By Lana Hy

   Since the beginning of quarantine on March 13, my family and I have been doing our part in supporting local businesses by ordering takeout once a week. One of the restaurants that we especially enjoy ordering food from is 101 Noodle Express. This authentic Chinese restaurant is known for its delicious dumplings and noodles. 

Beef rolls, yelp.com

    Personally, my favorite noodle dish is the Dan Dan noodles. The nutty and spicy flavor of the sauce was what made this dish the best.

   One of my family’s go-to orders are the beef rolls which are scallion pancakes filled with beef, onions, and cilantro. The rolls are delicious, and the beef is tender. One order comes with six huge rolls, which is a generous portion.

   Other dishes I would recommend are the pan fried dumplings (Jiaozi) and Chinese steamed buns (Xiao Long Bao). The pan fried dumplings are juicy, flavorful, and super plump with meat. 

   Since my food was all bundled in a bag, the condensation began to soften the crisp of the pan fried dough but it was appetizing nonetheless. As for the Xiao Long Bao, it was as equally delicious as the Jiaozi. The best aspects of the Xiao Long Bao was the yummy pork-based filling and the warm soup inside of it.  

     Another noodle dish that I would recommend is the minced pork with hand torn noodles. I love how the noodles were not too salty, and the fresh cut cucumbers on top of the noodles gives it a refreshing taste. The noodles were not too thick or thin, either. 

   A third noodle dish that I enjoy is the hot spicy beef noodle soup with hand torn noodles. Like the beef rolls, the beef is extremely tender. The broth was perfect while the hand torn noodles were fresh and chewy. 

   My go-to drink would be the classic passion fruit green tea. It was not too sweet or bitter, and is the perfect complement to all the dishes I ordered. 

   As for pricing, all food dishes I mentioned are between six to ten dollars, and drinks are $2.50. 

   As for the service, the waitress who picked up my phone call to order was friendly. My dad was the one who drove to the restaurant to pick up our food. He said the food came out quickly, and the employees did a fantastic job of ensuring each customer was six feet apart. 

   If you are running out of food to cook at home or simply do not want to cook, order from 101 Noodle Express for affordable and delicious food with amazing service. 

  Delivery services for Noodle 101 include Grubhub and Doordash. Customers are also allowed to come to the restaurant to pick up their order. 

   Noodle 101 Express is located on 1408 East Valley Blvd. in Alhambra.