Tasty Noodle House (Sawtelle Japantown): A Pictorial Essay

J_L · November 30, 2017, 10:03am

The latest branch of Shanghai specialist Tasty Noodle House has opened in Sawtelle Japantown! Let’s go!!!

Located in the space formerly occupied by Restaurant 2117, Tasty Noodle House is already proving to be quite popular within its first week of opening. The menu here is quite extensive.

Hot almond milk tea ( 香濃杏仁奶茶 )… Really nice.

House rice wine “drunken” chicken ( 品味醉雞 )… Served chilled, this was a tasty appetizer

Pork hock with house spice & spinach ( 品味五醬豬腳 )… Absolutely deee-licious!!! Perfect marinade. Get a bowl of white rice to accompany this fabulous preparation!

Beef noodle soup ( 紅燒牛肉湯麵 )… OK OK this isn’t technically a dish of Shanghai origin, BUT the restaurant is called Tasty Noodle House, after all! And this bowl was very, very tasty indeed. These noodles had lots of ‘Q’. I just wish they’d cut the beef into smaller chunks, though…

Shanghai grilled pork buns ( 上海生煎包, AKA Shanhgahi shenjianbao)… Oh man, this was great! Really tastes like the awesome stuff I remembered finding on the streets of Shanghai! And now these gorgeous SJB’s are available in West LA!

Undercarriage shot… Legit shenjianbao socarrat!

Really nice, juicy, flavorful pork filling…

Shanghai-style black sesame mochi balls in fermented eggdrop & rice soup ( 上海洒釀小湯圓 )… Beautiful. A wonderful dessert, and reminds me of the stuff Grandma used to make.

Chefs enjoy the kitchen staff meal… Bravo! Well done!

The grand opening of tasty Noodle House definitely gives nearby ROC Kitchen something to worry about. Their “bao” items are prepared with better dough technique. Their menu is more varied, the execution is more flavorful and dammit it’s just, well… TASTIER! Bring a crew to eat here, so that you have an excuse to cut deeper into that vast menu. They were out of ingredients for some of the more high-end (read: sea cucumber) dishes the night I went, but the staff assures me (in both English and Mandarin) that the supply chain is being worked on.

The Shanghai-leaning chain’s newest location represents another fantastic addition to the landscape of Sawtelle Japantown. I hope the quality stays high here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Tasty Noodle House
2117 Sawtelle Bl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
424.248.3232

CiaoBob · November 30, 2017, 6:12pm

Was there a line when you went?
Sawtelle - shit, prolly LA in general - seems to be becoming a real line up town.
I saw a MOB outside Cheng Du Taste this weekend.

J_L · November 30, 2017, 6:30pm

Nope (not yet) - No queue except the “Q” in them noodles . More Mandarin overheard being spoken than English from those inside. The less-than-enthused yelpers so far (by and large) have not navigated this giant menu properly, IMHO…

My server tells me basically that Hacienda Heights Sergio (my words, not his) is cooking in tha’ house right now as the Sawtelle location launches.

paranoidgarliclover · November 30, 2017, 9:14pm

Ah, darnit! Argh. I was on Sawtelle yesterday (for Marugame) and walked right by w/o knowing this place was there!!! Thanks for the report. Pork hock + SJB + sesame mochi balls = I will be there on a regular, possibly weekly, basis.

@CiaoBob: I don’t recall seeing a line when I walked by the place last night (a little b/f 8PM).

CiaoBob · November 30, 2017, 9:18pm

Great.

Chowseeker1999 · December 1, 2017, 2:42am

Thanks @J_L great news for Westside! Saves me a trip to the SGV from the sounds of it. Thanks for the great review.

So I’m guessing this Tasty Noodle House has nothing to do with the one in the San Gabriel Valley with Dalian cuisine? @ipsedixit @chandavkl?

thechez5 · December 1, 2017, 3:01am

Is this part of the same chain?

https://yelp.to/qTKq/6yz1Jl8KvI

J_L · December 1, 2017, 3:02am

This Tasty Noodle House is the newest location of the chain with sister locations in Irvine, Hacienda Heights, Chino Hills, and San Diego.

ipsedixit · December 1, 2017, 3:05am

paranoidgarliclover · December 3, 2017, 4:34am

Holy hell, that was good. Many thanks to @J_L for sharing this place (although apparently all the Chinese UCLA students have already found it). Pretty crowded today at lunch (we went around 1PM) but cleared out pretty quickly after that.

