Qing Mu

Good location in the new Buckhead shops. Noodle bowl selection is good; we had the «Rise of the Phoenix» and the «Way of the Warrior». Broth had great flavor, all fresh ingredients. I don’t think you can go wrong with «your way or their way». Definitely don’t go with a big group as the restaurant is very small. Nice lunch spot. Around $ 30 for 2 for lunch which was a lot of food.

The noodle and dumpling is pretty legit! you can build your own bowl or pick what they have.

Went there Sat night for dinner around 7:30 and only one other table was taken. We had vegan mushroom broth noodle bowl and it was NOT good. Flavors were missing and the broth was luke warm. I am used to having my noodle bowl piling hot and this was very disappointing as it was a cold night and it was what I was craving. When I complained they simply offered to heat up my and my husband’s bowls in microwave. It was just like eating left overs at that point. We didn’t even eat half of it and just left to eat elsewhere.
Also there were no chairs at at tables, only stools. Felt weird to sit on a stool and eat dinner which was not a bar stool.
Ugh! Waste of money and time.

Absolutely delicious! Some coworkers and I went here for lunch today and we all loved it! We were a little confused on the «build your own bowl» steps so decided to order off the menu and were not disappointed! The broth is delicious, the vegetables are fresh. I will definitely coming here again!

Love the «create your own» option. The pre-​made combinations are pretty good, too. Easy to pop in, have lunch, and go on with your day. Cute café feel, even though it’s a restaurant. The ingredients were fresh and the broth was really quite good.

I love this place! Don’t sleep on the bao buns… so good and you will not want to share. The forbidden kingdom is so good! The combination of noodles and brisket is delicious. Love the interior and service here to.

I don’t know why people don’t like it. As for me, it’s a 5 out of 5. They did everything right, even the price was cheap considering the location.
Qing Mu mainly serves noodles. You can pick veggies, meats and spiciness. But I ordered one of their classics, forbidden kingdom. It was a bomb. From meat quality to broth to noodle, everything was nicely created and meshed in a bowl.
The chicken and beef brisket was tender and juicy. Did they cook them in a slow cooker? I also liked their veggies, again very fresh. The noodle was probably the best part. It was not from some convenient packages bought from a store, instead, it was house-​made. What’s more, they made ‘em super thin and a little crunchy. It was like out of this world. I didn’t even find this kind of quality noodle in China easily. Last but not the least, the broth was tasty, and could be BURN YOUR HEAD OUT spicy. I confidently ordered BYHO spicy. Ten minutes later, I almost burst into tears for my decision.
The décor inside was old Chinese style with modern elements. The owner seemed to know Chinese culture very well, and he did a great job. Service was also friendly and nice. It’s kinda weird only a few people visited them when I went there.
In conclusion, Qing Mu is a hidden gem in a fancy-​schmancy plaza. If you are nearby, my fellow Unilocalers, it will be a good choice to have meals.

Went to try for the first time today (Sunday) around 3:30. Staff was helpful and friendly. We ordered a vegetable #1 and a #3 without tripe. The vegetable stock is pretty bland but the stock used in #3 was very flavorful. I really liked the texture of the noodles and the pork char siu was better than I expected.
However, a few hours later we both got sick to our stomachs so we will not be going back.

Really Chinese family food making style and home-​made noodle taste. I am surprised it is in Buckhead rather than Chinatown.

Qing Mu’s noodles are too heavy,
Inauthentic, pricey, salty;
Gu’s at Krog Street’s not much better;
‘tlanta’s now two bowls my debtor.

