Asian Noodles

Every time I go in there, its empty…
The seafood fiesta is great, the crispy pata is alright, and the rest is less than wonderful.
The management never smiles and looked pissed off to me. They changed their name, and supposedly everything else stayed the same but I remember having a better experience my first time so I have to agree with Kimberly L.
I dunno, if I wanted to spend money and eat with an Asian man looking mad, I could eat with my family.

it’s now calle Noi. Short for pinoy, i guess?

Finding good Filipino food is almost impossible. Some say it is because (being Filipino) we are just used to Mom’s cooking. It is true that nobody can beat that. However, there has to be a place that comes close. There has to be a place where you can take your non-​Filipino friends to, and be able to say the food here is authentic and really tasty!
Asian Noodle is the best Filipino restaurant that I have been to. It is the only restaurant that came close to meeting the standards listed above. Their Kare-​Kare is really good. (Although they didn’t mix in the prawn paste, AKA bagoong). And the siopao is simply awesome.
I don’t think you can go wrong with this place, unless they throw away the recipe or just forget about quality. I talk about this place often and would definitely take my friends here to eat.
Note: My last visit was two years ago.

After a very enjoyable performance watching Brian’s group, happyfunsmile, at the Buddhist temple, we mosied our way to Chinatown to have some traditional Filipino food. Filipino food in Chinatown? Sure, why not?!
Apparently our foodie friend Vic told Arlene about this place… I shouldn’t been so surprised given he knew about Tokyo 7 – 7 even before we did (thanks for not sharing, Vic, no bitterness here).
From the outside this place looks a little different than the other stores around — pretty clean and modern.
More with pictures at

This place had a nice décor and was very clean, and I was really excited to try this Filipino restaurant in the midst of Chinatown.
got my Filipino girlfriend and took her with me to eat out for my bday lunch and was rather disappointed.
Too oily, and didn’t taste right. I thought it didn’t taste right, and my Filipino friend didn’t think it tasted right either.
The noodles had the taste of those cheap over preserved noodles.
The only thing that I liked was Mami.
Quiet at lunchtime though. But not much service.

God… I really, REALLY wish I had something nice to say about this place… but I don’t. Sorry.
Hubby and I were craving Filipino food for our date night, and we’d heard about Asian Noodles… so we decided to go there and check it out. While looking at the menu, I saw the pork tocino and I was like, yes! This is what I’m having! I don’t get to eat pork tocino very often so when the opportunity arises, I take full advantage of it. Hubby decided to have the fried chicken and for appetizer, we wanted the pork lumpia shanghai. We were all excited and ready to order.
When our waiter arrived to take our order, I eagerly gave him our appetizer and my entrée order. But… our sadistic waiter burst my bubble of anticipation when he informed me that they were completely out of pork… which meant no pork lumpia shanghai and tragically, no pork tocino for me. He suggested chicken lumpia and beef tapa instead, which I reluctantly agreed to. At least they had hubby’s fried chicken.
Our food arrives. The fried chicken was a whole chicken divided in half. The chicken tasted ok as did the lumpia, but the beef tapa was too vinegary for me. I was still able to eat it though. However, the rice wasn’t sticky enough… it seemed like rice-​a-​roni where the grains were kind of loose. Strange.
After we got through dinner, I was speechless. That was the WORST Filipino dinner I ever had. Next time I want Filipino food, I’ll head over to either Barrio Fiesta in L.A. or Salo-​Salo in West Covina. At least we know we’ll get a good meal there… including PORK TOCINO!
Oh, and a note on the service: Our waiter who was wearing a baseball cap and an I’m-too-sexy-for-you tattoo on his arm (not sure if he was the owner) gave me attitude when he told me they had no pork — and without an apology. What was he — the Pork Nazi? Also, it didn’t help that one of the other waiters was sitting at a table looking at Playboy when we walked in.
We’re definitely not coming back here.

