Top Chinese Noodle Restaurant in El Cerrito
Noodles Fresh El Cerrito CA.Chinese Cuisine
10042 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
My family quite enjoys this place, and I got to go with them recently for my first time recently and I also enjoyed it. They have a good number of items that are vegetarian and can be made vegan, and also a good number of items that can be made gluten-free. There is a small subset of these that can be both vegan and gluten-free, which made me happy. One of these was the Vegetarian Stir-Fry Noodles, which I got. It was good, though, perhaps a bit bland. Maybe it was a misunderstanding with our server, because she said that the dish normally comes medium-spicy, and I said I was fine with medium-spicy, but there was zero spice to it at all, like they had omitted the chilis for some reason. Oh well ... nothing a little Sriracha (which they have) cant fix.Lots of options for noodle stir-frys, noodle soup bowls, and rice dishes. A little bit of something for everyone. Even a nice list of appetizers, too.Service was good, and our servers were attentive enough. I would come here again.
Top other services in El Cerrito:
Antojitos Guatemaltecos
11252 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Went here a couple weeks ago, really good food, very reasonable prices for the quality. I've never had Guatemalan food, this was delicious. Had the rice tamale, desayuno chapin (with pork sausage), garnachas, and empanadas. Had enough to feed me and my parents for breakfast/lunch and even had left overs after. Rice tamale reminded me of Chinese rice tamale, flavorful and savory. Garnachas had a crunch to them (mini toasted tortilla underneath) and with the meat and pickled vegetables in each bite, it gave so much satisfaction. Empanadas we're on point. The desayuno chapin (breakfast) came with eggs, pork sausage, beans and there was something else but I forgot. Pork sausage was incredible.Also had Elote hot drink. Sweet corn hot drink that reminded me of Chinese Red bean soup (sweet). Very good especially on rainy day.Highlights: high quality food, you can taste the ingredients, so much love and care put into cooking and presentation. Service was great as well! Food came out on time and she even provided a box to carry my food in.Definitely going back again when I'm in the area. Thank you!!
Yaoya-San
10566 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
My favorite place to go for Japanese grocery (especially hot pot ingredients and eggs), bentos, onigiri, rolls/makimono, side dishes, various sweet and savory buns, breads, desserts, etc… and household items. I've been shopping here for about 15 years and am always amazed at the selection. Now that they took over the adjacent store space that used to be a Japanese dollar store, the shopping experience is even better with the wider aisles and modernized displays for refrigerated and frozen goods. The staff is friendly and helpful. Many are at least bilingual. I also love that most of the people at the register know how to pack the items efficiently into your bags taking weight distribution and whether an item is refrigerated/frozen or not into consideration (like they do in Japan). Lastly Moser Square where Yaoyasan is located has plenty of parking too.
New Dumpling
10064 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
I first heard of this place through NextDoor and the concept of it was tantalizing enough that I wanted to try it. Made plans to go on a weekend with my cousin, but before we had a chance, I heard that it was extremely popular with hour long waits on weekends - the only times my cousin is available. When I told my cousin this, he suggested I try it alone on a weekday to get a sense of whether or not its worth the wait on weekends.So today, Wednesday, May 15, on an unusually rainy day here, I tried it for lunch, figuring that the rain might keep the crowds away.Well, at least the wait was shorter. I arrived just after Noon and was second on the waiting list behind a party of three. I could see a two top empty, but not yet cleared from the previous diner. It took 15 minutes for them to clear the table and seat me - thats just too long for a restaurant that only had 12 tables! Under normal circumstances, that alone would cause me to knock off a star.As I sat down, I was able to see the size of the dishes on other tables and realized that even a single order of dumplings plus one side would be significantly more than I normally want to eat at lunch. But there were at least 5 varieties of dumpling that triggered my salivary glands as I read the menu!! What to do?I asked my server if there was any chance they I could order either half orders, or perhaps even a sampler. Neither was on the menu, but theyre in their soft opening phase - hopefully open to requests such as this. Alas, the answer was No - so I ordered a single dumpling variety and a single side dish. This failure to be flexible - especially in a way that allows a solo diner to explore the menu - would normally