I was really pumped to try Golden Wheat because my friends raved that this is the #1 noodle place…read morein Champaign. The restaurant is operated by super friendly and nice Chinese owners. It appeared that they do not speak the best English, but we didn't have any trouble ordering as there was an English/Chinese menu printed out, which we used to point to the item that we wanted to order. What we got: Beijing style JaJangmyeon: I had Korean-styled jjajangmyeon, so I didn't know what to expect at first. The portion size is beyond generous and the amount of topping on the noodles was more than enough. The noodles were soft and chewy. The dish tasted like peanut noodles which I am not the greatest fan of, but my friend loved it! Spicy fatty beef slices noodles: this was really good! I am a big meat lover and the amount of meat that came with this dish made me really happy! The dish was not too spicy and well-balanced. I wish there was a bit more soup because it was just a lot of noodles, but I think this is supposed to be more noodles than soup because it was one of their 'mixed noodles' dish. Overall, it was a very hearty meal. The owners were super kind enough to give us a free bok choy+fish cake side dish which we enjoyed as well. Despite the communication barrier, the service was great and the owners are super sweet people. I will definitely be coming back!

Stopped by after a few friends recommended this place! The noodle soups are amazing. Here are a few…read moretips for non Chinese speaking customers like me. It took a little effort to order due to language BUT it was totally worth it! ORDERING The owner who was originally taking my order was so friendly but only spoke Chinese, so someone else had to step in and help me translate. I asked for the most popular noodle soups and he pointed to "dry beef noodle soup" and "pork shoulder noodle soup" so we ordered both. After you pick your dish he asks if you want spicy or non spicy. We got one of each. I personally liked the "spicy" version and thought it wasn't spicy at all! FOOD I ran into a friend there who knows the owner. He told me everything is made from scratch! Including the noodles. The broth was perfection. So fragrant, flavorful, well seasoned, and clean tasting. Meat was super tender (both beef and pork) and pretty much melted in our mouths. The "dry beef" in the name is totally misleading because there is nothing dry about the meat. ATMOSPHERE It seems like the restaurant kept most of the interior decor from PvP bakery so the aesthetic is pretty nice. Simple, clean, modern, minimal. It's sort of a self serve style in here so you have to get your own water. Just like most Asian restaurants. PACKAGING I ordered our meal to go but the restaurant IS also open for indoor seating. Our food was packed with care! The noodles and soup were packed in separate containers. I will add a note of caution while carrying the food. The hot soup warped the plastic container quite a bit so by the time I got home I noticed that the lid was just barely hanging on and on the brink of busting open. As long as it's held upright though it should not be an issue. Overall, if you're looking for a non frills place with good authentic Chinese food, this is the place to go! Price was pretty good too especially for how good the fooAbout $11 per noodle soup which is much cheaper than mid summer and golden harbor. We will definitely be back!

Great fast-casual noodles for lunch near campus…read more The food is simply prepared and delicious. I ordered the first item on the menu: Bok Choy in Chili Oil Noodle. The hearty noodles were chewy with a slight taste of rice -- neither too refined nor over cooked. The beef broth brought the dish's rich taste and gave it some depth, while the bok choy and green onions in the soup were fresh and crispy. Even though the chili oil was a treat, it overpowered the broth and veggies so that I'd consider omitting it from the order. The restaurant was crowded with lunch-goers when I stopped in, but the turnaround on my order was fast. If you need a bite and want something simple and well made, his could be your spot.

We ordered: 1. Pork & Egg w/ Bean Sauce Dry Noodle…read more2. Szechuan style Beef Noodle Soup Very pleased that UIUC now has meal access to a Chinese noodle specialty shop. Flavor of the fermented bean sauce was good and I liked the chewiness of the noodles. Friends liked the Szechuan beef broth flavor and the beef chunks were tender. This will be very nice in the cold winters. No issues with service and there's a good amount of seating for small to medium size groups.

Fantastic service Delicious pastas…read more Kind staff and the place is clean and comfy Great university food restaurant

Had such a great experience here! We went for a quick dinner New Year's Eve and they were super…read morefriendly, and the food was delicious! They served us really quickly as well. It was worth the money we paid, and the store was super clean as well! I would definitely come back to this location

It's my first time trying this restaurant since I've been here. I ordered their special dish Jammy…read morefan Chicken (the pronouncing is just its Chinese name lol) to go. It tasted good, the packaging was very safe, and it was really heaven if mixing the soup with rice (iykyk). However, I was not satisfied with the dining environment inside, which was part of the reason why I chose to order a to go. The service was quite fast, and people there were friendly. Summary: this is a decent Chinese restaurant if you wanna grab a quick meal to go.

Small space that we somehow fit 12 people into, but would recommend going with smaller groups…read more Noodles were spicy as expected! I got the soup noodle with fish -- a popular dish of theirs. Honestly, I think in the future I'd get a different protein. I liked the noodle quality. Food took a bit to come out but understandable because we came in and took up the entire restaurant. You have to bus your own trays and they were running out of space on where to put them in the narrow hallway. I think I prefer soup noodles at other places but still a solid option on campus!

We always have wonderful food and service when we come here. The employees are wonderful. We come…read morehere often.

Foods so good here even after 10 years. Maybe we are older, the sauce for crispy tofu is a bit too…read moresweet, but the tofu was fried very well, and flavor overall is still really good. Both scallion oil and numb oil noodles are really good and good value too at $6 each. Flavors are on point. Luroufan special was also good $8 and they give quite a lot so easy to split among the kids. Meat is tender and not overly sweet. The scallion ginger fish fillet was probably the best, and they give a good chunky pieces of fish that is not breaded, but the way they cooked it. The meat trunks stayed together intact. The flavor is what you expect from traditionally steamed fish with soy sauce pour over at the end. Super pleased with the options. They have an interesting self serve utensils, takeout boxes and the tea is self serve too.

