Noodle Nest

In early 2024, we took the controversial position that the single best restaurant at Irvine’s frequently packed Diamond Jamboree restaurant and shopping plaza was Dun Huang – a statement that was as much about the conspicuous recent departures of multiple tenants (Tokyo Table, Tim Ho Wan, Ajisen Ramen) as the quality of what remains. There are still some heavy hitters there serving Korean food, Chinese hot pot, and Taiwanese baked goods, but also a lot of chaff. In February 2025, Dun Huang rebranded as Noodle Nest and expanded its menu, becoming a broader competitor to regional Chinese restaurants Xishang Roodle and Northern Cafe, as well as Singaporean chain Paradise Dynasty. While the results are uneven, there’s still a lot of good to great food here.

Previously, Dun Huang’s house specialties included hand pulled noodles, offered in five thicknesses for inclusion in cold and hot soup bowls, and they’re still available at Noodle Nest. The thinnest are millimeters-thick tubes, and the thickest are centimeter-thick flat and wide strands with ragged, obviously manually made edges. Textures alone make the eating experiences substantially different, with the wider noodles offering more chew and surface area for sauces and broths. We wouldn’t recommend any specific version over the others beyond to suggest trying them all, perhaps starting with the wide ones as they’re particularly distinctive.

Northwestern Chinese (Lanzhou) specialties include ultra-wide and other hand-pulled noodles, brilliantly intense cold garlicky eggplant, cumin-dusted grilled lamb skewers, sliced beef shank, chilled pig ear, sausages, ribbons of cucumber, vinegared cloud ear mushrooms, and multiple compelling soups. We’ve come back most often for the first five items listed there, but typically can’t help ordering the cucumber, too.