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Looking for a quick lunch? Look no further! I’ve seen this place when I pass by since I work out next door. The last time when I was hanging out at one of those tables, I saw a lot of people in line for lunch. I looked this place up on yelp and didn’t see many reviews but made a mental note to try it out one day. After leaving the gym, I decided to take a quick peek at the menu, it was probably 1:45pm by this point and I saw a man getting food here and I was greeted by Drew who asked me if I had any questions. Ruby was close by, cleaning the area and was very polite and explained to me how it worked. You fill up your own bowl with meats and veggies then the chef will load up noodles and sauce for you and cook it right there in front of you! Nothing is sitting under a heat lamp! The bowl is 10.99 before tax. I will definitely stuff it next time because the meats shrink after it’s cook. I did get very full after this lunch and thought the noodles in the sauce was tasty! If you don’t want a typical lunch like Panda Express or blaze then give this place a try! They also do take-away which is what I did but you still go through the process of loading up your bowl on the tray. Not sure how people with allergies will do here since it seems like it’s all cooked on the big stove.

Bamboo Song – Menu with Prices – 24202 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance

I stopped by this restaurant on my way home from Torrance. It’s a small restaurant, run by two nice people (I’m sure there’s a cook or two, but I only saw two in the front). There are about 12 tables and parking is difficult as the restaurant is located in a busy strip mall. A key is required to use the bathroom and it’s pretty clean. I quickly glanced at the menu but I already knew that I wanted a bowl of pho. I’ve been craving it and haven’t had it for months. I ordered the #1 which is their Special Pho with all meats and tendons (no tripe). The plate of bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños and a half lime. The bowl came out within 5 minutes – hot and smelled great. I agree with another Yelper that the broth doesn’t have the authentic, boiled bones for hours taste (I grew up with home made pho as my mom made it every other weekend and we ate it all weekend and most of my adult years was spent eating pho in Little Saigon, Garden Grove). I added hoisin sauce, tons of sriracha and squeezed the lime dry. This made it better. The noodles were cooked nicely and there were plenty of meats. Yelp doesn’t allow half a star, but I would give this location 3.5 stars. The service was great – attentive but not overbearing. Restaurant and bathroom were clean. The pho, after I seasoned it to my liking, was tolerable. The bowl came to $12. I’m use to paying $7-$8 in Little Saigon, but I understand this is LA County/South Bay and everything is twice as much. I wouldn’t return because I really enjoy an authentic bowl of pho WITH TRIPE. I would certainly recommend to others who want to try other things on their menu besides pho.

YC’s Mongolian Grill – Menu with Prices – 9120 E Indian Bend Rd #8, Scottsdale

I have been coming to YCs since I moved to the Valley in 1999 and I plan to keep coming back. They do a great job! My wife has been coming here since 1993! It’s super basic in concept fantastically nuanced in execution: just load up your favorite proteins, veggies, and noodles in a bowl, add your own custom made sauce then hand the whole thing off to a chef that quickly cooks your custom bowl! Add soups, wontons, rice, a drink, ice cream, etc. Lots of food!!! I am no mathematician but I met there are something between a million and an infinite number of choices in making your bowl. So delicious. Options for small, Large, and unlimited bowl at lunch and dinner pricing. To go orders are also accommodated. Staff keeps the place super clean which is harder than it sounds with as many people working their magic while crafting the perfect bowl. Ben, the Manager, is awesome. You watch him taking care of every group in the place like they were the only guests! Really a nice thing to experience particularly in a fast casual dining experience.

FOD Poke Bar Menu with Prices 10 N Calvert St, Baltimore

Poke places seem to be popping up everywhere. I chose the House Special which had shrimp, salmon, yellow tail, rice, kale, edamame, kale, avocado, cucumber and crunchy noodles. The combination was great and the sauce was delicious. However, there definitely was not enough sauce. About halfway through the bowl, it was rather dry and lacking some flavor. I didn’t even finish it which was rather frustrating for spending $14 for lunch. I would go back to try a different bowl, maybe a spicier one. Perhaps I would ask for my sauce next time! Otherwise, the service was friendly and the ingredients seemed fresh!

