Oodles- of Noodle+

As if we were not gluttons enough the evening before (hell, we still have to eat a meal the day after, right?), we made our way to White Plains on Saturday to try a new Noodle place that had been getting a lot of buzz.

Noodle+ has a prime location in White Plains and I quite liked how clean the little courtyard area was and found the modern store front with the bright orange entry way appealing.

We arrived maybe 11:30 a.m. or so and luckily got a table to squeeze into for 5.  We could already see that the space was quite filled with a constant flow of call-in orders and customers coming by to dine in.  It's not a very big place to begin with and if its popularity continues, it would need a bigger space and more help.

The service was not the best with orders not being met but as a very new place, we gave them a bit of a pass for now.  We think perhaps it's all a bit overwhelming for them at the moment given the traffic but it's definitely something that needs addressing and hopefully they will be able to sort that out in the coming months.  H1 thinks that if they continue with the amount of customers that they would need to hire more help.

To start with H1 had a lunch special that had a choice of a drink.  Any opportunity for a Thai iced tea should be taken and so it was.  It was not the best Thai iced tea we've had and was too sweet with not much tea flavour going on.

A sweet milky mess but not a sweeeeeet milky mess.  Sad.

Luis ordered some spring rolls for starting appetizers and they were horrible.  They were cold, not quite crispy and they tasted as though they were pre-made then re-heated and not fried fresh.  I also suspect there was wasabi in there which would account for the bitter taste they left in my mouth, in addition to being bitter of having cold spring rolls that is.

Nothing good about this inside. 

For H1's main course, she decided to brave it and have the pad Thai.  It can be said of Noodle+ that they know how to cook some noodles (which is a good thing if you're going to base your entire business of the main ingredient).  Firm and cooked to perfection, the noodles were brilliant save the part where the dish was a little too sweet to our liking.  Otherwise, it tasted pretty good and would have been even better if they were not as sweet.

Pad Thai with beef.

One of the huge selling points of Noodle+ is the fact that you can get soup dumplings (Xiaolongbao) in Westchester and not have to venture to Queens or Chinatown to get these wonderful things.  I must admit, if we ever go back to this place it would be to order oodles of these dumplings (maybe not necessarily any of the other noodle dishes).  I could live on stacks of these alone.  They were sufficiently juicy, the pork filling was deliciousness and the skin was fantastic.

We ordered an order of the crab and pork dumplings along with regular pork dumplings.  The pork ones never came and while I was too full to complain, I was saddened that I did not have the opportunity to put more of these into mouth.

Topped with crab meat with an amazing pork filling, I probably would have enjoyed just the pork ones better.

The crab just sort of fell off the dumplings and was an after thought for me.

A juicy dumpling is one of the most beautiful things you can ever see and/or eat.  Look at how juicy.

I don't remember what the crap Luuiiiissss had...maybe a pad see ew? or something? Yes and I don't have a picture for some reason but it was pretty good and that's no surprise given how well Noodle+ cooks their noodles.  The same can be said whatever BooHead's noodle dish was.  I did not taste it myself but I was told it was fabulously cooked and tasted great as well.

As for my own meal, I went with the Shrimp Wonton and Roast Duck noodle soup while Mk had the shrimp wonton noodle soup.  My meal costed quite the bit at $10.95 - a dish I could easily get in Chinatown (or Midtown for that matter and I do!) for $6.75 but since I did not have to trek there to get it, I can't be too bitter about it, huh? Well, I'm bitter! Eh.  Not really.  I knew what I was going in for when I got it.

I will say though that the sheer volume of noodles that ended up in my soup was crazy times.  And once again, they were perfect.

Shrimp wontons are not things you find often on any menu but my standards are high being that The HOchieS can make a fried shrimp wonton like nobody's business.  Note to H1: please make some.  We have not had that in the while.

I was disappointed by these because all they were were some whole shrimp stuffed in a wonton skin.  There was some sort of other thing going on in there which kinda confused me but I'm not sure what it was.  It was not horrendous by any means but also not seasoned really, so I was mostly meh about the whole thing.

That was some good duck though and I'm always thankful for some roasted duck.

Duck and shrimp wontons.  Mmmhmm.

So many noodles.  I love yous, Noodles!

I believe we will be sticking with dim sum if we make our way to White Plains as per the usual but a future trip to see how Noodle+ are getting on might happen...  If even for just the soup dumplings because that was worth it to us (and the soup dumplings are indeed the true selling point as to why the store was open and exists as per the owners, actually).

We will give them an Oodle- for now but only due to the fact that there are some kinks to work through.  That's only fair and to be expected considering they're just starting out.  H1 and I definitely think they have potential.