Okay. As a Filipina, I like to support Filipino owned businesses. So, I went to check out this place. It is very nice and modern looking Filipino restaurant which I was shocked and pleasantly surprise. I ordered the mami and siopao. The siopao was HUGE and very tasty and fresh. I also ordered the calamari which was also good.
Okay, so I should be giving this place a higher rating, right? Why do you think I’m not… yup that’s right… SERVICE SUCKED!!! The guy that took our order… he had salt and pepper hair… barely looked at me and my friend when he took our order, did not smile, did not say hello and practically threw our food at us. When we paid, he roughly grabbed the check.
Since the food was good and I figured maybe the guy was having a bad day, I went again a few months later and I got the same guy… guess what, he seemed more pissy! I get the impression that he really doesn’t want to be there.
Well, needless to say, I can’t give a higher rating even though I like the food and I will not be going back there. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I always wanted to do what they did. I always wanted to open up a well decorated modern Filipino restaurant and just call it Asian food because people don’t go out to eat for Filipino food. But I’ve grown up and I’ve realized that you shouldn’t do that because it’s Filipino food not just Asian food. The name of the place can really throw you off especially since it is located in Chinatown, but Asian noodles is home to Filipino food.
The other thing I don’t like about this place are the prices. Yes, the servings are large, but I find it difficult to cough up that much money for Filipino food. Why should i spend that much, when my dad could cook it for me so much better or when i can get great food at some 1 choice 2 choice places (turo turo) Anyway…
I had the chicken mami. The first time i had it it was perfect. People say its bland but that’s how it’s supposed to be It is supposed to have just a very light broth. (And if you ever go to a Filipino restaurant and find anything under season ask for patis (fish sauce), and add just drop by drop till you like how it taste. The second time I had it, i was sick and I had my boyfriend pick me up some mami to cure my cold. I was dissappointed cause it was over salted. The palabok was also good. The bistek: I didnt like so much. I like mine more well balanced: salty from soy sauce, a little sweet from the onions, bitter from lightly sauted onions and garlic, and sour from lemon. Their version was too sweet, and I could only taste a little lemon. The Bistek was served with French Fries plopped right on top!!! OK OK it was good! but why? I figured the chef was stoned and mixed the two together one day, and decided to serve it. But anyway, if you’re craving for Filipino food and you’re too lazy to cook this is still a great place to eat at.
Other thing that was weird was how brisk the man was on the phone when I was ordering my food over the phone. I excused him because maybe he was in a hurry.
Also something was wrong with the tea. It was super thick, but the waiter fixed the problem by giving us a complementary Hawaiian drink. I feel bad for giving two stars, but «meh i’ve experienced» better Filipino food… duh my dad’s cooking. please someone blow me away with some home cook Filipino food! and also I havent eaten here in over a year. So I have no idea what the food taste like, considering they’ve finally changed the name of the restaurant, to Noi, but no where on the sign do they advertise «Filipino.» Can you please be more proud?

I haven’t actually been here in a while but when I used to go to USC I would make a pit stop in Chinatown to satisfy my craving for some delicious Filipino food. The siopaos here are AWESOME!!! I think this place serves up the best siopaos that I’ve ever had. FYI siopaos are Filipino style sweet steamed buns filled with chicken or pork. If you haven’t ever had a siopao, try one immediately. The sauce that they pair up with their siopaos makes it taste even better. I would even go so far as to stock up on siopaos and freeze them for my enjoyment later.
There are a lot of other mouthwatering dishes here as well. Some of my favorite dishes here are the bistek (steak with onions) and sinigang na hipon (tamarind soup with shrimp).
This place is one of the nicer looking Filipino restaurants since most are typically fast food restaurants. So it’s a great place to try out if you’re interested in trying Filipino food or if you just want to try the best siopaos in town.