Little Korea – Menu with Prices – 3354 S National Ave, Springfield

I’ve only been here once. The restaurant is relatively small, max occupancy of 49. From what I could tell, it seems like the biggest table accommodates up to 8 people. So if you’ve got 9 or more it doesn’t seem like you could all sit together. They’ve got entres here if you don’t want hotpot- but why come to a hot pot restaurant if you’re not gonna try hot pot??? But it’s still nice for people who come in a group and simply don’t feel like it. It seems to add a nice variety. They don’t have dessert yet but it’ll be coming soon. If you’ve never had hot pot they do a good job putting directions down. There’s a how to on the wall and in the menu. Pretty simple- just cook your veggies and meat in the broth and eat it with rice and their sauce- or by itself! The staff didn’t really ask us if we had any questions- or show us anything- but it’s probably because we’re asian. If you do hot pot you pick a broth, pick your protein, and pick two sauces. You get a veggie basket with Napa cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bean sprouts, some clear noodles, and a bowl of rice. (Although typically you eat noodles with hot pot, but I guess that’s the style here). There are also a lot of add ons. If you want noodles instead of rice you’ll still have to get charged extra since noodles are extra. Everyone gets their own individual hot pot. Broth had good flavor, beef was good. Overall had a good first experience here. I’ll admit though, I wasn’t too crazy about it (this place just didn’t wow me). However, Would still encourage others to give this place a shot, they might really like it.

Beijing Noodle – Menu with Prices – 1005 W Stuart St, Fort Collins

Do yourself a favor and go here! I’ve never been to China, but it does seem to be very authentic and fresh. They make delicious noodle dishes and the staff are very helpful and accommodating. They do seem to listen to customer suggestions and will leave something out or add more of something if you ask. I also love the summer menu. The cool noodles matched with fresh veggies is refreshing on a hot summer day. The beef is different than I’m used to, but still very tasty. Just the right amount of salt in this dish, but if you want more they will include more sauce. For colder days I like the oil spill noodles for a good amount of spice (both heat and flavor) and lots of tasty pork. They definitely don’t skimp on the portions here. One bowl will probably fill you up because there’s almost an equal amount of pork to noodles. They also give you a ton of dumplings (which, if I remember correctly, are freshly made along with the noodles?). I’ve also tried the tea egg and Chinese hamburger and enjoyed both. The pricing is also incredibly reasonable. I love this place and I hope it manages to treat Fort Collins for a while!

D’Road Cafe – Menu with Prices – 121 Montgomery St, Montgomery

You can choose anywhere you want to sit, then you go up to the bar and order a plate. I got the lunch plate, and because I’m vegetarian, they let me have some of each non-meat side they had. My favorite was the sweet potato noodles. They were seasoned perfectly! I couldn’t even tell they were potatoes. my fiance had breakfast. He ordered a veggie omelet. The inside was really good but the outside was overcooked in our opinion. If you like your omelet more like a golden crust then you’ll love it. That’s the only reason we’re giving them 4 stars and not five. The tea comes with the lunch and was tasty as well. Not overly sweet like sweet tea can be. Lunch also includes dessert! It was a bread-like cake with some kind of fruity sauce, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce! The staff were very quick to serve us as well. Great option if you are vegetarian or vegan and need a quick eat.

Wild Over Wings – Menu with Prices – 5335 Broadway Blvd # 211, Garland

Horrible! I ordered 2 of the 10 wing combos. I got it delivered through what I thought was grubhubb. After my order was 20 minutes late I called wild over wings to see what the problem was. They told me that my order was still cooking….ok at least it’ll be fresh and I feel sorry for the driver sitting there waiting on the order. So 50 minutes late a car pulls up and delivers my order. Again this is only 20 wings…..I call grubhubb customer support to see if it is the driver to blame or the restaurant. They inform me the driver does not work for grubhubb but for the restaurant. While on the phone with them I put my hand over the wings and they are cold!!! I thought the guy from earlier said they were still cooking them?!?!? The boneless wings are frozen chicken nuggets with sauce poured on them. The bone in wings were so over cooked they were chewy. It’s obvious the wings were sitting under a heat lamp for a long time. Why not just be honest and redo the order to make it right? You’re already almost an hour late anyways….Needless to say I will not be back to this “wing” place. The people on the phone were rude and late to deliver cold food. Embarrassing

