Mama’s Chicken Noodle

I usually get the Wonton Noodle Soup and overall, I’m pretty satisfied with it. It looks and tastes good, the size is a little small for a guy, but the price is fair. Usually we’ll order an extra dish to share among the group. The food is 3-​star worthy, nothing more or less.
One thing that made my experience of eating it somewhat sad was the Duck that I had in my Soup had like all bones and skin and barely any meat.
The feeling I always get in this place is that it’s kinda empty and cold.

This place is pretty good for a quick meal. Soup is good and filling, and the FRIED CHICKEN WINGS are EXCELLENT!
I would like to consider myself a fried chicken wing fanatic. This place has crispy wings, but also has good garnish, spices, and savoriness associated with the bird wings. I wish they gave me more wings cause who knew a noodle place has good fried chicken wings.

Came for chicken noodle soup. Found New owners. Same Name. Expanded menu.
Gone are the multiple varieties of chicken noodle soup and especially the namesake #1 Mama’s Special Chicken Noodle. Gone is the disclaimer about them having no responsibility for choking on chicken bones. Darn!
I was confused, but spotted #41 Shredded Chicken Noodle Soup (previously #3) on the double sided small font menu and ordered with trepidation. Noodle choices are now Ho Fun or thin rice noodles (previously also had clear & egg noodle choices. .. (or maybe language barrier w/​waiter?))
They have a ginger scallion dipping sauce, but much more oil and less ginger than before. See current thin sauce next to my soup (
) vs. the old chunky style (not my pic
).
Broth was good. Probably some MSG. The ho fun is not as wide as before (
) and were overcooked for my liking. Not too much of the chewy (free range?) shredded chicken meat.
A-​OK, but Khanh Huong on the island or Huong Que in Oakland are my top choices for chicken soup in the area.

I love this dinning spot in Alameda!
Great food! Love its noodles.

Came here for the first time last week and I ended up ordering the wonton noodle soup with BBQ pork. The soup had a fair amount of noodle, wonton, and BBQ meat. Wontons were very flavorful, but the noodles were a bit undercooked and the BBQ meat was a bit on the ‘too fatty’ side. For the price of $ 6, it’s not bad.
If I stopped here, I would give a 3-​star since nothing really stuck out in my mind, but I will dock one star for the following reason: MSG. I’m not normally one to complain about MSG, but there was such a high amount of MSG in the broth, that I felt the after affects hours after before going to bed. Minus one star.
I would come back here again, but I would definitely request for absolutely no MSG.

First off, if I can give them no stars I would. FUCK THIS PLACE.
DO NOT EVER GO HERE. This place gave me the worst food poisoning and I was sick for days. The servers do not speak English and the food was terrible. I HATE this place.
Take my advice. DO NOT COME HERE.

Giving this a 3 star, for one is because it’s a new owner and two is because they’re food is descent.
I had order their beef stew wonton noodle togo and it was good, the soup wasn’t oily but there was a BIG GINGER inside there that looked like the beef stew. GROSS!
Since we ordered it togo, my boyfriend ask the cashier for sauce cup togo and she straightly said «we don’t have no more». My boyfriend saw some pre-​cupped sauce so it’s impossible for them to run out that quick. So I went in and I ask the lady for some and there she go popping out a new bag of sauce cup. Not just that they’re being cheap, but they lied to us! So they pack the sauce for us but didn’t let us put our own, and they put really little amount. BOO HOO! I really miss the old owner, especially with their mama chicken noodle special … but oh wells, gotta stick with this one.

I didn’t know my favorite fast food noodle place in the whole world was gone forever until last night. It’s now under new ownership and the magic is gone, the food quality is GONE. I walked in ready to get the usual take-​out order for me and my husband and suddenly everything is changed. The new owner or manager hands me an enormous run-​of-​the-​mill menu, completely different from the old menu. With his help I was still able to order the usual, but it’s all different now and he gave me a menu to take home for next time.
But there probably won’t be a next time. The noodle broth was different and not nearly as good, and my rice combo dinner no longer comes with soup, but included a very lackluster sad wilty vegetable.
We are SO SAD our MCN is no more. The new owner has changed it into yet another random cheap poor quality Chinese Take-​Away joint. As if Alameda needed another one. Thanks but no thanks. This place is just down the street from home, and now we’ll have to go looking for something else. Sad.

Before the new owner:
Food was really good, large portions
Now:
More variety but over priced and smaller portions. Just cross the tunnel and you can get the same food for cheaper.
However, it is a good quick go to spot.
Decent service. Nothing spectacular.

FAIL.
i hate writing reviews for places in alameda because i love the town so much but… FAIL. i’ve had better noodles for cheaper at that. the only thing decent was the salt & pepper chicken. it had jalapenos and onions and it was spicy.
thats it. they shouldnt have gotten rid of the KFC.

