101 Noodle is open until 1 a.m.
I think Chinatown, in all of its gentrification glory, fills that void.
Looking at the pictures there are some warning signs things have been altered a bit. For example, the Chongqing chicken is described as “crispy,” not “spicy,” and appears to have more onions than hot peppers:
Hope I’m wrong, though.
Clientele when I was there was almost exclusively Asian, presumably mostly UCLA students. I presume that’s their targeted demographic.
Yes, Chinatown is probably close enough, though the only places of interest to the Mainland student crowd would seem to be Qin West and the boba places.
Nice write-up by Josh Lurie of Food GPS, for Eater LA: http://la.eater.com/2016/5/12/11661220/northern-cafe-westwood-chinese-los-angeles
Also, our very own self-exiled kevin was in the house last night and was properly impressed. So that’s two non-Asians there…
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Only skimmed the review, but it sounds like I gotta go there. A line 25 deep! Argh. If it doesn’t work out this month, the crowds should thin out a bit when the quarter finishes…
KEVIN!!! Come back ! ! ! We miss you…!
!!
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I went yesterday around 3 pm and it was more than half empty.
chandavki, you went and no review?!
OP had to be posted Tuesday. Newer post seems to indicate return trip Wednesday.
I went tonight (05/13). Line was fairly long but moved very quickly (counter service).
I thought it was pretty good overall. I’ve not been to the locations in the SGV, so I have no idea if this location tastes the same.
I’d say that, compared to the places I go to in the SGV, the food at the Westwood Northern Cafe would be in the totally-decent-but-unmemorable category… Which means I think it’s excellent for the area and a most welcome addition.
Would skip the XLB. They’re not actively bad, but they’re vaguely gummy, and the liquid isn’t as richly flavored as I would like. The bowl of rice accompanying the cumin lamb is TINY (pic is misleading), and there was a bit too much cumin for my taste (but I liked the dish overall). Don’t know if I can say it’s worth the $11, since I could’ve used more lamb.
I think a lot of the tables had the lao gan ma noodles, but I thought the 4 dishes were ordered were enough for 2 of us. Plus a 10% tip, the total cost was $39-40.
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Thanks for the report back @paranoidgarliclover. 
The most important takeaway for me was what you said that if this was in the SGV it’d be in the unmemorable but decent category. Now I have a good gauge.
And as you said, if we didn’t feel like driving out to the SGV then this is great for the area LOL. Thanks.
Yes, Northern Cafe is in the same shopping center as Earthen in Hacienda Heights. I would go to Earthen 9 out of 10 times in that shopping center. The 10th would be Tasty Noodle (unrelated to the San Gabriel restaurant of the same name, related to the Irvine restaurant of the same name).
Thanks for the perspective @chandavkl. I’ve been to Earthen once, so that also helps me understand better.
Yes, I think tempered expectations might help to prevent disappointment. I’ve been to ROC once and have never been tempted to return. The dishes there, while similar appearance-wise to what I want to eat, taste distinctly different enough that I don’t think someone would actually find it all that similar to the stuff in the SGV (even if they had a relatively underdeveloped palate for subtle differences in Chinese food).
The stuff at Northern Cafe will scratch the itch maybe 75% of the time for me, which, given how bad traffic is and how much gas costs, means I’ll probably go a couple of times a month.
OTOH, I’d be going to Mian like all the time if I lived close by and if my intestines could handle it; even living on the other side of town, I actively crave it.
Still, you gotta walk b/f you can run, so I think that Qin West and Northern Cafe means that Westwood has very decent affordable options for Chinese food. I’m pretty happy.
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I feel the same way about ROC. The place I scratch my itch on the Westside is Meizhou Dongpo, but it’s not what I would call affordable. I think I’m going to try Northern Cafe today.
BTW, in Westwood Village proper, there’s also Top Leaf.
Dave also mentioned Koala T earlier in the thread (which I walked by yesterday for the first time). Have you been to either place? What do you think of them?
Koala T is kind of fusiony and with the opening of Northern Cafe there’s probably no need to go there unless you want to hang out with all the kids.
Never been to Koala T but Top Leaf is a’ight. I’ve tried the three-cup chicken and mapo tofu. Both are solid but not spectacular. The mapo tofu is more Taiwanese style than Sichuan. Not as spicy or numbing as I like.