The bestie and I had a few appointments in the Valley so naturally we rewarded ourselves with lunch…read moreat Dan Modern Chinese. This spot has built a reputation as a great alternative to some of the larger dim sum chains, so we were excited to finally check it out. We arrived right when they opened, grabbed a cozy table by the kitchen, and immediately noticed how welcoming the staff was. Service was genuinely outstanding! Everyone was friendly, attentive, and the dishes came out at a relaxed pace without ever feeling rushed. Five stars for the hospitality alone. Of course, we ordered a little feast to share: Dan Dan Noodles - My friend's favorite dish of the meal! We ordered them without meat, and they were rich, creamy, and coated in a delicious peanut sauce. I liked them but next time I'd opt to get them with meat to give them a little more flavor. 3.5/5. Pork & Shrimp Soup Dumplings - Exactly what we were craving. Each dumpling was juicy with a generous amount of filling, and once dipped in the vinegar soy sauce with fresh ginger and a little chili oil... absolute perfection. 4.5/5. Pork Chop Fried Rice - My personal favorite. The pork chop was crispy, flavorful, and cooked beautifully, while the classic egg fried rice underneath was pure comfort food. Simple, satisfying, and something I'd happily order again. 5/5. If you're spending the day in the Valley or find yourself around Woodland Hills, Dan Modern Chinese is definitely worth adding to your list. This isn't a cheap hole in the wall spot, so you'll pay a little more but everything was tasty and a great portion size for 2-3 people sharing. Overall, it was a wonderful lunch, and I'd happily come back the next time I'm craving dumplings.

This is my first time here at this restaurant, and I was so excited to try! As a Taiwanese…read moreAmerican, I am always trying to find the best Taiwanese food -- and this place did not disappoint! The food was wonderful, and I would definitely come here again! My friend and I got the pork XLB, beef roll, oxtail, noodle soup, pea, sprouts, cucumber, and tofu salad! The pork was juicy, and the pickled cucumbers were so fresh! The service was so great as well - the waiter was friendly, and the food came out so quickly!! The restaurant was so clean, beautiful, and so nicely located in the mall area!

This is just my opinion, what a lovely and fun restaurant…read more Location: Parking lot is small, but the restaurant is lively and intimate. It is an interesting and welcoming restaurant and has a great atmosphere. I also love how the location has Japanese and Thai artwork all over. 4/5 Staff: The owner is super kind and helpful. She has a lot of passion and obviously cares about her customers. She is adorable and works very hard. I also thought that her staff was nice and attentive. 5/5 Price: I feel that the food is well priced and competitive. The serving portions meet my expectations and of course I will always say I want more, but that is unrealistic. 4.5/5 Food: Tonkatsu Chicken Curry Rice: Absolutely the dish I miss from Japan and this has that comforting dish vibe I used to have at home or in Japan. I highly recommend and love how this makes me warm and happy after eating it. 5/5 sorry no photo but my favorite dish Teriyaki Chicken Domburi: Simple, delicious, and just what I wanted. 4/5 Vegetable Tempura: Very light, delicious, and it is what it says it is. This isn't too fancy or trying to be different. 4.5/5 Conclusion: I had a great time here and I ordered a lot of food to go (sorry I do not have photos or reviews for everything). This is a place I recommend you stop here when you want some well done japanese dishes to cheer you up or need a heart filling dish. My Score: 4.5/5 Yelp Score: 5/5

Love coming to Crane & Elephant. It's become a nice go to when my husband and I are craving a nice…read morewarm and comforting meal. We especially enjoy talking to the employees and owner who are just so warm hearted. Parking can be sparse depending on what time you come but we haven't had any issues just yet. Their space is nice for watching the World Cup and is split into two in case you have a bigger group or smaller group. Can't wait to come back again!

A hidden gem for sure. luckily for everyone, this place is not so hidden when you drive-by. It's…read morejust small so it can be easy to miss. The food we ordered was delicious. I requested the highest spice level and whoa!!! I think less spicy will be my next time.

This place is quaint, with a tv that plays random music and seating for 16. You can sit outside as…read morewell, but perhaps only on a slightly warm non-breezy spring evening. I always start with some pork jerky and cream cheese rangoon. The jerky has a sweetness to it and isn't tough. The rangoon are nothing out of the ordinary, but they hit the spot for me. The service is usually always prompt and courteous. No feelings of taking too long to order or eat. The small kitchen is like, right there. Like I can see the chef's head. She always works quickly. We usually enjoy the yellow curry and some chicken laab for entrees. All except once, the curry was flavorful and just the right spice level. The laab is always a winner, with crispy lettuce cups and a mound of chicken mixed with herbs (the lemongrass is lovely) and hints of citrus. Everything tastes so fresh here. The pad see ew tastes is like a warm hug. Plenty of your meat of choice and the noodles are always cooked nicely. We get the mango sticky rice for dessert. The rice is sweetened beautifully with coconut milk and the mango is abundant. Just one time, you gotta try the durian. It's an...acquired taste, but we enjoyed the adventure!

My first time trying Indonesian food, and LaaLaaPan made it such a memorable experience. We ordered…read morethe Nasi Tumpeng Mini (18), grilled fish, and Martabak Manis for dessert, and everything tasted incredibly fresh and flavorful. The people who I assume own the restaurant, working as both the waiters and chefs, were incredibly kind, welcoming, and genuinely passionate about what they serve. Since we were completely new to Indonesian cuisine, they patiently answered our questions and gave us great recommendations, which made the experience even better. This is exactly the kind of small business you want to support. The flavors were unlike anything I've had before, and I loved getting to try something so different. My favorite dish was easily the grilled fish. It reminded me of the Filipino grilled fish I grew up eating, so it had a comforting familiarity while still showcasing its own distinct Indonesian flavors. If you're looking for authentic Indonesian food or simply want to try something new, I highly recommend LaaLaaPan. I'll definitely be coming back to explore more of the menu.

