I think I will be coming back her to try it out again!
I also want to mention that the stinky tofu is sort of pricey. But, honestly where will you get extremely stinky tofu?!