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Lao Wang

3.9 (193 reviews)
ModerateChinese, Noodles
Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Order Lao Wang Takeout or Delivery

Lao Wang Photos

LAO WANG ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Hipster
Casual
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Lao Wang

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Reviews With Photos

Curry Chicken Rice Bowl

My favorite restaurant in IV! Quick and friendly service. Vibey decorations with custom murals inside. Flavorful dishes, and soft, sweet, moist bao buns. Chicken is crispy without being dry. They even have fries! I like getting the noodle soup on chilly days. Spicy and non-spicy options. There are a little quail eggs in the soup that are cute and tasty! I highly recommend the chicken curry rice bowl. Phone didn't eat first (not pictured: popcorn and pork belly bao buns).

Mala Tang Special Hot and Spicy and 2 Buns
Linda H.

Delicious food! We love the malatang soup! Spicy, flavorful, and so comforting! There's not many good Asian places in SB area so this is a place we keep going to when we're craving malatang or baos. The baos are reasonably prices ($3-4) as many places are trying to charge $8 bucks for one. They have a good amount of seating and a screen TV that was playing the game! Staff are kind and helpful! Highly recommend!

Mala Tang Special Hot and Spicy
Kyle K.

My go to spot for comforting noodles in IV! I love the sauce station inside where you can get chili oil, peanut sauce, or peppers. Great hangout spot too if you want to grab pitchers with your friends. I will always come back here for food on the days I want to treat myself. Special Hot N Spicy - 5/5, basically the same as the Mala Tang Dinner but with some extra toppings for better value. Tastes very similar to the Vietnamese Bún bò Huế except with a little mala spice. The chefs are usually very generous and I've gotten up to 4 quail eggs before in a single bowl!!! The soup is a little simple and salty, but that's exactly what I crave sometimes. When it comes to egg versus rice noodle, rice noodle is definitely the way to go.

Boochcraft!
Ankita P.

Always come here for a warm bowl of soup. Good quantity for a good price. Their sides are good as well, we tried the popcorn chicken and a Chinese sausage bun and it was good. All this with a pitcher of boochcraft! The service (Kelsey and Josh) was quick and amazing and the atmosphere was bustling with high energy. We also used the Axxess app and got a FREE Chinese sausage bun with our bowl of noodles!

Pork Belly Bao Bun
Alex M.

Sampling the next of the Bao Buns on the menu, this time I tried the pork belly bao. The pork belly is less dry than the chicken since it has fat and is very juicy overall. The bun, sriracha aioli, herbs, and pork go decently well, but again the spicy chili sauce here is unnecessary since it makes the bun overbearing in salt; something pickled here would work brilliantly. For $3, this is a quick bite that is decent compared to that of the rest of the area. Additionally, I created another one of my own bowls with an aromatic original meat based broth. Adding on from my previous review, I like the fact that there are a wide array of Asian ingredients you can choose as toppings that are less traditional, like bean curd and tendon, which I can seldom eat elsewhere. The broth itself is flavorful, though on the salty side with no acidity.

The massive Mala Tang DIY bowl

My first time here, this is a terrificly authentic Chinese "noodle joint", with a wide range of selections, plus build-your-own soups. I had the Mala Tang noodle soup, which is a flavorful (spiced to taste) satay broth with peanuts, chicken, onion, green onion, rice noodles (egg noodle option), napa cabbage, enoki mushroom, tomatoes, and my added-on krab legg, pork rib, and pork cutlets. total: $25. A giant portion that I barely finished. See the pic. Extremely tasty, and a cozy, well-tabled college town seating area that was very busy. I will be back.

Hot & Spicy Dry Pot

The restaurant provides a very casual hangoutspot with very friendly servers, and the food is absolutely amazing! I ordered a spicy dry pot. Not only was this a dish full of spice and flavors, but the amout was also an impressive amount. I also decided to add some custom toppings, like fish tofus and beaf meatballs, and every bite was incredible. 100% recommended for anyone trying to find a vibey place to chill out at.

Special Hot  'n Spicy
Angela P.

The spice noodles were absolutely delicious! The perfect balance of heat and flavor made each bite incredibly satisfying. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a bit of spice in their meal.

Hoobie S.

Although the name of the plate is hot n spicy, it did not feel spicy to me. Small portions of meat. It was tasty. Good size portion and very mellow place.

Soup
Jesus Roe V.

El lugar es bueno, solo que por estar en ciudad de estudiantes no es nada tranquilo, recomiendo si sabor. No tanto para ir a platicar o relajarte

Fly the I took out from my Mala Tang
皓翔

I FOUND A FLY IN MY MALA TANG DINNER. THE MOST DISGUSTING RESTAURANT IN IV EVER. I'm never coming back. Btw I've also attached a pic of the fly, very disgusting! They have serious food quality control issues!

Malatang Noodles & Bao Buns ⋅ Pardall Road -  Isla Vista, California
Justin L.

