Capital Noodle Bar

Came here for a late lunch, generally quiet and pleasant clean décor. Menu is good, they were very accommodating of my request for one of their noodle stir fries without the noodles and with extra vegetables, and the outcome was tasty! My hot jasmine tea was great too, and refills were easy to get from the attentive but not over the top staff.
For two teas, a phở-​type dish and a beef sir fry we paid $ 29 which seemed reasonable. Overall great!
One star removed for the annoying dance music that played throughout our visit, rather spoiling the otherwise pleasant atmosphere. If I want to go to a nightclub, I will.

They definitely tweaked their menu here. You know what’s awesome? The pepper beef udon. It’s like bo luc lac tossed with udon, then the waiter went to crack some fresh pepper but breaks the grinder and a ton of coarse pepper flakes fall into the noodles. So good.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this to be more of a «whitewashed» version of Asian food, as I have seen what Capital Seafood can do. I would compare this to Noodle world in LA, though the food isn’t quite Panda by any means. My Pad See ewe was a little too «wet» and not like what I’m accustomed to getting. Flavor wasn’t bad, but the «fire» that they use probably wasn’t high enough to fully get that flavor that was needed for this classic dish. Not a whole lot of meat either, which makes it not worth the price… whoooole lot of noodle that was slightly overcooked and broken apart. I dunno, maybe I should have stuck with Chinese food instead?

I’ve been to this location multiple times. The food is a bit more pricier but this is typical for Irvine. My non-​Asian friends weren’t big fans but I took my family and they loved it and commented the food was pretty authentic.
Favorite go-​to dishes: filet mignon cubes rice dish, Hainan chicken rice, and trio of beef noodle soup.
Friendly and clean, and great customer service. During my last visit, the ticket for our order got lost so one of the dishes never came but by that time we were stuffed so we just told the waitress. The manager personally came by to apologize and ensured us they won’t let that happen again and made sure to not charge us. He also sent us a free plate of the fried cinnamon youtiao dessert with ice cream for the inconvenience. I was pleasantly surprised by the generosity, plus the dessert was amazing! I’m def going to order this next time.

I came with a group of church friends after our service at around 10:30am. There was a couple groups at the time, but not too many people since it was quite early. We were walked to a nice table (really nice and modern décor btw!) and bench, and given the menus (also really trendy).
Food ordered:
— Black Pepper Beef Udon Noodles: ⁵⁄₅ smelled so good and who doesn’t love thick, chewy udon noodles
— Hong Kong Style Chow Mein: ⁵⁄₅ beef and chinese brocolli with chow mein
— Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup: ³⁄₅ — Wontons tasted different than what I am used to, maybe the egg wrap tasted more egg-​y?
–Chinese Doughnut: ³⁄₅ — basically one piece but cut into 3 pieces, nothing too special
I personally ordered the Beef Trio Spicy Noodle soup: ⁵⁄₅ — Fillet Mignon pieces are definitely the MUST TRY here! YUM! I got thick rice noodles which were cut quite short, making for easier scooping, and the meat, other than the fillet mignon pieces, also included tripe, tendon, 2 beef meatballs. All of this in a mildly spicy beef broth and with a side of boiled bean sprouts and a lime wedge.
I was pleasantly surprised with the service and the wide variety of foods they offer. All the dishes sound really good, but they look and taste even better! I’m excited to return.

First time here. As soon as I walked through the doors, the customer service was great. Justin gave my friend and I recommendations and offered us water with lemon while we waited for our food to come out. All around nice experience. Food looks delicious

4 of us went on Memorial Day around 2pm, place wasn’t that busy. Nice décor, clean, open seating at benches along long tables like sitting in an Asian beer garden. Menu was more Thai, Vietnamese than Chinese.
Good selection of noodles, fried rice and other dishes. Portions are plentiful and food is well prepared. Service was good, waitress was knowledgable about the menu.
Couple of criticisms: we ordered a couple of dishes off the «Starter» list. The starter dishes arrived after the entrees were served and all entrees arrived at 5 minute intervals.
Serve only Beer & Wine, selection was extremely limited, 1 beer-​Happy Buddha, 3 wines.
Only 3 stars for limited beer selection and food arriving in the wrong order, we asked the server for an explanation and she told us that’s the way they do it here. Weird!, no stupid actually what’s the point of having a starter menu if the kitchen cooks in any order they choose?

Came here after looking at the pictures on Unilocal and was in need of some hangover food. My boyfriend tried the Capital noodle bowl with soup on the side and I tried the Hainan chicken with rice, and we shared an order of the juicy pork dumplings (xiao long bao). The food came out pretty quick and it was surprisingly delicious! Food presentation for the rest of the stuff on their menu looked super appetizing as well. Perfect hangover cure with the right amount of nutrients!

