Wow. I need that in my life.
It’s only $15, a normal person can probably squeeze out 2 meals from this
That’s a blast from the past. Is Corya BBQ still in that same plaza?
long gone. the last one i remember was off potrero grande.
It was a chain???
They moved a block away many many years ago
the MP location:
the big plate of chicken: at $13.99 puts omar to shame.
there’s a fine line between subtle and bland i added chili to their beef noodle soup.
3 Likes
Really enjoyed this dinner. The kids loved the “magic” noodles and the big plate chicken. Dumplings were really nice too—juicy and crispy
2 Likes
it was tasty in a way that reminded me of that korean chicken stew place (served over chap chae noodles) (bong chu?) and they did it without cheese! i would have preferred there to be a bit more potato, cooked a bit more to be a bit creamier in texture.
Yours looks darker and more caramelized than others on this thread. 
I likes the dark meat…
Photo was underexposed, more likely.
1 Like
I had a really good lunch here! Thanks everyone for the photos and tips. Two of us had:
- da pan ji / big plate chicken
- garlic sauteed tsai miao / Chinese cabbage seedlings
- assorted cold dishes - beef tendon w/ dou gan / dried tofu, tofu skin, seaweed
- chicken wing skewer
- sausage skewer
As others have said, the noodles in the chicken dish had a terrific chew to them, and the dish lives up to its name! Plenty of leftovers. The veggies were cooked well, with plenty of garlic coming through. The skewers were ok - the sausage was either a misnomer or I’m not familiar with Northern style sausage. These seemed more like a mini hot dog and kinda tough, wouldn’t order it again. I’ll have to try the beef tendon or lamb next time.
The cold dishes were all prepared well, and I appreciate that they weren’t salt bombs like some places. I’ll have to try more here, but overall, my favorite cold table is probably Yunnan Restaurant a block away - in general all their cold table dishes pack a great spicy/salty punch, most of them good but some of them definitely salt bombs. I’m curious where else you guys think have good cold tables. I like Spicy City’s, too, but prefer the stronger flavors and variety of Yunnan Restaurant.
Back to Northern Cafe … I’ll definitely be back for more noodles and cold dishes! I also liked the feel of the place - bright and casual, with the tables not too close together. A couple pics:
3 Likes
Yunnan is my favorite cold dish place in sgv but I agree can be overly salty at times.
If you’re ever in Irvine I really enjoy Yue’s garden for cold plates.
I do have to go to Irvine sometimes, so thanks for the rec! Will report back when I can make it to Yue’s Garden.
1 Like
love this place!
The Northern Cafe at USC has some of the worst Chinese food I’ve eaten in LA. I think it’s unrelated to the place the people like in this thread.
Correct. Northern Cafe MP is completely unrelated to the other Northern Cafe.
Yeah, based on the menus, I was pretty sure that the MP Northern Cafe was unrelated to the Temple City/Westside ones (and the food certainly is). But now that I look closer, it seems they all used to be related and MP broke off. These are take-out menus for MP, Cerritos, and Temple City. (Screenshots from Yelp, other branches look like TC menu)
Cerritos has MP’s naming and circle logo, but the dishes follow the rest of the chain. (And the circle contains the chain’s name, even at MP). I can see why the manager needed to be so emphatic to @Chowseeker1999 that MP was not related to any others.
1 Like