90 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Never been , but I hear it's popular.

[Holden West]

Neither have I. Someone said it doesn't live up to the hype. Still, it's an amazing story of how a sidewalk vendor cart evolved in just a few short years into a three-store chain here and in Vancouver.

Remember years ago when it was said food carts would harm local restaurant business? This cart actually revitalized locally owned restaurant business.

[aastra]

I've never been. I don't even know where they're located.

[Mike K.]

Never been, either.

There's one location in Chinatown and another across from the Falls lot on Douglas.

[Holden West]

One in Chinatown, east of Gov't. one in the old Panda restaurant next to Smitty's on Douglas (did you hear Smitty's had a fire last week?)

The other one is in Kits, I believe although I may be wrong and often am.

Edit: fleet-fingered Derf beat me to it.

[G-Man]

Sometimes Noodle Box is all right other times it just isn't up to par. Still for under ten bucks you get a lot of food. Also you got to respect the owners that started their chain with a cart on the side of Fisgard Street.

[VicHockeyFan]

Edit: fleet-fingered Derf beat me to it.

Fleet-fingered Derf would be a good name for a rock band (with apologies to Dave Barry).

[zoomer]

They seem to have line-ups outside the door everytime I go by at lunch. Never eaten there, but my friends who have say its over rated, and they usually end up having to frequent the facilitiesafter. Maybe they have weak stomachs, or they're not used to the oil or chili oil being used!

[Jada]

You guys havent been? Its pretty good. I wouldnt say it compares to anything in chinatown as it isnt along the same lines as what is offered there. The reason why they are popular is because they have filled a niche of "ready to take home chinese food" that you cant get anywhere else. And for $10, youll get filled up for sure.

[Jarrod]

I don't like Noodle Box. My sister ended up getting food poisoning from there.

Anyway, Oodle Noodle on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton is excellent. I love it. It's on the same lines of Noodle Box but a lot better.

[Carewser]

Most people i've talked to think it's the ****, but i haven't tried it yet, which is quite ironic since i love noodles!

[Lover Fighter]

I used to eat there when it was just the small place on Fisgard. I thought the noodles were just average and a tad overpriced. I haven't been back since they expanded to Douglas and now everyone has to noodle box boxes all the time.

[Holden West]

I tried it tonight (Douglas St. location). Pretty good, I thought. It seemed expensive considering the ingredients but it sure was filling. I couldn't finish. The place was busy and it took a very long time to get the food.

[FunkyMunky]

On the whole, I like the place but I have some reservations.
Why does it take so long? It easily takes 15 minutes or more for your order to come out the other end no matter how many people seem to be ahead of you. I think there is an issue with people phoning in orders and jumping the queue.

Watching them cook, I've noticed there is no portion control. They toss handfuls of ingredients from the refrigerated storage unit into the wok some distance away. Liquids are squirted from sqeeze bottles. As a result, there's a debris field between the refrigerated storage unit and the woks. Oddly, they ask you how spicy you want it from 1 to 10 but basically its either the hot sauce liquid jet hits the wok or it didn't. It's much more binary.

Its a drag when they have to remake your order because some street person has swept in and grabbed your box off the counter before you get to it.

And the music is always too loud (other people have told me this so its not just me getting old. Honest).I like the 'hole-in-the-wall' quality to the space (the Fisgard Street store) and the general busyness. It reminds me of the small take-away places in New York by [url=http://www.ltlarchitects.com:1904c]Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis[/url:1904c]. As condos get smaller and kitchens are downsized to just a microwave and kettle, these types of funky take-aways are going to be more common.

Fluff Bakery (walls of coloured felt, light to dark)


Tides Restaurant (wood skewer ceiling)


and Dash Dogs

[G-Man]

Now those are cool lookin food spots! WE have had a couple hole in the wall places go belly up but your right as the pop gets denser we should see them become more successful.

[gumgum]

The fisgard location is better. The food at the Douglas one is very hit and miss. Live closer to the Douglas one, but I avoid it and make the trip to the other.

[mikedw]

I love their stuff. I wasn't keen on the prices or the attitude: they charge $2.00 to split an order into two boxes.
So that I could satisfy my noodle cravings whenever I wanted, I reverse engineered their recipe:

http://mike.dewolfe.bc.ca/cooking/noodles.asp

It's close in taste and cost for your first order (because of the set-up costs of some of the ingredients). After about two orders, it works out to $3 or less per serving. Most of the ingredients are sold down the street at the Fisgard Market.

[Holden West]

Brilliant!

All you need is a clueless sullen young person to serve it to for that authentic Victoria restaurant experience.

Welcome!

[Jarrod]

I love their stuff. I wasn't keen on the prices or the attitude: they charge $2.00 to split an order into two boxes.
So that I could satisfy my noodle cravings whenever I wanted, I reverse engineered their recipe:

http://mike.dewolfe.bc.ca/cooking/noodles.asp

It's close in taste and cost for your first order (because of the set-up costs of some of the ingredients). After about two orders, it works out to $3 or less per serving. Most of the ingredients are sold down the street at the Fisgard Market.

Oh wow! That looks really easy to make and looks really good. Perhaps I might learn how to cook (or get my sister to cook it) and it would be very tasty!

[G-Man]

That is awesome! Cool site as well!

Welcome to the forum. Now if only we could reverse engineer the "egg" in an Egg McMuffin we could take over the world!