Very friendly staff, wasn't busy when I came in to place a take out order, my kids were craving the mini beef buns and they were delicious! And took home stir fried chicken noodle for dinner. Glad to find this place as a stop on my way home
Greg Hao
If You like noodles, dumplings, or bing (Chinese flatbreads), this place is a must visit. Unlike many other restaurants who claim to specialize in these sorts of dishes, 101 Noodle Express actually uses different types of doughs for different dishes. This means that the texture and mouth feel of a machine cut noodle will be different than that of a hand pulled noodle, and believe me, the difference is noticeable. The variety of dumplings is also quite remarkable. On this most recent visit we ordered the vegetarian dumplings as well as the ground pork dumplings; both were very good but I give a slight edge to the filling of the vegetarian one.Also, they now accept credit cards.
Yvon T.
Love this place. The food comes out so quick. My favorite to get is the spicy beef noodles with handmade noodles, beef rolls, soup dumplings and hot and sour soup. The ladies are always super nice there REMEMBER TO BRING CASH THOUGH.
Chelsea Y.
Love the customer service and great food here! Please try their xiao long bao (soup dumplings), pan fried shrimp and pumpkin dumplings, Dan Dan noodles, and beef rolls! Those are the items I always come back to when I come here. Even my friends I bring here all agree that they're so delicious Do note that it is cash only but I believe they do Venmo? I forget bc I always have cash when going here.
Sandy A.
I really wanted to like this place but unfortunately even with a diverse menu and many vegetarian options all of the dishes arrived greasy which ended up making all of our stomachs not feel well afterwards. Besides that we ordered two plates of bok choy, one of the plates had no bugs in it but unfortunately the other plate was full of little black bugs. The vegetarian pan fried dumplings were really well fried and the skin was nice but the filling was flavorless. The only thing great about this place was the service, the lady that was helping us was so nice and so funny. I wish the food could've lived up to her personality.
Steve Chen
This place was good many years ago. Today's meal was one of the most disappointing I've had in a long time. Dry overcooked chicken, pork that had a stink to it. It seems as if the owner or chef has changed. Better off going to any other Chinese place in the area. Cash only.
Kathy H.
Very disappointed in my take-out experience here the second time I've been. I was helped and there were about 5 parties seated at the restaurant. 2 parties of which dined in but they came after I had already ordered. Both parties of which had gotten their full meal prior to me receiving mine, as I am still waiting typing this. Obviously they don't come out with the orders in chronological order to when it is placed. They have no prioritization to the take-out orders compared to dine-in. I had also tipped, which I now regret. If I ever do come back, which is very unlikely, I will not be tipping.
Jones
Beef roll is excellent, shrimp dumpling ok, pineapple fried rice not good. Cash or Venmo only
Linh C.
We were in the area and wanted to have lunch before heading to the movies. We were set on having some noodles and/or dumplings. It was easy to pick from the dozens of options in Irvine. We chose 101 Noodle Express located in the Orange Tree plaza shared with 99 Ranch Market. Upon arriving, we were seated right away since the lunch rush was over. The ladies that work here are very attentive and nice. We ordered two dishes to share: spare ribs noodles and the beef roll. We normally go with the spicy beef noodle soup but decided to go with a lighter broth. So we went with the spare rib noodles with hand torn noodles. The noodles had the perfect chewy texture. The broth was creamy and flavorful. My fave was the beef roll. One of the best versions that I have tried. The tender slices of beef with cilantro and green onions wrapped inside a semi-crispy pancake. How can simple ingredients create such a delicious dish?! I can see why this is the most popular item. So glad we decided to come here for a quick bite. They have two other locations in the SGV. We totally forgot that it's cash only. Good thing, they also accept payments through Venmo.
Yule S.
