Davis Noodle City

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Davis Noodle City is not your average Davis Chinese restaurant. You will find dishes here that most other restaurants don't serve (e.g. green onion pastry, dumplings, beef noodle stew, cold noodle salad) and very few dishes that other places do serve (e.g. no broccoli beef). Many of the unique dishes are classic Taiwanese recipes, and, with the departure of Breaktime some years ago, Davis Noodle City is the sole establishment in town for such fare. Sadly, this restaurant is often overlooked because it is located next to the wildly popular Sophia's Thai Kitchen.

The restaurant seats around 30 people and service is pretty quick, even for take-out. And while you wait, the friendly servers give you homemade kim chee, a spicy (but not too spicy) cabbage salad, to munch on. Prices are fairly average, though they do have a ''buy 10, get 1 free'' card. Soups and noodle dishes come in heaping piping hot bowls. Just the perfect thing to put a smile on your face during colder months.

The owner has officially taken over the London Fish'n Chips and will augment the current menu with a new style of sandwich. This will be yet another notch in their 30 years of restaurant experience, which also includes the Sampan on Fulton Ave. and Noodle City on Fair Oaks Blvd. in Sacramento.

On June 9th, 2008, the owner opened the Red Orchid Restaurant featuring Dim Sum and Shabu Shabu. Hours are 11am until 9:30 pm, Monday through Saturday. 11 am until 8:30 pm Sundays. Plenty of free parking will be available.

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• Reviews from 2005
  

• Reviews from 2006

2007-02-06 22:08:01   Best Pork Wonton soup ever, I have no idea how they got such amazing flavor! Huge portions for the price, and they're really friendly. One of my favorite places. —ChristyMarsden

2007-02-07 01:18:41   I usually get the chef's noodle salad. The dressing is delicious. —AliceChoe

2007-03-06 22:27:44   All I can say... MSG —MikeWong

• Dear MikeWong, I appreciate your experiencing davis noodle city. I would also like to share with you that we do not put any MSG in our food. We take great pride in how we prepare our food and hope that you come experience it again. Please feel free to come visit with me at davis noodle city or at london fish & chips. Thank you for your input, LindaLiu (owner).
  

2007-03-10 21:58:31   I was recently introduced to this place.. and I've lived in Davis for >4 years. What was I thinking?! The food and service are great. Definitely one of my favorite places to eat in Davis. —CaptainRush

"2007-04-02 17:30:00"   I've filled up about 5 or 6 of the 10-for-1 cards in 2 1/2 years. This place is excellent. I especially like the Garlic Hot Chicken and the Five Spice Beef Noodle Soup, but I've been with people that love the Pork Chop and Mustard Green Chicken Soups, the Curry Chicken, etc. The only thing I would stay away from is Dantze Minced Pork, but that's completely a matter of personal taste. The owners are extremely nice as well, and the service is fast. This is my favorite restaurant in Davis. —IanBenton

2007-04-20 03:47:56   Delicious wontons and potstickers, they're my favorite thing on the menu. Soups are good too. —EdHenn

2007-04-30 14:59:31   No matter what other reviews in Davis may say, NOODLE CITY IS THE BEST ASIAN IN DAVIS! If you want authentic food at great prices this is the place for you. The food is consistantly excellent, always fresh, and ALWAYS piping hot. Where else can you get pot stickers made FROM SCRATCH! The entree's are equally amazing and the dinner prices are no more than 7 or 8 dollars. I have many times walked out of there from dinners for two, including drinks and a couple appetizers for at or less than $30. If you arrive just before 5pm, lunch is still served...the portions are a little smaller and the price ranges from 4-6 dollars. The service is some of the best in Davis and all the food, since it is made fresh, stays hot until you are done!! —foodsciguru