Service: 2x HORRIBLE
FOOD: HORRIBLE Too fatty and sweet broth for my taste
Not organized, took the wrong order. I forgave them the first time because of grand opening. Thought i give them another chance, second visit, wrong order on the whole table cannot be a coincidence.

Newbies should try the #1 Mama Chicken Special Noodle Soup.
Get it with the clear noodles for a change in pace and dip the boneless chicken into the ginger garlic sauce.
I personally prefer #3 with the boneless shredded chicken.

Two and a half really.
It was decent, but doesn’t even come close to be compared to Phở Ga in Oakland.
I came with the mister ready to give it a shot after reading all the reviews and figured it would be my turn to give it a shot. The parking lot was crowded, though there’s a lot of spots. It’s big enough to be making your own parking spots, if you’re
Douche enough to do it.
Walking in, there’s no wait. Dine in is directed into the main dining hall, while when you walk in is for togo. Seated and handed a simple single aided menu. He opted for the Mama’s Special (7.99) while I had the Shredded Chicken (6.99) and a plate of roasted duck (5.99). They especially pride themselves in only serving free-​range chicken.
The ginger scallion dipping sauce was not doing it. It was more like the ginger oil dipping sauce with slight hints of scallions. The ginger was all in checks, not nicely minced and there was barely any scallion, it looked more like garnish if anything. And to top it all off, it was just floating around in a puddle of oil.
Mama’s special came in a smaller bowl than the shredded chicken. It included chicken soup, cilantro, thin sliced onions, shrimp, fish ball, fish cake, chicken shreds and noodles. You get the option of rice noodles, clear noodles, thin noodles and some other options that I can’t remember off the top of my head. Mister said it was alright, nothing special about the special. Ironic
As for the shredded chicken, it almost seemed rubbery to me. The chicken was fatty and dry. The soup base was not so chicken, more MSG and a distant taste that I can’t put my tongue on, but definitely not chicken soup like. The ho-​fun was clumped together and not very soft. Basically the contents of my food were just swimming in my bowl. It wasn’t great at all.
The best part was probably the duck. I’d come back for the duck because the skin was crispy. The price was reasonable for the amount we received. Fatty pieces and lots of meat, drowned in grease and sauce. Delicious and fresh!
I wouldn’t return here again. Phở ga on 5^th Ave is waiting for me.

when my boyfriend raved about this place, I Unilocaled it and I was like «psh. three stars? pshhhhh.» but my boyfriend swore it was good, so I decided to try.
I think the reason this place trends low is because people expect phở… this is not a phở restaurant! it’s Chinese soup, DIFFERENT COUNTRY.
we both opted for the Number 1 special, which comes with shredded free range chicken, fish cakes, fish balls, shrimp, and your choice of noodles. I opted for rice noodles. The table comes equipped with condiments like pickled jalapenos, hot sauce, hoisin sauce, etc. I followed my boyfriend’s lead and mixed the chili flake sauce with the chili sauce, and dipped my chicken in that while I ate. the real winner though, is the amazing ginger sauce that comes with your soup! minced ginger, garlic, green onion, oil, salt, pepper. seriously yummy and perfect for this cold weather. it’s not too salty or MSG-​y since the broth is so light. give it a try!

I think I’ve been here about 12 times in three weeks. I can’t get enough. Here’s what you need to know. The broth is clear and light. Some places have a cloudy and fragrant broth, and if you like that, then you will think Mama’s broth is bland. I LOVE this broth. It’s meant to take flavors you put in it like the pickled peppers, roasted chili oil, sriracha, the awesome ginger mix, etc. Next, I think the thin rice noodles are the best. Finally, you really can’t go wrong with the garlic chicken wings.
One thing to get off my chest. I read a bad review from someone who try the chicken noodle soup. Common! look at the name of the place.
This place is awesome. Oh, and free parking in the back, and perhaps the cleanest viet/​chinese noodle place I’ve ever seen.
Finally to be fair, the bone-​in chicken is rubbery, get the shredded chicken instead and eat the chicken with the ginger mix. The beef stew noodle soup was meh, and the egg and clear noodles are meh as well.

Three stars is about right. I came here for the first time to order my Mama’s Chicken Soup (bone-​in cause it’s cheaper by a dollar or something) to-​go.
I loved that I was acknowledged and greeted right away by multiple workers. That’s exactly what it should be like everywhere! And the place is new, neat and much more polished looking than Chinatown places.
Their packaging etiquette for to-​go orders was lovely and the food was still warm when I got back to San Leandro. Maybe because we didn’t dine-​in or something but there were enough noodles in the regular orders and the portions are good. The taste though is average but they get brownie points for not using the main Chinese staple: MSG. Their chicken was also ok, just needs a bit more flavor but being the animal rights activist I am and knowing that these were free-​ranged chickens, it definitely made it better :)
Overall I will come back to dine in and check out what else they have to over. Their bbq stuff looks yummy!

