Been here so many times throughout my time at UCLA. The spicy beef rice noodles is a go to of mine becuase it's so solid. The spice level is up there for those spice lovers. The fatty sliced beef complements the noodles and soup well. I usually add extra fatty beef to it, which comes out to little more than $20 with tips. Service is ok and ambiance is typical Chinese.
Arvin Ding
Great Broth and noodles was firm. Liked the
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Skewer
G Q.
Lamb skewers ***** Best dish of the night. Seasoned perfectly with cumin. Meat was skewered on thinly to achieve a slightly crispy and fatty balance. Beef Belly With Enoki Mushroom Skewer ***** It comes with two skewers but each skewer has four pieces. The emoji mushrooms cut the fattiness of the beef belly, creating a harmonious balance of flavors. Bacon With Enoki Mushroom Skewer **** Lacked the balance that the beef belly with enoki mushroom skewer combination had because the bacon was slightly saltier and dominated the flavor profile. Regardless, they were still Spicy Crispy Fish Fillet ***** Served on a bed of sautéed onions, cilantro, and Sichuan peppers which paired well with the white fish. Fish was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Seasoned with WHOLE cumin seeds. We asked for less spicy which was perfect because the Sichuan was not mouth-numbing. Definitely recommend the extra $1.50 for white rice. Service: Standard service, friendly staff. You pay for your food at the front before grabbing a number and sitting down. Ambience: Casual sit down. Temperature is cold at first but it makes sense once you start eating Cost: Perfectly priced for quality food
Kelly W.
I really hope my review bumps this place up. We showed up at 4:30 but they open at 5:00 ohhh sisters it was worth the wait!! From the outside not sure but once you walk in what a nice atmosphere. The service from the worker made it excellent I wish I asked his name he was pleasant, kind and attentive. The dishes we ordered AMAZING!! Flavor up the ying Yang SUPER YUM!!! Yes this place gets my rating SUPER YUM!! I was licking my lips for minutes after I left what flavor and spice. I need this near my house! Thank you for great food and great service
Li Linfeng
They force tips even though it’s counter service. They asked me to pay tips right after I ordered…and said if you don’t pay tips you can order take out. That’s why I just walked out directly after hearing this. Please be aware that counter service don’t usually ask for tips, especially not forcing us to pay tips…I don’t know how many customers you will lose if you keep doing this.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Pedro Q.
The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup was great! Especially with the extra premium beef and fried egg. The Beef Belly with Enoki Mushroom Skewer is definitely an acquired taste. I would definitely skip on the belly skewers. Location was clean and the food made it to the table in a timely fashion. I wouldn't mind trying different skewers next time.
Alyssa C.
3/5 The skewers were solid, but the "spice" added wasn't exactly spicy and just felt like an afterthought. 4/5 The Taiwanese minced pork noodles were pretty good! I wish there was a little more meat & green onions but super tasty :) 4.5/5 the fried noodles were delicious. Loved the sauce and the beef was super tender and amazing! I would probably return to try more skewers, but the northern cafe on gayley has a larger menu and I might prefer that place (the dumpling one) instead
Suzanne S
We went to eat at the pizza place next door and asked to use the restroom. We were told we can use the one at Northern Cafe since the pizza place did not have one. So we went into Northern Cafe. We did not see any employees when we entered so we went to use the restroom in the back. Then one of the lady employees came and scolded us saying that we need to ask first and told us to go somewhere else even after we apologized and asked nicely saying it was an emergency. She then went on to yell at us in front of the whole restaurant very loudly. She kept on and on scolding us like we were children even though we are in our 50s. We felt it was very uncalled for and unprofessional to yell at us in front of other customers.
Service: 1
J W
good place for Chinese food, very delicious, environment was good. it's good for ucla students.
Freshly made and quickly served authentic northern Chinese food. Portions are very large, so sharing an order with 2 or 3 people recommended.
Jane Dong
My fav restaurant at Westwood!
David M.
Service was horrible. I don't want to elaborate more because the service is so bad that it doesn't deserve to be addressed. It might just be just the one server.
B. C.
I got my food twenty minutes after everyone else in my party. So service not so great. Mushrooms wrapped with beef look like insect, but are tasty. Finally order arrives. Thin sliced mystery meat in a brown sauce, not impressed.
Yunea C.
