Li’s Kite

This is not Li’s Kite anymore. It’s been replaced by a Xiang style (from Hu Nan region in China) restaurant. I have no idea what their English name is called and nobody speaks English there. So do not go unless you have a friend that speaks mandarin.
That said, I think it’s probably the best Xiang style food I had in awhile. I’ve ordered the stir fried pork with green pepper, stir fried pork with tofu steak, and mutton noodles. All very tasty. Their menu is written on a white board located on the right hand side when you walk in. Will post the pic later.
I spoke with the owner and she said that if you call ahead, you can order things that are not on the menu. They also do take out.

This place is the worst. Just terrible. I wish I could give them an even lower rating. On my first visit, I ordered the fried fish dumplings. I asked the waitress if it was only fish and she said it was just fish and vegetables for the filling. They were ok the first few bites, but got really oily and gross feeling fast. I didn’t want to come back ever afterwards but a few weeks later, my sister wanted to go again. I wanted something besides those lard tasting dumplings, but I am pescetarian so I asked if there was any meat besides fish in a few dishes I pointed out. All of them did have meat so I gave in and decided to just order the fish dumplings again. But then, the waiter said that there’s meat mixed with the fish in those dumplings too. Unbelievable! I was appalled that on my first visit, they either lied or they were ignorant of their menu. What the heck! It’s unbelievable that service can be that bad.
So I ended up ordering this «vegetable and noodle soup» sort of dish of the very limited vegetarian options. It wasn’t very good, and I barely ate the dish. The courteous thing the waiter should have done would be to notice and take back the food and offer something else or take it off the check. But nope. And that’s fine, it was my mistake for coming there in the first place. They just stood there in the empty restaurant staring at my table with a blank expression and open mouth.

Looks like they just opened. No formal menus printed yet — just a whiteboard posting today’s selections. We stopped for a late lunch. Very good flour noodle soup with pork and spicy rice noodle soup with beef. The service was courteous and patient and prices were very reasonable.
Tip: If you don’t read Chinese, — just ask for what you want.

My mother in law emailed us saying this place was pretty good and we ought to try it.
Sunday came around and we were looking for a place to grab lunch so we decided to try it out. We got there around 12:45 and the place was pretty empty. Not a good sign for a new restaurant on a Sunday.
We ordered potstickers, beef noodle soup, roast beef roll and salt and pepper chicken wings. Everything was good but nothing fantastic. My favorite was the chicken wings, they were deep fried, slightly salty/​peppery and the skin crisp but not too hard like KFC’s wings. The noodle soup was a bit bland for my taste, I’ve been going to A&J’s for years and their soup base is definitely tastier. The noodle is supposed to be made fresh so that had a nice chewy texture. The potstickers were also on the bland side. Couldn’t taste too much of the meat inside, tasted mainly the flour skin.
The roast beef roll was good, but again too much dough for my taste. Ended up overpowering over the beef.
The waiter was probably a college student, he was young and you could tell he worked hard. He was attentive and every time you asked for something he would run to go fetch. Good service/​average food. On the fence if I would go back with so many other options in Irvine.

I’ve been here 5 times so far.
I typically get the Beijing Zha Jiang Noodle (aka jha jha myung or noodle with black bean sauce) with beef, and either the boiled or pan fried dumplings. I’ve also tried the kung pao chicken.
3 times its been awesome. One of the best jha jha myungs I’ve had, and different from what you find at typical Chinese/​Korean restaurants. The noodles were hand made, with bigger chunks of quality meat, squash, and other vegetables. Solid, solid dish. The pork/​shrimp dumplings are great. I’ve had the boiled and pan-​fried. You can’t go wrong with either one.
The other 2 times, it wasn’t good at all! I heard that there was a brief change in chef for a while, so I’m hoping the those experiences are behind us. The most recent time I’ve been there just a week ago it was really good.
Service isn’t top notch, but safe to say people don’t go to Chinese restaurants for good service.
Li’s Kite, I hope you keep this chef… if you do I’ll keep coming back.

I’ve ate here before, usually sit in. The food is nothing spectacular, better than koko’s café.
Today I wanted to order to go. Walked in and asked for a to-​go menu and the owner said they didn’t have any. The owner asked some guy who was sitting in a booth with his feet up, if they had any in the back. The guy said they were out of paper. (What restaurant doesn’t have to-​go menus on hand???) so I asked to see their sit in menu. My hubby is in the car with our baby who’s sleeping. I wanted to see what he would like to order but owner told me I couldn’t take the menu out. I mean… The car is literally right outside of their front door! What did they think I was going to do? Run off with their menu?
Needless to say, I didn’t order anything and walked out. With bad attitude and crappy service like that, it’s no wonder it’s always empty!

