Wuling

Unilocal fix this — They are no longer a restaurant. Every time I search for restaurants near me I see this and weep.

The environment is really good~ fresh fruit and snacks. I would like to suggest change the cover of the microphone more frenquently, so it won’t let the guest feel dirty when singing.

Good cheap Taiwanese food just like my mother never made.
I hear from the other reviews that they don’t serve food anymore. Too bad – it was really good.
Can’t speak for the karaōke, though.

This will be short and simple. I thought this place was great for Chinese karaōke. They had a bunch of English songs so people like me who don’t speak Chinese (sadly) could attempt to sing. There were only a few recent English songs but nothing past 1998 or 1999 (I think). They had a small dance floor, too.
FYI: This place doesn’t have food because they didn’t originally. Then, the owners changed to a different owner and that’s when they started to have food. Business wasn’t doing well so the owner changed back to the original owner (aka back to no food).

Great service. Cater to what you want…

We walked in late April 2010 to find that Wuling DOES NOT SERVE FOOD ANYMORE — just good old Chinese KTV.
Sorry folks, you will have to find your Taiwanese-​style beef noodle soup elsewhere.
And when you find it, please do send me a message! I would like to know where to find some in or around El Cerrito.

We went for the karaōke, with the food as an after thought. Decent playlist, although all the songs seemed a few beats slow. My friends said the food was okay, but they wouldn’t be returning for takeout. Who knows — this place could make a kick-​ass birthday party.

Very good food. Beef noodle soup is great hard to find in bay area. Rice plates are good too. Worth a try.

I’ve been hearing about this place for years. My mom and her friends come here to sing KTV so I never knew it was a actual restaurant until my mom threw her 60^th Birthday party here.
The food they served at the party was impressive. I wouldn’t say awesome but fairly good and would visit it when I am in the area.

reading all the Unilocal reviews had gotten me really craving for a bowl of good beef soup. We tried going only to find that they are closed on Sundays.
Hubby and I went on a weekday and ordered 2 beef noodle soups and a braised fish.
I have to agree the free appetizer was really tasty. The braised fish was good, but the noodle soup was a bit of a disappointment.
The noodles were okay, but I just expected a little more flavor in the broth and just a little more seasonings on the beef. I liked that there was a lot of beef tendons, but still… it lacked flavor.
I really wanted to like it… but only found it to be a bit blah… and not sure I’d be returning.

This is my diamond in the rough eatery. They have the best beef noodle soup Taiwanese style bar none! Whenever I eat there, it feels as if I’ve been transported back to the days of my youth in Taiwan. There’s nothing better than a big heaping bowl of beef noodle soup especially on a cold day. I’ve been there for lunch and dinner as well as the karaōke and let me just say, this place is fun, fun fun!
Aside from the beef noodle soup, I would recommend the shrimp with lobster sauce, mapo tofu and kung pao chicken. It is really a fun and hospitable place and I would recommend it to anyone who gets a chance to visit the El Cerrito area or to make a special visit for a special meal there.

This is a funky little place. You walk in and there’s a dance floor and TVs on the walls. The tables are lined up against the walls too. At lunch time there’s no karaōke and I haven’t been there when there’s karaōke. I’m probably the only Asian who doesn’t like the torture, oh I mean, karaōke. :-)
A team of brother and sister from Taiwan run this place: the brother runs the front of the house and the sister cooks all the food. The menu is small, typical of a small café or food stand in Taiwan. The food really reminds me of my Taiwanese grandma’s cooking. It feels warm and cozy and it really doesn’t feel like a restaurant. The host/​brother is very gracious and he treats you like you’re a guest at his house. The chef/​sister comes out from time to time to make sure diners are enjoying their food. Oh, and the prices are pretty good too.

I’ve been here several times now with family. My mom knows how to order the dishes from the «secret menu», so I don’t leave home without her.
We’ve had:
Earthen baked chicken: fall off the bone meat cooked in a bread coating. Its an updated version of the one our ancestors used to bake in the mud. There are chestnuts, mushrooms baked with the chicken.
Has to be ordered a day before, with a deposit.
Roasted pork (Tee-​pong in Mandarin): Golden brown skin and meat over veggies, served with steamed buns. OMG, so good. My friend had to close his eyes and take a moment when he first bit into the meat.
«Real-​pearl» meatballs: sweet rice coated meatballs, steamed to perfection. These were good, but I like to add a bit of sauce from another dish. Pay no heed to the cloth they’re steamed on, it looks a bit gnarly but the meat is delish!
Lobster with egg noodles: the noodles are a bit spicy, so tender, something about ‘em I couldn’t stop eating these. This is an awesome dish.
Beef noodle soup: I had the leftovers and they were still good, straight out of the styrofoam take-​out box. The tendon is great, and the soup is authentically stewed, not some (MSG + water) concoction.
And as for the atmosphere, its great too. Not your usual dingy Chinese restaurant. The plates are super cute, and I love the giant glass of tea (with a cap!) they serve and the tables are clean.
And you can top it all off with a round of karaōke!