What a coincidence, we ate cilantro at the International I Hate Corianda Day, which is yesterday, Feb 23, 2022. How interesting! The Orange Tree Plaza, Irvine is in the middle of La Jolla and Pasadena, one end is my daughter's lab and another is our home. My daughter finishes her lab around 6:20 pm every Monday and Wednesday, and my responsibility is to drive her back and pick up a spot to have some eating for supper. I choose the plaza, the pity is that the plaza is dark and looks so unpopular. Several restaurants close at 8 pm and even this one closes at 8:30 pm. We arrived about 7:30 pm and there was no customer inside. We quickly ordered Pork Roll and Fish Ball. Waited around 20 minutes, the food was ready. This was my first time having such a thick pancake rolled with meat, and it was delicious. The roll had been cut into 6 pcs and stuffed with pulling sliced pork mixed with cilantro. My daughter used to refuse the cilantro, she will pick the leaves off even it was just a little for garnish. The fish ball soup was also good, hot, and umami, which was definitely not come from MSG. The bowl contained 8 soft fish balls and the broth is milky, also had bamboo slices, fungus, and Boy Choy chops in the soup. The senior waitress is Korean-born Chinese and speaks Mandarin well even she apologized for it. BTW, the Chinese name of the restaurant literally means The Taste from Shandong Province. Shandong Province is famous for its food made from wheat flour, the restaurant is worth the name. I will give 5-star to this restaurant, 4 to the food and service, 1 to the cilantro.
This place is known for their beef rolls and the recognition is well deserved. This is the best place for comfort food and it's one of those worth it hole in the walls. Remember to bring cash though.
shirley w.
Came here for lunch a few weeks during the week, no wait. The food was decent, the noodles is kinda oily... their beef rolls are still pretty good! However their price went up a lot, 4 people cost almost $100 for lunch, super surprised!
Elaine H.
We ordered two beef noodle soup to go. Food is incredibly bland. Noodle and soup ratio is 2:1, which is insane. It's like they have completely given up running a restaurant. Won't come back again.
Krys T.
Food here is okay. I wasn't blown away. I was craving dumplings so I was looking forward to dining here. I'm on a no meat diet for a few months, so I was limited to ordering shrimp or crab dumplings. They ran out of all kinds of seafood dumplings so I couldn't try very many things. I had their vegetarian noodles and vegetarian pancake. It didn't come with any sauce so I dipped it in chili oil and soy sauce. Nothing extraordinarily special about it. Perhaps I'll give this place another try when I'm off my no meat diet. Otherwise I can't give this place more than 3 stars based on what I was able to order. The restaurant was near empty, probably because the corona virus is scaring people from eating at restaurants. Service was average.
Firew A.
Zero respect for the customers, We ordered take away, that said 20 mins but they will make you wait after you paid. That actually wait until you pay and make you wait. Totally irresponsible.
Very friendly staff, wasn't busy when I came in to place a take out order, my kids were craving the mini beef buns and they were delicious! And took home stir fried chicken noodle for dinner. Glad to find this place as a stop on my way home
If You like noodles, dumplings, or bing (Chinese flatbreads), this place is a must visit. Unlike many other restaurants who claim to specialize in these sorts of dishes, 101 Noodle Express actually uses different types of doughs for different dishes. This means that the texture and mouth feel of a machine cut noodle will be different than that of a hand pulled noodle, and believe me, the difference is noticeable. The variety of dumplings is also quite remarkable. On this most recent visit we ordered the vegetarian dumplings as well as the ground pork dumplings; both were very good but I give a slight edge to the filling of the vegetarian one.Also, they now accept credit cards.
Love this place. The food comes out so quick. My favorite to get is the spicy beef noodles with handmade noodles, beef rolls, soup dumplings and hot and sour soup. The ladies are always super nice there REMEMBER TO BRING CASH THOUGH.
Love the customer service and great food here! Please try their xiao long bao (soup dumplings), pan fried shrimp and pumpkin dumplings, Dan Dan noodles, and beef rolls! Those are the items I always come back to when I come here. Even my friends I bring here all agree that they're so delicious Do note that it is cash only but I believe they do Venmo? I forget bc I always have cash when going here.
I really wanted to like this place but unfortunately even with a diverse menu and many vegetarian options all of the dishes arrived greasy which ended up making all of our stomachs not feel well afterwards. Besides that we ordered two plates of bok choy, one of the plates had no bugs in it but unfortunately the other plate was full of little black bugs. The vegetarian pan fried dumplings were really well fried and the skin was nice but the filling was flavorless. The only thing great about this place was the service, the lady that was helping us was so nice and so funny. I wish the food could've lived up to her personality.
This place was good many years ago. Today's meal was one of the most disappointing I've had in a long time. Dry overcooked chicken, pork that had a stink to it. It seems as if the owner or chef has changed. Better off going to any other Chinese place in the area. Cash only.
