Midtown Lunch

Poor 101 Noodle Express in the Fox Hills Mall.  With all the fat food blogger talk of “there is no good Chinese on the westside” one can easily see why this SGV mainstay opened up in the food court of a Culver City Mall.  Kyochon seems to be doing alright in the same location, and who doesn’t like a scallion pancake stuffed with sweet meat!?  Answer: most people who eat at the food court of the Fox Hills Mall.   Their opening menu touted turkey as a possible filling, and french fries as a possible side dish  for their famous beef rolls. It didn’t matter to true fans, who were just happy to have something resembling a beef roll on the westside.  But clearly it didn’t go over well with the food court regulars.

Fast forward a few months and the french fries were gone, along with the pan fried dumplings and a decent version of dan dan noodles.  The beef roll remained, and could now be paired with food court style teriyaki chicken and a special ground chicken dish that was actually pretty great. It was a food court fanatics wet dream.  (Translation: it was my wet dream combo… and a ton of food for $8.)

Sadly it appears that I may have been the only person is obsessed with both beef rolls and food court teriyaki chicken, who also regularly visits the Fox Hills Mall.  Because recently they unveiled a completely new menu, and my beloved combo is gone.

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Back in July the Westside was cautiously optimistic extremely excited about the opening of 101 Noodle Express in the Fox Hills Mall (sic). The original branch has been on JGold’s essential restaurants list for 5 of the past 6 years, and to be able to get their beef rolls without driving to the SGV is good news for those of us who live and work west of La Cienega. Of course excitement quickly turned to indifference when the branch turned out to be less than essential. The beef rolls are there, and pretty delicious (if you’ve never had the original) but too much other food court nonsense (and a menu in obvious flux) kept anybody from declaring it a worthy replacement of the original.

Well, I was back at the mall again last week doing some holiday shopping and it looks like they have finally settled on a menu, and are offering 15% off to celebrate their official “Grand Opening”. The changes are shocking but inevitable in equal measure… and let’s just say, there’s good news, bad news and more good news.

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If there is a better work day lunchtime set up than the mall food court, I haven’t seen it.  What other place can you go with your co-workers (or family for that matter) and everybody be able to get what they want.  You’re in the mood for a turkey sandwich but I want shitty Chinese food?  Food court can make it happen.  You want a salad, but I’m in the mood for- oh who am I kidding.  I always want the shitty Chinese food.  Point is, food courts have got something for everybody.

Recently food courts have taken to looking outside the standard fast food joint model that has dominated the scene for decades.  The Westfield mall in Century City is well known for their upscale food court, which features a number of interesting and kind of upscale options.  And I’ve explored the hidden mysteries of the Santa Monica Place food court.  But nothing could adequately prepare me for the announcement that 101 Noodle Express, the San Gabriel Valley institution famous for their beef rolls, was now open in the Fox Hills Mall Westfield Mall Culver City.  Could this be the Chinese food savior the westside has been praying for?

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