Moi Vietnamese Grill – Menu with Prices – 23144 Cinco Ranch Blvd #C, Katy

Tried this place in Austin and I remembered it was okay, so wanted to try it here since it just recently opened and was close to home. I do like the concept of a quick and easy dinner by building your own bowl. You pretty much start out with the base (banh mi (sandwich) zoodles, rice or vermicelli) then you choose your protein (pork, tofu, beef or chicken), follow up with your toppings (cilantro, cucumbers, carrots, etc) and finally, your sauce. The beef tasted a bit dry and obviously wasn’t fresh (we came for an early dinner so I’m pretty positive the beef has been sitting in the container since lunch time because it didn’t come out warm what-so-ever. The toppings selection wasn’t much. The sauces we tried were their moi’s original, peanut sauce, spicy sate and cilantro mayo. The mois special was bland in my opinion. I had to pour the entire small to-go container in my bowl. We also tried their spring rolls, which came out instantly so obviously they were pre-rolled. The ends of the rice paper were also a bit dry and that’s how you can tell they weren’t fresh. Overall, it was just okay. I can see myself coming back if I want something super quick but probably not for awhile.

Lemongrass Hotpot – Menu with Prices – 5450 S State Rd 7, Hollywood

Bright, clean and tasty! We met up with friends who are regulars at Lemongrass and I’m so glad we had people to walk us through the process. General directions: 1) Choose your soup – they offer 8 different soups to cook your noodles, veggies, protein, etc. in at the table. My friend recommended the Taiwanese hot & spicy. You can ask for it in medium or hot. All of the soups start out as the Signature base and they add stuff to it to make it the other flavors. I went with the Tom kha and it was pretty good but I’m not sure if it was the Tom kha I was expecting. A couple other people at our table got the Seafood. 2) On the paper menu, write down the serving quantity of noodles, seafood, veggies, tofu varieties, etc. that you want. There’s a huge variety to choose from and you can always ask for more later. You can reference the keyed picture menu. 3) Create your own sauce at the sauce bar- you can mix soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, chili paste, ginger, cilantro, garlic and a bunch of other condiments together to suit your taste. I dipped the fish balls and fish in my sauce bowl but I guess you could also throw some directly into the boiling soup. 4) Grab a plate of meat from the meat freezer. Can go back for more. I was impressed how many times some people went back. 5) Once your soup arrives, the control is at the side of the table and can be cranked to P5 to make it boil. Back it down to P2 or P3 for a simmer. 6) The rest is pretty experimental and I started throwing stuff into the soup to cook. I forgot about my soba noodles and they got over cooked and limpy on me but other than that, I think everything else came out ok. Our server checked up on us multiple times throughout the night to see if we needed any more items and refilled the soup when it was low. Save room for dessert. Dinner took about 2.5 hours so it’s probably not the best place if you’re in a hurry. I think I was most impressed by the sheer variety of things that you could try. Almost forgot – The lemongrass tea is amazing! It’s slightly sweet and comes out cold.

Old Taro Taiwanese Noodle – Menu with Prices – 4370 Thornton Ave, Fremont

One of my (and my mom’s) favorite beef noodle soup places ever! It’s definitely a hole in the wall, so usually on weekdays there is no wait. Occasionally, on weekends during lunch there will be a wait – a lot of families love the lamb hot pots (?), and it’s very family friendly. The place is not big, there are probably only 10 tables total, with 4 seats at each table. The spicy beef noodle soup is so good – it reminds me a lot of beef noodle soups found in Taiwan, and they give 3-4 pieces of meat in each bowl. They also offer the sour mustard greens é?¸è? and hot sauce on the side. Personally, I don’t add anymore hot sauce – it’s spicy enough for me. And recently, they just added “thick” noodles that look like handmade noodles. I love thicker noodles, the texture is much chewier than the original thin noodle. Occasionally, I get the plate of pork ears, since I like to dip them in hot sauce. Price of a bowl of beef noodle soup is $10.25 right now, which is similar to other beef noodle places around Fremont. I come here probably once a week or so, sometimes more. I just got it yesterday for take-out, and I know for a fact I’ll be getting lunch here again in 2 days. The service isn’t amazing, but it’s very efficient. I don’t expect great service at small, family run places like these though. There is no decor, but prices are decent, food is pretty great, and service is efficient. I highly recommend giving the beef noodle soup a try.

