Planning to meet a friend in the WSGV tomorrow for a late lunch. Was thinking Chong Qing Yao Mei, one of the 2 Singaporean places, or Tam’s. Looking for something casual, partner would like “noodles and dumplings,” and hopefully the place that isn’t too jam-packed w/ people (I’m still a little sensitive about eating indoors, but the weather this weekend isn’t really going to allow for anything else).
Any ideas or recs? Also open to non-Asian as well.
Thanks. 
Tam’s is excellent.
I’ll also throw in a rec for Lao Xi’er Noodle on Baldwin.
You Kichen
dX Lab
Lan Noodle in Arcadia
The committee has voted. We are going to Lan.
I haven’t been to any of the places mentioned, though, so I have lots more places to try.
Will report back in a few…
I took pics, but they’re not particularly interesting or helpful.
The menu (which is significantly more comprehensive than what you find on the website) was a bit overwhelming. The pics all show the specific base + noodle combination, which is very helpful.
We ordered
We were all very pleased w/ the food. Partner liked the dry mixed noodles the best. I actually this was the least strong dish (a dry noodle dish w/ a lot of sauteed onions + a vaguely tomato-y sauce just isn’t ever going to be my favorite) and would’ve been very satisfied w/ just the noodle soups. FWIW, the 2 of us who are Chinese in the group liked the triangle noodles for the soup dishes the best. None of the noodles were overly chewy and seemed done just “right.”
My Signature LAN (mild) reminded me of a similar dish at the Monterey Park Northern Cafe. Nice clear-ish broth w/ some mild ?anise flavoring. I think the noodles at Lan are better but I think I liked the broth and meat at Northern Cafe better (better quality meat and the broth is a bit more subtle and nuanced).
Would’ve liked the sauce for the sesame noodles to have been more viscous and for it to be served in a bowl (serving a wet-ish noodle dish on a plate is really weird b/c you can’t really mix the sauce into the noodles very well), but the flavor was excellent. Presentation was a bit haphazard, though.
Chinese hamburgers were fine but certainly not essential (IMHO).
Certainly worth a visit, IMHO, even if you’re not close by. And the person serving us spoke English just fine. Wish they would open something like this closer to West LA!