We’re regular customers of the Capital Seafood restaurant and this place is the mini me version of it with a much smaller menu and lower prices. It’s more casual but very clean and plenty of seats (bench-​style). I really have nothing negative to say about this place — the servers were very friendly and on point with the service and the food is awesome for the price. We tried the filet mignon rice dish as that seems to be the most popular and even my husband who’s very picky with his meat was blown away with how tender and flavorful the steak was. We also tried the shrimp rolls which was equally good. We can’t wait to try other items on the menu like the roasted duck noodle soup so we will definitely be back when we are in the area.

I’ve been wanting to check this place or for awhile and finally convinced my fiancé to try it. I ordered wonton soup and he had filet mignon with tomato rice. I could have eaten two bowls of the wonton soup.
We ordered the food to go and the host was very kind and patient, something I am not used to at Asian restaurants. They were very busy in a Sunday evening about an hour before closing but I was able to get in and out within 10 minutes. There are those days when I’m don’t feel like eating phở or ramen and I found my replacement. Can’t wait to come back and get 2 orders of wonton soup for myself ! ;p

Went hiking with a group up at Peters Canyon and then came here for lunch afterward. Apparently, it’s the same group as the Capital Seafood chain, which is reflected in the Chinese name as well.
The restaurant is fairly large and is definitely not decorated like your typical Chinese restaurant. It has a very hip, modern look with trendy jars of random things on one wall. In addition, the majority of tables are long, wooden tables with bench seating.
Service is friendly and excellent, and most of the servers are young (as opposed to middle-​aged Cantonese men at most Cantonese restaurants).
Even the menu is very artsy with wooden planks and staggered pages. There is a good selection in a variety of categories.
I tried the Hainan Chicken Noodle Soup today, and it was quite good. The broth was lighter than some other choices, and you get a choice of egg or rice, thick or thin noodles. The noodle bowl came with a side plate of bean sprouts, a lime wedge, and some dipping sauce for the chicken. The portion was very generous, though there was more breast meat than I expected (which I guess is the «fusion» element; traditionally, Chinese food favors dark meat). There are also various sauces/​condiments at each table.
For $ 9.95, this was a great value for a bowl of noodle soup! Overall, I think Capital Noodle Bar is an excellent choice for an affordable, satisfying meal!

We stumbled onto this place. I liked the Hainan Chicken rice better than the legendary Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra, CA. The place was clean and modern. Food was tasty and the presentation was above average for an Asian place (and I’m Asian!).
If I didn’t live so far I would love to come back for their Hainan chicken rice again and try some other noodle dishes.

I really enjoyed having lunch here with a group of friends. It was easy to get seated on the long benches they have, and the food was good. We also had milk tea and I really liked the taste of their milk tea. All the dishes are fair priced, and you’re most likely here to get some kind of noodles (soup or dry). I liked that it was a blend of Taiwanese /​Cantonese style dishes.
I saw orders of dry noodle with a side soup that looked great. I had the tri-​beef noodle soup which was also good. More on the Taiwanese style of dish. We had some fried tofu and shrimp rolls for dessert as well. All food was good, the portions are big so some of us took food home. I probably should have done that but I devoured my entire bowl and was really full afterwards.
Our dishes took a little bit of awhile to come out, and not all at the same time, I would have liked to see that improved. But other than that, there are multiple other noodle dishes I want to try so I will be back for more.

I really wanted to like the food here, but I couldn’t. It just didn’t taste good to me. I came with a friend who ordered the Hong Kong Style Chow Fun w. Chicken and I ordered the Hong Kong Style Fried Noodles w. Seafood.
My friend, who is Thai, thought her chow fun tasted a bit like pad see ew. I tried it and thought the same, it was different than the chow fun I’ve had before. Kind of sweet with a bit of savory aftertaste. Overall kind of bland with noodles that felt overcooked.
My fried noodles were also a bit different. I wasn’t used to the gravy they put on them. I think the default is beef pan fried noodles, but I was surprised when I saw that the gravy that came out with my seafood pan fried noodles was also brown. I’m used to it being a whiter gravy that isn’t as overwhelming in taste. The noodles themselves were fried perfectly, really enjoyed them. Did not like the gravy at all.
Capital Noodle Bar has great service and its easy to find parking in the plaza. We went around 6:45pm on a Friday and there was no wait for us, but moments after getting seated the restaurant saw an influx of patrons so there may be a wait for you, depending on what time you go. I would come back to try one of their noodle soups but I was hugely disappointed with the fried noodles, which were also $ 13.95.

We met a woman on the plane to Irvine and she recommended this place so since we arrived mid-​afternoon, we didn’t get a chance to have lunch so we came here for an early dinner before 6 pm. This location is in a shopping center, right near LA Fitness. The sign for the restaurant isn’t very clear. We got seated right away and the place is spacious with long communal tables that can seat big groups or small groups. The groups are separated by the utensil and condiment holders on the tables. There is also of course the noodle bar with tall stools to sit at the counter.
Service was prompt as once we ordered, the food came out rather quickly. We ordered Cantonese duck noodles with small egg noodles and the portion was hearty and broth was nice and hot and the Hainan chicken with rice and pickled vegetables and basically it is a meaty dish of steamed boneless chicken except for the wing and lots of pickled vegetables. There was hearty portion of rice to go with the dish. It tasted like the flavor of the chicken and was very tasty. All in all a very comforting experience.