This place isn’t comparable to the Chicken Noodle house in Oakland. but it’s CLOSE.
We ordered:
Chiu Chow Noodle Soup (sounds like VH)
Whole Chicken
Plain Hofun Noodle Soup
Vietnamese Iced Coffee
Chiu Chow — he says it’s OK but it’s no VH for sure.
Whole Chicken — GOOD! It’s juicy but some of the pieces were still bloody.
Plain Hofun — bigger portion than other places.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee — good stuff!
Service wise, it wasn’t that great. which kinda sucks. They’re pretty unorganized here. There are about 2 or 3 waitresses and they seem to just stand around and wait on any table. The woman who took our order was different from the lady who brought us our food.
So we both got our noodle soups and had to wait to get the chicken. Turns out, one of the waitresses GAVE OUR CHICKEN to another table (with more people and an older crowd) so we had to wait extra long for our chicken. BOO.
I really like that they have a BBQ side to the restaurant — there’s other stuff we didn’t get to sample and we’ll probably give this place another try.

Listen here — Mama just ain’t ready for visitors yet. Period.
I live in Alameda, pass by the green sign every few days, and have anticipated its opening for a month or so. The word that comes to mind is UNDERWHELMED. I was expecting good, satiating comfort food. Conceptually, they could have gone somewhere with its business name— I mean marrying up «chicken noodle soup» (feeling of warmth) and «mama» (food made with a little L.O.V.E) could be a homerun. COULD is the word ahora, foodie friends.
ONE: Let’s talk drinks. Sparkling plum drink ($ 1.99) — eek! Pass. Honey Tangerine ($ 1.99) — Meh. I give it a 2 stars for being drinkable.
TWO: General Tou’s Chicken Wings ($ 4.99), 6 wings. These were delicious, I must say. Wings were crispy, sauce was flavored and with a spice kick. The amount of sauce on the chicken verged on being «doused» but in the grand scheme of things — it was a solid appie.
THREE: Although our waiter seemed to be such a nice guy with a smile, he didn’t really know about the food. I asked him how they cooked the pork belly and he didn’t know — in fact he told me incorrectly how it was prepared, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. Portion was HUGE. Honestly, enough for 3 people. The pork was edible but didn’t offer anything or celebrate pork belly by any means. It was 4 slices of belly with meaty shreds underneath a gloppy gravy sauce. The rice was great but again, large large quantity (comparable to 4.5 cups of cooked rice). My oval plate was about 4″ high with food which was not appetizing. I felt so bad because I didn’t eat much more than 8 – 10 bites, and I didn’t take it home.
I tasted the dishes next to me. Duck — small pieces, I’d go into Downtown Oak for it. Same with the BBQ pork — a little dry (but we did go at 8pm so maybe it was dry from the day). Again, rice was good.
THINGS THAT I LIKED:
1) Its clean. Paint on walls well done. Furniture is new.
2) Mama’s Soup of the day/​broth that came with the rice plate was FAB. Simple, flavor-​blasted broth with asian vegetable which reminds me of something my dad makes. I loved it!!! So simple and nostalgic.
Overall, I don’t think I’d go back there again YET. I think Mama’s just needs to work out staffing and maybe get some feed back about their dishes to improve. I think the venue and central location on Webster could make it convenient for people to come and eat with Mama.

Mama’s has such negative reviews. didn’t want to order something complex that they would screw up. i just went with the basics and mama f… it up (food wise).
décor: beige and tan stripes on walls
menu: chinese bbq meats, noodles, won ton, bbq on rice, .soups, chow mein. etc. …
sampling: won ton soup (4.99)
–9 hefty pieces of won tons
–mushy meat and shrimp crunchy, both bland. frozen meats used, not fresh.
–broth very flavorful with dried shallot, green onions, white onions, mucho msg, and cilantro
footnotes:
–sado masochists will have orgasms here
–service and ordering not a problem as i grabbed a menu while waiting
and ordered when i was seated.
–mama’s house full, east ocean nearby nearly empty.
–parking lot full.
chinese lessons mandarin
green onion qing cong

My wife and I tried this place and had high hopes for what now occupies what used to be a KFC.
First, there is a confusing entrance: they have a service area right in front of the entrance that is intended just for take-​out — but it isn’t readily obvious so as your first enter you’re not sure if you should grab a tray and order there — until a worker notices your confusion and asks if you dining in or take-​away. If dining in, they direct you to the dining area.
Second, the Soya Chicken on the menu was ordered. The waitress came back and told us it wasn’t ready — they should know what is ready and not before taking our order
Third, the service is slow and not consistent. They seem attentive and they were polite, but things like no napkins on the table, they were slow to bring our rice we ordered (and I mean I had to ask them and remind them we ordered it).
Fourth, the food was okay. The soup was good, but I know better places not far away. The chicken wings were great, but for 5 wings it was $ 5?! Really? We got some take-​out for our other son who stayed home and while it was well-​priced, the food was at best «meh».
It’s not bad, but there are better places in Alameda and Oakland for this type of food.