This is my 2^nd time eating here. It is inexpensive and I really like the noodle dish here. Why did I say it is inexpensive when one fellow Unilocaler mentioned this is «super-​expensive Chinese noodle»? Say one orders a noodle dish at Chinatown food court, that will be $ 7.99+tax. Here, if you order your way, that will be $ 7.85+tax (one kind of protein and one type of veggies) and of cos being a civilized person, one will leave a tip here. Then you compared both locations, one with no ambience and one which is basically a restaurant, you do need to pay a little more for the latter. Is Qing Mu super expensive due to the location, I beg to differ. Personally, it is downright silly to compare a noodle dish in a restaurant promoting healthy noodle dish than say a noodle dish in Chinatown food court.
Let’s just focus on Qing Mu here. This restaurant prides itself to have in-​house made noodles and fresh ingredients. So far the two times I have been here, the ingredients all tasted fresh and the portions were generous. The meats are supposed to be hormone-​free and free range and tofu organic. I highly doubt those meats in the noodle dish served at food court are of the same quality.
So how do one order here? One can choose to order from one of the 5 below versions:
#1 Road to Shangri-​La — noodles with wood ear mushrooms, napa cabbage, bean sprouts, snow peas, spinach, tofu in mushroom broth $ 9.95
#2 Rise of the Phoenix — noodles with pork char siu, steamed chicken, pork meatball, bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms $ 10.95
#3 Way of the Warrior — noodles with sliced beef, pork char siu, beef tendon & tripe, wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts $ 11.95
#4 Forbidden Kingdom — noodle with beef brisket, steamed chicken, egg, wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts $ 11.95
#5 Den of the Dragon — noodle with steamed chicken, shrimp, egg, wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts $ 10.95
If you decide to build your own, I called it being «Creative» though Qing Mu called it «Pick Your Way».
A noodle and choice of original/​vegan mushroom broth = $ 4.95
Add ons: Veggies $ 0.95
Protein* $ 1.95
*choose from pork char siu, sliced beef, steamed chicken, pork meat ball, beef brisket, need tripe, beef tendon, hot spring egg, shrimp, squid, mussels
The first time I was here, I ordered a special deal that includes 3 veggies and 1 protein of my choice. I opted the mild for my spice level. I love everything about my noodle dish. They were very generous with every of the ingredients.
Today I ordered the «Rise of the Phoenix» for lunch. The staff behind the counter asked if I like it spicy and non-​spicy, feeling a tad adventurous I told him «Spicy please.» As usual, ingredients were generous. I just was not too sure of the pork char siu today. They were too fatty for my liking. The soup definitely has more kick to it than the mild ones and was really tasty. This «Rise of the Phoenix» will be perfect for me on a cold or chilly afternoon.
The restaurant also offers sides like
1) pork & shrimp wonton in chili oil — $ 6.25
2) pan-​fried pork dumplings — $ 5.95
3) spicy garlic string beans with Chinese sausage — $ 6.75
4) stir-​fried eggplants with sweet & sour garlic chili — $ 5.75
Of the above, I only tried the pan-​fried pork dumplings, they were delicious!
The décor of the restaurant definitely feels legit and reminded me of those eating places in those drama shows (which I watched when I was a kid) where those kungfu masters and commoners would eat and drink. And yes, I am talking about those Chinese drama shows when there was a lot of kungfu fighting.
Service was good on both occasions.

Qing Mu is a super-​expensive Chinese noodle place in Buckhead. I don’t know, I figure you can get similar quality stuff at Chinatown food court for like $ 6.
I actually liked the look of the place. It reminded me of the trendy ramen places you see in LA or NY. They also use high quality ingredients, or so they say. So coupled with that and the expensive Buckhead location, you will be paying for it.
You can customize your noodle soup or get one of the pre made ones. If you want to make a noodle your way, you pick your ingredients from the refrigerator near the entrance. Put them in your bamboo basket and give it to the guy at the counter so he can make it for you.
You can also just pick the noodle soup from the menu. They have interesting, Asian names like, «Way of the Warrior» and «Rise of the Phoenix.» Hey, it’s a way to get white Buckhead bros and babes to come in to try some Asian food.
You can choose the spiciness level of your broth from mild to beyond hot. I got spicy. The broth tasted good. The noodles tasted fresh. And all the ingredients tasted fresh. It felt like a good noodle soup. The spiciness level was good too.
They have pickled vegetables at the back you get yourself. They have Cauliflower, Mustard Seed, and Green Papaya. They were interesting. They also had extra sauces like chili oil if your broth isn’t’ hot enough.
Like I said, this place is overpriced. I liked the noodle soup. I wished it was cheaper or I would’ve given it 4 stars.

I’ve only gotten the coconut water here so far. I stumbled upon this place after checking out (the restroom at) Doraku. It’s a small place with a Chinese ambiance. There are wooden tables and chairs. There is a refrigerator with Chinese vegetables and drinks. It looks to be like a self — served Chipotle where you go down the line with a basket and pick your ingredients.
I thought the coconut water was pricey. I got a whole coconut for $ 6. They got the water out for me since I had to take this to go. I have yet to try and scrape out the coconut inside. I might come back to try their food. but it seems a bit pricey (not even including parking if I stay longer than an hour at Buckhead Atlanta).
The staff seems very nice and accomodating though.

