Northern Cafe

We met with a group of friends at Northern Cafe, six adults and a two-year-old. The place was busy and all highchairs were in use. The were able to put tables together so that we all could actually sit together, and that is not easy with their setup, which has quite a number of booths.They have beautiful menus with lots of pictures. They showcase their dishes quite nicely, but still leave you confused for a while. Many dishes I would expect to be pork dishes are only served with beef. Some dishes only exist with shrimp. Some of their noodle dishes have different stir-fry sauce options, but that is not well explained. Again, beautiful, expensive-looking menus, but not very well laid out and explained. Dishes should be offered with more variety of protein.Service was friendly; however, they were totally confused when serving to the table. The person bringing out the food was not the same person that took the order. It was quite obvious that he was not properly trained. He "dumped" all the dishes off at one end of the table, could not properly identify what he actually delivered, and just guessed. In the end, some of the orders had to be put in again. Confusion of the highest order.So why the four stars? Two things, the food was great. Some of the dishes you just can't get anywhere else. They specialize in noodle dishes, and those were really good. The second point, they did recognize how chaotic the service was. The guy who took our payment apologized for all this explaining that they were just extremely short-staffed.We'll go here again, but now we know we have to bring a lot of patience with us.

I've only gotten take out from here but have never been disappointed. The food is very good! You won't be wowed but most importantly, you won't have a meal questioning whether you'll want to go back again because the quality is so inconsistent where it may be good one day but terrible on another day.The atmosphere of the restaurant is clean and inviting. I remember when the space used to be Mandarin Deli and our family would occasionally have a meal there. Northern Cafe's use of the space feels a lot more wide open and less cluttered. My favorite dish is the House Special Beef Noodle soup. The broth is delicious and the texture of the noodles is always nice and springy. The Beef Roll is the other item that's a staple for my orders. It may not sound appetizing but imagine a crispy dough similar to the fried scallion pancake that's wrapping around slices of beef. It's a perfect complement for any rice or noodle dish. Angus Beef Chow Mein is also a dish that can be stacked with any other entree and I'd argue, tastes better when reheated the next day if you use a pan on the stove vs microwave. Maybe it's because I like my noodles just a little bit crispy? Either way, I usually like to order this even though I know I'm going to have leftovers for later on. One dish I can't recommend is the seaweed salad. I know it's supposed to be tart and vinegary but I just remember with each bite of the seaweed salad, I immediately had to get a bite of something else to mute the flavor because the seaweed salad texture(slimy and stringy) and flavor was just unappealing. It wasn't like the seaweed salads I was used to getting at the Japanese sushi restaurants which seemed to use more leafy parts of the seaweed.

Such a good spot! Just went here tonight and I'd definitely come back. We went right before the rush so we were able to get our food not too long after ordering :) the place itself is pretty big and had a good amount of seating! The staff were really attentive and quick with whatever we needed :)We got the yang chow fried rice, pork wonton in spicy sauce, pork and crab soup dumplings, dandan noodles, and some wings! All of these choices were very flavorful and are definitely a must try :)

Went New Year's Eve, not very busy for dine in, saw lots of people doing take out and DoorDash. I've been to the location next to USC, pretty different taste, I prefer USC more. Ambiance: dark but cozy, lots of seating. Service: servers were nice and attentive. You can either order online at the table, or a server will come and take your order. When we say we got our water which had little white flakes in them, like pieces of food? Not too sure but the server was apologetic and changed it immediately. Cucumbers: 6/10 really salty, very different from the other location and dong tai fung, not very good. Pork soup dumplings: 9/10 very good and juicy Pork wontons in the chilly sauce: 9/10 very good, sauce was amazing and the filling was good. Dan Dan noodles: the hand pulled noodles were delicious, the ground meat was good and spicy. The price was decently priced for Chinese cuisine, definitely cheaper than ding tai fung. Will come again

You have to get the House Special Beef Noodle Soup here! I went with the knife-cut noodles, and they were nice and chewy. If you prefer flat noodles, you can have that option as well. The broth was rich and flavorful, and the beef was super tender. Plus you get quite a few slices of beef, which you don't always see at noodle restaurants. The potstickers were also fantastic-- crispy on the outside and very juicy inside (careful when you bite into it! It literally explodes with flavor).One downside was the tableside chili oil, which I felt lacked any heat at all. I also was a tad disappointed that the skewers weren't on the menu like the last time I'd been here. Still, the overall quality of the food more than made up for it, and I'll definitely be back. I think next time I'll try the hot and spicy noodle soup, so I can get the spiciness I tried to get with the chili oil.

