If one was wanting to eat Korean Chinese cuisine and was in Irvine I would recommend this place. Not the best but will do to fill a craving. It's a small place with prob 12-15 tables. The tables can be combined for larger party like ours of 8. We got there at noon on a Saturday and got the last table. Immediately after the line started and when we finished eating we see tons of people waiting outside. We got the basic black bean noodle soup and the spicy seafood soup. The noodles we were told were made in house. They are chewy and springy. The sauce in my opinion was slightly bland. I recommend adding to the black bean noodle dish a splash of vinegar and a spoonful of the spicy red pepper powder that is on the table. TRUST ME it's soooooo much better than way. We also ordered number 16 which was a deep fried pork dish with onion and green onion and a sweet sticky sauce. I wouldn't really get it again to be honest it was bland. Overall, if one was in the area and wanted Korean Chinese food come here for a try. Seems to be very popular with the local read more

Awesome place for Chinese Korean fusion. More Korean influenced though, But very good! Loved the black bean noodles and the fried chicken with rice!! Gotta try the spicy seafood noodle soup (jjampong?) I always get all three when I go! read more

Chai Lan - Fried chicken in hot sauce - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

사천탕면 먹었어요 ! 국물 얼큰하고 맛있었어요 ! 친구가 짜장면 먹었는데 짜장면이 더 제 입맛에 맞았긴 하지만요 ! 옆 테이블 탕수육 먹던데 엄청 맛있어보여서 다음에는 탕수육 하나랑 짬뽕 하나 먹어보고 싶아요 read more

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I can't believe I haven't reviewed Chai Lan before. I must have come here at least 20 times in the past few years, usually with work but this is a place I'd be willing to drive out of my way for--it's that good. The go to's here are obviously the #3 jjajjang myun (black bean noodles). You can ask them for a bigger portion for a few dollars more which I recommend for the especially hungry (or those looking to share). However, the dish that I look forward to the most is the #15 Deep fried chicken in hot pepper sauce with garlic. This dish is simply divine. I don't know what they do to prepare it, but it's unlike anything I've ever tried at a Korean/Chinese fusion restaurant (of which I've visited many). Seriously, don't come here and not try the garlic fried chicken. It's not "fried chicken" in the traditional sense a la Popeyes or KFC but more bite size. It's kind of hard to describe but if you don't mind a little spicy, this dish is the BOMB. read more

Chai Lan - #16 Deep fried pork salad (top left), #15 Deep fried chicken in hot pepper sauce (top right), #3 Black bean sauce noodles (bottom) - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

came here for the first time with my sisters. despite the slow service and given some dirty utensils with bits of food still on it, the food is pretty decent and there are really nice proportions for sharing/family style eating. the mapo tofu is a pretty safe dish, not too overly greasy. i REALLY liked and would rec the sweet and sour pork here. sauce is great, good fry and crunch to it, big pieces and meat without the fatty. we got some jjajangmyeon as well. good noodles, huge portion, and overall delicious. read more

Chai Lan - jjajangmyeon - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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A nice local Korean-styled Chinese food that my family frequents. Note: these are more family style portion sized dishes and good to share My recommendations: 1. The mapo tofu with fried rice: really good combo together. Personally I like it because nothing is too spicy or greasy and so this is a must 2. Sweet and sour pork: I really like the sweet and sour pork here because they don't seem to reuse the oil to fry the pork. Lots of other restaurants don't really care but here the pork is never burnt or the deep brown color when you know the oil is reused. It feels a little cleaner and the sauce is great 3. Noodles with seafood in bean paste ( ): if you like jjajangmyun, you should get this instead of the regular! The seafood is so good and adds a deeper flavor to the regular dish. 4. Stir fried sliced pork and seafood with vegetables: a bit pricey but good to share with the family. Other yummy stuff: - the udon has lots of good seafood - the eight flavors with vegetables is yummy but a little expensive - mixed seafood and vegetables with mustard sauce: the mustard is strong! they give you two packs but personally think one is good enough. Get it with the rice and so hearty and filling read more