I checked out Qing Mu during a lunch break and was pleased with my experience. Qing Mu is a noodle shop where you have the option of choosing out of 5 pre-​determined flavor combinations, or you can create your own bowl. I ended up creating my own bowl: you grab a bamboo basket from the entrance, select your choice of vegetables (I chose Chinese broccoli, bok choy, and mushrooms), broth (original or vegetable), and protein. I ordered the char siu pork as the protein for my dish because I love eating the classic red pork dish at other Chinese restaurants, but to my surprise during delivery, my noodle soup had three fat slices of braised pork belly. Not sure if this was a mistake on their part when I ordered, but I just went with it and tried it out.
I’ve frequently visited the Chinatowns in NYC and Philly (both of which are notorious for having great Chinese food), so I wasn’t sure how this noodle dish would be. The noodles aren’t hand-​drawn, the broth was certainly different than the more authentic and bold flavors I’m accustomed to. Maybe because the location is in Buckhead, it’s presenting a more widely-​suitable flavor profile? But while it wasn’t the traditional noodle soup I’ve eaten in the past, the bowl at Qing Mu tasted very fresh, the broth clean, and the vegetables freshly cooked. The braised pork belly was actually quite tasty — it was extremely fatty, but the flavors were subtle and nice.
Overall, I thought the food and general experience was positive. I enjoyed my meal there and will likely go again.

What an odd space… they have expensive finishes complemented by really cheap décor.
POOR DESIGN WITH BUCKHEAD PRICES. The designer and owner thought people would not notice, but the wall décor looks like it was printed on the owners inkjet printer at home and taped up. It just looks so out of place with nice wooden trim and restaurants engraving.
CONFUSING. The concept itself is very confusing in my opinion. They have a menu up there, but unless you are getting one of the standard items, you are expected to go in the fridge and find the ingredients you want in small wrappers. It just makes the whole process way too difficult, hard to figure out what price things will be, how the meats play into the picture of price and just outright confusion.
NOODLES ARE DECENT. On the upside, they note they are handmade. On the downside, they taste exactly like noodles that come out of a plastic package from H-​Mart.
SMALL, LUNCHEY, SPACE. The space is pretty small, but does not get too busy. It’s clearly a lunch place and they may succeed given the location, but only time will tell.

I wanted to give more stars since this place is in Buckhead, but … there are some things I couldn’t let go of when I came here.
Parking — there’s a parking deck. I think it’s free for 2 hours? Go check before you go. But I know for sure there’s at least an hour free for parking in the deck. YAY!
Space — This place is kind of tiny. I saw some 2 man tables and maybe 3 – 4 four man tables. Not many. That may be a problem if this place gets busy.
Service — Folks here are really nice. Any questions I had or needed were answered/​helped. The food also came out somewhat fast.
Food:
Near the register, there are 3 types of pickled items. I tried each — and al tasted kind of fake. Not sure if my taste buds were being weird, but I had to drink some water to get the taste out of my mouth. I’m also not sure if those pickled items were fresh. :/​
I got The Rise of the Phoenix Ramen– a nice portion, but the broth was not good & came out barely hot. Also, the extra ingredients overpowered the ramen itself. Way too many bean sprouts. Ramen was too soggy too. The only good thing was the steamed chicken. It seemed like the ramen was sitting for a good while before it came out.
Overall — If I’m super lazy and want to drive a short distance, sure I’d maybe consider coming here.
Oh and I almost did a «do my own» bowl, but the prices of ingredients were way too high after adding what I wanted. Not worth it.