Wife and I have been here twice since they changed owner. So far, so good.
Highly recommend their dumplings. Both times, we got the shrimp/​pork combo filling boiled. You can have them steamed or fried as well.
Their black been paste noodle is good, but I think their sesame paste cold noodle with shrimp is the winner here. Service can be a bit better, but this is not Ruth Chris we are talking about… go for the dumplings and leave happy!

Spicy cold shrimp noodle with sesame sauce tasted very good. and 3 flavors dumplings was melting in my mouth with goodness :)
honestly i didn’t expect this place to surprise me with such awesome flavors. too bad i’ll be leaving the area soon but this is the place im gonna recommend.
on the down side, their Pork soup (comes with 4 other side dishes) was a bit bland. maybe a little bit of more salt is all it needs tho. I put soy sauce and hot sauce in it and it tasted good enough.

What a SCAM!
We ordered the lunch special of the day –Kung Pao Shrimp
they came and told us that they made a mistake and gave us the regular order and that we had to pay for that price
they said that they made the mistake on the computer — so why should we pay???
jiang jiang noodle was toooo SALTY and the noodles are NOT hand made
dough flake soup is bland — where are the dough flakes??? oh, it’s these tiny little balls? — tapioca size?
green onion pancake is from frozen
bad service where we had to keep asking for our water to be refilled

This restaurant serves delicious food! I ordered the shrimp and egg on rice and it was delicious!
Good customer service + delicious food= Great restaurant!!!

What’s going on with this place?
It’s always changing hands and, each time it’s done so, remains mediocre.
I’ve been to Li’s Kite twice. The first and second times had completely different staff manning the fort, mainly different chefs. The highlight of my first visit was the wonderful beef noodle soup, which my Taiwanese friend agreed was delicious and authentic.
The chef who made that beef noodle soup has since been given the boot, so when I ordered it the second time around with the new chef it was completely different… In a bad, bad way. It was like noodles in lifeless, brown beef-​flavored bath water sprinkled with dry meat chunks. Not only was that a huge disappointment, everything else we got was heavy-​handedly seasoned.
Our waitress, who’d been strangely overenthusiastic about the food she’d been recommending me and my parents, asked us how the food was mid-​meal. My dear mother told her it was, overall, quite salty. Our enthusiastic waitress replied by telling us that the new chef likes cooking food this way — salty and heavy.
Oof. Well, if that’s what you’re into then give this place a shot, I guess? Otherwise, look elsewhere in the same plaza.

An improvement on the previous restaurant in this location, Li’s Kite still has a way to go to take off as a soaring establishment. The Shanghai rice cake was the best thing we ordered. The noodles were well seasoned and cooked to a good al dente texture. Everything else we ordered had at least one issue however. The lamb with onion was definitely on the sweet side, as was the fish filet in douban sauce. The green onion pancakes were fried in rancid oil. The string beans were overcooked and then stir fried in either garlic that had been prepped way too far in advance or jarred garlic with the end result being a really pungent oxidized smell. The dumplings were undercooked, with soggy skins not completely set. Even the complimentary hot sour soup was too sour and way spicy.
Food issues aside, service could also use a big improvement. They had plenty of staff but standing around seemed to be their default position. We had to ask several times for serving spoons, rice (which was included in the lunch specials), water and to-​go boxes. The owner came out to ask how the food was, went away after we told him a few things that could stand improvement, and then decided to sit down at the next table 5 minutes later staring at us. Umm, okay? That’s not weird or disconcerting or anything.
Overall, this place has potential but too many problems on both the food and service sides makes it less likely I’d want to make it a regular destination.

Under new ownership, management or something, but the credit card transaction still has the old restaurant. Beef with fluffy egg is as good as usual. The homemade dumplings were okay, moist, but lacking on the dipping sauce. The beef noodle had fairly dry beef chunks considering it’s floating in broth. They seem to put extra sugar or something to make the broth sweet, not necessary.