Wow! Delicious food (5 Stars for food), but 4 stars for the price cause its a little bit high for Filipino food.
This is gotta be the cleanest restaurant in china town. I wen’t there for my cousin’s birthday last night. Per my cousin their food got better than the last view times he went there. This is what we ordered:
Bikol Express 5 Stars
Beef Steak 5 Stars
Bangus 5 Stars
Pinakbet 4 ½ Stars
Crispy Squid 5 Stars
Crispy Pata 3 Stars
Bihon 5 Stars
Lechon 4 Stars
Sinigang 4 Stars
Restaurant Décor 5 Stars
We had a great time there and I can’t wait to come back and try other dishes. Everyone has different taste, but overall this is a 5 star joint.

I love this place, but what happened?
Did the chef left?
Use to be so good, but I think it’s rolling downhill now.
Here is a haiku for u:
Asian Noodles
Peeps talk about your décor
Where is the Lechon?

I have mixed emotions about this place. As much as I would love to say it’s a great place, I can’t seem to find it in myself to give it a high stamp of approval.
My first complaint is the prices. I found it quite expensive. Most dishes run $ 10+ when I know for a fact it shouldn’t be. I tried to be reasonable and say I’m possibly paying for the ambiance. But seriously … I don’t think so. I’ll admit the décor is more aesthetically appealing compared to most Filipino restaurants, but I don’t think it justifies the bump in prices.
Second complaint is for one of our waiters. He couldve possibly been the owner. He was walking around as if he had a chip on his shoulder. I was so close to telling him that he needs to lighten up and smile just a little bit. Can I get some love or what? Dude, I’m bringing you business.
I’ll admit the food was good. Well let me take that back, it’s hit or miss. My favorite has to be their daing bangus (deep fried boneless milkfish) and the adobong fried rice. Those are some top notch grub. On the flip side, the calderata we ordered was mediocre at best and the tapa was burnt. Quite disappointing to mess up something as simple as tapa.
No haterating on this end. I love to support my people’s business ventures. This restaurant has the potential to becoming one of the few commercialized Filipino joints since it’s location is prime and it is very presentable. Plus the food is not bad at all. I just wish they gave us a lil more love. I felt so unwanted during my visit, as if my $ wasn’t good enough or something.

I really like this place! We came in on a Sunday afternoon with a party of at least 15 and they were graciously accommodating. The wait stuff wasn’t the best, but what can you expect. they’re no Lawry’s!
Anyway, we ordered several things but I’ll need to highlight my favorites:
— Pancit Palabok, it’s hard for me to love any other palabok b/​c I’m deeply in love with palabok from Red Ribbon.
— Crispy Pata, not as good as Magic Wok but it was definitely Unilocal worthy
— Adobong Fried Rice… YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM, just thinking about it makes me salivate. In fact, give me AFR and I won’t need any other foods since there are meat chunks in it!
— I’ll also mention Chicken Tocino, I personally didn’t try it but my boyfriend seemed to have loved it.
The other reason I do enjoy Asia Noodles is that it doesn’t look like all the other Filipino restaurants… you know the ones that looks like they deserve a D on their window. I would actually recommend this to my Boss :)

would some one please tell me there is better noodle places than this. I only went here cuz i could park my vespa on the sidewalk… the owner has attude and the food is good…
so is it worth, yes… would i go again. maybe not… but it is CLEAN. Taste good… but what can i say, the vibe was off… no cool music… maybe it was just my luck
servers are very nice… price is a bit to much… this review is fulll of no answers. i need to get a life… im going to el pollo loco for dinner, dont listen to me…
READ KERRY K below, she konws whats up. she has skills! im jsut fat guy that eats to much…

Passing by Asian Noodles in Chinatown, one would think that this restaurant serves chow mein, maybe even some phở.
As soon as you enter and plop down with a menu, you’ll be suprised that you won’t be getting phở, instead some phở-​lipino.
Yes, this is a Pinoy restaurant fronting with a name like Asian Noodles to fool all the passersby.
However, anyone coming in will not be disappointed. This is one of the best, if not THE best, Pilipino restaurant in Los Angeles.
Eat your sinigang out, Max’s; hide your chicken joy, Jollibee; start mixing those halo-​halos, Goldilocks.
Asian Noodles got you beat like a turbo Jeepney racing against Honda Civic CVCC.
The kare-​kare is perfect, almost as good as mom’s home cooking. The beef tapa wasn’t oily, and the chicken adobo was lean.
I’d eat here all the time if I wasn’t so lazy to drive West on the 10 and face downtown traffic.
So if you’re nearby, it’ll be smart of you to drop your karaōke mics and eat here.