This little noodle shop is located off Pharr Rd. in the new Buckhead Atlanta. It’s right between Georgetown Cupcakes and Doraku Sushi.
Parking decks and valet are available for parking.
Looking from the outside in, the store is very small. We went in on a Tuesday night around 8:30pm and it was empty with the exception of a table of three. I first noticed the limited number of tables available, so that could be a potential problem if they get busy. The restaurant is also connected to Doraku towards the back before you reach the restrooms, which I think are shared, because they’re both owned by the same owner.
So once you get in, you have the option of «pick your way», where you get to choose and decide what you would like in your soup or you can get it «our way» which are soup options that the restaurant has.
Pick Your Way — Starts at $ 4.95 that includes noodles, broth (qing mu original or vegan mushroom) with your choice on the level of spiciness. Added veggies are $.95 each and protein is $ 1.95 each. There are a number of each to choose from that are listed on their menu board and chalk board where they display other specials that are available.
Our Way — They have a number of five different choices that range from $ 9.95 to $ 11.95:
1. «Road to Shangri-​La» — snow peas, mushrooms, spinach, tofu in their mushroom broth.
2. «Rise of the Phoenix» — steamed chicken, porl char siu, and pork meatball in their original broth.
3. «Way of the Warrior» — sliced beef, pork char siu, tendon and tripe in their original broth.
4. «Forbidden Kingdom» — beef brisket, steamed chicken, and egg in original broth.
5. «Den of the Dragon» — steamed chicken, shrimp, and egg in original broth.
Each of the «our way» soups comes with noodles, bok choy, mushroom, wood ear, napa, and bean sprouts. The noodles are also handmade in the restaurant.
They also have side items available such as pan-​fried dumplings and stir-​fried string beans.
We ended up getting numbers 2 – 5 and two «pick your way».
Overall, everyone liked what they ordered. The pork char siu was probably my favorite item in my soup. It was cooked very well and had a sweet glazed taste with a nice crisp to it. The only thing I would suggest is to ask for it on the side because it does lose that crispiness if it’s left in the soup for too long. They also have unlimited free «side dishes» of crushed garlic mixed in with a spicy oil, sour mustard and cauliflower.
The service was pretty good considering the type of restaurant it is. The cashier was willing to answer any questions that we had in detail, continuously checked on us to see if we were okay and needed anything else, and refilled our waters numerous times. One of our pick your way soups we wanted sliced beef but instead they put in pork char siu. The cashier was nice enough to notice the mistake after the soup was given to us and brought over the right item for free. Usually a lot of restaurants wouldn’t admit to it, or wouldn’t offer the item for free, or would take the soup back to put in the right item. So that was much appreciated.
I’m giving this place three stars because the noodles didn’t taste like it was cooked enough, the soup wasn’t as hot, and some of the items that were in my soup, you couldn’t really tell if any of it was added (tendon and tripe in the number 3). I feel like there are better places to get noodles soups in my area, considering I live in Duluth, so Buckhead is also a bit of a drive. But the concept is different and it was worth trying out.

Saw this on Unilocal when i was looking for ramen places around buckhead. I love the concept and the ambience of the place. You can either build a bowl yourself or pick one of the premade bowls. The place is nice where they had a chinese traditional street food atmosphere.
I chose to build a bowl and you pick your veggies, protein, and broth. I chose 3 types of veggies, char siu pork, and the original broth. The end result looked great! The broth was a little too bland for me. Would come back again on a cold weather but not my most favorite.

Went here for the first time last night and made my own soup bowl. I used baby bok choy, napa cabbage and watercress for veggies and then thinly sliced beef and oxtail for protein. I had a spicy broth and added Hoisin and siracha. I really liked my dish, however another guy I was with did not like his (he got the #4) and the girl we were with liked hers but they botched her order twice.
Still up in the air as to whether I’ll be back or not, I’d definitely rather go to several places on Buford highway before here.

The most tasteless thing I have ever put in my mouth.
Sorry I’m not sorry. The place was cute to say the least, I expected a little more. Thought it’d be a hit Asian noodle spot in the heart of Buckhead– especially in the NEW BUCKHEAD…
Ordered pan fried pork dumplings — which were okay.
Ordered the #3 and #5 noodle bowls. Added in fish tofu and boiled soft egg into mine. Egg was served cold, broth was bland, noodles were bland. There was no richness in the broth like there’s suppose to be. I think the spice packets they give you for instant noodles could have made a better broth! And the soft boiled egg? First off it was cold, and second it was runny. Not like the soft boiled eggs they give you when you eat ramen.
Severely disappointed with the food… The inside of it is cute, but the food is lack of. I’m never one to love ovelrly salty food. I am quite a health nut when it comes to eating. I didn’t expect it to be like this at all. The soup was like water and some of the items in my bowl were cold. Everything was super duper bland. My friend and I could not finish it. Barely ate it and left. Disappointing… They will need a lot of work if they want to survive.