I had so much hope for this but the food was very disappointing. Tried the mussaman curry, very mid…read morefood, maybe I should try something else next time but there's many good restaurants nearby to give this another go. The service was very quick and friendly, three stars purely for the service.

Food was good, wouldn't crave anything from here again, it was all hot and fresh. The biggest turn…read moreoff was the pricing that is listed on the ordering website was way off! So I was shocked when I expected to pay between $20-30 to pay almost $50 for one person When I asked about the pricing differences the gal at the front was super cold and acted like she was well aware of the difference in pricing issue (like she's been asked about it a few times) so as far as customer service ratings go that is what really brought it down. FYI The Medium spice is hot!

So this place has all the ingredients to be a top notch experience buttt just fell bland .... The…read morespace itself is a vibe , ambiance , service & food presentation were good but our food lacked flavor and spice overall . Our "spring rolls " , were actually fried egg rolls served with a side of ketchup .. eww On a positive note they have some great private party dining spaces as well. They also serve single use mouthwash in the restrooms which I found to be a nice touch .

We randomly chose this place and were completely happy. The appetizers and dinner were fantastic…read more So glad to see them take over this beautiful spot!

Food #610 preserved egg and pork porridge…read more#604 house special bun House special bun was solid, 7 out of 10. Meat was a on the oily side but otherwise this was good. The porridge (congee) was 4 out of 10 for me. Lots of corn starch added, though it got thinner as I ate more. The taste seemed like MSG, though I am not sure how much was from the preserved egg. This was less than $10 and a big portion. I would have preferred less volume if it meant less corn starch. Ambiance: Pros for authenticity: the music playing are Chinese artists like JJ Lin. Cons: a bit of a musty smell when I walked in. For context, it had rained all day. I realize I'm not the target market (university student), though the food was disappointing.

First of all, do NOT order online for pick up or take out since it is much more expensive. The meat…read moredishes (pork,beef,etc.) in store were $16.99-$17.99. I was going to order online but they were all around $22-25. The rice special lunches in store were $9.99 but online is around $15. I actually came because my friend loved to come here a couple years ago and said it was his favorite restaurant on campus. I ordered the pork lunch special. And I was extremely disappointed. As seen in the picture when you open your food, there's just a whole ton of cabbage. I then sifted through it and counted less than 8 pieces of meat. And the bottom of the box was padded with a thick layer of rice. I also ordered a stewed pork bun. It lacked flavor and the meat to bread ratio was extremely off. I assumed because of COVID, prices went up (at least online) and less expensive ingredients were being used(meats) and more cheap materials were used to complete customer orders (rice and veggies). I know many restaurants have done this but my order was just laughably disappointing. Also I came to order on a Sunday afternoon. I was placing my order when the cashier told me that the cook was out and they couldn't make over 50-60% of the menu. That put me off a bit as I was originally going to order two things from the menu but they were both "unavailable". I think there should've been a note in the menu so customers would be notified before they spend 5 minutes looking at the menu to decide. Anyways that was a slight tangent. But another reason I gave this place 2 stars is because the cashier and workers were quite short. They would interrupt you while talking. It's just not the customer service I would expect. The only redeeming factor I believe was that one of few pieces of meat I had actually tasted pretty good. Besides this I do not think I will be back or will be recommending this place to anyone else. If you're craving authentic Chinese food, I believe there are many better options on campus (Northern Cuisine, Lao Sze Chuan, etc.).

If you haven't tried the rice noodles here, you are missing out. There's a good selection of soup…read morebases and the bowl comes with an insulating layer that keeps it hot. The owner is super friendly and always greets you with a big smile. Service is quick and they keep the place clean. Excellent option for a quick lunch.

This place is legit! The guy working there was so nice and let me take to go a few minutes after…read moreclosing. He made a lot of good suggestions based on what I liked and I ended up getting the spicy beef brisket rice noodles. SO GOOD. The broth is amazing and flavorful and the brisket and other toppings are delicious. Also the bowl is HUGE. A really great value! He also threw in some Chinese cookies :) will definitely come back!

The food here is amazing!! I really like the Tonkatsu Shoyu ramen because the dish warms you up on…read morea cold day! I also ordered the Chicken Karaage for the first time here and it was pretty good! I would say though that the prices are a bit pricey but for the food it's worth it!!

Hello Kajiken, I am…read morea frequent customer of the Kajiken at UIUC, in Champaign. I am commenting about frequent double charges in taxes without the customer knowing. I always order the Tori Shoyu Ramen, along with Kaedama, and even though the menu itself says the ramen is 17 dollars without tax, the bill inflates the untaxed cost up to 20.19 dollars. For some reason, only the ramen is double taxed as the Kaedama is left unchanged, as it should be, at 4 dollars. At this point, the bill then adds another charge of tax on top, which is simply unheard of. When I reached out to the server to talk about it, he says that it has always been this way (apparently he even spoke to the manager and she said it's fine) and doesn't know how to solve it. No refunds either. There is also no way to contact the manager, as she is out in Chicago and rarely comes back. This is absolutely ridiculous as how am I supposed to file a complaint? The servers have no access in changing a major problem and the manager herself doesn't want to anyone to reach out to her for problems. I am truly disappointed as I was a big fan of the food in Kajiken. I usually would not make such a big deal of this, but as I have come here a lot in the past, I can't help but think of all the times I have been scammed on the prices I have been paying, not to mention the fact that the servers never provide the receipt unless u ask for it. Please fix this problem. I am willing to report this to tax authorities if I have to, as this is clearly a deception of prices.