Capital Noodle Bar - Brea — Restaurant in Brea

I have been here twice now and each time has been wonderful - the food, the staff and the atmosphere! In case you want to know without reading my whole review, the food is so delicious - there is nothing else to say about it!! But read to know all aspects on what to expect with service and billing. First off, my family and I are VERY Covid aware. We only just began eating at restaurants again this year and only when all safety factors line up for us . Capital Noodle House does have indoor dining but at this time, I only choose to eat outdoors so I can not comment on the interior though it looks very clean and spacious through the window! We eat on the patio which is small but tables are nicely spaced and clean. We asked the waitress if we could have the table cleaned again just because we like to see it cleaned with our own eyes and she had it cleaned again without question. Staff wears masks at all times. Every person that waited on us was patient and nice and helpful and had an amazing attitude. Every time. The food is amazing and comes out pretty fast. We went on Valentine’s evening with our family of 6 including a baby and we got seated and served fast. Within 30 minutes they had a line of people waiting to get in so this accounts for both popularity and spacing! The prices are not cheap but reasonable and what you would expect from a sit down eatery with high standards. For 5 meals, 2 beers, two sides and three non alcoholic drinks, our bill was $125 Not including tip. One thing cool about their billing is that it tells you what the tip is for various percentages and tells you the total- so it makes it easy for you to factor in! If I had to say anything even slightly negative it would be about the drinks. The only thing that perturbed me on our second visit was that we were charged for 2 iced teas when it should have been refilled for free and I ordered hot tea for three. The tea comes in the same pot weather it’s for two or three but the charge is per person. When I needed a refill on tea - we just got more water added to the pot which just made hot water- not tea (but I think this is standard for tea refills anywhere). So, really this part is for management- personally, I feel tea should be charged per pot not per cup - or give individual pots. Basically, I paid $10.50 for 3 cups of tea and a refill of hot water. This may be nickel and dime-ing - but in today’s climate- every penny counts on all sides. So it is just a side note..nothing I would take points off for or not return for - I didn’t even complain about it on the bill. If it happened again- I would say something about the refills and ask about the tea pots up front before ordering. Either way this in no way detracted from my experience!! I completely recommend eating or taking food from Capital Noodle!

This place...

Absolutely Horrible Experience — BEWARE!

If I could give zero stars, I would. From the moment the phone was answered, I was met with rudeness so blatant it was almost shocking. Yes, there was a language barrier, but there’s no mistaking the attitude I heard on the other end — dismissive, cold, and downright hostile. It felt like the person had dragged their personal problems into work and decided to unload them on paying customers.

I tried to ask basic questions, but she was short, unhelpful, and made it clear she couldn’t care less about providing service. Instead of making me feel welcome, she made me feel like a nuisance for even calling. The entire interaction was so unprofessional and unpleasant that I lost any desire to try their food — and that says a lot, because I was genuinely excited to give this place a shot.

When a business allows someone this rude and unapproachable to be the first point of contact, it speaks volumes about how little they care about their customers. If you want to be treated like an inconvenience instead of a valued human being, this is your place. If not, do yourself a favor and go anywhere else....

I walked in to dine on a Saturday afternoon and the service was amazing from the beginning. Very welcoming and friendly. I got three different dumplings plus hot tea and paid just under $40: Spicy wantons - thin wrapper and nice filling, but the chili sauce was lacking in my opinion. It had a good spice but it was bitter and very dry, despite seeing the chili oil on the bottom. I think using a chili oil that has aromatics would work better and with some soy sauce for balance. Juicy pork dumplings (their version of soup dumplings) - the order of 4 seemed really small compared to most dim sum places but the filling was sweet, seasoned, & very juicy. The soup part had already leaked out of two of mine unfortunately though. Also the wrapper thickness was not consistent; one was thin and three were very thick, too thick. The wrapper could be more thin. Sui Mai - these Sui Mai were BIG! They were probably the best of the dumplings I tried. The filling was well seasoned, the shrimp was snappy, & a perfectly thin dumpling wrapper. Overall great spot for a dumpling/noodles fix & great service but certainly not a replacement...