Bamboodles

Came here with some coworkers. First of all this place is in a strip mall with parking that is tough to find. Carpool if you can.
You walk in and it’s bamboo land. If you are lucky enough you can watch them prepare the noodles through the glass. I was told they do this at about 1100 hrs. Unfortunately when we arrived all we saw was the finished product.
This place is known for the noodles. Three kinds in fact. The pressing of the dough with bamboo gives it an extra chewy consistency. You do notice the difference.
I had the green tea sliced pork noodles, one of their signature dishes. Rich flavorful broth with tender pork pieces that literally melt in your mouth. Also tried the sopapillas. Light, soft, and warm with a generous drizzle of glaze.
Worth another trip for me.
My only complaint? The service. The waitstaff kept forgetting about us when we made a request and they were not even busy. One waiter kept on getting our orders mixed up throughout our visit. It got to the point where we offered to write it down for him. Another waiter was really unsteady at delivering orders to the point where you could hear the bowls shaking against the plate. Now having a hot bowl of noodles fall on you is not a pleasant experience. We had to shuffle to the left and right whenever he brought our orders.
They only prepare a certain amount of noodles each day. If they run out they will not make more until the following day.
Forgot to mention to any Koreans that come here. They have jia jiang mein, but it’s not the «jia jiang mein» that Koreans are used to. In fact it’s completely different sauce. I know Korean style jia jiang and this wasn’t it.

This place has an «A» health rating! I like the noodles here because it has that slight elastic bounce when you bite into it. The chewiness comes from the special process of smooshing the dough repeatedly with a giant bamboo pole.
All the dishes we had for dinner was very good but if I had to rank them it would be the cold noodle with green tea pork, spicy beef noodle soup, spicy wonton, the spicy house dumplings and then the sopapillas for dessert. I don’t know how sopapillas ended up on the menu because it’s South American but I’m not going to complain because they were light, fluffy and not too sweet, a good finish to the dinner.
The cold noodle with green tea pork was the best, because of the wasabi sauce. The sauce isn’t sinus clearing hot but is unmistakably wasabi and very refreshing. The noodles they use in this dish is the green spinach one, which is the best served out of all the varieties served at Bamboodles. The spicy beef noodle soup wasn’t too spicy and very comforting to eat, one of the best things to eat during winter time. All the spices in the soup is perfectly balanced and just reminds me of home cooked soup, the beef is tender and just just melts, not tough and stringy like other beef noodles I have tried. The spicy dumplings are so good, thin skinned and soft, the real magic to this dish is in the awesomesauce, I can’t pin point what’s in it but the spicy/​tangy/​sweet combo makes me want to dip everything in it. The house dumplings were okay, not a fan of the thicker skin on them and kinda seemed to stick to your teeth a little.
Okay now onto the main reason why I HAVE to write a review for this place, the best service by the best waitress in the world, Irene! If you come here and get served by her you will know I am not exaggerating. The service I experienced here was better what I have received at fancy-​smancy restaurants. Maybe it was because I went with a couple of regulars to this place? but when taking drink orders she remembered my friend’s preferred drinks, but not only that but the specifics of how they liked less condensed milk and the amount of ice in their milk tea! O_​O amazing. Then after initially ordering honey chrysanthemum tea and then deciding that I wanted milk tea instead half-​way, she switched my drink order free and without any fuss. The drinks here are good tasting and have complimentary refills! Phoenix in comparison doesn’t provide refills and charges $ 3 a glass. Irene gave expert recommendations in ordering dishes, was great at small talk and never rushed us in our orders even though we spent a long time deciding what to get. The best is her knowledge of dishes served, a smart and witty woman whoever is the husband of this woman is one lucky guy! =p If you haven’t tried this place out, you need to do so immediately, and see why Bamboodles is on LA Weekly, Chowhound, Zagat and yes… Unilocal.
Quick Tip: Parking sucks so if no spaces are available just park in the CVS lot across the street. Also if crunched on time Bamboodles does curbside service.

This is a decent place. My second time there. The older Chinese man up front works his tail off making noodles. I think working next to the window for customers to see forces him to work harder. I enjoy the wonton dish that had it’s own Bamboodle sauce over it. It was really good! and the thin wonton skin made a difference. The pork noodle soup is quite tasty even without it being spicy. Maybe only because the noodles are homemade and the old man was working so hard that I like it more? :)
One thing that bothered me the most was the service in the beginning. I could only assume the waiter was a newbie, and didn’t really know what was up. We waited a hella long time for him to take our orders. Overall, it’s good. It’s a good alternative to Viet Phở, and Japanese Ramen.

