Yangtze Noodle Bar

Horrendous, and I’m not just talking about the food. Never been to this before so thought I’d give it a go, got confused with myself for a second on where to order so when I did I may have come across a little nervous, and what did the 3 girls at the counter do? They started laughing at me, blatantly laughing right in front of me. So I quickly turned sour and grabbed my change out of complete disgust at the 3 of them. Never in my life have I EVER come across rude service like that, no ‘thanks’ or ‘hello’ even, just take the piss out of the girl who gets shy. Not even starting with their food, piece of absolute p*ss. Have to atleast put one on here but of course really i would have 0 stars for you!

Part of the food court in Castlecourt Shopping Centre, this is a good wee spot to stop and grab some food while shopping. They offer a range of Chinese food in various sauces, and plainer foods such as chicken balls, gravy and so on. There are different ways you can order but my favourite are the snack boxes. You can choose which one you want depending on how many items you’d like, and there’s even an option for a box with a bit of everything you want. Anything I’ve had has been tasty and filling and I’d always stop here if I’m shopping and in the mood for Chinese food!

Had the vegetables in black bean sauce (a very tasty and spicy sauce at that) with boiled rice. Was fresh, delicious and filling. Large portion and good value for money. Quick, efficient service and a few people in front of me seemed to be opting for mixed boxes of food — it all looked amazing. Will return for some sustenance when shopping in future.

Contrary to the claim that I have been Unilocaling since 2014 I have been Unilocaling since 2010 but I lost my 200 reviews (it’s a long boring story). I say it because I have reviewed this place before and it had disappeared. This place is on the first floor food court, at the rear of the Castlecourt shopping centre — or as our American cousins say — shopping mall. The fact is that this is one if my favourite Chinese take aways and just because I can have their splendid king prawn salt & chilli. It is soooo good and I’ve had some pretty awful versions. This would be one of my last meals on earth and I could eat it from this place every day and I imagine it would take a long time to get fed up with it. It costs £4.30 here and another £1.80 for a carton of boiled rice, if I’m in the mood. But I’m now not often in this mood as I’ve now cut out most bread, pasta, rice and potato. So today was a day without rice. Aside from it being really superb it’s freshly cooked as you wait. The balance of salt and spice is spot on, the prawns are crispy battered with a light crunchy batter, the diced vegetables are crunchy and the fresh red chilli is hot. The main thrust or USP (hark at me) of this business is that you buy a box and choose from a selection of ²⁄₃ items or ⁴⁄₅ items and so on, priced at or around £5. The more you spend, the deeper the food container and the more food choice you have. I have also sampled much of the pre cooked dishes on offer here and these choices are quite good too. One downside is that it’s a cash only spot so don’t produce a credit card and don’t try to offer euros but that aside it’s well worth a visit or two.

Oh dear, oh dear.
This place is situated in the living hell that is the Food Court in Castle Court. If you haven’t been here then you are lucky, if you have, you know it is a mix of no seats, queues, and seemingly endless rows of screaming children being awkwardly chastised by their young mothers.
God, I hate this place.
This is a noodle bar/​take-​away chinese that is barely edible and is definitely one to avoid. Its greasy, tasteless and overall so unhealthy that it will probably kill you.
Terrible.

This is one of those slight guilty secrets in the world of me, I try to avoid the multitude of unhealthy things on offer in Castle Court, especially as it’s during the day.
However sometimes there is a reason to splurge as it were and when a friend called down a for a few pints of the foaming hand-​pulled ale it seemed like a cheap and quick wall to fill our stomachs with a bedrock of grease and white carbs.
The food here is actually of a pretty high standard. The offers are boxes of varying sizes including a large selection where you essentially get to fill your box with whatever you fancy.
Having a mixture of little won-​tons, varying types of chicken and beef dishes as well as rice and noodles you’ll be more than catered for. The food is good and it is cheap.
Not something for an everyday wander about the shopping centre but for that occasion now and again it’s very satisfying.

I could probably go on about the greatness of this Chinese for about an hour or so. It’s that good! Yum yum says my tum! I love it! The best buy I often find is the Snack Box where you can try a little of everything from what’s on offer, though I find I can never finish it in one go, I always keep half of it for my tea, now that’s good value for £5! (I don’t know if they do it anymore, but they used to offer 10% off for staff who worked in the centre — try it, it might well work!) I have tried a number of their other dishes which have all been deliciously tasty. If you’re in Belfast around lunch time and fancy some top notch Chinese cuisine then head to Yangtze and try it out, trust me, your taste buds will be well and truly tickled!

Situated in that little bit of the Castle Court food court we know as ‘hell’ this perfectly respectable Chinese has a lot going for it.
There’s a small but good selection with a number of starters, rice and noodle dishes and a value for money ‘fill your box’ option. I’ve been here quite a few times and thankfully it’s never too busy and the food always looks (and more importantly tastes) fresh.
The sesame toast and ribs in salted chilli come recommended as does the phoenix tail prawn but at the end of the day we all like a bit of everything so I normally go buffet style. The ‘FYB’ option comes in a variety of sizes and the biggest I think is the 1000ml for £4.50. Cracking value and you can mix and match how you want.
There are better Chinese buffet options in town, with more civilised seating arrangements but hard to beat the quality and value here.
Pros: Good value, great taste.
Cons: Smallish selection.

Yangtze Noodle Bar, known more commonly in Belfast slang as «The Chinese», is based in CastleCourt Shopping Centre’s Foodcourt on the 2^nd floor. (CastleCourt itself, based in the City Centre’s Royal Avenue, is a must see for tourists).
Firstly, I love this place. You can get a ‘Fill Your Box’-a buffet style offer-​for £5 or alternatively 2, 3 and 4 item boxes. And the food tastes good, especially their spicy chicken and noodles.
What I take issue with is lack of decent customer service. Say you’ve bought the ‘Fill your box’ and you’d like more noodles. Depending on who serving at the counter, it’s unlikely you’ll get them-​and if you do, it’s usually a tiny extra portion. Chinese restaurants across Belfast have a serious issue with lack of decent customer service in this respect. I suspect that it’s a cultural barrier, but it would be normal practice in a Chinese restaurant for staff to berate customers for simple things such as adding too much food to their plate even though they’ve bought a buffet. Yangtze is no exception. Plus they don’t accept credit cards which is a nightmare.
Overall decent food though-​I do keep going back despite the staff.