also earn a dropped star.But the dumplings were exquisite! And it is their soft opening. So instead of knocking off two stars, I only knocked off a single star. Hopefully, theyll read these reviews and take them to heart.As far as the food itself goes, I had only a single complaint: The dipping/spreading stuff on every table was soy sauce, some clear liquid, and a garnish that looked spicy. I had no idea what the clear liquid was - that could have been explained or labeled - so I didnt try it, but the kicker was the spicy garnish - WAY too spicy hot!!! Like many people raised on a standard American diet, I havent developed a taste for really spicy hot food, but I HAVE learned to appreciate mild spicy hot. It would have been nice if that had been an option.I did end up taking roughly half my food home. Ill try reheating it for dinner tonight and will probably add that experience to this review in a few hours. But in no case will that experience change my 4 star rating - I think restaurants should be judged on their food as they serve it, not its suitability as leftovers!(6 hours later): Burp!!!The dumplings and pancakes are IMMENSELY suitable as leftovers!!I reheated the dumplings in a microwave safe dish with a couple of teaspoons of water added and covered by wet paper towels. I heated for a total of 75 seconds on high - and they were delish! - save for a bit of uneven heating. So when next I do this, Ill try doubling the time with half the power.The pancakes reheated even better. I lightly greased a frying pan, let it heat up on just over medium heat, then put them in and turned them every 30 seconds until the outside crisp was restored without burning them. For these, I couldnt detect a difference in texture nor taste from when they were fresh at the restaurant!Just one more thought: I reheated them only 6 hours after they were originally served. I have no clue if the result would have been different were there more time between initial serving and reheating as leftovers.
Zomsa
10558 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
An impressive array of vegan options (4/5 Green Stars)I would highly recommend trying out this Himalayan restaurant in El Cerrito. There are plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians and the quality every item we ordered was very high. I've had versions of each dish before but was impressed with Zomsa's versions and rate Zomsa as one of the best Himalayan restaurants around. The Aloo Tikki (crispy potato cake with mint and tamarind sauces – vegan, $6) was a great start. The Vegetarian Jhol Momos (dumplings filled with kale, butternut squash, mushrooms, and spices, served in a sauce made from cashews and peanuts – vegan, $14) were really good. Often vegetarian dumplings have forgettable fillings, but I found these momos to be very thoughtfully made and satisfying. The Vegetable Thakali Thali was a great combination of several items that each added to the meal (veg curry, lentil soup, pickled daikon, sautéed mustard greens, and a papad – vegan, $17). Impressed by how satisfying these vegan dishes were – you wouldn't even notice that the entire meal was plant-based.I'm giving Zomsa 4 out of 5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, for these reasons:• Even though there are several meat dishes, I was impressed by how much of the menu is not just vegetarian but vegan. More than a dozen main courses are vegan, along with several appetizers. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change and deforestation, besides avoiding animal cruelty and the negative impact of the meat industry on society.• Local beer is available on draft, mitigating packaging and transportation impacts.• The restaurant used to emphasize the use of organic ingredients, but I suspect that the prices became too high to sustain this in El Cerrito. Appreciate the effort though and hope that they still use some organic ingredients, when possible.
Tigon
10086 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
We got food togo. When we walked in to pick up the food, the place looked a little empty (Sunday at 1230pm). However, the inside of the restaurant looked really clean and well organized.We ordered:Shrimp crisp rolls: crispy, delicious and flavorful.Crispy egg rolls: not really worth it, ratio of ingredients was off, felt like there was a lot of taro and not enough meat.Papaya salad: papaya is cut in waffle cut shape. My friend said it made it harder to eat. Flavor was okay.Chicken salad: solid, could have a little bit more chicken but the flavors and combo came together well.Pho Ga: decent. There is no good pho places near by, so this pho doesn't have much competition. The broth is crisp and clear; good for when you're ill.Rice plate: you got to choose 2 meats/appetizers. It wasn't as amazing as I was hoping it'd be. I usually love this dish and felt that the proportions were a bit sad and the flavor was only mediocre.Thai ice tea: too sweetOverall good place for a night out with Asian parents; pricey for what you are getting.
