I do like it but the menu had plenty of duds and food that is on the menu more for the (white) location than for true regional Chinese food lovers.
Love the Sichuan dishes, like the Sichuan Hearbreakers, Chongching fried Chicken, Dongpo Pork belly, Bang bang chicken, gingery porkhock, spicy cold beef.
The Roast duck is fine.
No, not joking at all. I don’t think Qin (in my 1-2 visits) does all of their menu items that well, and I think they’re menu is not more extensive than Northern, is it? I also don’t go to a lot of cafes where the menu runs into the hundreds. I’ve never counted, but I assume the usual number of items is like 75 or so (although I guess HK-style cafes maybe have more?), and I think there were at least 50 on Northern’s menu…
And, regardless, of the restaurant (be it Chinese or otherwise), I can’t say there’s a place I’ve been to where I liked EVERYTHING on the menu.
I think my expectations change depending on price and ambiance. At an upscale Chinese dim sum or seafood place, I expect to like MORE of the menu (but still not all of it). At a more casual joint, I think it’s a win if I like 5-10 of the dishes (which is why Literati is a big fail since I like maybe 2 things there). 
I was thinking more of places (often Cantonese, but some Shanghianese and Sichaun) in China or SGV that have mega-menus and do most things well. So, I laughed to myself when your post called Northern’s menu “extensive.”
Oh, I think the only place I’ve been to w/ a menu that’s SUPER long is Chang’s. 
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What’s surprising about the dumplings and XLB is that apparently Northern Cafe actually makes these items at their Temple City location and then transports them all the way across town to Westwood.
Either they’re making special (subpar) batches of dumplings/XLB or the good folks at the Westwood location don’t know how to boil water.
Well, considering the competition for 麵食 (or rather, lack thereof) in the area, UCLA students & staff will gobble them up nonetheless. They’ll do just fine. Location, location, location…
So next time I mention someone getting laowei’d I just hope the cynicism and disbelief is somewhat more tempered.
I don’t disbelieve you. The thing is that, on the night I ate there, the crowd was mostly Asian 20-somethings speaking Mandarin. So what motivation would they have to serve an non-standard inferior product (aside from the clientele being a captive audience, which is a slightly different issue than being “whited,” yes?).
Of course, clientele during lunch hrs on a weekday might be very different…
I think quality control/consistency may be the problem.
We had an order of XLB there that very under flavored broth-wise but the to-go order of the same dish ordered at the same time, that was brought to my friend’s mainland-born wife, was declared - by her - to be excellent.
The term “laowei” is really just a double-entendre euphemism for dumbing down your food to suit your clientele. The fact that most of the crowd was “Asian 20-somethings speaking Mandarin” is really neither a sufficient, nor necessary condition. It isn’t so much the ethnicity of your clientele (although that does matter), it’s more their discerning palate, or lack thereof.
For example, go to any boba shop in/around SGV (say, Tea Station) and you can have an order of dumplings or XLB, but that plate of dumplings will be no more tasty than a bag of reheated frozen nuggets from 99 Ranch Market. The clientele for the most part will be “Asian 20-somethings speaking Mandarin [or Cantonese or Taiwanese or whatever -nese]” but a place like Tea Station – even though situated in the epicenter of Chinese food mecca in the Western Hemisphere – understands their target clientele. And they aren’t going to pay attention too much to the dumplings (or popcorn chicken or beef noodle soup or whatever); they’re there mostly for the sugary tea concoctions and to vape away the afternoon.
But back to Northern Cafe. I have no idea exactly what they’re doing. Maybe as @CiaoBob says, it’s a matter of QC, but I know the folks behind Northern Cafe, and while their offerings are nothing that will make people forget places like Luscious, Qing Dao, Hui Tou Xiang, or Flavor Garden, they’re also not so inept as to put out dreck.
It is just odd that if they are making all their stuff in one central location and then shipping them out, why there would be such a discrepancy between Temple City and Westwood. Not to say Temple City’s wares are anything one should rush out and indulge in, but still …
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Could there be some unconscious bias on the part of discerning diners not expecting to find great XLB on the Westside? I don’t actually think so, but I figure I’d bring it up. I think there’s no mistaking that the texture of the filling at NCWW was just too homogeneous and meh. I thought the skin was decent. I’d rank the skin above ROC but the filling below ROC. To be fair, I’m not a ROC hater.
perfectly so-so Chinese dough products getting hammered by LA traffic+ (if at all) refrigerated van. 
out of all the dumplings, the ones to get are the potstickers because they’re… fried. source: there’s one within lunch perimeters
the fact boba shop dumplings are being used as a point of reference in this discussion basically says it all. kudos to them for braving Westwood rent though. that should be the talking point, not the XLB. who gives a shit about the food when you have balls as big as these guys. someone give them an award.
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There was a rather humorous Eater entry/review for Northern Cafe that came out on Eater last week. Using my words ('cuz I’m too lazy right now to search for the link to quote it), the writer claimed it was like the first legit Chinese restaurant on the Westside. Chuckle.
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I linked to it above. I believe the claim had “cheap” or “affordable” attached. Even so, the claim isn’t accurate with the handful of legit cheap dishes at Qin West.
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Well, given that the Chinese restaurant of choice when I was going to UCLA was Ah Fong’s, I don’t mind a little hyperbole.
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Good memory, my fellow Bruin…
I love the mapo tofu, the Chongqing spicy chicken, and the Peking duck. The food is overpriced but quite good as long as you stick with the Sichuan dishes (and duck). The portions are also large depending on what you order. The Chongqing chicken is $18, for example, but fills two plastic takeout containers.
The pork shank is excellent and very reasonably priced for the amount of food:
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Got there today at 11:15 am. Ordered the xlb pork & crab and some eggrolls. The two guys at the register were absolutely clueless about how to put the order in, take my payment and return my change. They finally, had to call over a woman server to finish the transaction. Lame so far, but it gets worse. Took about 15 minutes in the not full restaurant to get my xlb. They were bland and the skins were gummy.
By 11:40 there was a line of about a dozen people waiting to order at the register. Asked 2 of the servers about my egg rolls. First one told me “not ready yet.” Second one didn’t really say much. I waited until noon and then left. Of course, never tasted their eggroll. They’re clearly not ready for business.
Sounds like they were either short staffed or training (poorly). FWIW, when I went, the two ladies at the register were quite on the ball as far as answering questions and inputting orders.