Ah, darnit! Argh. I was on Sawtelle yesterday (for Marugame) and walked right by w/o knowing this place was there!!! Thanks for the report. Pork hock + SJB + sesame mochi balls = I will be there on a regular, possibly weekly, basis.
@CiaoBob: I don’t recall seeing a line when I walked by the place last night (a little b/f 8PM).
Great.
Thanks @J_L great news for Westside! 
Saves me a trip to the SGV from the sounds of it. Thanks for the great review.
So I’m guessing this Tasty Noodle House has nothing to do with the one in the San Gabriel Valley with Dalian cuisine? @ipsedixit @chandavkl?
This Tasty Noodle House is the newest location of the chain with sister locations in Irvine, Hacienda Heights, Chino Hills, and San Diego.
Holy hell, that was good. Many thanks to @J_L for sharing this place (although apparently all the Chinese UCLA students have already found it). Pretty crowded today at lunch (we went around 1PM) but cleared out pretty quickly after that.
SJB excellent, crab XLB good (haven’t had Jin Jiang in awhile; I don’t think these are as good as those, but they are vastly superior to the gummy, despicable messes I had a ROC yrs ago); pork chop (very good) noodles (serviceable… rather al dente); eggplant (excellent); and Shanghai sticky rise siu mai (which was basically the rice from a zong zi put into a dumpling or XLB wrapper; they were very tasty).
No space left for black sesame, but I’ll be getting it next time.
I certainly don’t have the depth of knowledge of the other posters here regarding SGV restaurants (esp more recent openings), but, IMHO, this wasn’t just “good for the westside.” It was simply good. Not phenomenal. But I’m incredibly happy to have this place nearby, and I’d be happy to have this near me, even if I lived in the SGV. Menu is shockingly long; I certainly look forward to trying to eat my way through it.
Will post pics in weekend rundown later.
I’m going to agree with @paranoidgarliclover, this is flat out good, no qualifier necessary. And yes, thanks @J_L for posting this! As soon as I read the post, I waited impatiently for 11 a.m. so I could order Postmates.
The noodle soup with fish and preserved vegetables was excellent: delicate broth, silky fish, and thin, chewy noodles that I loved. The boy thought the pork dumplings were “really good”, he seemed almost surprised at how much better they were than other dumplings he’s had. (Disclaimer: I order the steamed pork dumplings, then fried them at home. They have a thick skin and are obviously not meant to be eaten steamed.)
Here is a photo of the noodle soup broth before I mixed in the noodles and fish. It’s milky and rich, but subtle.
I think I’m going to really like this place.
Loved it.
With a one quibble - don’t bother with the XLB (unless you like broken wrappers and soup leaking all over the steamer); wait for Din Tai Fung to open in Century City.
Spicy Sesame Pork Wonton - much better than XLB
Prawns w/Spicy Minced Pork Sauce Noodle Soup - truly amazing.
Sauteed Fish Fillet, Bean Curd skin and Preserved veggies - better than I’ve had in Shanghai
Braised Pork with Soy sauce and bean curd knots - excellent
Shredded Beef with Dried Chili
Did not try the beautiful looking SJB - next time.
Takes west la Chinese options to a new level of excellence. With Qin West, Meizho Dongpo, Popcorn Chix’s Beef Noodle soup and some items at Northern Cafe - as well as the aformentioned Din Tai Fung coming, my life is greatly improved.
30 minute wait at 2 PM on a Sunday.
We’ve gone 3 times now to the 3rd / crescent location and i’m far from impressed or excited to go back… watery, low flavor stuff… salt added to make up for it… etc etc
Therein lies the possible issue…
I generally only order a couple of things but definitely enjoy the location.
My only gripe with the sjb is that they aren’t filled with soupy goodness ala the other tasty noodle house in Alhambra or kang kang
We ate here about a month ago. After ordering 8 dishes, we were still yearning for SGV food. Are my expectations askew? Did we get non-Chinesed? Wife is Chinese, ordered in Mandarin.
When I went about 2 weeks ago, I thought it was extraordinarily mediocre.
I thought it was just me since everyone here seems to just swoon over the place.
I vote mediocre too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Sawtelle this option for us Westsiders. It’s just not SGV level.
We’ve found this to be true in general for these newer Westside Chinese eateries that are serving “the more real stuff.” It’s definitely great to see eateries serving dishes once only found in towns like Alhambra, Rosemed, etc., but “very tame” comes to mind.
Agree - we’ll still be heading out to SGV but the progression in the Westside has been very heartening.
What did you order?
I think the SJB are very good, as is the eggplant and the stir-fried rice cakes. Snake gourd was okay. XLB are a skip.
I should also say that I haven’t been to the highly-rated newer SGV places, so that could be part of it. Tasty Noodle might be mediocre compared to the very best places in the SGV, but it may not be all that different from an SGV average place…
The xlb (Luke warm and leaking), sjb (pretty good but a little dry), spicy wonton? (good), cold chicken w/ hot sesame sauce (pretty good), sauteed string beans (very good), pork belly w/ preserved veggies (pretty good), house noodles w/ sesame sauce (eh), rice cakes w/ chicken? (don’t remember). I want to say we ordered a shrimp dish but can’t recall - sorry.
As I mentioned above, the progression of Chinese options is amazing. And this opinion was based on only one visit during a busy Friday night not too long after they opened.
Would disagree with regard to Qin West. They are keeping it real.