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Honestly, this is my second time having black bean noodles and I just don't think I'm a fan. With that being said, the sauce tasted fine. Slightly sweet and still an ample amount of saltiness. Noodles were cooked al dente. Appreciated the fact they separated the sauce and noodles. They also packed it with the sweet yellow pickled daikon and kimchi. Packaging was A1! Food I think was prepared the way it was supposed too. I don't know if this dish just typically doesn't have much meat but I felt like it was just straight onions and black bean sauce... Overall, I personally wouldn't come back for this dish due to it was a lack luster dish for me. However, I am open to coming back for their other dishes. Very busy restaurant. Would recommend calling in your order! Plenty of outdoor seating. Nice service and overall very nice environment. read more

Food is excellent. Service is great. Ambiance is bright and cheerful inside. Definitely pay a visit again!

Love the food and awesome place to vibe and eat to your hearts content! Service was fantastic as usual! read more

Chai Lan - The black bean noodle, spicy noodle with seafood, and spicy chicken were the best things I've had. Thanks Chai Lan! - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Such good food... Their Black Beans Sauce Noodle is as I remember it from my childhood. It's a simple, no-fuss eatery, great for quick takeout orders but also with plenty of seating inside and outside. The service is fast and efficient. I will return for more. Highly recommend! read more

Chai Lan - Black Bean Sauce Noodles (#3 on menu), also known as 'Zhajiangmian' or 'Jajangmyeon' - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Been frequenting this place since they opened and am hugely disappointed in their service. I called and was asked to hold...she forgot she left me on the phone for 3 minutes. They were not busy she just forgot. Hung up and calked back later, placed my order only to show up and wait and wait, while my order sat on the cart they made me wait. Again, they were not at all busy. When I finally got my food home the kkang pong shrimp portion was incredibly small, but worse than that there was a hair on the carton. Speechless & thoroughly disappointed in this place I hope to not return there. If anyone knows any alternatives to similar restaurants nearby please share! read more

Chai Lan - no thx to the hair - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Came here with my family after visiting Tanaka Farms. Description says it's Chinese food, but this is actually a Korean version of Chinese food. I grew up with this kind of food when I was in Korea. This is where you get stuff like jjam-bbong (spicy seafood noodle soup), jja-jang-mien (noodles with black bean sauce, kanpoong saewoo (fried shrimp in spicy sauce), etc. You won't find stuff like orange chicken, kung pao dishes, or beef & broccoli. Menu isn't that large but it covers all the basic stuff you find at most Korean-Chinese restaurants. We ordered mabo tofu and jja-jang-mien. Both dishes were flavorful without being too greasy or oily. I thought the noodles in jja-jang-mien were really nice and chewy. I'm wondering if this place makes it own noodles. Sauce on mabo tofu was good too but wasn't spicy enough for me. Service was decent and place seemed kid friendly (at least more kid friendly than other restaurants in this plaza). read more

Ive only really ordered the jjajjangmyun here! Great price for the portion they serve. Service is pretty fast. Wish they were a bit more personable but nonetheless, pretty decent jjajjangmyun! read more

Chai Lan - Jjajangmyeon - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Large and delicious portions. One item can certainly feed at least 2 people. Neither my dad nor I are Chinese or Korean, so the menu was a little confusing, but our waiter was very personable and really helped make the selections easier. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Chai Lan - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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As a full korean woman married to a full Chinese man-- Sorry, the food is not good here. I don't know if we went on a bad day or if they hired a new cook but the food was not good. Waste of money. We ordered: Jajangmyun - it was just ok, 7/10 Fried rice - 1/10 (sorry but how do you mess up fried rice? There was NO flavor, no salt no soy sauce. It literally was a plate of fresh moist rice mixed with seafood/veggies). Fried pork mandoo - 6/10 pork was slightly pink on the inside but whatever. read more

Delicious food and fast service at the restaurant. I wish they would bring down the price a bit like 4 piece mandoo is $10. But overall, I love eating here. read more