For having a best friend who is Filipino and always eating her mom’s cooking, this place is fan-​tas-​tic! There’s a steamed fish (be weary if you’re not into the head still being on the body, with scales and everything) — with a mango/​spicy salsa — with this out-​of-​this-​world RICE. Yes, I said it right, RICE! I’m asian who knew rice could be so savory?! Well here it is — and I’m usually not a fan of rice, bc duh it’s so plain and just a filler from other treats you could fill your tummy with!
Just a short drive from my work, post-​happy hour drinks when you’re starting to get the munchies and are in the mood for something different — grab a spot on the street, bring your drunken tummy and chow away.
Downtown never fails to amaze me with their epicurial delights — yummy! Just wait until its the Chinese Food Festival in June (ish)!

With the weather getting cooler, I was definitely looking forward to warming myself up with wintertime soups and stews, so my friend and I thought it’d be fun to organize outings to restaurants that specialize in certain kinds of entrée soups, ethnic and otherwise.
With me being Filipina, I wanted to introduce people to a Chinese-​inspired, Filipino soup called Mami. First, a little history that I picked up from Wikpedia.
Mami is the creation of Ma Mon Luk, a grade school teacher in Canton. Arriving penniless in Manila, Ma Mon Luk decided to peddle chicken noodle soup, utilizing egg noodles. He soon became a familiar sight in the streets of Manila, plodding down with a long bamboo pole slung on his shoulders with two metal containers on each end. Ma Mon Luk himself called his concoction «gupit», after the Tagalog word for «cut with scissors». Soon however, Filipinos took to calling the dish «mami», an amalgam of Tagalog words for chicken («manok») and egg noodles («miki»). Ma Mon Luk also introduced siopao, a steamed bun, which is like the Chinese bao, to Filipino culture and generally, the siopao is eaten as a side to the mami soup.
Anyway, I took the group to experience mami soup at Asian Noodles in Chinatown. While mami is still made up of chicken broth and noodles, you have meat options other than chicken. Now you can get mami soup with beef, pork or won ton. I opted for the Classic Filipino Mami, which has chicken and pork.
My mami soup was excellent. The broth was flavorful with the green onions adding just the right amount of zip. The noodles were cooked just right and not overdone and the meat was tender. What was nice is that they also put out a couple of bowls of extra broth so as you ran out, you could add more to your mami.
Along with the mami, I had the bola bola siopao, which had a filling of chicken, pork, sausage and salted egg. You can also order siopao with just chicken or pork fillings.
In regards to the siopao fillings, regardless of what type of meat is used, the filling tends to be on the sweet side. Usually, the siopao meat mixture has sugar and soy sauce as part of its ingredients. I think the combo of the two gives siopao a unique sweet-​salty flavor. That sweet-​salty flavor also gets carried into the sauce that the siopao is dipped in since it is also made up of sugar, soy sauce along with other ingredients. What I like about the bola bola siopao is that the sausage and the salted egg will cut down the sweetness of the filling even more, so that when I break off a piece to dip it in the siopao sauce, all the flavors are balanced well.
By the way, an interesting thing that the manager told us is that the number of red dots showing up on the siopao will tell you which kind of siopao you have. By the way, Bola Bola siopaos only have one red dot.
Whenever I eat mami, I’m reminded me of those moments growing up as a kid, when the rainy season would come and when my Mom didn’t feel like cooking, she’d pile the whole family in the car and we’d head off for a steaming hot bowl of Mami soup at a local Filipino restaurant. No words were needed as we enjoyed each spoonful to the last drop. Essentially, mami soup is really just another version of chicken noodle soup, but regardless of what name it goes by, it’s good comfort food that will warm you from the inside out and it certainly did its job that evening.

