魯味居
5408 Walnut Ave #A
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 654-8542
101 Noodle Express is a well-known Northern Chinese restaurant specialized in dumplings and noodles in San Gabriel Valley. I've been to the Alhambra location once. Service was so bad that I never returned again. The Taiwanese eatery Nice Time Deli in Irvine closed down, and 101 Noodle Express took over the space. The restaurant opened about 2 weeks ago. We ate at Chong Qing Mei Wei in the same plaza, and saw a huge crowd waiting outside 101 Noodle Express. Dr. P accidentally left his credit card at Chong Qing that day. When we went back to get his card back a few days later, we decided to give this popular new restaurant a try. I thought maybe service would be better in Orange County as we experienced since we moved down here. Nope, we got the same SGV style service, and ate DISGUSTING RAW FOOD! There are just so many things wrong about this place.
They really cram this place up with tables and chairs. Tables and tables are so close together that not only it was difficult to get in and out, it was quite uncomfortable when you felt like you're sitting on the same table having dinner with strangers. Seriously, the tables were like 1 inch apart from each other. Also I had to put my chair in 45 degree angle and sit side way so my chair wouldn't bump into the guy who sat right behind me. We had the menu for about 10 minutes and nobody came to take our order. I flagged down a waitress to tell her we were ready to order. She just said ok and walked away. There were maybe 3 or 4 other tables wanting to order as well. The two ladies who sat next to us didn't even get their menu after 10 minutes. Finally when the waitress came to take our order, she offered absolutely no smile.
牛肉捲餅 Beef Roll ($6.99)
I remember I liked their Beef Roll a lot before and ordered one. I still think it was good. Lots of tender stewed beef slices with chopped cilantro in a Chinese pastry roll. Dr. P didn't like it too much because he didn't like the sweet hoisin sauce.
南瓜蝦豬肉煎餃 (10) Pumpkin Shrimp Pork Fried Dumpling ($6.99)
They have about 20 different dumplings. Everything actually sounded good, and I had a hard time picking just one. I ended up ordering Pumpkin Shrimp Pork Fried Dumpling.
When the waitress brought dumplings to our table, I tried to get some spicy chili sauce on to my plate. I accidentally dropped the spoon on the ground. When a waitress walked by, I gave the spoon to her and told her I dropped it. We thought she we replaced it with a clean spoon. But then she just walked behind the counter, rinsed it under the faucet in the sink, and brought the wet spoon back to us. She didn't even bother washing it!!
So back to the dumpling. I took a big bite of the dumpling, and thought it tasted funny. The meat was mushy, and the pumpkin was hard and crunchy. I swallowed some, then looked at the dumpling. OMG IT WAS FREAKING RAW!!!! I just had a big bite of raw pork and shrimp!!!! DISGUSTING!
So I spitted out what was left in my mouth, and took a picture with my camera. A waitress saw and came to our table, she said, "Uh I saw you spitted something out. Was the dumpling raw? Let me change to another plate for you. You want to try boiling dumplings instead?" Seemed like they were quite experience with "raw fried dumplings". So we opted for boiling dumplings instead because seemed like dumplings have less of a chance to be undercooked in that method. The waitress also took my small plate away since some of the raw meat juices were on that plate. But she never brought a new one back to me. I had to asked for one after waiting for another 10 minutes.
川味香辣牛肉牛筋麵 Hot Spicy Beef & Tendon Noodles ($7.49)
Hot Spicy Beef & Tendon Noodles was actually pretty good. The soup was tasty. We liked their hand made thick noodle. The beef and tendon were tender and flavorful. But problem again. I don't know how they came up with the price of $7.49. On the menu, Hot Spicy Beef Noodles is $6.49, and Beef & Tendon Noodles is also $6.49. So when I ordered, I asked for a bowl of Beef & Tendon Noodles and requested it to be spicy. On our bill, it showed "Beef & Tendon Noodles (Add Spicy)" - $7.49. So adding spicy is $1 extra???? And we could barely taste the spiciness. What kind of spicy did they add to the soup that cost $1? A few drops of chili oil? We had FREE chili sauce with chili oil on the table. If I knew they wanted to charge $1 to add spicy, I would just add it myself from the chili oil container on the table.
Spicy Veggies
There was a jar of chopped green veggies on the table. At first I thought it was the pickled veggies to be added to beef noodle soup. But it wasn't. It was just some kind of chopped green veggies with chopped jalapeno. It was pretty spicy, but quite good.