I visited Chailan after a long time. After going to H-Mart, is it possible to do Togo? Is Dining possible? I asked the server. The last order is due soon, but he guided my family to Dining and go. We ordered in a hurry, and the food was served in a short time. Wow... Was Chai Lan's food this delicious? Seafood jjamppong, green onion beef, and pork tangsuyuk are really... All three were really delicious. We finished the paid in a hurry. The male server's service was friendly and excellent. The food was good, and the service of the men's server was the best. He told us that there's still time until the 9:30 deadline, so please feel free to eat. The tone of his voice was kind, and his eyes also smiled and said... We would like to give him 10 stars for being considerate to eat comfortably. I'm sorry because it's a picture of me eating already. I have to film it before I eat it. It's so delicious.^^ I think this kind of server should receive a lot of tips. Today's Chailan made us happy. read more

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Great food and staff. We had sweet and sour pork, spicy seafood noodles and black bean noodles. read more

Chai Lan - Black bean noodles, sweet sour pork and spicy seafood noodle soup. - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Foods are good. They will adjust your request (less salt, extra crispy dumplings, extra spicy etc). Service is very attentive. I like to see inside of kitchen. I wished they clear the pathway of restroom. One person hardly can pass through to go restroom. read more

Ever since moving down to Irvine from LA last year, I've been craving really good jjajangmyeon (Zzamong in Koreatown LA is my go-to), and I would say this place's food meets the high standards that I have about Chinese-Korean food. I love that they don't skimp out on the onion and pork in their jjajang, and they cook their onions to the perfect consistency, where it's not too raw nor completely caramelized. Also, the portion they give is HUGE. My boyfriend and I split one jjajangmyeon and pork tangsooyuk, and we couldn't finish either. Their pork tangsooyuk (not pictured) had an interesting texture of breading (kind of reminded me of mochi?), but I didn't mind it at all. The outer layer was crisp yet the inner layer was nice and chewy. Sure, their food is a bit pricier than other Chinese-Korean restaurants, but I'd pay more for the quality as they serve the food here at Chai Lan. They have outdoor seating, but we did takeout and drove to a nearby park. The only downside is that it's far on the east side of Irvine, but that's where all the good food is at (haha). Really hoping they'll survive through COVID because I don't know a better place around Irvine that has legit jjajangmyeon! read more

Chai Lan - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Today I ordered togo from Chailan, but when I got home and opened it, I found that the soup was full of rubber bands inside and top.Then I called them and told them that there were a lot of rubber bands in it. They just said to make a new one for me. I didn't have to eat it, but I just wanted to see how they would deal with it. I drove 15 minutes to Chailan but they didn't do anything, just asked me do I wanted more onions and Japanese radish pickles. Do they think I haven't eaten it before? I don't know how the owner running business like this. read more

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This place isn't as good anymore. The jajangmyeon had like 2 pieces of meat and the flavor was okay. The fried dumplings tasted like the potstickers you buy from Costco just fried. The jjampong was okay not the best and not the worst. I do appreciate how large the portion sizes are though. read more

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This restaurant is simple and clean. The servers were nice and friendly. Most importantly the food was just average. The jampong was below average. The jajangmyeon was not bad. The kimchee was terrible. The portions were on the smaller side. Can't really recommend this place. read more

I come here on a regular basis. Clean and modern look Chinese restaurant in k flavor. Seafood noodle and noodle with seafood in bean paste are the essential. Other prestigious food like spicy seafood, rice with sliced pork, eight flavors of braised seafood are good too. Oh, mixed seafood and vegetable with mustard sauce is good too. read more

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Yummy! Their jja jiang mian is what I come here for. It comes in a HUGE portion, and is just so worth the $10. There is often a short line, however I've never had to wait for too long :) When the workers give you the order, you can also ask for scissors to cut your noodles (the noodles are often way too long thus making it really hard to eat). I always put spicy powder in my order, and it gives the dish the perfect kick. The noodles are super flavorful and there is a lot of bits of meat in it as well. I've never once been here with anyone who can finish the order in one fell swoop. I've also tried their fried sweet and sour pork and that was good too. Located in NorthPark Plaza, Chai Lan has ample parking options and is in the same plaza as a gas station, Chipotle, Starbucks, etc. :) read more