It kinda bugs me that a Filipino restaurant has to take such a universal name like «Asian Noodles.» It sounds like a Phở restaurant or a place like Noodle Planet. Why can’t it be called something more… I don’t know… Filipino? Plus, there’s so much more than noodles on the menu, it’s a misnomer.
Anyway, the food here is really good, the atmosphere is bourgeois, and the one server we had had a big chip on his shoulder. Interestingly, the best thing on the menu is the fried calamari. I don’t know what the fuck they do to it, but it is so muthafuckin’ good. That’s all I can really say about it. Make sure you order some as an appetizer if you end up here.
Parking is crap since it’s in Chinatown near Olvera Street.

Asian Noodles is by far the cleanest and tasteful looking Pilipino restaurant I’ve been to here in the States. If you’ve ever been asked by your friends/​coworkers to recommend a good Pilipino restaurant but was worried what they’d think when you’d point them to a place that serves authentic, ultra-​greasy dishes, or if you want an environment where the primary purpose of the place is JUST to eat, not to buy international calling cards, get tickets for a show, or get something notarized, Asian Noodles would be your answer.
This is not to say this place isn’t «authentic,» as they do have a lot of traditional dishes on the menu, but they seem to prepare the dishes a little healthier than your papa or Tita. My family, who is very picky especially when it comes to eating out for Pilipino food enjoy this place, for both the traditional food like their crispy pata and the more modern preparations, such as the bagaoong fried rice. I’m not one to eat bagaoong to begin with, but I’ll be the first to get a soonful of the fried rice for sure! The calamari is very good; not too greasy, and not chewy at all, lumpia is very good (and I’m very picky with my lumpia) and of course their mami is great — seeing the place is owned by the family who invented the dish.
So if anyone wants a less greasy, cleaner, more upscale approach to Pilipino dining, I would highly recommend this place. As with many Pilipino establishments, service may be a bit slow, but please give Albert a break. And if you really need one, there’s probably someone selling international calling cards within 20 paces of the joint.

No adobo is not a large internet company in San Jose…
Filipino food is not easy to come by like the omnipresent Chinese, Thai, Korean, or Indian iterations that line just about every other block in the strip mall heaven that is L.A. cuisine. So where does one find Filipino dining at all, let alone a decent place?
You find it at «Asian Noodles» in Chinatown, of course. The name is ethnically vague. The location is equally non-​descript. Nothing about it screams out «Hey, Filipino food here!» The restaurant bills itself as «Manila fusion» and considering that the Phillipines are influenced by Spanish colonialism, Chinese traders, and Malay heritage, fusion is an apt description.
If you’re not familiar with Filipino food, start with some of the cuisine hallmarks: adobo (mouth watering, vinegary pork stew) or kare-​kare (an oxtail & vegetable stew with a peanut butter sauce). There’s also familiar items with a Chinese accent like their «siopao» which is steamed buns stuffed with braised pork, chicken, or even a sweet red bean. They’re big so you can share one order between two for only $ 2.75.
Other noteworthies are the simple but soothing «mami» noodle soups which are mostly wonton/​meat/​noodle based. The intriguing «scampi chow fun» was delicious but heavy on the garlic so not suitable for vampires. Another crowd favorite is a plate of fried calamari that’s crisp and delightful and served with a delicious dipping sauce made with coconut vinegar laced with chopped garlic.
Weekends get busy but seating never seems to take that long. Parking in Chinatown is always a challenge but this quieter end of Chinatown seems to have more available street parking than not. Décor is sleeker than you’d expect for a quiet little pinoy café tucked discreetly amidst sleepy business fronts. I like that it’s off the beaten path.
Additional food for thought is the debate on using «F» or «P» to refer to F/​Pilipinos. I defer to an essay at
.
«All hail adobo!»