2007-05-06 13:09:04   I've been to this restaurant many times and it's good food for a great price. I've had the Dan Dan noodles (they added veggies for free!). I've had a couple of their rice plates but my favorite is their Noodle salad. I love the chopped peanuts & peanut dressing they use. It's also at an extremely low price for all the food they give you. Service is fair but good for the 1-2 waiters they have in the whole restaurant. I definately recommend this place! —VivianTang86

2007-05-09 00:41:13   KIM CHEE NOODLE SOUP ALL THE WAYYYYYYY!!! —MikeHubby

2007-05-18 02:08:30   The Five Spice Beef Noodle Soup is by far my favorite dish from here. I've tried many other things, particularly the fried rice along with shrimp or chicken but I can safely say that the portions are well worth the price. Honestly if I wasn't so lazy about making a trip to Noodle City and be able to afford I would definitely eat here quite often. I've never been dissatisfied with the service because it's always been fantastic. It saddens me that people have had bad experiences here. —JonathanMartinez

2007-05-25 19:01:53   Super great Asian food, the wonton noodle soup is awesome, filling and a great deal! I rarely go anywhere else for Asian food. I love that you get kimchee when you sit down. The servers are always sweet and polite! —domesticgoddesss

2007-06-01 23:07:05   Staff are genuinely nice/friendly, food is great, service amazing, and food is cheap. Doesn't get better than this! —Surfnoc

2007-06-15 18:08:16   I like the kimchee that you get when you sit down, I like the small, comfortable atmosphere and the prompt, accommodating service, I like the homemade noodles that you can get with every dish instead of rice (or, if you're with two people, get both!), I like the fact that the orange beef isn't crispy fried, I like the Hunan tofu (seems similar to what other places call Ma Po tofu, soft tofu with spicy black bean sauce). My one and only complaint is that there aren't more vegetables available, which is not to say that there aren't plenty of vegetarian dishes (there are). But a vegetable mix in a tasty sauce would be a welcome addition. The vegetable curry comes close (and it's really good — in fact, I've yet to have a bad dish here), but it is mostly potatoes and tofu. What I'm looking for is something with lots of broccoli, carrots, snow peas, etc. —CovertProfessor

2007-09-08 15:43:49   Got a curry dish here...pretty good if you get a break time between classes. ok price for quality. Havn't tried their noodles yet —KaiWan

2007-09-24 16:10:14   did Noodle City stop the 10-for-1 cards? bummer. —IanBenton

2007-10-08 08:00:10   Ate there for the first time this weekend, and had the Kim Chi noodle soup, which turned out to not only be delicious, but a ton of food, particularly for $6.50. My only complaint is that it was pretty light on the meat, but filling nonetheless. I'm definitely going again. —CameronYoung

2007-10-12 23:19:45   I've had better noodles. Don't order the soups that have beef unless you're really into beef, they're really beefy with huge chuncks ok of meat. I'll try it again for something other than beef soup. —ingrid

2007-11-08 16:32:36   I love the noodle soup here. In fact most noodle dishes are great. Sometimes when it's busy on friday's it's hard to find seating and you have to wait for a while. But i like the atmosphere it's very quiant. The service here has been nice, but sometimes slow on weekdays as they seem to only have one server on staff. But overall, i like this place. It's hidden inside this fod court area...definately a "hidden gem" of davis. —sarahnewman

"2007-12-01 10:28:00"   My friend and I came here for an early lunch (11:10 a.m.). The portions were huge, enough for two meals, and I liked the mild kimchee. The service was timely, and the woman who took our order was really nice. DEFINITELY going back! —carley

2007-12-19 02:22:21   Best potstickers in Davis. —JennSuzuki

2008-01-04 19:14:40   The kim chi that they serve on the side is highly addictive. —hokusman

2008-01-06 03:43:33   We stumbled in here because Sophia's was closed. We are both vegan, and fairly new to the area. We were so pleasantly surprised! Huge portions, great prices & our server helped us out with veggie options. I love the spicy cabbage they brought out while waiting for our food. We have been back a few times since then, and the Sichuan Eggplant (add tofu) is hands down my favorite. —AprilAries