Chai Lan - #3 black bean noodles - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

This place is super good if you want a good Korean-Chinese cuisine! I got #3 black bean noodles and #15 deep fried pork salad with sweet and sour sauce. It's a lot of food but quality is definitely good. You can also order the spicy seafood soup itself for just $1! Even the service was good too where the food came out pretty quick. It just gets pretty busy during lunch hours since the place is pretty small. But definitely recommend it if you want some good Korean-Chinese food! read more

Chai Lan - #3 black bean noodles and #16 deep fried pork salad with sweet and sour sauce - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

Not sure why they have such poor reviews we had a great time there last night & the foods delicious Mapo tofu was good but nothing mind blowing Black bean noodle was yummy happy I don't need to go to garden grove for this anymore Seafood salad was delicious, plenty of delicious ingredients in it, sea cucumber wood ear mushroom etc read more

Chai Lan offers solid Korean Chinese food without breaking your wallet. It's the go-to place for jjampong in Irvine, and their jjajjangmyun is pretty good too. The portion is just right; on a hungry day, I can finish the whole bowl. Service is fast, and atmosphere is casual. Banchan portion and variety is limited; wish they had more variety of the side dishes. For people who can't take the spice of the spicy seafood noodles, you can ask them to make a mild jjampong; the broth is still delicious with a hint of spiciness. Totally comfort food on a cold day. read more

Love the food esp jja jang myun has big pieces of meat and veggies! Fried rice was a hit with the kids and the tang soo yook has nice and cripsy and meat is soft not chewy like others ive tried read more

I have to update my review for Chai Lan. The food continues to improve. The jjajangmyun (noodles in black bean sauce) and the jjangpong (spicy seafood noodle soup) are consistently very good and we order here all time. The portions are very generous and seasoning and taste has improved. The biggest improvement has been with the kangpunggi (garlic fried chicken). Now this dish is delicious and is very flavorful. Solid 4 stars for this business and I want to thank them for continuing to improve their dishes. Not many businesses do that and I want to commend them for that!! Great job and see you soon. Very good Korean Chinese restaurant in a great location. read more

I'd always wanted to try Korean Chinese food, but my Korean friend kept telling me that it's not the same as "real" Chinese food, and is adapted to Korean's taste. Since I frequent this shopping center for other lunch spots located here, I happened to notice this place and it looked interesting......as in, crowded at lunch times. So, I finally convinced my friend to give this place a shot. It's a typical little shopping center restaurant, but obviously newly opened, and has a clean, casual decor. All the tables were occupied when we came here on a weekday lunch hour, so we were simply asked to write our name on the waiting list. I let my friend do all the talking since everybody seemed more comfortable speaking in Korean. We didn't have to wait long before a table opened up. I took one look at the menu and was totally lost. I had no idea what these dishes were......although they sounded somewhat like Chinese dishes. Although my friend was familiar with these dishes, I thought the best thing for me to do was to just gaze around the place and see what everybody else was eating.....anything that looked good, I would ask my friend and get her thoughts. One particular noodle dish that looked very popular and actually, pretty darn yummy.......the Black Bean Sauce Noodle and the Deep Fried Chicken in Hot Pepper Sauce. Ok, so the noodles may not look too appetizing at first glance, but gosh darn it, it was really quite yummy and oh so comforting. It definitely wasn't that strong black bean taste you'd get in real Chinese cooking, but perhaps a very mild version of it. For further flavor, I was told by my friend that you're supposed to add some dark vinegar and mix it into your bowl of noodles. I did add some, and it did add some punch to the flavor, but honestly, I was quite happy and satisfied without it. As for the fried Chicken, my friend found it a bit salty.....likely from the hot pepper sauce, but I actually thought it was yummy, and enjoyed it very much. Yes, it was rather spicy because of the dried chili peppers in it, but it had very good flavors, and nice sized pieces of chicken. Note that, by the time the chicken is deep fried and then tossed in the sauce, you're not going to get the crispy outer texture anymore, but that's just fine with me....it's a personal preference. Similar to other traditional Korean restaurants, you get a few included salad appetizers.....like pickled radish and daikon. All in all, a very good lunch. My friend told me that these noodles we ordered is a Korean favorite and this is probably why 99% of the diners were Korean.....hey, if Koreans like this place that much, then it must be good! According to my friend, she will definitely be bringing her family here to try this place. read more

