Barely a month into retirement, Shiuchin Chang knew it just was not for her. After decades cooking in restaurants, she wanted to return to the kitchen and whip up savory Taiwanese fare for hungry customers.
With her family behind her, she recently opened Grandma’s Kitchen, a Taiwanese restaurant in Newtonville, where she makes everything herself.
“It’s pretty much home cooking,” said Chang’s daughter, Yvonne Chen.
Chang “loves seeing customers come in and seeing the looks on the faces [after] introducing people to Taiwanese food,” said Andy Ma, her nephew. Ma and Chen both work at the eatery and helped translate for the venerable restaurateur during the interview.
After coming to the U.S. from Taiwan in 2000, Chang and her family lived in California, where she owned three eateries. She moved to Boston in 2015 and worked at her other daughter’s Brighton restaurant, Dolphin Bay. In 2018 she moved to Newton, where she is closer to her grandchildren — the inspiration behind the name of her restaurant.
Chang’s granddaughter Kyleen Chen, 10, who was visiting with her brother Kyle, 11, said she loves making Taiwanese cabbage and vegetable soup with her grandma.
Yvonne Chen said her mother is such a pro, she “doesn’t measure – she does things a little bit like this and a little bit like that.”
Plethora of tasty choices
On a recent weekday, a large group of teens congregated at the front of the Washington Street eatery, ordering an assortment of sweet drinks. In fact, the list of beverages is as long as the food menu.
Customers can choose from a variety of blended drinks or milk teas, including brown sugar or lavender, to name a few. Mini tapioca spheres as well as the larger “boba” pearls also can be added in.
“Taiwan is known for bubble tea [which includes boba] and street food,” said Yvonne Chen about why Grandma’s Kitchen offers such a variety of beverages.
Kyleen Chen said her favorite is fresh mango or strawberry juice with boba and Chang is a fan of avocado milk with boba.
While the drinks are fun, sweet, and refreshing, the aromas wafting from the kitchen are rich and savory.
Chang said the spicy wonton noodles, beef rib noodle soup, and popcorn chicken are the most popular dishes.
One of the appetizers — golden blueberry wontons — is fittingly included on the menu since “it’s something the grandkids really like,” said Yvonne Chen as Kyleen enthusiastically nodded.
The family is glad to have opened in the city, and Chang said she is grateful to her loyal customers.
“We’ve had people just come in and say ‘Hi’ and ‘Welcome to the neighborhood,’” said Ma, who added there is a great feeling of camaraderie with neighboring restaurants.
Grandma’s Kitchen is located at 823 Washington St. in Newtonville.