2008-01-10 19:03:32   The Taiwanese Pork Chop Noodles are awesomeeeeee. —CalvinCheng

2008-01-21 18:25:14   The cold noodle salad (I get vegetarian) is the best and is chock-full of vegetables. —Joanna

2008-01-27 11:36:29   I was very disappointed by the noodle bowl- very oily, too much pepper, and not very flavorful. I don't think I even finished half of it before I closed the container and tossed it out. The staff was very friendly, but the food wasn't what I was expecting. —RMM

2008-01-28 16:19:32   I came here last night and got the hot garlic chicken noodle dish. The garlic chicken was mostly good (though some of the chicken pieces were a little dry and stringy in places), the noodles, so-so. I heard good things about Davis Noodle City and wanted to give it a chance, but out of ten points, I give a four or five. It wasn't bad, but it didn't meet my standards. —thelonepiper555

2008-01-29 00:36:36   great soups, excellent service, good prices.

anyone know what's in their sauce for dumplings, fried bread, tofu, or any appetizers? it's really yummy. —Teddie

2008-01-29 02:29:19   The Sichuan chicken is the best. —twblalock

2008-01-30 20:54:53   i ordered the shrimp and pork wonton noodle soup and green onion pancakes. the green onion pancakes were excellent—perfect amount of oniony flavor and not too oily—i would say it is at par with the ones that i have had in the san gabriel valley. the wontons were a bit dry and the flavor indistinct. the complimentary kimchi was delicious. service was good—the waiter brought me another plate of kimchi when he saw that i had finished my first. i was sitting alone in a four table space and even though there were several other parties waiting, he never once hinted for me to hurry up. —QS

2008-02-06 10:15:06   Awesome, I love noodles and this place has the best. the hot oil wontons are great, service is nice, prices are great. peper beef is another good dish. I once took my father, grandparents, 2 kids, wife, and friend here for about $40. If you are a vegetarian they have a nice vegi menu —DagonJones

2008-02-07 15:50:28   PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE update and change your menu!!!

I am sick of the same old items you have been offering for years now. How about some healthier options for health conscience people. Organic veggies, local organic meats. Lighter dishes.

I have a hard time coming in. Please freshen up the place, scrub down the tables (quite sticky) and re-open with a NEW and improved menu choices.

This will be good for business!!! Please: we are hungry. :-) —ElleNoel

2008-02-08 14:04:33   I have been eating here weekly for 2.5 years. They are awesome. All of the veggies are fresh. The service is always friendly. Support them! —TawnyMata

2008-03-17 01:33:50   I came here when it was extremely busy. People were waiting 15-20 minutes just to get seated, then an additional 30 or more minutes for their food to come. This put me in an extremely bad mood. There service wasn't bad, it was compromised due to the circumstances. From it being packed, it's clearly a popular place. The prices are extremely fair and the portions are large. I will admit, chicken fried rice is the most lame and typical dish a person can order, but I truly enjoyed the full (if not a little salty) flavor of their delicious chicken fried rice. I wish I wasn't in such a rush and bad mood to go back to study for finals. Their Marco Polo Noodles, unbeknown to me, taste like eating paper and air. My father ordered the five spice beef noodle soup and enjoyed it. Fair prices, good portions, come here when during slow hours for a fantastic experience. If it's crowded, just don't be in a rush, because it will take forever. It's mom and pop owned, so they have a total of 3 employers (working Sunday evening) working at once. I wish circumstances were different. —CoreyPham

2008-04-03 21:32:03   I just went there for dinner. It wasn't too packed and the service was pretty good. The food was pretty good as well, and reasonable for the price. I ordered the Pork Chop Noodles. —BenLee

2008-04-04 05:08:07   Amazing, irresistable pork hot oil wontons and wonton soup, but I recently discovered the Black Pepper Beef and... wow. This place is a standout, different and in my opinion better than all the other Chinese restaurants in town. The funny thing though is that after eating there enough times, you may notice that there is only one song playing on about a 10-minute loop, and part of it sounds like the violin part in Baba O'Reily. —EdHenn

