101 Noodle Express

Yes. I love this place. I’ve been here at least 10 times in the past 2 years and everytime I go I want more. When you go, it’s always hit or miss if it’s going to be busy. I’ve never really had to wait a long time to get in but I’m sure there are times when you’ll have to wait. Remeber to bring CASH. This is important. The next thing to remember is to bring your appetite because you have to order the Trifecta (beef roll, noodle dish and some dumplings). You have to get all three to get the full experience. note: don’t be fooled into buying the expensive drinks, stick to the free tea! So to sum it up, order as much as you can and enjoy

Likes: pumpkin dumplings, beef rolls, beef noodle soup
Dislikes: place was hard to find

101 Noodle Express is a decent Taiwanese joint in the Diamond Plaza food court that I visited on a trip home about a year ago. They do a good job of smaller plates and appetizers — these include the cold plates, dumplings, and beef rolls — but their soup-​based dishes, like the lamb or oxtail noodle soups could use a bit of work.
Prices are reasonable, and service is more or less as one would expect of an Asian restaurant — especially one that’s located inside a food court.

We came for lunch here today since we were in the area and everywhere else had super long lines. It’s located inside the «food court» area at the end of the plaza. Sadly it seems like the plaza is dying out since EVERY other restaurant in the food court literally closed down. :(We also heard from the waitress that this location will be closing soon too and moving to Irvine. So this will be our last chance to try this place out. Note this place is CASH only so definitely stop by the bank before coming. (if it’s still open that is)
They have all the traditional Taiwanese dishes at pretty reasonable prices.
The onion pancake beef wrap: I loved how their onion pancakes are super thin compared to alot of other places. The sliced beef is also super tender without those huge tendon pieces mixed the the perfect amount of hoisin sauce and cilantro. This was definitely a perfectly prep’ed dish with 2 super large servings. I would definitely give this dish a ⁵⁄₅ for flavor and ⁵⁄₅ for overall value.
The lamb noodle soup which includes thick noodles and super tender lamb shank chunks in a light broth topped with diced green onions. This was definitely a super hardy soup with a slightly sweet broth from the slow simmered lamb. Although it maybe a bit of a one dimensional soup it would definitely be good for someone with a cold or even just on a super cold day. This dish gets a 3.5÷5 for flavor/​quality and ⁴⁄₅ for overall value.
The mixed «ping pan» dish was SUPER huge even for the small order. It included a mix of seasoned thin sliced seaweed, salted peanuts, spicy bean curd, and spicy thin sliced pig ear. This was definitely a really great value for the size of the dish as everything was well seasoned in the traditional spices. The seaweed was perfect salty yet slightly tangy. The spicy bean curd and sliced pig ear were also pretty typical. This get gets a ⁴⁄₅ for flavor/​quality and ⁵⁄₅ for overall value.
The leek/​shrimp/​pork dumplings were also SUPER huge as there was whole piece of shrimp in every dumpling. The thick skin of the dumpling was also very chewy. These could also be cooked as potstickers (if you requested). So again this dish was delicious and an awesome value for the price. 4.5 for flavor/​quality and ⁵⁄₅ for overall value.
Cold pickled chicken was pretty much an half soy sauce chicken which was slightly chilled served on top of a bed of diced pickled cucumbers. The chicken being slightly cold was still super tender with the perfectly seasoned meat. The skin/​meat were perfectly salted from the marinade with the sweet and saltiness from the pickled cucumber was definitely an awesome experience for your palate. Like every other dish the portion size again was HUGE for the price. This dish gets a 4.5 for flavor/​quality and ⁵⁄₅ for overall value.
The downside to this place is the service was abit lacking since there’s only one waitress manning the entire place. So it definitely takes awhile to get any type of help. Also like alot of the chinese restaurants in the area it only accepts cash which a major turn off when you have a large tab. The location of the restaurant is also quite bad as it’s a bit difficult to find if you’ve never been to this plaza before. But i guess that’s why every single restaurant in that plaza has shut down… :(

I LOVE this place! Best lamb dumplings this side of the pacific. The beef wraps are bomb too. And the dalu mein? Priceless… but it can be had for a mere $ 5.99, me thinks. I’m not quite sure what the prices are for anything but I know one thing, bring cash.
Other dishes include chicken wrap, pork wrap, different types of dumplings, and some other stuff that I never tried in the 90+ times I’ve been there.
PRO: The food. The green salsalike thingy. The chili.
CON: Cash only. Personally, I don’t really care but it’s a con if you don’t carry cash or have a big party.
OTHER THOUGHTS: I’d leave my gf for the cook if the cook wasn’t a hairy Chinese man. Actually, I’m still considering it…

