Mi La Cay Restaurant

******************** 1524 ***********************
A casual Chinese noodle shop that has been here forever. If you like any fried meat over noodle soup, this is a place for you.
Generous portion, cheap eat, and of you don’t mind MSG, you would like it here. Service is always efficient and quick here.

This place is ok, I mean… It taste pretty good but I don’t like it that much.

I’ve only tried their house special (dac biet la cay) egg noodles dry style and house special rice noodles with soup. Each about $ 8 – 9.
I like that their house special comes with fried chicken, thinly sliced pork, 1 shrimp and a shrimp cracker since not a lot of noodle houses have everything in one bowl.
But…their egg noodles are always too overcooked for my liking. the fried chicken is dry. and the fried shrimp cracker is stale.boo. I do enjoy sipping on their soup broth, it’s pretty satisfying (maybe because of the msg lol).
The service is good, I’ve never had a bad experience with any of the waitresses or when I ordered togo. It’s your typical vietnamese establishment, get seated at your table, order within 1 minute of sitting, and then your food comes out just as you finish making your dipping sauces and cleaning your chopsticks, spoons + sauce plates.
*seasoning your bowl of noodles with chili sate, vinegar and extra pork cracklings always makes it tastier!

I made a to go order they were so sweet I was short a few cents and they just smiled and didn’t seem to mind. The service is amazing but the food is out of this world!
I ordered the fried whole chicken with fried rice and my boyfriend and I loved it. Their Thai tea was bomb too! The prices aren’t bad either I’d give them a 10 if I could. :) thank you guys!

My parents really love this place. I don’t go here often, but I’ve gone for as long as I can remember. Most recently I’ve gotten the Mi Dac Biet La Cay. It was so good. I got it kho/​dry. It was perfectly seasoned. The noodles were nice and chewy. I get why my dad always wants to go here for lunch.

Ordered dry noodles with soup on the side. Got regular one instead … waitress took it back to the kitchen … didn’t get a new one but instead they just drained out the soup … noodles came out soft, soaking wet and didn’t taste cryspy … and that was what I wanted when I ordered dry noodles in the first place … paid for it but didn’t leave as a happy camper …

I was born and raised by a Vietnamese father and a Cantonese mom who was born in Vietnam so I grew up eating a combination of Vietnamese/​Chinese food.
It took me practically years to love my own people’s food. I’m sure we all get sick of our peoples’ food but for me? I wouldn’t even want to eat any of them because I thought they were «gross». Overtime, I grew to love our food and because I was proactive about learning about my culture, traditions and history, (aside from the food), I am proud to say I’m half Vietnamese and half Chinese.
Noodle soups are my favorite. I love love love egg noodles but over the years my love for egg noodles has been replaced with ramen. Lately, I’ve been exposing Timothy L. to more of our own food (he’s half Vietnamese and Chinese as well), and we’ve been basically coming to Mi La Cay and every other egg noodle place around San Jose more often. The service here is pretty standard but if the owner (the guy with the glasses haha), takes our order, he is very friendly and tends to our needs. My Vietnamese is not the best; because I stopped using it at a young age, but it’s enough to me to get by. He’s an overall nice and respectable guy. I came here as a kid with my parents and siblings but the quality in the broth, noodles and toppings have not changed! I usually like to get the shrimp wonton noodle soup, kidney noodle soup, or the house special which is #1. Dry or with soup are excellent but it depends on your own preference. I like adding vinegar to my soups to give it a POW!
Their fried pork wontons are pretty flavorful for too. One time the pork wasn’t cooked all the way, but it wasn’t too much of a problem. Timothy and I did not get sick, lol.
Like other egg noodle shops around San Jose (China Chen, Han Kee, Yummy Trieu Chau, etc), this is probably my favorite at the moment. They all are, but I think the service here is great. The owner always remembers Timothy and I and I think it’s awesome when you become a regular and the owners are super sweet and remember your face!
Will always come back!

I love this place! Ive been eating here for over 8 years. The owner and workers are very nice and friendly. Food is always fresh and yummy !:)

I have def had way better! I am sad cuz I love mi la cay the food in general, but when they forget to give you all the toppings in an order, it makes your meal taste subpar and you feel gypped (spelling?). I recommend eating in to make sure you get your tummy’s worth!

This is a family favorite, and we’ve been frequenting this place for years. The service isn’t the best, and the place isn’t the cleanest. It’s a hole in the wall right off of McKee, but don’t let that stop you from coming in.
I love ordering their mi la cay. The egg noodles are made at the restaurant, and you can tell based on their perfectly chewy texture. They give you generous amounts of meat that comes with your noodles: slices of pork, shrimp, drumstick, a fried wonton, and a bowl of soup on the side. The small is just enough for me, and it doesn’t leave me in a food coma, which is a good thing! If you have more of an appetite, I recommend ordering a large.