2008-04-22 23:47:53   Pork Chop noodles!! i was confused as to how they would present this. i thought maybe they'd dunk some pork into the soup, like tempura udon or something. instead it came out as a big bowl of noodles and a side plate of fried sliced pork chops. i was stupefied at first but all that was soon forgotten as i started to eat. the pork chops are great! of course, they were fried, so they were a little oily and heavy, but thats where the noodles balanced it out. the soup was light, the vegetables were large and fresh tasting, and the noodles...well, they're the kind of noodles you slurp up after eating a piece or two of the pork. awesome balancing of each other. throw in some kimchi on the side and good-sized portions for everything and it makes for a great meal. i'll have to see if they have a pork chop and rice dish on the menu. that promises to be just as great as pork chop noodles. —beekergene

2008-04-28 13:35:25   Today was my first time visiting Davis Noodle City after reading several reviews...as soon as i walked up, a friendly server guy opened the door for me, took my order, brought me water, and shared stories of his home in Taiwan when he was a young kid. We must have talked for 15 minutes! I was happy waiting for the food to be made, because it was great. I ordered the 5 spice beef noodle soup and the hot garlic chicken. Both dishes were piping hot and fresh, very flavorful and the portions were large. The atmosphere inside the restaurant (i was the only one there...it was 11 am right when they opened) was unlike that of other places i've eaten at in davis. First of all, they play very pleasant Chinese classical music, which is a very favorable difference from the 80s pop and other BS i hear at other places (**COUGH**jadegarden**COUGH**). The 5 spice beef noodle soup is almost identical to the beef noodle soup at Hometown Chinese food. Both restaurants are awesome. —boristheblade

2008-05-10 15:11:38   I returned to this place recently with my father to eat and it wasn't busy. All I have to say is that this place is friendly and the food is fantastic. Actually, 30 minutes into us sitting down and eating and such, lots of people started showing up. It must be popular. I ordered the Chef's Noodle Salad with chicken and it was amazing. Great portions, super tasty. My dad got the Five Spice Beef Noodle Soup again, and he enjoyed that. We also decided to get the Sichuan Eggplant, and it was a HUGE portion and delicious. I took it home and ate it the next day for dinner, super happy. Great place to go, just hope that it's not packed! Will come back often! —CoreyPham

2008-05-10 23:29:42   I went there with a group of friends about a week ago. Just got in as a table opened up, but it seems very popular. They accidently mixed up my order, but were prompt in fixing it. Prices are reasonable, and the food is great. —JimL

2008-06-10 21:40:40   First time I ate green onion bread. Most amazing! Service was very kind, and the wait for a table was quite quick, it was rather crowded! Shall definitly return! —tuckerm

2008-06-13 12:50:22   OUTSTANDING. —JJNasca

2008-06-26 13:18:12   I am a big fan of Noodle City. I love the vegetable dumplings and won tons especially. The Chef's Noodle salad is quite healthy and refreshing during Summer—GarySaylin

2008-06-27 15:36:43   Always enjoy coming here with friends. This time they asked for extra rice and noodles, and surely got almost double portion of that. Highly recommended. Especially enjoy the green onion bread appetizer. —JohnLin

2008-07-05 14:40:12   Not a fan of this place. The noodle soup doesn't have enough flavor and the hot oil won-tons had a strange peanut sauce. Very bland food! —islandboy12

2008-07-21 18:53:12   I've only tried the five spice beef, with and without broth. Very good! I can really taste the noodles though, the homemade noodle taste. I love the quick service, and the friendliness of the service. —llee10789

2008-07-22 21:45:07   The only place I know of that still serves kimchee and this stuff tastes homemade. Personally I prefer mine a bit more dripping with the juices they were fermented with, but its still good. And the five spice beef noodle soup is so big that I always have a hard time finishing it. So tasty...I wish it were winter again so I could really appreciate a hot bowl of comfort food like this place serves. —SunjeetBaadkar

