101 Noodle Express

the order
–milk tea
–pan fried shrimp and spinach dumplings
–noodles with green (long) beans and minced chicken
–noodles with chicken (dark meat)
–noodles with chicken (white meat)
situated in the food court of the Westfield –culver city /​fox hills mall which provides ample free parking in various indoor and outdoor lots.
The menu is an abridged version of the other menus that is cross referenced through google and Unilocal,so be aware if you decide on this location
I cannot speak to the quality compared to the other locations, as I have not been to them; however, the food quality here, especially considering the food-​court setting, is above average. The very fact that your food is cooked to order suggests it is not your average food court offering.
The milk tea is your generic mildly smoky variety. It is the only place that I saw that offered milk tea in the food court. Surprising because there are several Asian cuisine options.
The spinach and shrimp dumplings were made fresh however I doubt on-​site. Although breadier than what I like I can appreciate it as a solid appetizer. Definitely have it with the vinegar and chili oil or sriracha. Ample spinach though not as much shrimp. A bit pricey at 6.99 considering you can get a whole noodle box for 5.99
The noodles with chicken come n dark and white meat variety. The dark meat variety is the best bang for your buck at 5.99 however the white meat variety is a couple dollars more. Both are made with the same sauce with the option of mild or spicy. I equate this dish to chow mein as it is made with thicker spaghetti noodles. The spicy option that I opted for gives it a kick and
Is much needed. I’d get this dish again if I wanted the best value for my money and had a hankering for a lot of noodles.
The best dish I had here was the noodles with green beans and minced chicken. The noodles had a distinct sweeter flavor and more Al dente texture than the noodles with chicken mentioned above. When I initially opened the box I saw this dark mass that looked unappetizing however when you mix it with the noodles it looks much better. The sweetness of the noodles and the salty of the oyster sauce the beans and chicken is cooked in results in a simple yet tasty dish. The trick is to mix the ingredients thoroughly as the noodles tend to clump into a thick glutinous mass.
Overall an above average food court offering with straight forward freshly prepared offerings.

It’s a food court. The sweet and sour soup was hot, not too much flavor but decent. The soup dumplings were pretty juicy but a tad greasy. Overall I would eat here again but not going to seek this place out.

The food was ok, but very greasy. I got the greenbean chicken noodles. But what really ruined the meal for is that I ordered a passion fruit green tea. It wa so disgustingly sweet that I could not drink it. I asked to change it to a regular fountain drink. While the girl who helped me was tryn to be very polite she refused to fix it. The tea was more expensive, so i don’t see what the issue was. She said she would not give me a soda or water. So, while the food was ok, I wont be returning. Its such an easy fix, but they didnt not care about this customer.

Please note that this rating is ONLY for the beef roll. It’s not quite as good as the version served at the 101 Noodle Express locations in San Gabriel Valley, but it’s by-​far the best beef roll you’ll find on the Westside.
Google «Jonathan Gold» and «101 Noodle Express.» Gold has a Pulitzer and is the food critic for the L.A. Times. He lists 101’s beef roll as one of the best things to eat in L.A.
Do yourself a favor: if you enjoy the beef roll and think to yourself, «the other things on the menu must be good, too,» resist the urge to branch out. Beef roll: great, fried dumplings/​onion pancake: good, xiao long bao/​other dumplings/​beef noodle soup: average, everything else on the menu: avoid.

You really should only order the beef rolls or pan fried pork dumplings. Don’t even order the steamed ones, no good. Just beef rolls or pan fried dumplings and that is all I’ll rate this lovely little place on. The pan fried dumplings take about 10 min and they’re filled with hot soupy goodness and are a hazard to your clothes should you choose to bite them in half.
It’s on you if you order anything else. I can’t help you if you decide to try your hand at the other dishes. Well the green onion pancakes are good too but you get a giant box full and honestly it’s just too much food. Ha.
Also two boba drinks for $ 5 ain’t bad.

Long bean with minced chicken over noodles-​bleh! Ground chicken sautéed with canned green beans over top ramen would have been tastier!
Long beans little bits and over cooked.
Chicken greasy.
Noodles over cooked too!
Condiments in grody containers to self serve (should have checked that before ordering).
I chose poorly at the food court today!

This place has some legit food. Must get the beef rolls (#1). They can make it with chicken but get the beef as that’s the OG way.

