Tonight I was on a mission to try this Asian BBQ and Noodle house in Chinatown but was disappointed to find it closed on fridays! When this happens I always like to take it as an opportunity for adventure, using yelp and what I see to make a new plan for the night. Luckily there was an interesting little spot across the street that caught my eye, "Wendy's Noodle Cafe," which had an interesting menu to match.
The menu is a mix of typical chinese dining and modern eastern/western twists. With all the choices I went a little overboard and ordered way more than we could eat, but it was a great opportunity to try some interesting dishes :).
The first thing that caught my eye was a tapas list on the front page of the menu, each for only $4.95. Looking through the list, I noticed I've never even heard of Portuguese curry, so I tagged it as a must try. It came out in a hot clay pot bubbling and was actually a bigger serving than expected. The curry was simple with carrots, peas and onions then about 6-8 whole shrimp(way more than you'd expect for a tapa!) The most unique flavor in this curry was the mix of cumin and heavy coconut milk. The coconut milk is strong, almost buttery creamy throughout. That with the shrimp heads made this dish go from good to amazing.
Considering this is a noodle house I just had to opt for a big bowl of their soup. This is the assorted seafood and pork with rice noodles. The broth was a clear beef broth, pretty average but refreshing and the noodles were the thick flat rice noodle. What made the dish was all the toppings. The fishballs, fishcakes and squid were average but the shrimp, ground pork, pork slices, cilantro and chinese broccoli were fresh and added that needed flavor to the mild broth. Adding hot chili oil, sriracha and a little hoison added that extra depth of flavor I usually enjoy in light broth soups. Overall good, especially on a chilly night.
The second dish we ordered was pork cutlet, we definitely did not picture this when we ordered. The pork is thin and tender, probably tenderized pre-breading and had an interesting flavor that seemed to come from a soy-based marinade. The pork cutlet overall was unique with subtle flavors. On the side there were green beans sauteed with garlic which was good but what was really great with the dish was the rice. At first glance the rice seemed normal other than having an orange hue to it. With my first bite I noticed the rice was unique. After asking I found out they stir fry it with mushroom sauce which is another first for me. The unique flavor the rice took on was paired really well with the sauteed green beans and fried pork cutlet, the dish was really cohesive and overall a nice surprise.
Right before the food started coming out we noticed on the wall they offer some off the menu dishes and when we saw rib eye bao we just had to order it out of sheer curiosity. So here it came out, three bao that were actually pretty big compared to the bao I've had in the past (Check my
Great Bao post,) and even came with a decent sized salad on the side. The bao itself wasn't as soft as I'd like and had rib eye sliced thin and cooked with onions in a sweet soy sauce. The rib eye was good but if it was sliced just a bit thicker the bao would have had a better bite to it. The salad on the side was a mix of greens and bell peppers with a dressing I can only describe as lime based. Mixed with the bao, you really had an interesting mix of flavors that made the dish go from average to a possible repeat order on the next visit. Overall the dish was interesting and had a generous serving with flavors that were worth trying.
Wendy's Noodle Cafe was a great experience, I tried new things which was not really expected but happily welcomed. I'll definitely be back for more to try out other parts of the menu that had my curiosity going and maybe a repeat dish or two to nurse that craving!
Wendy's Noodle Cafe
3401 S Jones Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 889-3288
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