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.
They ladies taking line orders were fine when I was there as well, but they were also taking phone orders which slowed the line down to a crawl.
So for best results, maybe I should call them WHILE standing in line?! Brilliant.
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After a long meeting in Westwood, arrived around 3, when it was a little too late for lunch and too early for dinner or cocktails.
Good news is that finding a metered space at that time was easy
Bad news is the food was awful. Two of us ordered pork dumplings (with “soup inside”) and bowl of shrimp won ton soup.
The dumplings were thick and doughy, but tasted o.k… The Shrimp won ton soup may be the worst soup I have ever had. The broth tasted only of the flavor of bok choy in the bowl. Otherwise, flavorless. I added chili sauce which helped a bit.
Truly terrible. Only the mediocre pork dumplings warded off starvation. Left over the soup and threw away the takeout menu.
Koala T fried dumplings > Northern Cafe.
Authentic menu but poor execution/cooking.
Agree. Nice looking menu. That is the best thing I can say about this place.
Unfortunately, I had another mediocre meal at Northern Cafe myself. Chongquing “crispy” chicken was crispy as advertised but lacked flavor. There were chili peppers in the batter but no Sichuan peppercorn that I could discern. Pork potstickers were undercooked and gummy. The sauteed stringbeans were the only saving grace – nice and garlicky with lots of fermented black bean.
I’ll give them another try after things calm down and they work out the kinks.
BTW, I actually did what @J_L suggested and ordered by phone before standing in line. Worked like a charm lol.
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Ancient Chinese secret…
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Hit the Westwood branch of Northern Cafe for dinner last night and things have improved since my last visit. Chongqing spicy chicken finally had a hint of Sichuan peppercorn (though still not nearly enough). And the kung pao chicken had a vinegary component that’s often lacking from Westernized preparations – a pleasant surprise.
It’s still not SGV quality.-- or as good as Meizhou Dongpo imo. But the price is right and it’s real close by. I definitely see myself returning, particularly for more of the kung pao.
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