I only get the dan dan noodle mein to go and it’s sooo good. It’s perfect, with peanuts, and spicy ground meat in a chili oil (too much of this but just don’t eat all of it) and their self-​made noodles.
It’s soooo delicious, especially all mixed up. The jia jiang mein is good too. Ask about deals, they had a buy 1 get 2^nd same dish $ 1 deal M-​Thurs

Considering there are literally thousands of noodle shops in the SGV, it takes something epic to stand out and despite it’s best effort, Bamboodles sits squarely in the middle of the pack.
The menu is rather eclectic for a noodle house, lots of different combinations and an interesting predilection for limiting the amount of orders available for some items per day. Can’t remember ever seeing that before, for instance the beef noodle soup is limited to 50 servings per day. Hmmm, seriously? very odd.
The big selling point here are the handmade noodles, which apparently you can watch being made behind the big glass case if you come at the right time. While I’m sure that’s quite entertaining?, and I’m not an authority on fine noodle dining, I can say there are better versions around town. We tried an assortment of plates, mostly those recommended by Unilocal members and the exceptionally nice waitress who helped us.
Like a number of dishes here, my first bite of Spicy Wontons was initially pleasant but ultimately unsatisfying. It’s not particularly spicy, but it does have a minor kick. It’s also oddly oily and the wontons themselves were small and only moderately tasty.
The Spicy noodles plate wasn’t really too spicy either, and the plate is oddly dull and flat overall. The noodles stand out in this dish, possibly because the rest of the dish is so uneventful.
Fried Chicken was much better, rather like popcorn chicken with five spices. It was the most successful of all the dishes and almost worth returning for.
The signature dish is Green Tea Pork Noodle soup and it’s good and filling. I suppose if you’re going to do something well, it should be the plate you’re known for. Sadly, my favorite dish was mostly a disaster here. Spicy Beef Noodle Soup with very little actual beef and mostly the tendons and other oddities. Don’t get me wrong, I really like all the tendons and such, but I also like a fair amount of good quality meat cuts in the soup and they were non existent. Even the broth was forgettable, although true to it’s name it was quite spicy.
Overall, some plates are interesting, some are good and some are nondescript but I have to admit that nothing particularly rocked by boat to the point I’d return and fight through the awful parking lot where people park behind in spots that aren’t actually parking spaces and making it almost impossible to back out and leave. The awful waiters mentioned periodically thankfully weren’t on call today, and the girls working were really nice. They brought crayons and mango pudding for my daughter, so they personally get an extra star for that extra mile.
Other than that mostly I feel a little bamboozled by Bamboodles.
Best Plates: Green Tea Pork Noodle Soup, Fried Chicken
Food — B
Ambience — B
Service — A
Value — A–

Came here in search for some good spicy wontons and also to try the noodles.
Ordered two appetizers:
Spicy wontons — I rate this a 3 star not enough filling in my opinion
Spicy Chicken — 4 stars, a good kick of spiciness and a good addition to the noodles we ordered.
Main:
Beef stew noodle
and
Ja Ja Mein — the minced pork with noodles dry with crushed peanut.
Both noodles were good but I have to pick the beef stew noodle over the minced pork.

We came here again today and we tried a couple of dishes. Unfortunately, we didn’t get what we came here for… the sopalitos? Fried puff dough with condensed milk and powdered sugar. It runs out early. They plan on increasing the the number of servings in the future. I hope so!
The spicy wontons were yummy! The spicy sauce coupled with green onion and sauteed garlic makes it super yummy. It’s definitely their best thing there!
We also tried their cold noodles with bean sprout, peanuts, and pork. To me, that was ok. My sister enjoyed it. I’m not a big fan of cold noodles. I thought the meat was too salty and the noodle was a bit dry since it didn’t come with any sauce. I recommend adding some spicy oil and drinking water.
I also tried their HK style milk tea. It was a bit herby or strong for me. My sister said it was better last time she had it.
Customer service is very good. They were so nice and accommodating!
As before, $ 1 extra for one of the same dish. They also have specials for each day of the week for lower prices.

Verdict after trying Bamboodles today: loooooooved it!
The owner was super nice (*gasp*…I know) and they served great food!
Bonus: if you buy two of the same noodles, the second order is only $ 1.