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Pretty solid spot for black bean noodles, aka jjajjangmyun. Unfortunately, our go-to place in Tustin closed down, so Chai Lan has been filling the void quite nicely :) We also got the sweet and spicy (gampong) shrimp. Super crispy and just the right amount of seasoning, really hit the spot. Prices are standard for Korean-style Chinese food. We've only had it to-go so far and it's been great, so really looking forward to trying it in-house sometime in the future! read more

Delicious Korean style Chinese food in Irvine. Very friendly and professional employees. Tried all of their food and no complaints so far read more

I ordered Spicy Shrimp. Got Jjampong instead of Kkanpong seoo. No refund no exchange. They said tough luck. Check and double check your order before pickup. But otherwise their customer service is trash. I was a regular customer and I wont be coming back ever. Hope you not wanting to resolve a $15 mistake was worth it. read more

Love their noodle and pork. Always buy if I couldn't find food to eat. Hjjjjjk J read more

I ate at this restaurant recently ordering yoo sunseul which is a pork, seafood mixture. I was greatly disappointed with the dish. It was overly salty with few slices of pork, sea cucumbers, shrimp and shitaki mushroom slices. For $20, I expected something better but it is my fault for choosing the dish. I always enjoyed this at Peking Gourmet in Garden Grove but is more expensive and bigger portions of meat and seafood. Just stick to the regular menu like jjajangmyun, jjangppong and sweet'n sour pork. You won't regret it. read more

Covid19 takeout - I have been wanting to try his place for awhile. We ordered the following: Black bean sauce noodles, Deep fried chicken in hot Pepper sauce and Sweet & sour pork. Black bean sauce noodles was mild flavored; almost bland. The deep fried chicken in hot pepper sauce was delicious. Its very flavorful and has a kick to it. The sweet & sour pork was not good. The batter was too thick and not crunchy by the time we got it home. The sauce was too mild and didn't have too much pineapple or veggie. It was mainly sauce. I think the food might be better if eaten at restaurant. read more

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Restaurant had a very good lighting so by just walking into the restaurant, it felt good. My friend told me their Fried chicken (Ggan poong gi) is a bomb and it didn't disappoint! Jja jiang myun, fried chicken and pork dumplings were all great. Usually my go-to place for pork dumplings is Young poong in Garden Grove, but this was in similar level! No need to drive to GG anymore :) Four star because jja jiang myun was kind of cold, or not hot enough? I think the servers were trying to serve all dishes at the same time, made the noodle wait & got cold. Next time will definitely ask to bring whichever comes out first! read more

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The food was okay. It wasn't the best or the worst that I have had for Korean style Chinese food. We ordered the sweet and sour pork and jajangmyun. I actually really didn't like the noodles. It just didn't taste good and felt that it didn't go well with the jajangmyun sauce. The jajangmyun sauce was not bad though and I fairly enjoyed it. I felt that the sweet and sour pork was average. It was okay but I'm not sure if I would want to order this again. This place was okay but I would probably look for a better Chinese food restaurant around Irvine. read more

So I've seen this place a bunch of times and the low Yelp ratings kept me away. But after 2 years, I decided to try two weeks ago when everything else was closed. And that's when I realized how Yelp can totally fail you at times. I'm trying to stay away from Chinese food for my heart health, but when I am craving Koreanized Chinese food, I don't need to drive far to GG or BP. This place is better than some of those places farther away. The jjang and jang pong are well seasoned. But I really like some of their other dishes that I normally don't see in other restaurants like it. I really like the steamed buns that come with the Mongolian beef and I also really enjoyed the variety of fried chicken dishes. The prices are about average for this area so can't complain. There will be usually a little bit of a wait during peak times. read more