2008-07-28 10:42:19   I went back for dinner and tried the orange beef with noodles...HUGE PORTIONS! It was tangy, and mixed in with fresh carrots and broccoli...yum. It was pippin' hot when it came to my table..I will continue supporting Davis Noodle! —llee10789

2008-08-08 16:21:35   I like this place. You guys claim that the noodles are rice noodles, though. I am a vegan, and asked the lady working if they were egg noodles, and she said yes. I just get rice, and it's very yummy! —Kristina86

2008-08-09 09:31:14   SO Yummy! One of my favorite places in Davis. Order the kim chee noodle soup—it's so ridiculously flavorful. The noodles are perfect and the portions are big. You can even order things to your liking—order the hot garlic chicken mild if it's too spicy for you. And order soups with the big, thick noodles if you like those better. Even the dan dan noodles (thin noodles with a simple peanut sauce and peanuts) is awesome. Go here lots! —SarahOsler

2008-08-21 11:06:46   In response to the comment on 8/8/08 about the noodles containing eggs, I recently spoke to one of the owners (a gentleman - can't remember his name now!) and he assured me multiple times that eggs were NOT an ingredient in the noodles. I am vegan, too, so very curious about this issue! —AlvinoGina

2008-08-21 13:15:52   I, too, am vegan. The male owner has always told me the noodles are wheat noodles, not egg. —AprilAries

2008-08-24 22:11:38   Great big bowl of noodle for a great price. The noodles are yummy. I had the five spice pork noodle. Friendly service. —ched

2008-09-21 03:19:11   The table is sticky, they don't clean it well. —2point0student

2008-10-01 14:10:46   I have been to Davis Noodle City probably about a dozen times now, and have always been impressed by the food and service. The last time I went in there, however, I ordered the Hunan Tofu (I am vegetarian) and a few other dishes with friends, and we found chunks of chicken giblets in the dish. I am pretty bummed out, because I really like this place. It does make me think twice about eating there in the future. —JayaSmith

2008-10-23 08:05:29   they don't serve pickled vegetables as a free appetizer anymore —justinhu

2008-10-29 10:24:11   Excellent amount of food for the price (definitely fits my definition of cheap food. Sometimes the restaurant can be rather busy and they fill up fast. Service can become a little eratic during those times. For example, last meal we ended up with rice instead of noodles. Fortunately they were kind enough to then just provide a bowl of noodles and allowed us to keep the rice. Now that's a really cheap eat. Finally out waters weren't refilled. Both problems are totally excusable though considering the quality and the quantity of the food. Highly recommended. —RyanMikulovsky

2008-10-29 21:15:45   I've been going here since freshman year, and I've really liked this place. The garlic hot chicken is very tasty, and is my usual meal, though I also recommend their porkchop noodle soup and Dan Dan Noodles. The servers are friendly, if busy, because the restaurant is often packed. My only complaint is the water often tastes funny, maybe they could add a lemon? The price is great for the sheer amount of food you get. —JaimeG

2008-11-03 16:47:49   Lately I've been having this sudden intense craving for the black pepper beef with noodles. I live in San Jose and there's A LOT of Asian restaurants around here, but NOTHING compares to Davis Noodle City. This place is AWESOME. So yeah, when my cravings get to the point of burst, I just drive nearly 2 hours to get my fill of black pepper beef with noodles... *hangs head* ... now if Linda can be convinced to move down to San Jose hehehee!!! —LizKim

2008-11-13 15:25:21   Well I am currently seated in a booth at Davis Noodle City writing this review. I randomly decided to come here and ordered Beef Noodle Soup. Very delicious big portions and big slices of beef. Being from San Gabriel in SoCal I can say I've eaten better, but this place can definitely hang with the best.

A big A for the restaurant from this sophomore and plus, I can use my laptop and moobilenet HERE!
Will come again. —CalvinCheung