Loved dining here with my boyfriend. I really wish they still had skewers but the waiter let us know that they no longer serve them. We ordered the three cold dishes (such a great deal and flavorful). We got the ear fungus, cucumber salad, and spicy tripe. I didn't try the tripe cause I don't eat spicy, but everything else tastes exactly how it would in Asia. I ordered the hot and sour noodle soup with knife cut noodles. It was recommended to me by one of the waiters. I got it mild, but it was definitely spicier than I expected. It was really flavorful, but just too much spice for me. I also tried the spicy braised beef noodle soup. My boyfriend got it "spicy" but it wasn't as spicy as I expected it to be. Maybe they switched the spice levels on the noodles? But delicious and flavorful regardless! The soup dumplings were bomb, and the popcorn chicken comes in such a large portion at a great price. I'll be back here soon!

Everything went well from the service, ambiance, food selections, and taste of the entrees. These pork soup dumplings were a winner!!! It's great to find such good soup dumplings in the valley however these do come at a bit of a cost. Their soupy and savory filling were incapsulated in a soft chewy bun that made these so perfect to eat. Their steamy and soft textures were excellent for the cold night we chose to come eat.I liked the braised spicy beef soup however it could have used more spicy in my opinion as I realized i should have ordered it at a high spice level since their medium tasted slightly mild, nevertheless it was hearty and had a great amount of protein and noodles. Just enough bok Choi. The chongqing chicken was superior!! Their garlic crispies and crunchy bites were amazing. The chicken itself was immensely flavorful and will certainly see me again on our next visit. Overall the prices here were very fair outside of the soup dumplings but they were very good quality!I'd easily recommend this spot to anyone with a Chinese food craving in the area. 5 stars and will return! :-)

Came here on a chilly Sunday night around 7 pm. The parking lot is medium-big and had a decent amount of spots open. We were greeted immediately and given the choice to choose where we wanted to sit. We automatically got physical menus and waters. The inside has interesting decorations, ranging from cartoonish posters, to the steering wheels of ships, and a variety of different lighting fixtures. Overall it seems modern and clean. We waited a bit after choosing what we wanted to eat and noticed that we could order for ourselves using a QR code on the table. Other tables were being waited on but since it had been a few minutes, we decided to order online. We decided to get the juicy pork dumpling, the spicy beef noodle soup with regular noodles, and the chongqing spicy chicken. The food was ready pretty quickly and the friendly employee also provided us an extra bowl for the soup since we were going to share between the two of us. I had moderate expectations because I know that this is a small chain restaurant but was definitely surprised with the food items!The juicy pork dumplings exceeded my expectations. They tasted exactly like they should, very savory and juicy on the inside with a thin wrapper. A little pricey but worth it since there aren't that many restaurants in the valley that have this (and have good ones). The Chongqing chicken also exceeded my expectations. I was surprised by how big the pieces of chicken were! Usually they are small but these pieces ranged from bite size to large nugget. It also had excellent flavor, nearly exactly what it should taste like. My only complaint was that it wasn't that spicy, probably to cater to the clientele and I have a high spice tolerance. Still worth it and would definitely get again. The spicy beef noodle soup was just a tiny bit disappointing. Not spicy at all to me and okay weak flavor. The meat was more flavorful and the noodles were good. I think good enough to try and make your own opinion but I personally wouldn't get it again. Still very happy with the experience. Once we were done we paid at the front easily. I was so happy with the dumplings and chicken that I will be back just for those dishes. I probably wouldn't go to a different location as they may be closer to other better Chinese restaurants but for the valley, this is a big win!

Delicious food, good portion at a reasonable price. Everything we ever ordered here was good: Potstickers, fried rice, walnut shrimps, chow mein. Service was prompt and courteous. The place is medium sized, so this is perhaps not the best place if you wanna host more than 20 people.

I like coming to Northern Cafe when I crave good Chinese food in the valley. It's usually not that busy and has plenty of parking. The service is decent. I would recommend this place.