I love the food here! I’ve been coming here well over 10yrs. My family and I love to come for the seafood phở. I also get the shrimp chow me in, and my mom also likes the combination chow fun. The chicken phở is also delicious and the house phở. Overall I love this place and recommend

My dad likes this place so I gives it a try. First of all, most dishes in this place is about $ 1 more than regular prices. We ordered M01 (noodles with pork, chicken, and cracker), M02 and M03 (noodles with fried duck with different broth). The broth is just ok. The noodles are too soft for me. Duck meat is overcooked and quite dry. Honestly, nothing to write home

I love this place.
I’m not really a fan of Chinese food but, this place is something else. I can never say at no to this place and I get so excited. I go there so much they already know what I always order. The price are ok price $ 7-​$ 8 for a small soup (which is large) a $ 1.00 more if you ask for the large size. I of course order the large. One thing I wish they did has is an English speaking waiter. Its ok I just point at my number on the menu if I don’t get my usual.
Whenever I go its not busy so, I’m not sure how it hectic it gets.

I got ‘Mi la cay dac biet’ that was below avergage. The noodle is just like you can buy everywhere in Lion market. The soup is msg and fried chicken is too dried. Overal i would rat 1 star but the hot tea is good. I dont know why they still surviving

What else do you order when you’re at a noodle house? Wonton noodles of course!
I had a bowl of wonton noodles here. I ordered a small, but it was a very large portion. The broth is good and well seasoned. I loved the noodles. It was soft and chewy. I am not sure if they make it fresh here but could have fooled me! If you’re not allergic to shrimp like I am, you should get the shrimp wontons. Those are pretty delicious!
It’s a small restaurant with a couple of tables. I came here on a Saturday morning and it wasn’t too busy. We didn’t wait for long. Parking may be a little hard to find since it’s located in a plaza with a supermarket. I would recommend the wonton noodles for sure!

Was craving for some msg, they gave me an entire bowl. ⁷⁄₁₀ would eat again.

The only reason I’m giving 4 stars is because I had take out) will update once I do dine-​in.
Ok let’s get started: the only reason I found out about this place was due to this HOTTIE!(I think she might be the owners daughter) she said it was family own for years and the food was very good.
She was right! The avocado smoothie was on point! And the cube beef with red rice was Yummy. Next time I’ll have to dine in and check out some of the other food in the menu.

TL;DR? Decent noodle soups with a plethora of Vietnamese/​Chinese food items on the menu… it’s also MORE expensive now (all the dishes have increased $ 1). Location, ambiance, and service have not improved, and the food portions are even seemingly smaller. Pass over it for a cheaper restaurant out there.
Food Quality: A
Location, Ambiance, Service, Food Portions: B
Prices: C
Tried Hu Tieu Xui Cao (Wide Rice Noodle with Shrimp Wonton Soup)
My family and I wanted to eat some quality noodle soups and visited our old friend, Mi La Cay. We arrived around 11AM on a Sunday and the restaurant was crowded. We sat down and ordered our usuals. I already noticed that the prices increased, but my mother pointed that it increased to a whole dollar $ 1 more! I did not realize that but for noodle soups, they ranged a steep $ 7.50 to $ 9 yowza. Their chow meins and other dishes were $ 8+. Now for this type of food and restaurant, we usually expect ranges of $ 6-​$ 8 at most. But with the prices increase and everything staying the same (portions and service), I am not sure we will frequent this establishment as much anymore. The food took a while to come out 10+ minutes but understandably so. Overall, the food was average tasting and really fatty tasting (oils and umami seasonings). The noodle quality was not as fresh today for some reason. Chewy and soft texture but not tasty. Again, portions seemed smaller to my family and me, and the bill came out to $ 37+ for 4 bowls of noodles! Wow that is almost $ 10 per bowl… Unless they change their portions or improve their quality, we won’t be paying more for the same (or less of an) experience.

I’ve been going to this place for as long as I can remember. Yeah, they’ve been around THAT LONG. The owners are super nice and they’re always up to chat!
I’ve had everything on their menu. Here are a few highlights:
Mi La Cay Kho — This comes with bone marrow in the soup. I love this dish! It tastes super homemade and is definitely a must-​try. A technique I stole from my brother is to dip all the veggies into the soup on the side and let it soak in. This gives the veggies and the soup more flavor and you don’t have to dig underneath the veggies for all the noodles. Also, this dish comes with this fried flat doughnut with a shrimp in the middle. SCRUMPTIOUS!
Bo Luc Lac — A huge heaping of meat, onions, and bell peppers over ketchupped-​rice. This would certainly make you full.
Also, they have a few dessert che that is pretty bomb. I rarely find places that make che banh lot anymore!

I grew up eating at Mi La Cay, and I am sad to say, but over the years it’s fallen off. Maybe because my taste has matured or that other places in San Jose has stepped their game up.
The noodle quality is really inconsistent. Sometimes the food comes out flavorful, sometimes its really bland and I have to really spice it up with the chili sauce. And also portion size isn’t the strong point anymore. I added the extra $ 1 for more noodles, and even then the portion was on the small side.
If anything, the food isn’t as greasy as other noodle places. Especially with the Ga Roti (chicken) and when you order dry noodles. The noodles here aren’t oily, and most importantly don’t give you that «MSG throat» where you are dying of thirst a couple hours later.
You can’t go wrong with the red rice plates though! Especially the bo luc lac here. top notch!
Really 3 ½ stars, but 4 for nostalgic reasons and for the cheap prices. Back in the day, it used to be insanely cheap but you won’t have to break your wallet to here! Great homestyle Vietnamese food.