The owner is the same as Capital Seafood’s, so my expectations were fairly high for this noodle joint. It ended up being A-​OK. Nothing better and nothing worse.
After about 20 minutes of waiting, our party of 6 got seated. They were very apologetic for the wait, which was nice because a wait was expected for such a small place. I couldn’t decide between the wonton noodle soup and the trio of beef, but I ultimately went with the latter.
I chose to get dry, large egg noodles with soup on the side because I like my noodles to stay nice and chewy. However, I was disappointed because the broth was mediocre. I was looking forward to some savory, rich broth and this was just meh. The donuts dunked within the soup was the only way I managed to drink the broth.
I would come back to try the stir fry and the wonton noodle soup, but I do not recommend the trio of beef, nor the duo of beef which I imagine would taste the same. It’s not even spicy, if that would be your reason for picking it.

If you expected Asian noodle, you will be satisfy. If you go for Chinese noodle, you might be disappointed. For example, the wonton soup is not as good as in Hong Kong, nor Alhambra. Fish cake noodle with bean sprouts– kinda fusion.
But it is a great spot for fast Asian food. My frequent ordered items:
Filet mignon with tomato sauce– yummy, but heavy on the fish sauce. Feel like from a fancy Vietnamese restaurant.
Roasted duck noodle soup– perfect for the cold weather.
The beef trio noodle– my Thai friend’s favorite
Hong Kong style chow mein– crispy noodle was delicious. Sauce is on the sweet side.
Beef chow fun– almost every other table order it.
Green bean– everyone’s favorite.
The ice tea and herbal tea– free refills!

The Asian food here is so good and filling. My friend and I came and split The Capital’s Filet Mignon Cubes (~$ 13) and the 5 Spice Beef Stew and we couldn’t finish. The rice plate came with your choice of tomato/​white rice, cucumber, tomato, and a salad side. The noodles were delicious and had a generous amount of beef and tripe (!!!).
Seating is arranged with 3 long tables, so it’s a very open dining area. Probably not your best bet if you’re looking for something quiet and intimate. I personally like it, though; it’s very family and group friendly! I like that they added this to the Crossroads plaza, because it definitely adds some more Asian cuisine to the area!
I’d definitely come back and try some more items on the menu, they have a large variety of rice plates, noodles, and dry noodle dishes as well. I would say it’s an Asian fusion kind of cuisine, because I saw a Thai noodle dish on the menu as well as something that looked similar to Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

Review for take out only!
Awesome addition to the Irvine foodie scene. Noodles and soups are always a great option for any meal, so of course, it was about time I tried this place out myself.
To be honest, I had already eaten dinner, but I was in the same plaza and figured I would eat second dinner in a few hours, and would need sustenance. Great excuse, I know.
Opted for the Hainan chicken soup with thick rice noodles and the roast duck soup with thick egg noodles. Both have great soup bases, so much flavor, and the noodles separated well after a few hours in the fridge. The duck and the chicken were cooked very well! The duck soup came with bok choy, making it a well balanced dish, however, the chicken soup only had green onions. Not enough veggies for me, so maybe next time, I’ll add it in? The portion was bigger than expected and actually fed me for two meals! Not bad.
Overall, the food came out quickly, it was priced around $ 9 per entrée and the food itself tasted great. It was actually pretty empty around dinner time, so eating in would be a good option next time. A bowl of soup is always a comforting meal… and at these prices, it was well worth it.

With an hour lunch break during the work week, options are pretty limited when it comes to going out. You’re always faced with peak lunch times, service speed and cost. I stumbled upon Capital Noodle Bar after realizing our original location was way too crowded. The wait alone could have been about an hour, so we walked next door instead and found ourselves a table right away.
I’m familiar with the Capital franchise, but I haven’t had time to really take a look at the Noodle Bar, so I pretty much came in without any expectations. Since I was craving noodles or something soupy, this was the perfect spot to satisfy it.
When I was in Singapore, I got to try Hainan chicken for the first time and it was one of the best meals while I was out there. With that in mind, the Hainan chicken noodle soup caught my attention right away. You get a choice between thin or thick noodles and I chose thick per our server’s recommendation.
I was actually a bit bummed that the chicken was in the soup instead of on the side. The dipping sauce was just okay too. I was hoping for a stronger ginger or garlic taste, but it fell a little short. The soup was very nice and I’ll have to try it with thinner noodles next time or maybe I’ll just try the rice dish instead.
Coworkers order the Bell Pepper Beef Udon and Spicy Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage. Both portions were plenty and enough to take home for a second serving.
For how quick the service was, this is a great lunch spot to hang out at. There are long communal tables, bar seating and individual tables for parties of 2 – 4. It’s got plenty of space to accommodate. Although it’s surprising that it wasn’t bustling at 1pm, that just means I’ll be in and out in a jiffy.