Remember the two ladies who sat next to us that didn't get their menu for 10 minutes? By this point, they still haven't received their food. It had been like more than 30 minutes. They were MAD! They kept on asking the waitress, and I think the waitress said something about they mistakenly brought their food to another table or something.
南瓜蝦豬肉水餃 (10) Pumpking Shrimp Pork Dumpling ($6.49)
Finally, the replaced Pumpking Shrimp Pork Dumpling was ready.
See, this is how a COOKED one supposed to look like. The meat and shrimp were supposed to be firm, not pink and mushy. The pumpkin should be soft, not hard and crunchy. It was a good dumpling, but I was still traumatized about eating the raw one earlier. I only took small bites, and tried to look inside the dumpling after each bite.
We noticed A LOT OF PEOPLE didn't finish their food, and NONE OF THEM requested to take the leftover food home. It was very strange. And honestly, I don't think anyone left this place feeling satisfied and happy. We couldn't wait to get out of the restaurant ourselves.
The taste of their food wasn't that bad. But service was horrible, and the vibe of the restaurant was just bad. They are popular right now probably because it's a new restaurant and people are curious. But seriously, I don't think anyone will want to go back again after trying once. This is probably the worst restaurant I've been to since moving down to Orange County. Please avoid by all mean!
By the way, for the raw dumplings I ate, we got no apology, no discount, no taking it off the menu, no nothing. They just replaced it with another plate. I had stomach ache with diarrhea that night and next day. I can't help but wonder if I got this kind of treatment because I am Chinese, and they just assume I won't do anything about it. What if I am non-Asian? Would they offer a discount or at least apologize because they might worry that I can sue them?
UPDATE:
I filed a complaint with OC Health Department for the raw food I consumed on my visit. And this was from the investigation report:
* Improper Holding Temp of PHF (60F-120F), (50F-59F)
* Inadequate Hygiene (Hair/Clothing/Eating/Drinking)
* Improper Food Storage/Receiving
* Improper Holding Temperatures of PHF
* Unapproved Pesticides/Chemicals/Labeling
* Lack of/Improper Handwashing/Handwashing Sup.
* Inappropriate Sanitizer Level/ Lack of Test Strips
* Lack of/Unsanitary/Condition Walls/Floors/Ceilings
* Inoperable/Lack of Food Thermometer
OMG! I seriously would advice people not to go there!!!!
I thought the food was decent in taste but it was so stressful there with bad service and bad vibes and there is no excuse for severely under cooked dumplings in a dumpling house!
ReplyDeletetoo bad about their practices, I actually liked the spicy beef noodle soup. Otherwise, I couldn't wait to get out of there. Glad you were OK after all that happened.
I get so mad when I think about our experience that day.
Never want to go back there again!
Wow, raw dumplings--that sounds like a disaster. When I'm at home, I always pan-fry dumplings using leftover boiled ones and when we go out to eat, the only kind of dumplings we ever order are soup dumblings (xiaolongbao), so I've never really had to worry about raw filling. You should file a complaint with the Department of Health.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think I should file a complaint.
Going to do that RIGHT NOW!
Sorry to hear about the bad experience. When reading about the beef noodle soup, I was wondering about the price increase myself. Could the extra one dollar added not for spicy, but for the "Hot Spicy Beef Noodle" $6.49 + tendon $1, which would make sense if they gave the full portion of beef?
ReplyDeleteSeeing the menu first made me curious about the lamb noodle soup, and now I don't know if visiting this restaurant is a good idea...
But they also have beef and tendon noodles on the menu for $6.49.
So I'm still not sure why it was $7.49. Definitely put this restaurant on your "to avoid" list. :-(
Yes, file a complaint with the Health Dept!
ReplyDeleteI just did! I know it sounds bad.
But I hope this restaurant goes out of business soon.
I read more about the restaurant on Yelp.
Seemed like the owner is really mean and rude.
I hate this place more and more.
I go to the Arcadia location a lot and never had a problem. Both the food and service are satisfying.
ReplyDeleteToo bad the Irvine one sucks!
Another good report Eileen! We won't go to the San Gabriel one either. Try to add extra cost without alerting you ahead of time, it's called sneaky.
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't stated on the menu that certain things cost extra,
I think the waitress should inform the customers.
Wow, what a coincidence, the OC Register just published a positive review of this place today! I read it just before reading your review. I trust your review more so I will avoid this place.
ReplyDeletehttp://foodfrenzy.ocregister.com/2011/06/24/dumplings-of-doom-at-new-irvine-restaurant/41433/
I left a comment on the article about this incident.