It should be called Tomato Paste Beef noodle soup. It was gross Also not to kind of service
Super authentic, really fresh!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Been here so many times throughout my time at UCLA. The spicy beef rice noodles is a go to of mine becuase it's so solid. The spice level is up there for those spice lovers. The fatty sliced beef complements the noodles and soup well. I usually add extra fatty beef to it, which comes out to little more than $20 with tips. Service is ok and ambiance is typical Chinese.
Great Broth and noodles was firm. Liked the
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lamb Skewer
Lamb skewers ***** Best dish of the night. Seasoned perfectly with cumin. Meat was skewered on thinly to achieve a slightly crispy and fatty balance. Beef Belly With Enoki Mushroom Skewer ***** It comes with two skewers but each skewer has four pieces. The emoji mushrooms cut the fattiness of the beef belly, creating a harmonious balance of flavors. Bacon With Enoki Mushroom Skewer **** Lacked the balance that the beef belly with enoki mushroom skewer combination had because the bacon was slightly saltier and dominated the flavor profile. Regardless, they were still Spicy Crispy Fish Fillet ***** Served on a bed of sautéed onions, cilantro, and Sichuan peppers which paired well with the white fish. Fish was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Seasoned with WHOLE cumin seeds. We asked for less spicy which was perfect because the Sichuan was not mouth-numbing. Definitely recommend the extra $1.50 for white rice. Service: Standard service, friendly staff. You pay for your food at the front before grabbing a number and sitting down. Ambience: Casual sit down. Temperature is cold at first but it makes sense once you start eating Cost: Perfectly priced for quality food
I really hope my review bumps this place up. We showed up at 4:30 but they open at 5:00 ohhh sisters it was worth the wait!! From the outside not sure but once you walk in what a nice atmosphere. The service from the worker made it excellent I wish I asked his name he was pleasant, kind and attentive. The dishes we ordered AMAZING!! Flavor up the ying Yang SUPER YUM!!! Yes this place gets my rating SUPER YUM!! I was licking my lips for minutes after I left what flavor and spice. I need this near my house! Thank you for great food and great service
They force tips even though it’s counter service. They asked me to pay tips right after I ordered…and said if you don’t pay tips you can order take out. That’s why I just walked out directly after hearing this. Please be aware that counter service don’t usually ask for tips, especially not forcing us to pay tips…I don’t know how many customers you will lose if you keep doing this.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup was great! Especially with the extra premium beef and fried egg. The Beef Belly with Enoki Mushroom Skewer is definitely an acquired taste. I would definitely skip on the belly skewers. Location was clean and the food made it to the table in a timely fashion. I wouldn't mind trying different skewers next time.
3/5 The skewers were solid, but the "spice" added wasn't exactly spicy and just felt like an afterthought. 4/5 The Taiwanese minced pork noodles were pretty good! I wish there was a little more meat & green onions but super tasty :) 4.5/5 the fried noodles were delicious. Loved the sauce and the beef was super tender and amazing! I would probably return to try more skewers, but the northern cafe on gayley has a larger menu and I might prefer that place (the dumpling one) instead
We went to eat at the pizza place next door and asked to use the restroom. We were told we can use the one at Northern Cafe since the pizza place did not have one. So we went into Northern Cafe. We did not see any employees when we entered so we went to use the restroom in the back. Then one of the lady employees came and scolded us saying that we need to ask first and told us to go somewhere else even after we apologized and asked nicely saying it was an emergency. She then went on to yell at us in front of the whole restaurant very loudly. She kept on and on scolding us like we were children even though we are in our 50s. We felt it was very uncalled for and unprofessional to yell at us in front of other customers.
Service: 1
good place for Chinese food, very delicious, environment was good. it's good for ucla students.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Freshly made and quickly served authentic northern Chinese food. Portions are very large, so sharing an order with 2 or 3 people recommended.
My fav restaurant at Westwood!
Service was horrible. I don't want to elaborate more because the service is so bad that it doesn't deserve to be addressed. It might just be just the one server.
I got my food twenty minutes after everyone else in my party. So service not so great. Mushrooms wrapped with beef look like insect, but are tasty. Finally order arrives. Thin sliced mystery meat in a brown sauce, not impressed.
It should be called Tomato Paste Beef noodle soup. It was gross Also not to kind of service