I feel a bit bad killing the 5 star love, but I’m being honest, it was very good, not the best ever. We tried to go a few weeks ago and it was closed, so we called, made sure they were open and headed over. After reading the reviews, we tried the beef soup, sesame noodle, kung pao chicken, and braised fish.
You get a big mug of hot water with a jasmine tea bag. A little plate to put the tea bags on would be nice, we used our napkins. Then you get hot and sour soup, and it didn’t taste any different than any other hot and sour soup I’ve had. Then you get a little plate of eggplant, bok choy, and bitter melon with little fishes and black soybeans. My dining partners tell me that bitter melon is an acquired taste, but I truly don’t need to work hard to acquire a taste for something I don’t like. The eggplant and bok choy were delicious.
The sesame noodles tasted like peanut butter. I think they need tofu, chicken, or some protein to help even out the sugar and carbs. The kung pao chicken was not unlike every other kung pao chicken I’ve had.
The braised fish was delicate and tender, really good. Dining partner said it was too sweet, but that’s a common complaint from him regarding restaurant food. I didn’t think it was too sweet.
The star of the meal was the beef soup. The tendon was melt in your mouth delicious, and the broth had a delicate anise taste balanced with a meaty undertone. I’d have that again.
The service was pleasant and quick, no complaints. They can make Tawainese dishes not on the menu, so if there is something you love that you don’t see listed, don’t be afraid to ask.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again, but given I end up in Richmond a lot to see family, I wouldn’t mind coming back in for the soup, and maybe trying other dishes. We were the only people there for our entire meal, so I think it’s busier in the evenings, before they start karoke around 8pm.

Wuling is a special place because you feel like you’ve entered a secret underground restaurant only a few privileged people have access to. There are no windows so it looks closed from the outside. But the minute you step in, it’s like, wow, where am I?
Wuling serves really delicious Taiwanese food, which is awesome because I don’t think we have enough Taiwanese restaurants in Bay Area. Their beef noodles is highly recommended.
What makes Wuling more than just a delicious Taiwanese restaurant is its karaōke feature. At night, the disco lights go on, diners who are finished with their meal get to grab a mic and sing their hearts out. A few people would actually get up and start dancing in the middle of the restaurant, which creates quite a spectacle to watch.
If you see most of the customers being older Taiwanese and seem to know one another, don’t be alarmed. As authentic as Wuling is, the waitstaff does speak English and will help you order.

Wow! Great food!
Don’t be intimidated if you are english speaking only, the menus have english.
The place itself is clean and well decorated, looks like it must be fun for Karaōke which start at the end of dinner hours (8pm). The service here is friendly and attentive.
Lunch was great. I got the Kung Pao Chicken and it really was some of the best I have ever had. Bonus is that the special came with some marinated vegetables and soup, the veggies were delicious!
The menu is small but I’ll be back to try it all and maybe stay to watch some Karaōke :)

Wuling is a Karaōke lounge at night and a restaurant during lunch and dinner. The place might be hard to find, but when you do find it, you’ll be glad you did. Looks can often be so deceiving. From the outside, it’s sometimes difficult to know if Wuling is really there. A yellow awning with Chinese characters, and a single banner with images of Taiwanese dishes are the only things that give away this place existence. Once you walk inside it’s a completely different world. The walls are adorn with framed Elvis records, music posters, a disco ball from above and a stage with microphone and t.v. are to the left. Wuling has recently been remodeled and it shows, the restaurant has nice drop lighting, large LCD televisions for the karaōke, and an abundance of clean tables and booths.
The food I had was pretty epic. Beef noodle soup is easy to find throughout the bay area, but really good beef noodle soup? Not so easy! This place has absolutely delicious niu ro mien. The meat was tender, the soup was not overly salty or in some places I’ve been to sour, and the portions are solid. Also the variety of side dishes included make it a great value. I’ve been here for both lunch and dinner, and neither trip disappointed. For the dinner session I even got to hear some of the east bays top Chinese karaōke performers. Yeah, I had to show them up with some Billy Idol! And basically Billy sums up my feelings about having beef noodle soup at this place, cause in the midnight hour, she cried More More More… More More More!

Edit: They no longer serve food
I’ve been looking for good beef noodle soup in the Bay Area for a while, and I’ve finally found it. Tender beef, flavorful broth, and al dente noodles (looks like they could be home made). It’s definitely a Taiwanese-​style place, and very authentic. The meals are reasonably priced at under $ 10, and include tea and side dishes, which consisted of cooked veggies (string beans, eggplants, and bean sprouts when I went, but it probably varies). Everything was very good (flavor and texture). I came with some co-​workers, and they all liked it as well. Actually, one of them from China said the noodle soup was the best he’s ever had, which is amazing to me. My white co-​worker got the Kung Pao Chicken over rice, which was good too (I tried some).
The owner was quite nice and gave me hot sauce and pickled cabbage (suan1 cai4) when I asked. He said he could cook many Taiwanese dishes that are not on the menu, and to call ahead if there’s something you want in particular.
Although the outside of the building is unattractive, the ambiance inside is quite nice, clean too. I went around 7 pm on a Thursday, and there weren’t many people inside, so I didn’t get the «karaōke experience» (the equipment was off). I suppose it might be busier later at night.
Definitely come for the noodle soups — they have all of the traditional ones I think — but the other dishes are great as well from what I’ve seen. One of the other tables was a Chinese family that had ordered all rice dishes.

I agree wholeheartedly, it’s a gem this place. And I was dubious, walked in thinking we were going out for dinner, and realized it was a karaōke bar… ugh. Food would probably be crappy. Argh.
I was wrong. The food was delightful and arranged beautifully. The singing was great, sort of balad-​y and about ½ chinese, ½ english, but the singers mostly knew their range and sang well. It was great. So happy that it’s in olé’ El Cerrito.

Best Super Secret karaōke place ever! Unbelievably amazing Chinese food, great song selection (English and Chinese), super cheap beer and wine. Can’t ask for more.