I want to let EVERYONE knows about it.
不大喜歡這家，喜歡你以前推薦的政記。
ReplyDelete真的，政記比這家好太多了
Unfortunately, I have been there twice.
ReplyDeleteYou are right - their service is horrible. I cannot remember why I went there twice. But certainly, no more!
Their food is good. We liked the beef noodle soup a lot.
I like the beef roll a lot. But there's no excuse for bad service.
We won't go back again either, no matter how good the food is.
The OC Weekly wrote a review of this place 2 weeks ago---go to ocweekly.com and click on the Restaurant review section and you'll see it. They mentioned the other 2 Chinese eateries that are in their shopping center and their Alhambra location. They also heavily criticised the service, and some of the food (I think they said the beef noodle soup was a little watery), but concluded that if they fix some problems that it would be a very good place to eat and might get more crowded than it already is. I'm curious to see what you think of the OC Weekly article (the reviewer had a non-Asian name).
ReplyDeleteI found the article. It was a very good article.
The author was right about the beef roll. It IS good.
As for beef noodle soup, we thought it was quite good.
And what he described as ignored and forgotten, that happened to us too.
In fact, that happened to almost EVERY table.
Yeah, they were busy. But honestly the restaurant is not even that big.
There were maybe 5 or 6 waiters and waitresses at this about 20 tables restaurant.
How hard is it to bring menu and utensil to the customers after they sit them down?
They would stand around, but not taking orders when customers are obviously ready and looking around to flag them down.
Maybe I shouldn't blame the waitstaff, but the lack of training in their management team.
I'm fat and shy and refuse to eat in places that are very small and crowded---I would rather go anywhere else or would just get a take-out order than to sit cramped with total strangers so close to me while I was eating and trying to converse with my dining partner. I used to think that since many Asian countries are heavily populated that maybe Asian people were accustomed to crowds and didn't mind eating so close to each other----but I notice that in cities like New York many of their non-Asian eateries are crowded too with tables so close to each other. I
ReplyDeletebet that I would need at least 2 seats at 101 Noodle Express!
It's a very common practice to share tables with strangers in Asian countries.
In Taiwan, this happens mostly in places like night market or street vendor's portable tables.
Dr. P went to HK a while back. Since he was alone, they often put him on a table with other single strangers.
If it's a big table, he doesn't mind ignore the others and just eat his food.
But one time he was sharing a two people table with another guy.
He said it was really uncomfortable for both of them.
They both tried to sit side way to avoid eye contact with each other. haha....
In Taiwan, regular restaurants won't do that though.
Oh I remember one time I went to a dim sum restaurant in San Francisco.
It was my sister and I. We had to shared a 10 people table with 3 other parties of 2.
Personally, I find it really uncomfortable sitting too close to strangers, too.
the extra dollar was for the 手工麵～～the price they listed was for the regular noodle~~the waitress told us the price difference when we ordered~~ i personally found this place decent when i went last weekend~~i been to the one in arcadia numerous times~~and found food from both places comparable~~but the irvine one lacks a little~i love the pickled relish (spicy veggie)~~it goes so well with the beef roll~~as for service~~i am never looking for "great" service at a chinese restaurant~~but the raw dumpling was unacceptable!!
ReplyDeleteOh I see. They should inform their customer, or list that on the menu.
I hear people say that all the time, "I'm not looking for service at a Chinese restaurant."
Even myself say that. But now I'm thinking, why? Why do we say that?
We do we have lower expectation of service from Chinese restaurant,
but I'm still giving them the same amount on tips? That's just not right.
Eileen, on the L.A. chowhound page (chowhound.com) there is a recent review & comments about 101 Noodle Express in Irvine. The restaurant is getting lots of publicity, but I wonder why the owners picked a new location that seems to be too small?
ReplyDeleteI think the place is too big for a sucky restaurant like 101 Noodle Express.
They should just close down. haha...
Hi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I think I won't be going to this place anytime soon. It's sad that 好年春(冬) was placed with this place.
I know! 101 Noodle Express sucks!
I feel like you were eating in one of those crowded Taiwanese eateries. Fortuntately, you could share this unpleasant experience with us here. One of the Taiwanese restaurnat owners filed a lawsuit against a blogger over negative restaurant review recently.
ReplyDeleteI read about that new article about that poor Taiwanese blogger.
I guess they don't have the right to freedom of speech in Taiwan? Sad!