Craft your own noodle bowl! I would come often for their lunch special, which was decently priced and had a plethora of toppings to choose from. I also occasionally pop in for a quick bite and order pork buns. If you're leaving campus and exiting through Pardall Tunnel, Lao Wang is the first restaurant on your right. This specific location has had multiple tenants over the years, replacing Otaco in 2017 (which replaced Angry Wings, which replaced Chino's Rock & Tacos). But it looks like the curse may have been lifted, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them. There are small tables outside, with larger group tables inside. You walk up to the counter to place your order, and they'll call it out when it's ready. EZ as 123: 1. Select your soup base - Original, Spicy, Vegan, or simply Dry. 2. Select your noodles - Egg Noodle is the thinner version, almost like ramen. Rice noodles are a bit thicker. 3. Select your toppings - anything from vegetables, extra meat, to anything you'll find in hot pot meals. I tend to get beef, bokchoy, tofu, or imitation crab meat. The weakest link is their broth, it's very one-dimensional and lacking in flavor, which is unlike real hot pot. I feel like it's also on the saltier side, like someone dumped one of those packets you use for instant ramen. On the other hand, the noodles are well cooked and maintain good shape. I would get takeout even before COVID, and it won't be a soggy mess after a couple minutes. The toppings I get taste good, no complaints there. Their Popcorn Chicken is good by itself, I'm not fond of their popcorn chicken bun. Stewed Pork Belly Bao is well-proportioned, with the right amount of bun, vegetables, and pork with every bite. Haven't tried their rice bowls yet, that's for my next visit!

3 Buns 1 pork belly, 1 popcorn chicken, and 1 Chinese sausage

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1 month ago

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4 months ago

Ramen is sooooo yummy but pretty expensive for each topping. The garlic tofu is delicious

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2 years ago

The braised pork bun and malatang are my go-tos here! Affordable and great options for comfort food in IV.

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2 years ago

Hours are wrong :( came here when it was supposed to be open & it wasn't! Disappointed!

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4 years ago

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2 years ago

Food is amazing at this location. It's a good serving portion. The workers are amazing and always have a great attitude.

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4 years ago

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2 years ago

The food is great - I've tried a few of their rice bowls and so far I've enjoyed all of my experiences!

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Uniboil - Stewed beef noodle

Uniboil

(306 reviews)

$$

We were passing the area when we decided we needed some lunch. I found this place on yelp and…read moredecided to give it a try. It was an open layout that had plenty of seating inside the restaurant. The decor was moder, but not overdone. We were greeting and pointed to a table but that was it. We realized there was a QR code on the table and we could order our food on there. It took a little while to get our food even though no one else was there. I found it really odd to not even be told to use the QR code to order or be informed of anything. Stewed beef noodles with Ramen- 9/10 My husband ordered this and I tried some. The broth was delicious. Rich and flavorful but not overbearing. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the meat was tender. The bok choy was a needed touch. My husband ate the whole bowl and wanted a second because was so good. Certified Angus Beef hot pot- 8/10 I ordered this with the tom yum broth. I didn't know it was a creamy version of the broth until it was served. I'm not mad about it but it wasn't in the description in case others are dairy sensitive. The broth was flavorful and really delicious. I will say that the beef was tough and it a typical cut that overcooked very quickly in the broth. I'm not positive it was Angus beef grade. I just now realized it was missing the lotus root but gave me zucchini instead. I was also missing my quail eggs. If I didn't read the description to know I was supposed to have them, I would've missed that too. Overall, the food was delicious but the service was 1 star for sure. We were never checked on and the waiter only appeared if we pushed the call button. If you can overlook the lack of customer service, the food is really delicious.

For our monthly house dinner, we stumbled upon Uniboil and were knocked out of the park! Their…read morevermicelli was absolutely delicious when paired with the spicy broth and beef! It also my first time having lotus fruit and now it's a must have for any broth/hot pot! It was a very relaxing restaurant to enjoy conversations with friends! It was incredibly easy to order food using their QR code menu on the table and the servers were very attentive if someone needed a refill on water or if we needed extra utensils! I'm looking forward to the rainy season when I can really leverage their Hong Kong-style hot pot!

Noodle City - Menu item #35 - BUN THIT NUONG CHA GIO - (Rice Vermicelli with charbroiled grilled pork and egg roll)

Noodle City

(628 reviews)

$

It was a cold and rainy day, so chicken soup sounded perfect…read more I found this little restaurant close to our hotel. I had the chicken pho. It was full of white meat chicken, yummy rice noodles, and savory broth. Absolutely delicious and warming. Hubby had the shrimp pho. He was very pleased. He had a large bowl and slurped down every drop. Loved this little gem of a restaurant, and hope to return.

My girlfriend and I visited Noodle City since our regular pho spot was temporarily closed…read more I ordered the pho super bowl with everything except rare steak (flank, tripe, tendon, and meatballs. Personal preference but, I believe it is a crime to not have brisket when serving pho. The only options left were dry, tougher cuts that felt very mediocre. Regarding the broth, it was overwhelmingly bland. It was extremely clear and had minimal fat. Again personal preference but, it seems they had extracted all of the fat after simmering the beef and that left the broth so lackluster. We also got the Thai tea and my girlfriend thought it was delicious. Regarding the ambiance, I think Noodle City tries their best making use of their limited space. However, it wasn't very clean: the spoons were a bit dirty, it seemed like the floor isn't cleaned often, and the utensil/condiment holder on our table was a mess with the chopsticks about to fall off the table. As for the service, they had plenty on their hands tonight as a ~12 top came in shortly after us and they a line out the door until right before we left. They checked in multiple times, however, we did have to mention our thai tea was forgotten and got it AFTER our pho came out. It also seemed like there was an altercation with a male server and the party of 12: orders were confused and he yelled "well figure it out". Overall, I've been to Noodle City for ~3 years and I think they have GREAT rice dishes. However, their pho is pretty mediocre, service is often fast but not friendly, and prices are always CHEAP.

Lao Wang - chinese - Updated May 2026

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