Mi La Cay

I would rate this place a 3 ½ stars if I could, but I can’t bring myself to round it up to a 4 star. I’ve been coming since I was a little girl, definitely a go to Asian noodle shop for my parents. We’ve been customers here for over a decade now, and will continue to be. The interior is green and plain, that’s all I can really say about it. It hasn’t changed for the past 10+ years, lol.
I only get two things here: the BBQ duck noodle soup with soup on the side, or the Mi La Cay dac biet with soup on the side. I always like to pair my noodle soup entrée with the toasted Chinese donuts to dip in the broth, it goes well together and is really tasty! Oh, and ask for extra fried crispy onions, theirs are the best!
The reason why I’m giving this place a 3 star is because of the inconsistency. It’s always a hit or miss at this place, sometimes the noodles and flavors are on point and other times they are just plain. I always recommend getting your broth/​soup on the side cause then they stir your noodles in their savory sweet house sauce. Most of the noodle dishes come with their popular fried shrimp (really flavorful, OILY, and the dough is crispy)
I wouldn’t recommend getting any rice dishes or anything outside of their specialty, not really tasty. And it’s hard to get their attention when you need something after they have served you your food.
PS: get their che ba mau (Vietnamese 3 color dessert) I haven’t found a place that makes it better than here!

Childhood memories of when I ate here with my family way back when in the San Jose location. The noodle soup is the way to go here. I love the savory poultry/​pork broth garnished with chives, onion, cilantro, and Chinese celery. The moist pork slices mixed with the juicy roasted chicken so freeking fabulous! I love their egg noodles. But I’m such a sucker for their chewy clear noodles. The Seattle location doesn’t disappoint. The owners are old school… so is the service. It irritates me when I read a review from someone giving a one star rating bc they didn’t get their water within 4 minutes of being seated. This place is OLD SCHOOL. 4 stars for the food plus additional star for the hospitality. I’ll be back.

This store has been open since I can remember and is a staple. Though service can be a little slow, prices are very reasonable for amount of food you get and the food has a very unique delicious flavor. Their mi is great! Add in pickled jalapenos or chilis for an extra kick.

Love the egg noodles here, Mi La Cay is a Seattle Vietnamese/​Chinese staple that has been around forever! I mean I remember this place when I was 10 and now in my 30’s its still going strong. With my most recent visit here, I am even more please that they have taken a more health conscious steps in their broth, my 75 year old mother always ask for broth without the fat aka «nuoc beo» and the owner had informed us that she no longer keeps the fat from the broth and dispose of it since its not healthy to serve to her customers! WOW, I was blown away when I heard that! Food is still tasty as ever even without the fatty broth, I recommend the Mi La Cay special with broth, side of steamed sprouts and chives, chinese doughnut and fried won tons.

This shabby little place offered no service to speak of, we were largely ignored by a grumpy older man. They also charged way too much for cafeteria quality Americanized Asian food.
I won’t be returning.

Best egg noodles in town! We order the vegetarian egg noodle soup and fish ball soup with the Chinese doughnuts! So delicious and filling!

I love mi la cay! I used to frequent this place a lot as a kid so it makes me happy knowing that they are still open in business till this day with the same familiar faces. They are well known for their egg noodles so I never stray away from ordering them. A favorite of mine would be the mi xa xiu kho which is the egg noodles dry style with bbq pork. To be honest their bbq pork isn’t really your traditional bbq pork like char siu but rather roasted pork. Their noodles are always cooked perfectly and are always chewy in a good way and when you get it dry style it is lightly tossed in oyster sauce. The accompanying soup is very light and fulfilling and always full of green onions, my fav! Prices are definitely higher than most Asian places considering it’s not so stellar service and not so stellar décor. However I am always happy to support local businesses especially ones that bring back good childhood memories (I’m corny, I know).

My family has been eating here since I was 8 and I’ve always liked it here. I used to order like a normal bowl of soup but a couple years ago I would get dry noodles with the soup on the side. I prefer it that way because the lettuce doesn’t get soggy in my bowl. Also if I order the special that comes with the fried shrimp, I don’t like that getting soggy either. Their fried chicken (appetizer) isnt that great, they’re a little dry. I just wish the place could be a little cleaner and/​or more updated. The only thing that has changed since 2001 was their menu lol.

Mi La Cay used to be my favorite place to eat mi xao don but the quality has decreased over the years. The portions aren’t satisfying and toppings are scarce and it’s safe to say I won’t be returning. Maybe other dishes here will make up for that but there’s a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants that can easily outshine this place.

Seattle weather: ‘High Wind Warning’ in effect until 6 pm: The weather alert that started as a «Wind Advisory»…
So, we decided not to go out & order for delivery. This place opened 8:00am. The food is great but pricey. Total: $ 82.97 + not including tip.
What we ordered:
BBQ Duck $ 15
Seafood Fried Rice $ 12
Shrimp & Pork Egg Roll $ 4.50 (2 piece)
Butter Glaze Chicken Wings $ 9.25
Beef Chow Mein $ 12.50
House Special Fried Rice $ 11
Strawberry Lemonade $ 4.25
1 soda $ 1.95 (1 can Pepsi)

Noodle = 4 stars
Toppings = 2 stars
Service = 1 star
We ordered the house special, a wonton, a bbq pork. All were just so so. Fried chicken as part of house special was so dry and old. Wouldn’t come back as we had much better.

