Noodles near Lake Forest, CA

“The best vegan pho I’ve ever had.“

“I ordered for take out twice in two days. The tomato and brisket noodle soup was a bit sweet but tasty. I like that noodles were chewy just about the right texture. The brown sugar sticky rice dessert was crunchy on the outside and soft inside, which was great. I came back to order more food the second morning when it just opened. The cashier wasn’t there. The kitchen staff came to help me. They were friendly and apologetic and offered us water and extra food while we waited for our order. I liked popcorn chicken. The pan fried pork buns were juicy. Overall, the food and the experience were great. I’d come back to try more food.“

“Hidden gem for Thai food. The quiet and nondescript building doesn't bear witness to the quality of food served.
Very genuine food and polite servers who aim to please.
We shared the Pad See-Ew with Pork and Yellow Curry with Chicken and rice. We also ordered the rare Mango Sticky Rice.
This is highly recommended but save room for dessert. The meals are hearty and the mango and sticky rice are plentious.
Service is excellent and helpful.
The atmosphere is very authentic with the ongoing elephant theme throughout.“

“One of the most authentic and yummy XLB places. The waitlist can be a bit long during peak hours, but their system takes care of it. Services are fine too, just sometimes a bit monotone as they are very focused on their tasks. Simple and clean environment while we can also buy togo frozen XLB to steam at home. All their greens and veggies dishes are wonderful!“

“Delicious food! I highly recommend the filet mignon over fried rice. Excellent fried rice! Also, I am not usually into chicken nuggets but here they are extremely crunchy, juicy and the taste of the fried batter was addictive. Very casual basic atmosphere but do not be fooled!“

“honestly its one of the best spots in town and i keep coming back like alot, service is quick even when its packed which is every time im here. the broth has that deep richness you cant find everywhere, definately tastes like they put in the work not just tossing a bouillon cube in water. i've probably been like 20 times easily and I still order the same thing because why fix what isnt broken. only thing that bugs me is the parking situation, tommorrow when you come be prepared to hunt for a spot or park way out.

but the noodles and the meat portions are always on point so thats what matters in the end. like I said four stars because I love it but that parking lot stress keeps it from being perfect for me“

“Food is consistently great. Not many Thai restaurants have kanom jeen green curry on their menu. Kiddo and friends are particular about what they want in their food...thankful for their accomodation of omissions and additions and food still taste great 👍“

“Great ramen rice noodles soup 🍜“

“Went for dinner on a Wednesday night and the place was full. The restaurant was bright and not too loud. We had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table as a group of 3. Staff was courteous and very helpful. I had the coconut shrimp which was crunchy and delicious, followed by the chicken fried rice. I have to say this was one of the most flavorful fried rice I have had. I also tried the scallion pancake which was flaky and crunchy. My friends ordered the chive pork pan fried dumpling, which I tried and was not impressed. It was lacking in flavor in my opinion. I will definitely be back for the fried rice. Key tip...the front parking lot is small, so check the one behind the restaurant.“

“The best pork chop I have ever had! Great atmosphere and kind staffs too I will definitely visit again 👍🏼“

“Service is wonderful. Everyone is friendly. It’s like going to my Obason’s to have dinner. Everything about this place is authentically Okinawan. Oishī“

“Weekends are usually packed here so parking lot is always busy. Be patience and you can always find parking in the lot. Tonight they had someone filling the water for everyone. Food is always on point. Never had a bad experience. $40 for 2 of us. We got the spicy beef noodles soup with the flat noodles, 8 pieces of potstickers, cucumber salad, pickled mustard green and their marinated egg.“

“We have been going to Niko Niko for 10 years now. We love the restaurant and the community and the friends we made there I would definitely recommend this place, the food is amazing and the owners are very accommodating to the costumers needs. Love you Niko Niko family. My youngest daughter was so in love with their miso soup that they named an specific to go order with her name. “Christiana style”.“

“The place is quiet and not crowded for weekend lunch. The food was okay. We ordered the golden broth beef hotpot with extra blood. The taste was light. The flavor doesn’t get to the beef and beef was pretty plain. They put a lot of vermicelli in this pot so basically very little soup. The other dishes we got are cold dish cucumbers. It was fresh but the portion was small, as expected. Sliced Beef and Beef Offal in Chili Sauce was a lot of hot oil but the beef was very hard. The oil has a very strange taste to it. I had a lot of Sichuan food many places. I can’t describe this flavor, kind of not fresh but stale taste. I am surprised with the dish quality I got as the reviews are really good. The dessert of tofu pudding was good. But not to the extent that it’s super amazing. Overall 3-4 stars.“

“Craving some udon while we were passing through the area so we decided to stop here for a quick early dinner on a weekend. It was quiet and service was quick.

