A trip to Wendy's...hold the burgers and fries

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

A Night In: Katsudon

Sometimes I get a little caught up in studying and the way I like to kind of turn my mind off is cook.  So instead of venturing out into the streets of Las Vegas I decided to make an easy dish or dishes rather.  Well I couldn't decide between Chicken and Pork Katsudon so...I made both!  I wish I took more pictures, but like I said, I kind of shut my mind off and when the finished product was ready I then realized "hmm, this probably would have made a good post!"  I'll at least run through the ingredients and quick rundown, but bear with me because I do not measure, everything is to taste!

For the pork i used boneless pork loin and for the chicken i used de-boned chicken thighs.  The meats are first dredged with flour, then coated with an egg wash before being covered by panko crumbs.  The coated meat is then put into hot oil until golden brown and with that you have the Katsu element of the dish done.
Next you gather water, soy sauce, dashi powder(fish stock), sugar and mirin(rice cooking wine.)

You add water to a pan then dashi powder to flavor, remember this is done to taste but be wary that the powder can get salty so add accordingly.  You then add a dash of soy sauce and mirin then finish with a small sprinkle of sugar to sweeten the sauce, all added to taste.  You can now add some sliced onion to the sauce if that is your preference.  You bring this to a boil as you slice your fried Katsu to lay onto the boiling broth which is then covered by a crack egg(yolk broken,) try to keep the slices in order, it's easier to handle that way.  The pan is covered until the egg is cooked to preferred consistency(some like the egg a little more raw than others I go for a little gooey myself.)  Remember the amount of sauce you start with is important because this will cook off in the process and the more sauce you make translates to more broth in your dish, my general rule is the broth be at least halfway up the meat when it starts to boil.  With time you get the hang of the whole process.  Last but not least you put rice in a bowl or plate(I use a bowl-plate :P) and transfer the goodies from pan to top of rice making sure to get all the goodies and sauce as well.  Hopefully it looks something like this...

Pork on the Left Chicken on the right...Can you tell I left a huge fried chicken skin on the plate?? o_O'

As you can see, I go for the "rustic," style of plating but you get the general idea!  Anyways, back to studying, at least until my next craving :)