This is my second time here and I love the noodle dish and the flavor of the broth is on point. I definitely recommend coming to this place if you want to eat noodle. The noodle here is like phở but with a different twist.

Been here a few times during my lunch breaks. Very typical Vietnamese restaurant specializing in Chinese style noodle dishes. Don’t expect your Phở or Bun Bo Hue here, nah… most of their dishes involve egg noodles. Think of your standard wonton yellow egg noodles but with thicker and crunchier consistency.
I generally go with the fish ball/​fish cake egg noodles or the fried chicken noodles. You can have the broth and noodles together or broth on the side. The broth is very mild and not overpowering at all. You can tell that lots of chicken carcasses is used as the main broth ingredient. I’m a big eater and their regular sized bowls are too small for my appetite so definitely go with large if you’re a hearty eater like me.
Service is generally pretty quick but once I had to wait 20 minutes before I received my order. I guess the waiter forgot to put in my order.
Overall, if you need a quick soup fix while not craving for phở or wonton noodles then this is a good option. Amble parking is a plus too.

I visited here more than four times past few months. They are really good in their speciallity which is Mi La Cay Dac Biet, and i recommend this dish when you are new to this place.

This place has really good and authentic Vietnamese noodle soup! Frankly I don’t know why it doesn’t get more recognition than the Hue ky mi Gia restaurant.
Yes this place is quick ok service, that means they seat you expect you to order and then deliver your food and not much else but as long as you ask for all your things you will get it.
The egg noodle here is probably the best I can think of anywhere. It has this great consistency not too chewy not too soft just right and it goes very well when you pick the dry noodle option (with soup on the side). I usually go there and get the noodle with roasted duck and add wonton (apparently cheaper than to get the wonton noodle and add duck). My friends would get their house special. My friend also told me this is her favorite place for Che ba mau (don’t ask me why one would think it is better at a deli).
The only thing I have to say is this place is not very clean, so don’t come in expecting too much. Parking can be tight too even if they have their own Parking lot but I can always find street parking.

Just order the #1 egg noodle. Noodles, fried shrimp, chicken, all delicious and flavorful in their own way. Chicken is moist and tender. Everything was easy to eat.
These egg noodles is one of my favorite in the Seattle area. They don’t have an ammonia smelling aroma, and no toxic after taste. (Some of the hk-er’s might understand what i’m talking about)
Broth is flavorful, but i prefer the noodles and broth served separately. Because when you have it this way. the noodle comes in a light sauce toss. And you still have the broth on the side. win win.
I’m salivating just thinking about eating this again :)
Atmosphere: typical hole in the wall in the chinatown vicinity.
Service: they are friendly, but on the slower side, and when deep in discussion with other servers — wouldn’t mind letting the customers wait… =/

We come here at least 3−4x a month and it is always satisfying and consistent. Get the house special noodle that comes with sliced pork, a piece of fried chicken, a fried shrimp toast, romaine, perfectly chewy egg noodles (wide or thin, or choose rice noodles) and a flavorful and clean broth. You can ask for more pork for 2bux extra. Make sure you find some jars of pickled jalapenos as well! You’ll thank me later!
The chicken wings and other noodle dishes (e.g. fish ball) are pretty good as well. The waitress in her 30s is always super nice; think quick and efficient service. Oh yeah, they have super clean bathrooms!

While in Seattle I made sure to visit and have my favourite, BBQ duck soup with egg noodles. The portions of duck are generous and the broth has amazing flavour! With plentiful greens the dish is a full meal.
Best to get there a little early as their small parking lot fills up quickly.

I was pretty underwhelmed when my bowl came out. I ordered a mi vit quay (wonton noodles with BBQ duck). It was just a good handful of noodles that weren’t very fresh. I could tell the noodles were sitting in a bowl for a while before the soup was poured in because the noodles were so hard and difficult to separate. They threw a few (very few) pieces of lettuce with green onions on top, and then the BBQ duck, and called it good.
I wish there were some more fixings… Like at least some bean sprouts? My bowl looked pretty sad, but at least the flavor was decent.

This is def one of my favorite place to eat at. Parking is very limited (small tight area)
Service is okay. They never fill your water unless you ask, but there is a lady there and she’s awesome! She always offers to box up my unfinished food and super sweet about it.
I always order the bbq duck with soup on the side. The duck is usually always fresh and the broth is amazing, and I love the pickled jalapenos! I sometimes order the garlic wings, those are good too. Always served fresh and steaming hot! Very crunchy batter and moist in the middle. (too much might make you sick because of how much oil, so limit yourself) the prices are reasonable it’s a little then $ 10 an entrée. I would def recommend this place to anyone!