Flavors? Taste? Presentation? I know it’s mall food but I swear it made me feel slopped. Service was subpar and u could tell these were clearly women, not children getting their first taste of the working world. They were obviously not interested in being at when today. The pictures of the long bean with chicken was what initially won me over from choosing another spot. But all I got was a dream deferred in a plastic black box. These tiny minced pieces of green/​long beans and chicken so over processed it looked like beef. Oh but they did make sure I had plenty of rice. I knew I should’ve ordered a salad at the other place.

Surprisingly this is the best one out of all of the 101 Noodle Express locations I’ve tried. The onion pancakes were thin and crispy, and the beef rolls were heavenly. So glad this is close to me (compared to the SGV locations), even if it is in a mall (looking for parking is awful). Be warned, EVERYTHING comes in styrofoam containers, which makes it look less appetizing but the food is still awesome.

Do not recommend. Good came out in about a minute in a half which explains the express part… but a bit too express. Meat and veggies were way precook we obviously and no taste to the bowl. Very little steak in the dish to begin with. Mostly rice

Located in the food court at Westfield (fox hills) mall. Reasonable prices for mall food. Most items ranged from $ 6 – 10. I ordered the eggplant with pork on rice. It did not look appetizing when I opened my box of food however it was pretty tasty. Looks can be deceiving. My entrée came with steamed veggies, rice, sautéed eggplant with pork pieces and ginger.

I’m an SGV native, but this was my first 101 experience. The beef rolls are incredible. Fresh, meaty and crispy. It’s also a huge portion, sometimes enough for two.
Skip everything else here. The beef noodle soup, fried noodles and dumplings are awful.

Ionno why everybody’s hatin’, this is about as good as Chinese food can get IN A MALL. Mind you, I usually only order the spicy chicken stir-​fried noodles, hot soup, and occasionally fried dumplings but those few items are enough to make me come back nearly every time I’m shopping here. Also, you gotta love the BOGO boba drinks and teas which are not bad for the price ($ 5 for two drinks!!!). I’m not sure about now, but they used to have it where if you buy the noodles you can add soup for only $ 1 more. Pretty swell if you ask me.
The spicy chicken stir-​fried noodles (~$ 5 something) are mm mm good. The sauce is perfect in flavor and this is rare for me to say about Chinese foods outside of Chinese communities. It’s not as greasy as typical Chinese foods and everything just goes well together. The sauce is what makes it or break it– comes in mild and spicy, if you like spicy you’ll super love it. At least I did.
The hot sour soup is also great here, flavored pretty well and spicy, lots of tofu. If you can get the deal to add it on for $ 1 it’s actually a steal. If you love soup, get it. Have I convinced you yet?
Boba milk tea wasn’t bad, the boba consistency isn’t the best (quick breakable upon chewing) but the milk tea itself is sufficient for a craving ESP if you’re getting two for the price of one. Gift one to a friend! :D passion fruit tea (?) also refreshing and surprisingly good.
Fried dumplings were okay, didn’t stand out too much for me. I’ve gotten the oxtail noodle soup once and I remember the soup lacked flavor, not sure if this has changed.
Also I love that they have chili pepper oil and vinegar at the condiments section, BONUS mixing the oil and vinegar makes for an epic sauce to either eat with the noodles or dip with dumplings. Staff are always on point with the service and nice. Portions pretty big, def bang for your buck here =]

Ok i’m giving this a 4-​star review because I’m solely comparing it with other mall food. Not saying this is amazing authentic Chinese food but if you are in the mall already and want to have something as good as a mall restaurant goes, try this. The oxtail noodle isn’t bad at all. And the beef rolls can almost beat some breakfast spots in Monterey Park! I don’t recommend Xiaolong Bao if you have high standards. But it doesn’t hurt to buy one boba tea and get one free right? Again, very decent mall food!

