The anatomy of the chorda tympani nerve and physiology of taste and salivation should be into consideration when discussing chorda tympani injury in middle ear surgery. There are different degree of postoperative taste disturbances following chorda tympani nerve injury according to degree of surgical manipulation and preoperative chronic inflammation. Regeneration of chorda tympani nerve, although with unclear mechanism, was documented during secondary surgery. The incidence of recovery of subjective taste after 2 years of severing the nerve was satisfactory. Recovery increases with younger age. This may help surgeons to mention taste disturbances when consenting patients for ear surgeries.