Set up like a Chipotle and Subway. You order your main dish and you move along to customize it by adding tempuras (extra fee), vegetables (extra fee), green onions, or tempura flakes.

The udon soup base and noodles was good. The tempura batter on my shrimp tempuras was too thick and not light and flaky. I wanted to add vegetables to my udon and wish they were cooked first or cooked with my soup. Dumping uncooked vegetables into my soup just cooled everything down right away.

There was a lot of seating inside and on their large outdoor patio. The place was very clean.“

“I have been eating here since 2002 while still in high school. First time ever eating Pho here. These 3 Viet guys from my classes introduced me to Pho at this place. Been going here whenever I’m craving Pho or Viet food in the Irvine area. The most flavorful Pho broth out of any Viet restaurant I’ve ever ate in California.“

“Really nice place with some yummy food! Especially the avocado volcano!!“

“Absolutely dee- lish! Would definitely go again.“

“Been a few times and the best I’ve there are the braised chicken noodle, beef roll and spicy beef noodle. The staff monitors the place like they are military trained. No chance you’ll have to ask for a refill, napkins, fork, etc. They are extremely polite as well. Would highly recommend.“

“This place was really good. We had a couple of the pork rice bowls and the portion of the meat was small. However, they ask you for your ID and card before you order (for context we say outside). The server said it was because we sat outside and wanted to avoid runners.
I would suggest maybe getting your customers to pay first if you are worried about that. I’m just a bit hesitant when I had to give my ID and credit card.“

“The service here is so nice and fast. You can’t beat the lunch special deals! ($10-13 for entree with soup and salad) I love coming here for lunch, I want to try all their deals haha. If I didn’t make it for the lunch specials I would definitely try one of their specialty rolls!“

“Very good food. Many choices on menu. Downside is they are very hard to get on phone. Also the hours they have posted online, even on this page, show “OPEN” Sunday, when we found out the hard way they are indeed NOT open. Please change your online presence to state correct days/hours. Including Yelp. This would be very helpful. Other than that, I give it “2 Thumbs up”.“

“after trying their location in south coast plaza, i had to try their irvine spectrum location!! luckily the hainan chicken rice and singaporean laksa weren’t sold out, and the hainan chicken rice was def the show-stealer. service was nice and the food was great!“

“The spring rolls are definitely worth it. Very, very large and easily worth the price. The meatball pho was lacking. While the broth and ingredients were fresh and tasted good, slicing up just one meatball for it is a cheapskate move. You should be quartering at least 3 meatballs for it to make it worthwhile. Before you ask, yes I know those are beef tendon meatballs and I know where to get them and how much they cost.“

“Ordering is a little confusing. There is a monitor that allows you the option of dine in or carryout. But then you need to go to front to pay before they make the order.

Food was ok. Yellow rice was a little dry, and the chicken thigh was tough and dry. Egg rolls were very good. People were very nice. Probably should have gotten the pho.“

“kindness. Moved to Irvine from the San Gabriel area. In comparison, the food here is delicious and the price is very reasonable. It feels cheap and the food tastes delicious. Of course, it may be that I am too hungry. Overall, I am very satisfied with this meal. Good reviews. Will come again.“