This location is more like a food court, instead of an actual restaurant. It’s still the best place for the Beef Roll. Don’t bother trying it anywhere else. It’s not as greasy either. They use just the right amount of cilantro and good quality beef. I usually don’t like cilantro in anything, but it’s perfect in this!
Their Beef Noodle Soup is also good with their «knife-​cut» noodles and spicy «ma-​la» sauce. I usually always order their Sole Fish Dumplings, although I’m not sure if they make them. Either way, it’s delicious!
I tried their Dan Dan Noodles because I was in the mood for some. For those that don’t know what it is, it’s usually just noodles with some peanut sesame sauce with minced meat & some veggies. Their Dan Dan Noodles is pretty good. It’s definitely more spicy than peanut-​y, but their «ma-​la» spicy sauce is pretty addicting.
This place is like Chinese comfort food & the prices are pretty cheap. Each dish is around $ 6 – 7. I noticed most people gave this place poor reviews due to their service. Go figure… it’s a Chinese restaurant. People go to Chinese restaurants for the food, not the top-​notch service. I think we waited about 10 minutes for the check after we finished our food, but the waitress was still friendly & actually smiled at us. You don’t see that very often at Chinese restaurants.

D e l i s h! Actually, I would give it 3 and a half stars! Came here with the parentals on New Years Eve. This would be my second time here and probably the kazillionth time for my parents.
This place is located in the Plaza Walk where the restaurant is divided with 4 other separate restaurants. It kind of reminds me like a cafeteria where you get to choose what type of food you want. LOL.
Highly Recommend:
1) the Beef Rolls (Chinese burrito wrapped with beef/​cilantro/​scallions!) Oh goodness, its making me drool now.
2) Pork Fried Potstickers were yummy and full of juice (watch out with that because when I took a bite, it splashed right onto my sleeves)
3) Noodle Soups: Da Lu Mien (Seafood Noodle Soup), Dan Dan Mien (not bad but its ok)
The only thing about this place that was a downfall was that when the place is busy, you won’t get the waitress’ attention. We asked for 2 cups of water and had to remind them 4 times. Since there were only 2 waitresses working, I still give them props. =)

«It’s the beef roll»
That is the general theme of this review. Don’t go there for the ambiance. It’s a converted strip mall. The waiters are all angry and don’t speak much English. I just point on the menu and then to my mouth and pat my tummy. They understand.
Also good: dumplings, both fried and steamed; dan dan noodles; and the noodle soups.
The biggest compliment I can give this place is I took my mom here for a quick lunch. She brought my aunt a few days later on their way to Palm Springs. Enough said.

Zha Jiang Mian isn’t spectacular, but it satisfies the craving nonetheless.
If you come here and don’t order the beef roll, you have something against happiness. I have no wish to associate with you. It is that good.

5 stars simply for the food. My FAVORITE food of all time, beef noodle soup (fob as hell i kno) is served here, along with super legit beef rolls, pot stickers (fried) and dumplings (boiled). I dont really eat anything else on the menu, but because of those 4 things… Im willing the make the 30 min commute. See pichas.

The beef rolls are the thing to get here. Very tasty and unique with its combination of cilantro, thin beef, and hoisin sauce. The beef noodles were ok too, although a bit greasy. The broth had a good depth of flavor as it should when cooked for a long time.
Just an interesting note, our waitress started to speak to me in Chinese and I told her I’m not Chinese. She said «No Chinese?» but continued to speak to me in Chinese. I don’t get it.

NOTE: they have other locations one being Alhambra!
STILL IN LOVE with their beef rolls! and i don’t know if they’ve gotten new workers since the last time i came, but these ladies were SO NICE and accommodating. i hope they fired the last lady that used to work here
we had a huge group and they put two tables together for us, refilled all the sauces and condiments for us (WE WENT THROUGH THAT GREEN ONION, CILANTRO RELISH SO FAST), and gave us siracha sauce when we asked for it too, always with a smile
try mixing the black sauce, w/​the siracha and green onion relish. makes a new interesting deathly looking one!
CASH ONLY, and even though we had a lot of people. they split EACH of our orders into separate checks. wish they would have told us before we started pooling money though!

came here with the bf for lunch on a whim while wondering what happened to missha cosmetics. It’s like a high end food court, the seating is not shared between restaurants, and you actually get real service. The menu is also in english for those who do not speak/​read chinese, also is mandarin food, waitresses do not speak canto.
the beef crêpe here is to die for. dan dan mien is super authentic, of as my bf so eloquently stated, «this is legit.» Ngao yuk mien is comparable to Supreme Dragon, though they do not have chao lin co.

