Looking for a Chinese restaurant near UCI- not spicy. We’ve been to Northern Cafe, Capital Seafood and Paradise Dynasty. My daughter was thinking Tasty Noodle House for noodles and dumplings, but I have no idea how this location is (other than reading the Yelp reviews, which seem to be pretty mixed).
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Meizhou Dongpo in Irvine (Culver Dr.).
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There are 2 shopping centers on Jeffrey up towards the 5 with a bunch of options. Lots of turnover. The only place I can recommend is A&J which has been there for a long time. Good for dumplings and noodles.
J Zhou in the Whole Foods shopping center in Tustin is good for dim sum. Better than Capital Seafood IMHO.
These 2 places are on my radar but I’ve not been to either.
Little Pan in Santa Ana right off the 55. Mentioned on this thread.
Seven grams in Tustin. @chandavkl mentioned this place a few times and said it’s been very busy which is a good sign.
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Aj is good. Meizhou is not bad but like chainy and overpriced at times.
I also love yus garden in the same plaza as aj. They have a large selection of cold plates or liang chai. If I’m passing by I always order two to go boxes they have a great lunch special.
If you’re slightly north you can always go to the original tan cang Newport. Not as good as Newport in 626 but still pretty damn good. Usual such as crab, lobster, bo Luc lac, basil clams, kung pao chicken etc.
It looks like delicious food corner just opened a branch in Irvine. If they are related to the ones in 626 that place is awesome for some canto cafe/dim sum food.
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My favorite in the area is Hometown Restaurant in the plaza with the smaller 99 Ranch Market on Walnut near Jeffrey. It’s Shanghai food and you’ve probably seen my Instagram/Twitter photos from there. Next favorite is probably Tasty Garden in the big shopping center with the big 99 Ranch.
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I think AJ is fine. It’s just been there forever and is a staple from before more Chinese places hit Irvine. I remember I got a takeout noodle which was fine.
I am not a fan of Tasty Noodle House. I ordered a scallion oil noodle many years ago and I got zero scallion or oil. I think I ordered a fried rice cake from there simply because I didn’t know other options existed at that point. I think the other location is Rowland Heights? And that one is leagues better. Completely different animal. Popular in Irvine does not mean better. I think some restaurants in Irvine have only survived so long simply because there are no better options. I think Hometown in the A&J plaza is solid for some Shanghainese. Not great but pretty decent and I’ve had takeout a few times when I was visiting East SGV less. For Taiwanese-ish I prefer Kingchops.
Meizhou is very pricey but the level of cooking there is very refined vs many other Chinese places in the area. And the food is good. I would go more often but don’t like Sichuan so much that I’d pay what I have to at Meizhou on my own dime.
Sichuan Impression is what my friends prefer for Sichuan so I tend to end up with takeout there. It’s relatively good and if popularity is your metric it is always bustling.
My pick for best Chinese in the area remains Min Chef in Tustin, same plaza as Sichuan Impression. Pretty much the only Chinese I bother to get in Irvine for myself. I usually get Zha Jiang Mian along with some other items, all of which I have enjoyed. Lunch tends to be not busy and is thus optimal visiting hours while going at open for dinner also works. The front of house that gets mentioned in Yelp reviews occasionally has not there for the past few months (I presume returned to China) so service should no longer be an issue if that’s a concern.
Haven’t tried Little Pan yet. There’s also some other new noodle places but haven’t been. I’ve tried He’s Noodle Zone in the Irvine Mitsuwa plaza and it’s solid. Only tried noodles, no dumplings if they have any.
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