A very clean hole in the wall I must say. The spicy wontons were pretty good. (Great sauce). The drinks are refillable so more Bang for your buck. I had the honey chrysanthemum and it was ok. It was kind of watered down. I think the lemon tea tastes pretty good though.
The spicy beef noodle is my favorite. Spicy and tons of meat inside. Great flavors and noodles made and cooked to perfection. The broth was also very delicious!
I tried the Green Tea Pork Noodle. Very simple and refreshing. Not a lot of meat and things but ok. A little small for the portion if your hungry in my opinion.
I didnt’ get to try the fried dessert yet. HOpefully next time. I’m definitely coming back!
Tip: They have a promo where if you order 2 of the same noodle item, the 2^nd one is only $ 1. Totally worth it!

These noodles are legit. I don’t think you can get this type of noodles anywhere in the USA. (that I know of)
Not sure why this place isn’t more popular. Prices are very reasonable and fresh noodles make it worthwhile.
If you’re into noodle dishes, check it out.

So I just went again with my whole family tonight and the food was great as usual. The wontons were so great. We had all the different wonton offerings they had on their menu. The sweetened green tea is so good here!
One important thing I want to emphasize in this update is that the service is EXCELLENT.
In one of the appetizer dishes we found a piece of metal scrub bit that was leftover from washing the plate. We told the waiter about it and not only did he apologize and fess up to it. We received 10% off our order along with $ 10 off our next order by certificate coupon. Talk about caring for their customers. Thanks for that and the food!
Will be back again soon!

Front signs were not lit up so I first drove by the place, completely missing it. It is located in that plaza on the corner of New and Valley, directly across from AzN Compton hang out joint aka JR’s Café.
WTF were we thinking? For a party of 3, we ordered enough to feed a Vietcong platoon. Anyhow, we gave this place a shot because of the positive Unilocal reviews. We had to see for ourselves.
Spicy Wontons — YES! Order this. Our waitress highly recommended it, she says it’s her favorite. Well she wasn’t wrong, these little wontons are scrumptious. Great app to share.
Pan Fried Dumplings & Steamed Dumplings — two seperate orders but when you love this stuff, you don’t care, you just order it. Not sure if it’s Din Tai Fung’s calibre but still tasty. Nice sized and decent fillings. Note: aka — pot stickers for you ummm… Pick Up Stix types.
Napa Cabbage w Garlic — are you secretly a Vampire or think you’re one because you’re in love with Mr. Tw@tlight, Edward? If you are, this dish will turn you into dust. The garlic is gangsta & overpowering. Otherwise, a good option to take into consideration when asking, «What type of greens should we get?»
Green Tea Noodles with Pork served cold — once again, a huge hint of garlic present and post non-​make out breath (perfect if you’re training dragons). However, if you’re into cold noodles, you may like this. They top it off with fresh sprouts, corn, and wasabi to add that extra kick.
Our last dish (didn’t I tell you we over ordered?), forgot the name but it consisted of noodles with that red chili soup base and beef. It’s pretty popular among Chinese/​Taiwanese noodles joints. This was probably their weakest link on our table for the night. It was just bland.
When we went, they had this special:
Order any noodles dish, get a second (identical) noodles dish for $ 1. We did exactly that. We ordered the Green Tea noodles plus one for togo. They don’t mind if you do just that, they even suggested it! So if you want to bring something home, that’s a great penny pinching take out right there.
In conclusion, not too shabby and I may return. My standards aren’t too high when I eat this type of simple Chinese food so I may be easily pleased. Have that Listerine ready to go when you get home after eating here or you may not make it past second base!

OMG the best spicy wontons!!! i just found out about them and omg soooo sooo sooo good! best wontons ever!
And their $ 1 deals are back! as of last week anyways! Tried their shrimp lo mein, good amount of shrimp. green tea pork noodle soup is good and simple, not a strong flavour of tea. spinach noodles are not worth it i thick. beef noodle soup is really good!
my favourites are hands down spicy wonton, spicy beef noodle and green onion chicken lo mein.

those of you that whined and complained about poor service need to GET A CLUE! this is a CHINESE restaurant, for pete’s sake. If you want 4-​star treatment go to a freakin’ Italian ristorante or The Patina.
Never expect good service at a Chinese joint and you won’t be disappointed. Follow my example — if you want extra spoons or bowls or napkins, just grab them yourself from the next empty table. DO NOT bother with the waiters.

I don’t care what everyone else says. This is the best noodles I’ve ever had in California.
JONASAPPROVED!