“I was invited to dine at Robata Wasa Irvine Spectrum. I came on a Saturday at 12PM/Lunch. We started with the spicy tuna crispy rice and yellowtail serrano signature sashimi - both incredibly delicious. The crispy rice had a good amount of spicy tuna on top, and we enjoyed both with a couple of mocktails. Next we ordered two specialty rolls, the hokkaido roll and surf and turf roll (which we were told would take some time to prepare - and we acknowledged that we were okay with this). The hokkaido roll came out first, it was delicious, then we were told the surf and turf would take a bit longer (20 minutes) as the chef needs to prep more for the roll. We ordered the Kureiji toro roll instead, when it came out we dug in, but noticed that there was a different flavor profile than we were expecting. There were ingredients inside the roll that did not match up with the description shown on the menu, so my friend inquired about it. We were told there were menu changes and there could be an error with the description. Sure enough the roll was the correct name, but made from completely different ingredients than listed - my friend ordered a california roll to supplement and keep the order simple. Overall, we enjoyed your visit, it's a gorgeous restaurant, the staff are very nice and welcoming, and everything tasted good and is plated nicely with the exception of the Keriji toro roll, which I we found to be slightly bitter due to the shishito pepper that is inside the roll - it looked to be charred on the outside but on the inside is still a little green/raw veggie, which is what caught my attention when I first tried it. I don't mind having to replace our item order or if there are mistakes/typos on the menu, but a) if the surf and turf roll we will need such an exorbitant amount of time to prepare, should keep it off the lunch menu or only provide during a specific time of day (as we were told the ingredients would need to be prepped to be ready for later in the day anyways (I am figuring for dinner time), it just wasn't ready for the time we were dining); and b) it seemed that it may already be a known that there was a typo or misprint on the menu, if that's the case the menu needs to be updated, a supplemental notice should be added or servers just mention what is actually in that particular sushi roll is not what's listed on the menu. As we ordered that roll because of the ingredients that were listed on the menu.“

“Food is really good :) is well located and prices are reasonable for the area“

“Whenever I get a craving for Thai this is my go to spot. The food is authentic delicious and Just plain beautiful. The prices are reasonable the portions are large. The atmosphere can be busy, but comforting and relaxing, like a coffeehouse. The hustle and bustle of people coming in doesn’t distract from the atmosphere. In fact, it adds to it. I have always judged a Thai restaurant by their Tom kha kai. The first time I had it here I knew I was in for some good Thai. I’ve been making Tom kha gai at home for years now I know how it’s done and the subtleties of the ingredients. I highly recommend this restaurant.“

“とても美味しいスープがお手頃なお値段でいただけます。“

“Delicious food, fun and inviting atmosphere, excellent service and the friendliest owners Key and his lovely wife Grace. Our local reliable go to.“

“Amazing food and wonderful customer service. They make you feel like family here! They have awesome Vietnamese dishes, and can get really creative with the menu. I've never had a PHO-RITTO before (Pho + Burrito) but it was AMAZING. Must try!“

“I’d rate Soba Izakaya Minami one of south OC’s best izakaya. Their small portion (Japanese tapas) are delicious and served very fast. Don’t forget to order the Orion beer draft if you’re a beer lover!“

“Food is really good :) is well located and prices are reasonable for the area“

“I love � fukada“

“A favorite restaurant for our friends and family. Food is always consistently good and the atmosphere is fun!!!“

“What is there to complain about? I always come by whenever I'm in the neighborhood. Still one of the few deals thats under $10 for an actual meal.Their Pork Cutlet Curry ($9.25+tax) is my go-to for its volume and the home-y feeling it gives you.The gentleman at the front gingerly took my order and my food came out ~10mins. Mind you, this was on a Tuesday afternoon (2pm)I prefer this locaction sometimes compared to its sister location in Costa Mesa. The choices here are limited, but you get the quiet and convenience.Tip: There's a parking in the back corner of the mall where you have direct access to the food court instead of parking and walking through the front. If you can find it...“

“This place is honestly the most DELICIOUS place I’ve gone too! Me and my partner go here so much cause it’s amazing!! The price is great for the quality and just a yummy meal🤭🙏🏻 THANK YOU LOC!!“

“Walked in and was greeted right away. Was asked for my order within a few minutes of sitting down. Food was brought out promptly. The large pho bowl was plenty, the flavor was great, the protein portions were generous. I was full when I left. The only area of improvement was that no one checked on me after food was brought out, which is not normal. No complaints, good local spot to frequent. Usually not too many people dining.“

