Yun Nan Restaurant

Noticed this new restaurant last week, and had to come try it out. Being that co workers and I all love spicy food, we immediately decided to try it out this week.We arrived here around 11:30 am on a Monday and parking was plentiful. We were greeted as soon as we entered and were seated right away. Their menu is huge! And might I add, it was 2 sided + an added menu with specials. No worries though - we were hungry and ordered quickly - and off to the front to order our cold dishes! Our picks:Cold dishes: Shredded Potatoes, Spicy Pig Ears, Chinese Chili Sauce Braised Beef. Everything was delicious with just the right amount of spice - not too spicy- not too salty. Perfect.Hot dishes: Stir Fried String Beans, Spicy Boiled Fish with Tofu, Chongqing Fried Chicken Cube with Hot Pepper, Cauliflower with Pork Dry Pot. All these dishes - the spice was on point (minus the string beans haha). I loved every single one of these dishes and would love to come back for more. To pick a favorite between these would be too difficult as I really enjoyed all of them. And, bonus! They have a self serve FREE! Dessert station! They have warm sago dessert soup and cold jelly noodle soup. Next to the two dessert soups, they also have oranges and watermelon. I'm not sure if these will change depending on season but, that was def a nice addition to the restaurant experience. Will I be back?! Absolutely. So glad another good restaurant opened up in Lake Forest area! If you love spicy food too, definitely check this place out. And do come early, because by the time we left, the parking lot seemed to be much more packed despite it being a pretty large and shared lot.

Located in a popular strip mall of Lake Forest, this restaurant is a fantastic addition to a location that is already teeming with excellent food options. It gets quite popular, but they do allow you to leave your name at the door and visit the many stores nearby, which can minimize the pain of waiting for a table.The food here is excellent, but pricey, so just know that, while the food is more expensive than standard Chinese food--you get what you pay for.They have a cold bar with many standard options, such as spicy pig ear with mala pepper, or tofu and mushrooms, and they provide you with a complimentary sampling of 3 items from the cold bar (they choose) after you order. But you can order a la carte for the other options. They also have a dessert bar with a few standard Chinese dessert options, such as sliced oranges, sago pudding, or red bean pudding.We started off with the signature Yunnan noodles, which was to die for. The broth is full of flavor without being too heavy, and the noodles have soaked in the flavor of the broth, which is a layered concoction of cold, blanched noodles instantly heated by the hot, complex broth. They bring out this cute replica of the Yunnan bridge and throw it all together at your table (if your table is large enough) or at a neighboring table if you're limited on space. The soup also has bits of green onion and fish to add some flavor.The pineapple fried rice is surprisingly tasty, served in an actual pineapple with a square of aluminum foil placed between the pineapple shell/skin and the rice to hold it in place. It's flavorful, fluffy, and light, and is excellent to pair with their other dishes. We paired it with fried fish and string beans.The Pepper Salt Fish Fillet was light and crunchy, which an extra dash of fried garlic bits to give it some extra crunch. We also tried the Salted Garlic Pea Leaves, which were crunchy and savory, and also went well with their spicy house chili crisp.Our two-year old absolutely *loved* the soup, slurping and smacking away at it, and also thoroughly enjoyed the watermelon and orange slices from the dessert bar.All in all an excellent restaurant. I was surprised to order only 4 dishes, and have each one be a success at a price point that is not that much more expensive than other Chinese restaurant offerings. I'm looking forward to trying their other dishes, and their frozen xiao long bao. Crossing my fingers that they maintain their quality across different foods on their menu!

It's great to see more Chinese restaurants opening in Lake Forest! Yun Nan is one of the latest and can be found off El Toro Road. We visited on a Wednesday during the dinner hour, and I was surprised at how busy they were...good for them! Their menu is extensive, so be prepared to be overwhelmed by all their offerings. Their signature entree is the Yunnan Noodle in Chicken Broth with Bone and IMO the presentation exceeds the flavor. The Chinese Cold Appetizers (choose up to 3), Shredded Pork with Belong Special Sauce, Garlic Pork Ribs, and Crispy Fried Chicken dishes were delicious and I would recommend them. The only miss was the Wonton with Chili Sauce. They also have a refrigerator stocked with canned and bottled beverages. Best of all, they have a complimentary self-service dessert bar! We def plan on coming back to try more items off their menu.