Boulder Pho – Menu with Prices – 2855 28th St, Boulder

Dad and I had a craving for Vietnamese after a long hike in the mountains. I love a good vermicelli bowl (or “grilled noodle bowl” per the menu) so given Boulder Pho’s ratings decided to try. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t recommend. Service: Sat immediately, but had to flag down for the order. Given how not busy it was, the food took awhile. Received apps and dinner all at once, had to go up to the counter to ask where our drinks were (a beer and tea). We received the drinks well after the food arrived, and were charged for everything. Fine, but it’s weird to get a pot of tea after sitting for a half hour with water and after the food arrives. Never got checked on after the food was delivered. Went to the counter to pay, waited to pay while he cleaned tables, sat a couple. Another party arrived, he still didn’t ring me up, he chose to greet the new people, wash tables, seat them. This happened three times with new people arriving and me trying to pay. A note to the waiter: the person about to pay is about to tip. I shouldn’t wait at your counter for 15 minutes to do so. Food: If you like spaghetti noodles chopped into one inch pieces as “vermicelli noodles” then sure. Never have I had my noodles chopped into pieces. It was exceedingly difficult to eat with chopsticks. The noodles were also about spaghetti thickness, which was strange. Not a deal-breaker overall, but I think of this dish as a delicate noodle dish. The pork in the bowl was actually thin sliced pork, fried/charred to oblivion, and not cut properly. You’d pick up one bit of pork and get the entire thing connected by tendon. Not appetizing, and again, not made for chopsticks. The egg roll on top was the saving grace. Not remarkable, but had flavor. Overall the ‘noodle bowl’ was bland / burnt when you could get a bite. We also got the spring rolls. They were again filled with this spaghetti noodle. The sauce was the best part. Maybe their pho is the signature, but the service could use a LOT of work, and the noodle bowls should be removed from the menu.

Bar-B-Q Boss Menu with Prices 826 Copley Rd, Akron

My daughter and I really wanted to find some good barbecue wings, unfortunately, Bar-B-Que Boss couldn’t give it to us. My first thought when I went inside was, “It’s HOT!” I felt like I stepped into one of the down home establishments I’ve visited in Arkansas. The doors were wide open, flies were flying around, and the heat was sweltering. Customers were grabbing advertisements from the window sills and fanning themselves. A large fan, air conditioner…ANYTHING, would have been nice. I honestly don’t know how the ladies working the front, or the cook in the back survived it. The staff was friendly, but the food was lacking. We drove 20 minutes to get our wings, so we hoped it was worth it. The chicken was tasty, but nothing special. It was a little on the dry side and the wings are SMALL. The amount of fries…SMALL. No side of cole slaw or bread, although you do get a “cold pop.” The sauce was thick and sweet, but they were a little stingy with it. I imagine it may depend on the day, and you may get a few more fries or more sauce when you go, but the size of those wings probably won’t change. While eating I kept saying, I could have made this myself (and I’m no chef). If you want something similar, cut yourself some fries and overcook half of them. Fry up some really small wing dings and warm up some Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue sauce and pour it over half of them. Shake it all in a bag and VOILA! I heard the mac and cheese was tasty, so I told them so and ordered a small side. I ended up giving it to someone else. Again, my Thanksgiving mac and cheese kills theirs and as I said…nope…not a chef. It was really cheesy. Too cheesy. And I like cheesy. It was almost like cheese soup, with noodles. Disappointing and we likely won’t be going back.