Paik's Noodle 홍콩반점 - San Carlos — Restaurant in San Carlos

I love this place! This is one of the few places you can get Jajangmyeon for $11 🤯. And I also appreciate how their tip starts at 15%, instead of 18% like most places in the Bay. In general the portion size is big and the dishes are relatively cheap so you can really get your bang for your buck here. Some people have noticed lower quality of taste compared to the Santa Clara location, but to me the food tastes great so I like it. This place is also bigger than the Santa Clara location and is way easier to park at, so I prefer this location over the Santa Clara one.

The food is great here. They provide complimentary radishes which I like.

We go the Jajangmyeon and it was really savory. The only thing is I wish they would add cucumbers and not peas at the topping, but it doesn’t make that much of a difference to the flavor of the dish. We got the extra meat, which was an extra $3 and I wouldn’t recommend it. I thought extra meat would mean more of the meat in the savory black sauce but they just added some cut pork over the dish, so I don’t think the extra $3 was worth it. The quality of their Jajangmyeon has varied. When we came back recently it was a bit watery, but that doesn’t take away from the flavor of the dish which still tasted good to me.

We’ve also got the Jjamppong which was great. It’s quite spicy but savory and the noodles are soft so all around great dish.

We’ve also ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork a few times and that is great. The pork is crispy and tender. The sweet sauce is really sweet but I think it adds to the pork which is plain without any sauce.

We’ve also gotten the Jajang rice a few times and it’s really great too. It comes with soup, so it feels like a full meal. You really don’t need to order anything else if you get the Jajang rice, so it is a really great bang for your buck.

The service is pretty good. They can get really busy during peak hours though and can be a little slow during those times, but overall I think the service is pretty good. They’re quite attentive. Like they gave us scissors when they saw we were struggling to eat the noodles. And when they gave us a box to take home the leftover Sweet and Sour Pork they gave us 2 boxes (so the fried pork wouldn’t get soggy sitting the sweet sauce), which was very considerate of them.

The interior is also nice. It’s very new and clean since it just opened. It has modern but warm furnishings. It is also bigger than the Santa Clara location so that’s really great especially during peak hours when there’s a lot of people.

Parking is also not a problem here (unlike the Santa Clara location). There’s a huge lot for the plaza so we didn’t have an issues...

5/20/24: UPDATED REVIEW: Seriously?! This is my 3rd and last time I will come here. Yes I’m having the black bean noodles and the spicy tofu mushroom dish. They are tasty no doubt. But here we go again, what’s the deal with no chicken!!! This time they are out of chicken wings????!!!! How hard can it be to procure chicken wings????! If you can’t secure a ready supply of menu items like CHICKEN WINGS….take them off the freaking menu.

10/1/25: ORIGINAL REVIEW: So, this was my first time dining at PAIK Noodles. My dining companion had been there about two months ago. She stated that she hoped that the dining experience would be better than her first time there. She was disappointed because on her initial visit, many of the entrées were listed on the menu but then marked out as not available. Most of them involved chicken. Unsure of the problem, she join me nonetheless. Upon arrival, we reviewed the menu and we’re disappointed that that problem still existed. The wait staff stated that they were still “working it out”. So, the menu was rather limited. We ordered delicious noodles and the creamed shrimp. The food was great.

However, we both didn’t understand what the problem was with the absent chicken entrées. If the problem persists, they should print up an expensive paper menus that list only the items available. Not sure if there was a sourcing problem or what but if you already have two establish restaurants, how hard can it be to source chicken and replicate what you’re already serving? It’s a chain restaurant. How hard can this be? I am disappointed. But I will get over myself. I will return in about a month and HOPEFULLY the management will have worked out this problem. If the menu was complete, I would’ve given 5 stars. Right now it feels like a bit of false...

I went to the one in Santa Clara a few times, so thought this one shouldn’t be too bad. I came in around 1:35, still about half an hour to their closing time. And the waitress guided the two people came in before me to a table, so they should still be serving people. However, the waitress just walked away and ignored me. And there were other two people at the front dest helping a lady for pick-up order. So total three people leaving me staying at the door waiting and nobody even try to help me! Then I just walked in and try to find a table, because nobody helped me and there were lots of opening table. A waiter came and said “Can you order asap, because we are closing at two.” Then, I said “I can order now.” The waiter just walked away to take something. If you wanted me to order asap, why you walked away, instead of taking my order immediately??? And the table next to me, they didn’t order till about 10 mins after I ordered. If people need to order asap, why they can order after me, since they came in way ahead of me??? Isn’t it discrimination? And the food was much worst than that I had in Santa Clara. The sauce was watery and the cabbage was unchopped. Don’t come to this one! What a shame they provide such bad...