This new restaurant located in a busy plaza near freeway 5. On the first day of the restaurant, the waiters were busy so no one came to change the plates or refill the water, but that's not usually a neighborhood Chinese restaurant's specialty.We order many dishes as pictures shows and all of us are satisfied with food. The Yunnan noodle soup is the signature dish and must try. Overall the waiters were friendly, the food was served quickly and of good quality, and the owner came by to serve sometimes, so good wish to a new restaurant.

New restaurant with 12.2% off your bill and grand opening flowers everywhere! Mini peanut snacks are also provided in the waiting area. There is a paper list to write your name down. I went twice this week. Once on a Friday lunch and then Sunday dinner where we waited for about 30 minutes for a table. Some of the waitresses wear traditional Yunnan outfits; it is pretty cultural! There is also a mini snack bar in the back where you can sample items for a fee. This place is known for their famous "bridge" noodles (there is a description on the wall) about how a woman once made sure her husband had food waiting for him (I'll upload a picture). I tried these famous noodles on Friday, along with their smoked duck. Literally, the best smoked duck I've ever had in my life!! Crispy, flavorful, and just the right amount of smoke. Major yum. The noodles were spectacular as well. The broths were flavorful. I also ordered the beef noodle soup and substituted the noodles it came with for the famous bridge noodle. The beef noodle soup was definitely more flavorful than number 1 - the original noodles in the chicken and bones broth. But a must try. It can somewhat taste like cantonese chicken stock soup; according to my mom haha. I still liked it though. A waitress asked us if we wanted to put the ingredients in ourselves or if we wanted her to do it for us. We had her do it. The noodle's ingredients came on a bridge. Beautiful aesthetic! Tonight, we ordered plenty of dishes. All were flavorful (I'll upload pics). Bao with some kind of pork, deconstructed beef roll (yum) think Beijing duck format, veggies/wood ear/tofu, smoked duck again, spicy cumin lamb (love the intense pepper spice!! Definitely more for spice lovers). Service isn't bad; expect the occasional louder shout in Chinese across the room, staff speaking mainly Chinese (although they gave extremely good service to a Caucasian individual which I have mixed feelings about- I look Chinese but hey, I am as American as her and should be treated nicely too haha), and majority of patrons seem to be from China. Great food and definitely a cultural gem. Long waits for now during peak times. A must try for a foodie! Prices sorta on the expected mid high normal side for restaurants nowadays. Haha I love that part of the menu says "Chinese American styled dishes". And the bathrooms are nice; equipped with sanitary napkins, cotton balls, hair ties, etc. Will be back to try more delicious dishes!

This place had great food, kind service, and was clean. We were seated with menus and then just raised our hand when we were ready to order and a waiter by. We got their cold appetizers, Yunnan specialty noodles, and the spicy chicken cubes and they were all great! We saw people going up to the counter to order their cold appetizers and followed suit. Once you pick what you want, they'll bring it to your table for you and include it in your bill. I honestly loved this concept because I could see all their options and pick out whatever looked/smelled good. The guy behind the counter was also super nice and tried to explain what each appetizer was and their flavors. The restaurant definitely filled up quick and there was a small wait at 6pm on a Wednesday night. Can't wait to go back and try more things on their menu.

Amazing staff - they answered all of our questions and helped navigate the menu. Food is authentic and all dishes were very tasty. Clean and there's a dessert bar for dine in!

It would have been nice to be greeted with a simple hello instead of blank stairs from the employees.They said more words when we were leaving than the whole time we were there. A lot of very authentic Chinese food. Not very welcoming to races other than Asian. Sorry we will not be going back. The American items were no different than Panda Express.

I love the rice noodles here. The rice noodles with silken tofu. It seems obvious, this pairing of soft, slippery tofu with soft, slippery noodles- why don't we see this more in the States? They stir in the chives, the garlic oil and toasty crumbs of peanut, the salty fermented yacai. Try it...

This place was just okay. The food was fine. Not really worth going out of your way for but worth trying. Service was pretty unsatisfactory. Waited over an hour for a table. The food was meh not worth the wait. Noodles were fine. Rice was ok. Dumplings decent. Nothing amazing though. Restaurant is sort of decorated. Nothing crazy just very mediocre restaurant. You can try it or not.