In spite of its oddball name, Li’s Kite has the potential to be a regular haunt for me. Not many restaurants in Irvine and environs serve Zha Jiang Noodles the way I grew up eating it, with lots of minced meat and sliced cucumber, but this place comes pretty close. The problem, however, is that it’s not very consistent.
The first time I ate here, the Zha Jiang Noodles were too heavy-​handed and salty. I enjoyed the general flavor profile, but the noodle to sauce ratio was really off, and I had to ask the server for several extra helpings of cucumbers just to mitigate the level of sodium.
The second time I came here, I informed the server about my first visit and asked him to make it less salty, or at least to add less sauce. When the dish arrived though, it looked exactly the same as the previous time, so of course I was expecting it to be salty again. But it wasn’t. Instead, it was completely bland! I ended up adding soy sauce in order to give the dish a modicum of flavor.
Fortunately, the Three Flavor Dumplings are very, very good. I ordered them steamed on my two visits and they came out perfect both times. The garlicky dipping sauce is a must and really adds the perfect savory accent. I would eat here for the dumplings alone.
The staff here is clearly inexperienced and lost, so expect long waits and confused service. Orders come out randomly and waters rarely get refilled. But I hope that they can eventually get their act together. Given the inconsistencies of the food and service, however, it’s unclear whether Li’s Kite will take flight or come crashing down to the ground.
2 ½ stars (rounded up because of the dumplings)

A bowl of Zha Jiang Noodles (Beijing Style) cost 9 bucks and most soup noodles are 9 or 10 dollars. We don’t have problem with the price if quality and service go with it. Well, they did not! I ordered a Zha Jiang Noodles (Beijing Style), not that impressive, and not filling either. They don’t even offer a small bowl of soup, which is a tradition of Zha Jiang Noodles. My wife order a Spicy seafood Chao Ma Noodle Soup. Too fishy, the seafood was not fresh so she cannot finish it. There aren’t that many choices on the menu; a few soup noodles, and dumplings! That’s it, really?
As you can see and some reviewers also mentioned, they did not even clean up Ko Ko’s stuff. Some of the old tea with heavy dust from Ko Ko’s day are still on the shelf, nasty. This is our first time, and the last time! Some restaurants are destine to fail. This is one of them. You just know, the minute you walked in.

Did these people just move here from Nor Cal?
Because it sure seems like they did. The service was just confusing and bad.
WHAT ASIAN PLACE RUNS OUT OF RICE?! I will explain later.
I came here, because I didn’t realize that Koko’s was closed :(They didn’t change ANYTHING inside. They even kept Koko’s drink menu. They should have kept the guy who worked there that made drinks and spoke English, because the girl that they have there now doesn’t speak a word of English…
So I order a Lemon Tea and my friend wants to try their minced beef rice. Lemon Tea just turned out to be pre-​brewed (most likely from powder) black tea with 3 super thin lemon slices…
I got the minced beef rice, and I asked for no onions, no garlic, easy oil… And guess what was there as my friend opened the take out box? That’s right. Onions. He managed to eat a spoonful without noticing the onions, but the dish smelled like onions and was absolutely bland. I asked them to re-​make it. They said ok. I waited for 10 minutes, then I asked what was taking so long… Apparently they ran out of rice and were making a new batch. Without warning me. No. Just no. At this point I asked to get my money back and left.

We’ve been here twice and followed Angela S advice, which was to follow Steve S advice and ordered Zha Jiang Noodles (Beijing Style) and the dumplings.
We tried the dumplings in boiled style and pan-​fried style and both tasted great. We tried shrimp & beef AND beef dumplings and the kids prefer just beef while the adults preferred the one with the shrimp.
We brought our friends here too and they loved their noodles as it’s very QQ (chewy) and tastes freshly hand-​made. Portion sizes are a bit small which makes this place pricey.
Service is slow but friendly.
I would still recommend this place and will be coming back. It’s much better than Koko’s Café.