It BREAKS my heart to write this review of 101 Noodle Express. Like many of you who have been here, I fell in love with their famed beef rolls and decently well done selection of noodles dishes (such as the beef noodle soup).
It really just took one incident with one of their waitresses to make me not want to come back to this place. We had ordered a plate of beef rolls and had been patient with the order coming in late. When our beef rolls came, she dropped one of them on the table and put it back on the plate. Now I would assume that common sense dictates the waitress give us another beef roll. I would also assume that common sense would dictate to the waitress that isn’t wise to debate with the customer for 5 minutes about whether she should be replacing the beef roll or not. Finally, I would assume that common sense would dictate that telling the customer that the dropped beef roll is still good enough to eat is going to get them to come back. Thus, I haven’t been back.
Being Chinese, I’ve definitely been to enough Chinese restaurants where servers can be feisty to say the least. But this crosses a line that puts the customer in an uncomfortable situation of being accused of being wrong when they are definitely in the right.
However, if you want to take a risk and are one of those that may not care too much about go ahead — the place is located at the food court in Diamond Plaza. Expect good food but lousy service.
I still mourn for the beef roll.

First heard about this place from my mom. She said the beef roll was very delicious and she rarely even eats red meat. Even though I was a bit skeptical at first (how good could beef rolled up in flour from a food court taste?), I was definitely proved wrong.
The beef roll here is great! It’s simple, but very delicious. The flour is slightly crispy, while still being soft & chewy, and there is a perfect balance between the beef, cilantro, and hoison sauce. I also like putting a bit of the chopped up green pepper/​pickled vegetable on it (they have it on the tables and I’m pretty sure it’s meant for noodles, but I find it gives the roll an extra kick that tastes great).
I’ve ordered a couple other things from the menu before as well, but they were mediocre so I wouldn’t recommend them. Just get the beef roll, you won’t be disappointed! :)

You know what? I really like this place! It’s tucked behind Diamond Plaza, but on the side with the good parking. It’s like a food court, but they are individual restaurants with low partitions so it’s kind of like a sit-​down restaurant/​food court. Interesting concept. When you walk in, you can see all the different employees at the different restaurants staring at you waiting to see which one of them you pick.
I chose 101 Noodle Express and I was glad I did. TRY THE BEEF ROLL. It’s delicious! I also got the shrimp dumplings in soup and that was very tasty as well. My friend tried the chi chi mein, which is like minced pork and thick noodles and he was very pleased. This place is definitely not fancy or as Cynthia G. says, no smile or even a nod. Very true… but you will be stuffing your face with good food.
And when you’re done with your food you can shop around at the bakery or buy overpriced Asian cosmetics.

Forget about Din Tai Fung. This is the place to get a wide variety of dumplings without waiting in a horrendous line and paying too much. Also try the excellent beef roll.
One warning, the service sucks! The service is of the sort typically encountered in China. It’s especially difficult if you don’t speak the language. You have to work to get the staff’s attention.

I’ve been here 3 weekends in a row. No joke.
But the more I come here, the worse it gets.
They have now a C rating.
Their service when they’re busy isn’t the greatest.
I bought a bag of frozen dumplings and I made it last night for today’s lunch. I think it was my 5^th dumpling thatI heard a «CRUN*(^%^CH?!». A small rock like substance inside my dumpling. WTF?!

This place is awesome! I wish all food courts had a 101 Noodle Express. Even though it’s in a food court, this is a real full service restaurant with yummy dumplings, noodles and of course, the beef roll. Just thinking about the beef roll makes me drool. There’s a reason why you see an order of beef rolls on every table. I even got my cilantro-​hating mom to dig this stuff.
The servers here are very nice and helpful too. The first time we came, we got a little carried away with the ordering and our waitress was kind enough to point out that we were ordering too much. Another time our waitress recommended their specialty, which is a cold poached chicken dish. Don’t let the pale color turn you off, this stuff was packed with flavor. I also love the jar of pickled greens on each table.
I’ll be back here whenever I’m craving some noodles, dumplings and BEEF ROLL!

I wanted to eat here after reading Mike L’s review of it so today we decided to give it a try. We arrived when they opened so it was easy to get a table. After looking at the menu, I ordered the beef tendon, beef roll and the «wild vegetable» dumplings. The waitress said «you don’t want any noodles» in Mandarin. I said «no». I mean… I would’ve ordered noodles if I wanted some right? Then she said «have the chicken». I stared at her. She continued saying «order the chicken, it runs out by noon». I looked at hubby and he looked as if to say «what?» I asked him if he wanted chicken. He said «up to you». I was about to say «nah that’s okay» but I’m guessing she knew that was what I was about to say so she immediately said «ORDER the chicken, it’s our specialty, there won’t be any left by noon».
I was like «OKAY, we’ll have the chicken».
The tendon was good… flavorful. The dumplings were also tasty except the wrapper was slightly too thick to my liking. The beef roll was fabulous. The only thing I didn’t like… was… THE DAMN CHICKEN! It was dry and I don’t give a shit that it was their specialty, it wasn’t all that good.
I would’ve given it 3 stars, but the whole chicken business and then it not being good on top of that just tipped me over the edge. And oh… it’s laden with MSG. My mouth is going crazy tingly right now.