Daiso
7000 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
This is a nice Daiso store but not as big as the one in Japantown, San Francisco.The store on Market Street in SF is convenient but you have to navigate around the homeless to get into the main door. The selection is also limited.The Daiso in El Cerrito is in a good location near the BART station.Periodically I will go in there to see if they have any new knick-knacks for the home.I was in need of a strainer and I found a sizeable one for $1.50. It is stainless steel and just the right size to fit in a kitchen drawer.The real reason I go to Daiso is to pick up the plastic DVD holders. I have many discs that Ive lost sleeves for and these holders fill the void.Not many stores carry the holders anymore but theyre still in demand for DVD collectors like me.Im from the old school, so I know a bargain or two when I see one.
El Mono Fresh Flavors of Peru
11720 San Pablo Ave Suite B, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Hoping to get an authentic response here. seems as though the manager/founder copies and pastes the same generic response for all unfavorable reviews. matt, please reach out to me directlythis was my second (and last) time at el mono. the first was pre covid and the food and service were decent (a solid 3-4 stars). however, i recently took my family here and i could not have been more disappointed in the service. i appreciate that they are open for patio dining in addition to their indoor options. unfortunately, the server we had appeared to only attend to the indoor tables. i literally had to walk inside after 15 minutes in order to ask for some water for our table. i thought maybe the person who sat us didnt inform our server that they had a new table.we received our water from a busser (who was super friendly), but then waited another few minutes for a server to come over and actually ask if we wanted to order any beverages. we ordered a carafe of sangria for the table. the sangria was actually pretty good.the problem was the food, not necessarily the kitchen. our server let the food die at the pass for way too long. from where i was sitting, i could see food at the line in the kitchen and wondered if it was aging, waiting for a server or food runner to bring it to a table. we ordered 4 dishes and this was the case for half of them.when food did start to arrive at our table, we did not have silverware. i asked the server for some, and she apologized and went inside. i assumed she went to get us silverware but she did not return. after five minutes of our food getting even colder than when it arrived, i went inside and found our server who was standing around on her phone. i asked her for silverware and she stated oh i am sorry, no one brought it to you?. i am not sure who she thought was going to bring it. perhaps she asked one of her colleagues and they forgot. regardless, i think she should have followed up. she handed me the silverware and plates that we needed to eat and i essentially set the table myself.hard to judge the food because at this point it had been sitting for 5-10 minutes at the pass and 5+ minutes on the table.from the time we ordered to the time we actually got to eat was 55 minutes (add the 15 minutes before we ordered and we are at over an hour wait). they were not busy, dining room 30-40% occupied.while i dont believe this to be a reflection on the average experience at a place so highly regarded by the yelp community, i was disgusted by our servers neglect, disinterest in turning around our experience, and general dismissiveness.
Waikiki Hawaiian BBQ
9935 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Me and my girlfriend came here on a Friday afternoon super hungry, here's what we thought of this wonderful place :)——MY REVIEW:This place is amazing. If you're in the area looking for something yummy to eat at a great price, you absolutely need to stop in and grab something here.I got the beef curry, oh my god- it couldn't have been better. The beef was SO SO tender, the curry was exploding with flavor, it comes with rice and macaroni salad- both of which were wonderful. The portions were extremely generous. That meal came out to less than $15 and was beyond worth, I will be putting this on my list and definitely coming back.——MY GIRLFRIENDS REVIEW:So so so so delicious this is the best Hawaiian food I've ever had. Very authentic you can tell they put a lot into their recipes. the food was prepared quickly and was hot upon arrival.The gravy they put on my food was so delicious and made everything come together, and I was able to get a side of kimchi which I loved! Definitely will be coming back to try the masubi as they had many yummy options of different types. 10/10