I wanted to give this place four stars mainly because they have a lot on their menu that you wouldn’t expect in a food court and they give generous portions but the execution isn’t always amazing. The dishes I’ve tried are– xiao long bao: pretty good but nothing special, ox tail soup: the noodles were over cooked and it was a little greasy, but the meat was tasty, long beans w/​minced chicken and noodles: my least favorite thing that I’ve had here, wayyyyy too greasy, and the beef rolls: tasty and something great to take home and bring to work for lunch, but too much hoisin sauce for my taste.
That being said, I definitely drop by here every time I’m at this mall to get xiao long bao…

Blah. How did this place even get 3.5 stars? This will actually be ¹⁄₅ for me.
Mall food will always be mall food. Greasy. Oily. Pretty disappointed. I think McDonalds cheeseburger and fries is healthier then this.
Chopped String Beans with minced chicken & noodles:
The only good thing about this dish is the noodle. The veggies werent fresh. Who knows how long this was sitting in the fridge marinating… Extremely salty and just overwhelmed with OIL. Even got a tummy ache and definitely didn’t finish this dish. Waste of food and money. I wouldn’t recommend coming here. I think even panda express is heathier and better then this place. Least the service was good and quick so no complaints there.
They have a bogo special on their drinks (milk tea Thai tea etc). But again its $ 4.49 for a drink so technically you’re paying for two anyways.

This place was bad, like very very bad, I would never eat here again. It was so bad it doesnt even deserve another chance with something different.
First I went at 1130 which is around the beginning of lunch hour and it took a full 20 minutes for me to get my food. 2 orders after me got their food before me and when I asked her if there was something wrong with my order she lied and said oh noodles take long. .YOU ARE A LIAR!!! they may take longer but not that long, idk if they forgot about my order or what but it was ridiculous especially as how most people only get a 30 minute lunch, I would skip if you are on your lunch break for that reason alone but the real problem is the food.
I got the Minced Chicked and Chinese Beans Noodles, I mean I dont know the words to describe how bad this was. It was like this. Imagine you are a struggling college student, have no money and are starving. You look in your cabinet and see a package of ramen, a can of green beans and a can of minced chicken. Something happened to the ramens seasoning so no seasoning. So you boil the noodles, forget about them, accidentally cook them too longer till they are one sticky blob. Meanwhile you throw that can of minced chicken and green beans in a skillet and sauté them for what its worth, now take your blob of noodles, put the chicken and green beans on top and voila you have made Minced Chicken and Chinese Bean Noodles from 101. There was no flavor in it whatsoever, no scallions on top like was supposedly suppose to be there and it was seriously one of the worst things I have ever eaten. I mean look at my pic, you wouldnt feed that to your dog would you? Never again.
Too much decent mall food in the vicinity to ever go here again.

Came here following a friend’s recommendation, and was pretty skeptical because «food court» is probably the last place to come to mind when I think good, legit Asian food.
In any case, it seems that they have a never-​ending BOGO on boba ($ 5 each, making it $ 2.50 each). I got the thai tea and my friend got the passionfruit green tea. Both tasted pretty good and were pretty large; boba was a little chewy, but for $ 2.50 I’m not complaining.
Came back a few days later. Got the beef rolls and they were delicious! It lasted me a good 3 meals (I eat small portions), but even for someone with a normal appetite I definitely think you’d end up with leftovers. For $ 6.99, that’s not bad AT ALL. Friend got the beef noodle soup which was good, but not amazing.
This place is a food court gem for sure!

This is only a review for their drinks **
I had a sudden craving for some milk tea in the area and we happened to stumble upon this place when we were in the mall. They have a BOGO deal for only $ 4.99. That’s not bad at all.
We ordered the Thai tea and regular Milk tea, and both were good. The flavors were decent. Was it the best milk tea I ever had? Probably not. But it was good enough to satisfy my cravings for the day.
Also, you can ask for free samples of their milk tea selections. Staff is pretty friendly and drinks are made in a timely manner.

Culver City Westfield Mall location in the food court if you’re wondering where this is at.
I give this place 5 stars for their Buy One, Get One Free Milk Tea, Thai Tea Boba at $ 5!
But this is the first time I tried their food and it was A-​OK, prolly more like B-​OK…
Ordered the Beef Rolls and they were light and crispy to the touch! 6 cut pieces were inside and definitely looked worthy of the price point which was $ 6.99.
Then I took a bit of one and was completely overwhelmed by the flavor of Hoisin Sauce which overpowered the flavors of the beef, scallions, cilantro and the wrapper which I think might be the scallion pancake?!
So I told the cashier:
«There’s a ton of Hoisin Sauce in the Beef Roll that it becomes the only thing I taste.»
She replies:
«Yup, the cooks prepare the rolls behind me and they squeeze a ton of it in there.»
After her brief response, she then walks off and starts cleaning something… egh yeah…
not really worth anyone’s time talking about them beef rolls, I get it.
SO yeah, I’m sticking with the boba beverages and calling it a day at 101 Noodle Express.