3.5 stars.
No more $ 1 noodle special. This time, the $ 1 special was a small serving of deep fried chicken thigh coated with crispy seasonings. It was served piping hot and it was tasty. They also had a small cup of mango pudding for $ 1. I thought it was okay, but dense and artificial tasting. My friend thought it was real mango and she enjoyed it! LOL.
We ended up getting 3 combo platters for roughly $ 8 each. The combos include a main dish, a side dish, and a drink. First combo was green tea noodles with pork. I couldn’t taste the green tea. The noodles were slightly chewy and the broth was lightly seasoned. Pork was a bit dry. Second dish was spicy noodles (Ja-​jia-​mien) with sauce. I thought it was a bit too spicy, but then again, I’m a spicy wimp. It had a small amount of ground beef mixed in it. I wouldn’t get this dish again. The best dish was the pork/​green onion dumplings. The skin was tender and it was cooked right. However, it was very heavy on the green onions. It could have used more meat instead. I’m being quite picky here because I’ve eaten at places with super fantastic noodles.
The side dishes were small plates of pickled potatoes with seaweed or pickled bean sprouts. These items had just the right amount of spicy/​tangy flavor. Surprisingly, the drinks were not too shabby! We all got milk tea and it had a nice flowery tea aroma.
The service was good and there was even the noodle-​making guy in the back to keep us entertained. Tables/​benches were fairly clean and the interior was decorated with a bamboo theme. Parking is somewhat hard to find. We parked across the street in the 168 Market parking lot. Prices are good. We tipped generously and it came out to $ 36 for our party of four, or roughly $ 9/​head.
Yes, this place uses MSG and yes, you will be thirsty afterward. I’d go back here if I was in the neighborhood, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

Came here once cause a friend said it was good. First, parking is not easy. Don’t know how any of the businesses in this plaza stay in business.
I had the wonton noodle soup and the $ 1 mango pudding. The wonton’s was okay. It had some vegetable inside that I’m not use to. The broth was okay too. The mango pudding I got was old.

The first time I came here, we arrived about an hour before closing, so they had already ran out of the Beijing zhajiang mien. I decided to go for the Combo C, which also included a side dish (choose 1 out of 3) and a drink; the price was pretty decent. The second time I came here I got the Beijing zhajiang mien. I really like the quality of their noodles; some of the noodle dishes have hand-​made noodles.

During my last visit to San Gabriel, I ate at Yung Ho, which is located next to Bamboodles. I made a mental note to try Bamboodles out because they make «jook sing mein» and looked reasonably priced. I’m really glad I tried this place out because their food is pretty good!
Of course my group and I got the $ 1 pork chop special (three of them to be exact) in addition to their shrimp wonton noodle soup, fish ball noodle soup, spicy beef noodle soup, jellyfish appetizer, garlic spinach dish, iced tea, and HK style milk tea. Everything was really good, but be warned about the shrimp wonton noodles. Since it’s a «special» for $ 2.95, you won’t get a huge serving. In fact, the bowl it came in was ½ the size of the regularly priced spicy beef noodles. That was fine since it meant we had more room in our stomachs to try other things. Out bill came out to be $ 37 for 4 people, which is a bit much if you are looking for SUPER cheap eats, but since we weren’t we felt OK about it.
Overall, I think Bamboodles is a pretty decent restaurant to try out. The décor isn’t fancy or anything, but you will definitely feel comfortable in their booths. The service was so-​so; our waitress seemed really bored or annoyed the entire time she served us. Parking can be problematic since the shared lot is pretty small and you have to do a bit of dodging of traffic to actually get into the lot (if you are coming from the west).

One dish wonder — green tea soup noodles with pork, or whatever it’s called.
The two waiters there were awful. The waitress was very friendly, nice.
Sauce served with dumplings: soy sauce. Me: oh, there’s no vinegar in it? Waitress: no, some people don’t like vinegar, but you can add the vinegar that’s on the table. It’s red vinegar. And that is all wrong. Should be white vinegar for the dipping of dumplings.
I knew the wonton noodle soup would not be very good, and it wasn’t. Of course those bamboo noodles are all wrong for this dish. At least the wontons were small. But the wrappers were all soggy, and they were drowned in sesame oil. The broth had almost no flavor. And there was nothing green in there, no choi sum, not even scallions. Me: oh, this doesn’t come with any veggies? Waitress: no, some people don’t like veggies. Huh?
Well she can’t help it if her workplace doesn’t know how to properly serve Chinese food.