Very disappointed in my take-out experience here the second time I've been. I was helped and there were about 5 parties seated at the restaurant. 2 parties of which dined in but they came after I had already ordered. Both parties of which had gotten their full meal prior to me receiving mine, as I am still waiting typing this. Obviously they don't come out with the orders in chronological order to when it is placed. They have no prioritization to the take-out orders compared to dine-in. I had also tipped, which I now regret. If I ever do come back, which is very unlikely, I will not be tipping.
Beef roll is excellent, shrimp dumpling ok, pineapple fried rice not good. Cash or Venmo only
We were in the area and wanted to have lunch before heading to the movies. We were set on having some noodles and/or dumplings. It was easy to pick from the dozens of options in Irvine. We chose 101 Noodle Express located in the Orange Tree plaza shared with 99 Ranch Market. Upon arriving, we were seated right away since the lunch rush was over. The ladies that work here are very attentive and nice. We ordered two dishes to share: spare ribs noodles and the beef roll. We normally go with the spicy beef noodle soup but decided to go with a lighter broth. So we went with the spare rib noodles with hand torn noodles. The noodles had the perfect chewy texture. The broth was creamy and flavorful. My fave was the beef roll. One of the best versions that I have tried. The tender slices of beef with cilantro and green onions wrapped inside a semi-crispy pancake. How can simple ingredients create such a delicious dish?! I can see why this is the most popular item. So glad we decided to come here for a quick bite. They have two other locations in the SGV. We totally forgot that it's cash only. Good thing, they also accept payments through Venmo.
What a coincidence, we ate cilantro at the International I Hate Corianda Day, which is yesterday, Feb 23, 2022. How interesting! The Orange Tree Plaza, Irvine is in the middle of La Jolla and Pasadena, one end is my daughter's lab and another is our home. My daughter finishes her lab around 6:20 pm every Monday and Wednesday, and my responsibility is to drive her back and pick up a spot to have some eating for supper. I choose the plaza, the pity is that the plaza is dark and looks so unpopular. Several restaurants close at 8 pm and even this one closes at 8:30 pm. We arrived about 7:30 pm and there was no customer inside. We quickly ordered Pork Roll and Fish Ball. Waited around 20 minutes, the food was ready. This was my first time having such a thick pancake rolled with meat, and it was delicious. The roll had been cut into 6 pcs and stuffed with pulling sliced pork mixed with cilantro. My daughter used to refuse the cilantro, she will pick the leaves off even it was just a little for garnish. The fish ball soup was also good, hot, and umami, which was definitely not come from MSG. The bowl contained 8 soft fish balls and the broth is milky, also had bamboo slices, fungus, and Boy Choy chops in the soup. The senior waitress is Korean-born Chinese and speaks Mandarin well even she apologized for it. BTW, the Chinese name of the restaurant literally means The Taste from Shandong Province. Shandong Province is famous for its food made from wheat flour, the restaurant is worth the name. I will give 5-star to this restaurant, 4 to the food and service, 1 to the cilantro.
Restaurantji Recommends
This place is known for their beef rolls and the recognition is well deserved. This is the best place for comfort food and it's one of those worth it hole in the walls. Remember to bring cash though.
Came here for lunch a few weeks during the week, no wait. The food was decent, the noodles is kinda oily... their beef rolls are still pretty good! However their price went up a lot, 4 people cost almost $100 for lunch, super surprised!
We ordered two beef noodle soup to go. Food is incredibly bland. Noodle and soup ratio is 2:1, which is insane. It's like they have completely given up running a restaurant. Won't come back again.
Food here is okay. I wasn't blown away. I was craving dumplings so I was looking forward to dining here. I'm on a no meat diet for a few months, so I was limited to ordering shrimp or crab dumplings. They ran out of all kinds of seafood dumplings so I couldn't try very many things. I had their vegetarian noodles and vegetarian pancake. It didn't come with any sauce so I dipped it in chili oil and soy sauce. Nothing extraordinarily special about it. Perhaps I'll give this place another try when I'm off my no meat diet. Otherwise I can't give this place more than 3 stars based on what I was able to order. The restaurant was near empty, probably because the corona virus is scaring people from eating at restaurants. Service was average.
Zero respect for the customers, We ordered take away, that said 20 mins but they will make you wait after you paid. That actually wait until you pay and make you wait. Totally irresponsible.