Ordered the Three Flavor Dumplings after reading Steve’s review and tip. I’m no dumpling expert, but I do enjoy eating them! I had a craving for some dumplings so I decided to to-​go some dumplings on my way to school! I’m so glad that I did!
The three flavors they give you are: pork, beef, and fish. They come with this delicious soy sauce that really complimented the dumplings well! They were nice and hot when I got them. I wasted no time devouring them in my car before class. Yes, I ate them in my car because the smell was killing me!
Next time I plan to try the black bean noodles. Yummmmmmmy :)

So it looks like this place replaced the old Koko Café with a mix soup/​dry noodles, dumplings and clay pot dishes. I’m not sure why they’re serving bibimbap at a «chinese» restaurant.
Anyway the décor has been replaced with these kites but the tables and everything else is pretty much the same. Even the table layout is exactly the same as before from Koko.
Anyhow how is the food now? We ordered a range of dry noodles, the soup noodle to rice dishes to sample.
Special item: Beef egg rice — This is like your typical HK style gravy style dish. However, the execution on this one was pretty mediocre. The rice was definitely very hard (not enough water), the beef was overcooked, and the scrambled egg isn’t your typical runny style like you’d expect from this type of dish. If you’ve ever had this dish at Tasty or Garden Café you know what i’m talking about with the consistency and flavor. Overall ²⁄₅ on taste and value.
Zha Jiang Noodles — Yes you get your selection of meat ranging from Beef, pork, vegetables or seafood for an additional $ 1. The black bean sauce here is pretty standard. The flavor however is abit on the watered down side but likely because they’ve way overcooked the noodles that they’ve become soggy instead of chewy. Overall 3.5÷5 on taste and value
Beijing style Zha Jiang Noodles — Like the black bean version this one is served with your choice of meat, veggies or seafood. This one however is served on a plate so you get to mix in your own ingredients. However the sauce on this one is definitely much less since you’re given the sauce mixed inside of a small rice bowl. The flavor there again is abit on the bland side since the soggy noodles dilute the overall flavor from the sauce. If you must pick i’d go with the black bean sauce version if you want more flavor. Overall ³⁄₅ overall on taste and value
Pork Belly Noodle Soup — This dish is slightly spicy and served with big chunks of pork belly and bacon slices. Altho the portion size of noodles itself is on the smaller side, as my coworker said, compared to what you get in your dry noodles. The pork itself was tender and reminds you of beef noodle soup style broth. Overall 3.5÷5 on taste and value
Beef bibimbap — Again we have no idea why they’re serving a korean dish here… however this clay pot is served with brown rice instead of white. The beef itself was pretty well marinated and the bibimbap sauce on you put on top pretty much makes everything taste pretty good. This one is also served with a small bowl of egg drop soup and random pickled cabbages. Overall 3.5÷5 on taste and value.
The service was ok overall as well and the food quality is pretty similar to what it was at Koko Café previously. Although it seems like they’re going for a more Taiwanese style instead of HK style menu. The prices are pretty reasonable, but for flavor wise i’d probably go next door i-​tea café for more authentic TW food or Tasty down the street for HK cuisine…

My brother was taking me to one of his favorite place Koko’s Café. We sat down and he immediately noticed the interior had changed. When the waitress gave us our menu he mentioned to her that they changed the menu. She didn’t respond back. That’s when I noticed the menu said Li’s Kite not Koko’s. The sign outside still said Koko’s but new management and food had been introduced. We decided to stay anyways, the menu had some good items that peeked our interest.
As the new name implied, they used several kites as decoration inside. A couple of flat screen at opposite ends of the room played a Chinese program and a sporting event. Booths along the wall and tables in the center.
To the food. A mixture of Chinese noodle place (front of menu) and Korean Bibimbaps (back of menu). They also have boba drinks and shave ice items.
Here’s the rundown:
Three Flavor Dumplings — it came out hot with a soy dipping sauce. The taste was excellent. That dipping sauce is liquid gold, highlighting and elevating the dumplings taste.
Zha Jiang Noodle Soup (Black Bean) — you have your choice of meat and we chose beef. Their is a reason it’s number one on their menu, it’s very good. Deep flavor and delicious.
Beijing Style Zha Jiang Noodle (Yellow Bean) — you also had your choice of meat and we chose pork for this one. This was a dry noodle dish (no soup). Noodles and it’s components came separately. Pork sauce, egg and vegetable components had to be mixed together. The resulting mixture was a hit. I like the construction on this dish and the taste. Different from the noodle soup version on this dish but equally satisfying.
Pork Belly Noodle Soup — the broth was super flavorful. The pork belly was just delicious. Yum yum yum!
I also got a red bean boba drink (forgot the name, sorry) it was just okay. The boba was on the chewy side, not the good chewy kind. I would pass on the boba next time.
Service was very good and helpful.
Pricing was reasonable.
This was a nice surprise (specially for my brother) but it turned out good.
I’ll definitely be back.