Laalaapan's nasi Padang tastes distinctly home-cooked. The rendang included some noticeably fatty…read morecuts of beef, which were enjoyable, although a little unorthodox for rendang. The balado wasn't spicy, but the sambal definitely was. I also missed having sambal ijo and some gulai gravy, both of which would have made the plate feel more complete. The bakwan jagung had a similarly homemade style. Depending on your preferences, it will either make you miss your mom's cooking or leave you craving a crispier, restaurant-style bakwan jagung packed with corn kernels. The soda gembira, like many Indonesian places here, use Sprite instead of club soda or plain soda water, which makes it far too sweet. The syrup they used tasted authentic, though. Overall, you may love this place specifically because the food tastes like something you grew up eating. However, if your preference leans more toward polished, restaurant-style Indonesian food, it may feel a little underwhelming.

Great staff, great food Clean, quick!…read moreThey can bust out food quick for large parties. I really like this place. Ample parking too.

Good spot for Vietnamese food in Woodland Hills, though I felt like the food ran on the sweeter…read moreside. The restaurant is located right next to Sprouts, so parking is easy to find. My friend and I came for dinner Wednesday night around 6 pm and it wasn't too crowded. There was a nonstop stream of customers coming in. By the time we left an hour later, most of the tables were full. They offer both Vietnamese food and boba. I was here for dinner but their drink menu looked good as well. Maybe next time! So much of the menu looked good, but as soon as I saw that they offer bo ne (steak + egg sizzling skillet), I was sold. It's one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, and not many restaurants in this area offer it. I got the B1 bo ne for $20.95, and my friend ordered their V7 grilled chicken with lemongrass over vermicelli for $17.25. The food came out pretty quickly. My bo ne looked amazing as it was sizzling a lot when it was served. The bread was warm and crunchy on the outside / soft on the inside, the egg was cooked over easy with a perfectly runny yolk, and they don't skimp on the meat. I really enjoyed everything about my dish except that I found it a bit sweet. My friend enjoyed his chicken vermicelli dish as well, though he was a bit disappointed the grilled chicken wasn't a whole piece of chicken but smaller pieces. I feel like "stir fried chicken" would be a better description.

I was in the area for work and decided to look for some good Thai food, and I'm so glad I found…read morethis place! Every dish we ordered was packed with incredible flavor. The Drunken Noodles and Thai Basil were absolutely delicious and easily the highlights of the meal. The staff was welcoming, friendly, and happy to answer any questions we had. The restaurant is located in a paid parking area, but they validate your parking, so there's no need to worry about the cost. The atmosphere was just as enjoyable as the food. The artwork throughout the restaurant was beautiful and perfectly reflected the restaurant's unique concept of blending Black soul food with Thai cuisine--hence the name "Blai." Overall, this was an excellent dining experience with amazing food, great service, and a fun, inviting ambiance. I'll definitely be back!

Good food and good people. Sara and Ej are really attentive with table. They kept checking on us…read moreand making sure we have everything we need. Such a great experience and crew! Try their orange chicken!

Tonight Rayu Ramen did our dinner right. Happy! Full belly!…read more I didn't get any grief asking to looo at my order before I picked up. The vegetable tempura box barely closed it was so full (unlike our last order). Happy to give them 5 stars again!

I'm not a ramen expert but I really enjoyed the ramen from Rayu Ramen. Ordered takeout via GrubHub…read more The order was fulfilled and delivered quickly and it was both hot and very tasty. The takoyaki was okay. Interestingly, the menu doesn't mention how many are in an order and the order delivered did not match the number in the historical pictures on Yelp or their website. I probably wouldn't order them again but I certainly would try other ramen or rice bowls. No pictures for this review; I was hungry so just ate until it was all gone!

Very honest opinion: Not sure if I'm eating the same food as everyone else leaving reviews here,…read morebut I got the signature beef (Lanzhou) noodle soup combo and it was incredibly disappointing~mediocre. Server guy was chill. The food is served in a paper bowl, unlike the nice bowls you see in their pics. Tl;dr: if you're curious, don't waste your time, bafang is open 5min away Preface: I KNOW it's mall food, but for a restaurant that continuously pops up as #1 on Yelp whenever I search for food around the northridge/chatsworth area, I'm going to treat it as if it were a #1 spot. Beef noodle soup: to be very blunt, this was quite flavorless. The beef was dry as bones and looked like it was sliced with a mandoline. The noodles seemed undercooked and it felt like I was eating al dente spaghetti noodles. I got a medium spice level which didn't even seem that spicy, just a lot of cough inducing chili oil with no burn. Pan fried dumplings were ok. It honestly tasted like it was deep fried and not pan fried. Unsweetened black tea: hands down the best of the 3 things in the combo, which is quite telling. Honestly you get a decent amount of food for $15. But to constantly take the top 5 for recommended on Yelp in this area and waste my time to even look at it, it definitely doesn't belong remotely close to top 10.

Finally popped in after constantly seeing it on my FYP and it did not disappoint. I ordered the…read morespicy beef noodle soup combo which came with 4 dumplings and a beverage. The service was friendly and the wait was reasonable. Its located in the mall which means that you don't really get much of a vibe from this place alone but of everything surrounding. The soup was not spicy imo, I have a high tolerance, but it did have a good flavor. The noodles were thick and soft but they lacked a bit of flavor. The beef was soft and flavorful with the smaller bits of beef, which resembled ground beef, were very tasty. The soup was good overall but felt a bit too oily. The dumplings had a light crunchy exterior and the inside was juicy but it felt just a bit too mushy for me. Overall a good place and I would return to try something else.