“the best sushi🍣 and service we been going there for years 😃“

“Good authentic Chinese foods. We had sizzling seafood combo, house specials veggies (very fresh), sizzling beef very good, shrimps in lobster sauce. For 5 people is plenty. Services is fine. There's no wait time for seating at 4:20pm on Saturday.“

“Visiting for work from NYC for the week, needed a ramen fix.
Came across this spot on Google and it looked like exactly what I needed.. and after experiencing.. was truly IT. The Tonkotsu here is so creamy and delicious, wish I ordered 3 extra pieces of chashu instead of just 1, some of the best i've ever had.. ohh and the bamboo shoots and black garlic were such a great add.. Will 100% be back on my next work visit next month.. ALSO SHOUT THE TEAM HERE for all the recommendations, The Roobios tea was soo refreshing.“

“Clean store and tons of Asian products too“

“I've tried ramen all over California, other states, and even in Japan, but Santouka's spicy miso ramen still remains my favorite bowl of all time.

Perhaps my taste buds have been biased by nostalgia over the 8 years I've been coming to this location, but I still stand behind my opinion. There is something so unique about the flavor of the ramen here that I haven't really been able to find anywhere else. Other trendy ramen spots and their signature ramens start blending together in my mind, unlike Santouka.

Santouka offers simple, solid bowls of ramen. They don't claim to be the best, and they really shouldn't need to. Honestly, I don't even think it's the best ramen I've had in terms of quality objectively. But I still always find myself coming back.

I miss the cash-only days with the friendly, but no-nonsense, old lady at the front counter, but the ramen still tastes the exact same as I always remember it.

I also want to highlight that the Irvine location gives WAY more noodles compared to other Santouka locations (like Costa Mesa).“

“Amazing Thai food and excellent service! We ordered the Tom Yum Chicken, Thai-style Mushroom Fried Rice, and Mango Sticky Rice, and everything was absolutely delicious. The Tom Yum was flavorful with the perfect balance of spicy and sour, the fried rice was fragrant and well-seasoned, and the mango sticky rice was fresh, sweet, and the perfect way to end the meal. The staff was friendly and attentive, and the restaurant had a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Highly recommend, and we’ll definitely be back.“

“great place for fresh made soba and udon. excellent tempura.. Very attentive staff.. highly recommend for those who are noodle enthusiasts“

“Absolutely delicious food - def a hidden gem in Irvine. Flavors hit al dente and they're pretty delicious and nearly authentic - speaking from someone who's travelled to nearly all the provinces in China. The Taiwanese Chicken is really good - though it's more like Jiangnan-style food given its sweetness - and you can tell whoever's working behind the kitchen is a veteran. Despite the 4.0, this place's food is easily 4.5 or above.“

“I'm no expert in Korean cold noodles but I found them to be quite delicious. This restaurant is in the middle of an H-Mart food court so the area is crowded and the table cleanliness leaves something to be desired.

I felt indecisive between the 물냉면 (cold noodles) and the spicier 비빔냉면 (spicy cold noodles) so the cashier was kind enough to give me spice on the side to add. Thank you!

Overall, I was satisfied by the experience and would certainly recommend it to another!“

“One of my favorite places when I’m craving noodles or soup. Good food with big portions at a great price. I ate here last year and the service wasn’t very good and the place felt smaller, but when I visited this week, they’ve improved a lot. The two ladies serving were very friendly and attentive. The customer service was so much better this time, and I’ll definitely be back. I recommend ordering the wontons in chili sauce, braised pork with sticky brown sauce, and braised beef noodles everything was delicious. Totally worth it!“

“I got spicy ramen (the last one in the list) and it was pretty good. The portions are adequate, I didn’t feel like I was gonna explode, but I felt comfortably full. They have a lot of vegetarian options. The prices are on the higher side though, probably due to its location. Otherwise it’s pretty good.

Vegetarian options: Almost all of their ramen have a vegetarian equivalent, and all the broth is vegetarian.

Parking: There are a lot of parking on either side of the mall.

Wheelchair accessibility: The restaurant is on the first floor and there are no steps. Access would be easy for someone on a wheelchair.“