SJB excellent, crab XLB good (haven’t had Jin Jiang in awhile; I don’t think these are as good as those, but they are vastly superior to the gummy, despicable messes I had a ROC yrs ago); pork chop (very good) noodles (serviceable… rather al dente); eggplant (excellent); and Shanghai sticky rise siu mai (which was basically the rice from a zong zi put into a dumpling or XLB wrapper; they were very tasty).

No space left for black sesame, but I’ll be getting it next time.

I certainly don’t have the depth of knowledge of the other posters here regarding SGV restaurants (esp more recent openings), but, IMHO, this wasn’t just “good for the westside.” It was simply good. Not phenomenal. But I’m incredibly happy to have this place nearby, and I’d be happy to have this near me, even if I lived in the SGV. Menu is shockingly long; I certainly look forward to trying to eat my way through it.

Will post pics in weekend rundown later.

Bookwich · December 3, 2017, 4:11pm

I’m going to agree with @paranoidgarliclover, this is flat out good, no qualifier necessary. And yes, thanks @J_L for posting this! As soon as I read the post, I waited impatiently for 11 a.m. so I could order Postmates.

The noodle soup with fish and preserved vegetables was excellent: delicate broth, silky fish, and thin, chewy noodles that I loved. The boy thought the pork dumplings were “really good”, he seemed almost surprised at how much better they were than other dumplings he’s had. (Disclaimer: I order the steamed pork dumplings, then fried them at home. They have a thick skin and are obviously not meant to be eaten steamed.)

Here is a photo of the noodle soup broth before I mixed in the noodles and fish. It’s milky and rich, but subtle.

I think I’m going to really like this place.

CiaoBob · December 4, 2017, 5:53pm

Loved it.
With a one quibble - don’t bother with the XLB (unless you like broken wrappers and soup leaking all over the steamer); wait for Din Tai Fung to open in Century City.

Spicy Sesame Pork Wonton - much better than XLB
Prawns w/Spicy Minced Pork Sauce Noodle Soup - truly amazing.
Sauteed Fish Fillet, Bean Curd skin and Preserved veggies - better than I’ve had in Shanghai
Braised Pork with Soy sauce and bean curd knots - excellent
Shredded Beef with Dried Chili

Did not try the beautiful looking SJB - next time.

Takes west la Chinese options to a new level of excellence. With Qin West, Meizho Dongpo, Popcorn Chix’s Beef Noodle soup and some items at Northern Cafe - as well as the aformentioned Din Tai Fung coming, my life is greatly improved.

30 minute wait at 2 PM on a Sunday.

Nemroz · December 4, 2017, 6:09pm

We’ve gone 3 times now to the 3rd / crescent location and i’m far from impressed or excited to go back… watery, low flavor stuff… salt added to make up for it… etc etc

J_L · March 14, 2018, 11:21pm

Therein lies the possible issue…

hungryhungryhippos · March 15, 2018, 7:41am

I generally only order a couple of things but definitely enjoy the location.

My only gripe with the sjb is that they aren’t filled with soupy goodness ala the other tasty noodle house in Alhambra or kang kang

bulavinaka · March 16, 2018, 12:20am

We ate here about a month ago. After ordering 8 dishes, we were still yearning for SGV food. Are my expectations askew? Did we get non-Chinesed? Wife is Chinese, ordered in Mandarin.

ipsedixit · March 16, 2018, 1:38am

When I went about 2 weeks ago, I thought it was extraordinarily mediocre.

I thought it was just me since everyone here seems to just swoon over the place.

tiberiusnero · March 16, 2018, 2:20am

I vote mediocre too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Sawtelle this option for us Westsiders. It’s just not SGV level.

bulavinaka · March 16, 2018, 4:44am

We’ve found this to be true in general for these newer Westside Chinese eateries that are serving “the more real stuff.” It’s definitely great to see eateries serving dishes once only found in towns like Alhambra, Rosemed, etc., but “very tame” comes to mind.

bulavinaka · March 16, 2018, 5:03am

Agree - we’ll still be heading out to SGV but the progression in the Westside has been very heartening.