The Noodle Thread

[Pomai]

Pasta, asian, other. What's your favorite? What type of noodle or noodle dish have you NOT tried.

Ashamedly, I've NEVER tried Pho in my life. Shame, shame, shame.

Last night I cooked me up a batch of Sun Noodle brand Okinawa Soba, a.k.a. Yakisoba...

http://www.96seven44.com/images/sun_okinawa_yakisoba.jpg

I garnished it with celery, carrots, green onions, vegetable tenpura kamaboko (fish cake, the brown stuff) and Uzumaki Kamaboko (the pink and white stuff). Awesome! Mo' bettah' den' da one from da' festival!

Here's Yakisoba from the Okinawan Festival...

http://www.96seven44.com/images/okinawan_yakisoba07.jpg

Oishii to da' max. Highly recommended.

I likes me a good plate of Pancit (Filipino style noodles) too. My coworker makes an awesome Pancit. She usually uses the thin Pancit, but sometimes she'll use do the fat one. She puts Opai (small shrimp) in hers. Excellent.

[1stwahine]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f358/1stwahine/dance063.jpg
Pho from Linh's on N. King Street.:)

Auntie Lynn

[MixedPlateBroker]

Pomai, you definitely owe it to yourself to try a good bowl pho post haste. Cyn and I highly recommend our favorite, Bac Nam on King St. "Combination beef with meat outside" hits the spot on chilly, rainy days.
Some other personal pasta favorites: Chicken puttanesca with linguine, Lard narr (Thai broccoli beef) made w/fresh chow fun noodles accomanied with sliced chili peppers in vinegar and, last but not least, laksa.:)

[pzarquon]

I love phở.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/107411117_75f58fb220_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/107411117/)

Cuu Long II, corner of River St. and Hotel St. (175 North Hotel Street). I probably end up here most frequently. I like the combo meats and the portion size.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/427478489_85217c5c20_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/427478489/)

Saigon Vietnamese Cuisine, an easy-to-miss corner space on a busy Chinatown corner (164 N. King St.).

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/376120888_79b722c8cc_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/376120888/)

Phó Tô-Châu, "that place with the long lines" on River St. (1007 River St.). I'm told the broth is to die for, but my ignorant tongue really can't tell the difference.

Pho Hoa, also on River Street, down at the Nimitz Hwy. end. Never a wait for a table, the restaurant is so large. Nothing special, but again, if you want a "big" bowl, you can't go wrong.

Vietnam Café Pho Saigon, on Hotel St. at the corner with Smith St. (I think). A cozy space with a second room for spillover (but watch out you don't get forgotten back there). Not bad, but my friends like it better than I do.

Pho My Lan on Maunakea St. Wasn't actually impressed with the pho here, but it was okay, and the other stuff on the menu pretty tasty.

Man. Now I have to get phở for lunch tomorrow.

[cynsaligia]

Pomai, you definitely owe it to yourself to try a good bowl pho post haste. Cyn and I highly recommend our favorite, Bac Nam on King St. "Combination beef with meat outside" hits the spot on chilly, rainy days.
Some other personal pasta favorites: Chicken puttanesca with linguine, Lard narr (Thai broccoli beef) made w/fresh chow fun noodles accomanied with sliced chili peppers in vinegar and, last but not least, laksa.:)


dood, you forgot to mention my mom's pancit bihon (skinny noodle pancit; regular noodle pancit is pancit canton; skinny noodle pancit w/gravy, boiled egg & crumbled chicarron sprinkled on top is pancit palabok, of which i am not too fond). every time we visit her, you eat many servings of it, even mixing it with the dinuguan on your plate, which my mom scolded you for. :p every other pancit bihon i've ever tried is bland, overcooked, or in some other way inferior to my mom's. only mabuhay cafe's pancit bihon comes close in flavor, texture, and expert preparation.

fave noodle dishes not mentioned include taishoken's miso ramen, minute chicken on cake noodle, linguine with anchovies, garlic & olive oil, aaaaaaand...bun bo hue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BAn_b%C3%B2_Hu%E1%BA%BF), also from bac nam (http://www.hawaiidiner.com/reviews/review.php?review=67). like pomai, i'm fond of the various sun noodle ramen packages--last we had one, it was the tonkatsu flavor and i threw in some shanghai cabbage and egg.

i just realized--i haven't had a good yakisoba in a long time, tho. last one i had was at sanoya after bar-hopping years ago, but that was before we started boycotting it.

auntie, is linh's the one that is on the right hand side of king, heading downtown, a little before liliha-dillingham blvd? that's just a hop, skip, jump away from your house, yeah? how's the food?

ryan, isn't pho hoa now called pho baci? that's the one on the corner of river and nimitz? that used to be my favorite but bac nam (located near ichiryu ramen on the makai block between pensacola and piikoi) easily knocked it out of that position.

eric said that hong's cafe is owned by the brother of the to chau owner so if you want to forgo the lines at to chau but have to have that broth, go to 1145 Maunakea St # 6-7--no lines there.

oh! i also like palace saimin for local style saimin, although my favorite for that is the now-defunct washington saimin. why can't that family just make nice and re-open somewhere (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Oct/02/ln/ln22a.html)?

[MixedPlateBroker]

dood, you forgot to mention my mom's pancit bihon
Hehhe. My bad. Multitasking by posting from my phone while watching TV is bad for composition.=P
I also forgot to mention Jimbos on King -- the only place outside of Japan that I've found to offer shrimp tempura udon worth seeking out.

[Mike_Lowery]

Palabok, bihon, or miki at my house. :D

[Kaukura]

I love Cuu Long II. I like the brisket pho. They make a MEAN vietnamese iced coffee too. Nice and strong. The ambiance is great with the booths and if their son is working, he usually plays something modern on the radio vs. traditional music like the parents play. I never had pho until I moved to Hawaii and how I ate it was simply a fluke. "Whats that". Pho. Okay, I ll try.

You always remember your "first". And mine happened to be this sweet vietnamese woman at this tiny hole in the wall on Queen Emma and Vineyard. "Skippy's" (odd name, but..) She showed me how to fix it up with all the sauces. I have gone there "almost" at least once a month for the past 2.5 years. She calls everybody "sweetie". "Honey". If you can get her to make her excellent beef stew over noodles, tha'ts a treat.

I've tried others and honestly I am not officianado on Pho, so I can't say whos is better, which is better etc. It is just comfort food.

[Pomai]

Cyn and I highly recommend our favorite, Bac Nam on King St. "Combination beef with meat outside" hits the spot on chilly, rainy days.OK, Bac Nam (http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/10/bac_nam.html) it is! Wow, you folks sure are passionate about Phở. Must be good stuff! And just in time for these rainy days. :)

As for pasta, one of my favorite dishes is influenced by Giada DeLaurentiis, in the form of Manicotti. Manicotti are like HUGE Penne, tubular in shape, about 1" in diameter x about 6" in length. You can stuff it with all kinds of good stuff.

My manicotti dish is stuffed with spinach, Portabello Sausage, fresh basil, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, then covered with marinara and more cheese + basil and baked in a pan like Lasagna. Delicioso!

[pinakboy]

dang pomai das nice Okinawan Yakisoba pics!! i hungry now!! lol :D

reg

[pzarquon]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2257/1896422562_1db8b55ef8_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/1896422562/)

Well, after all the phô talk here, I had to check out Bac Nam myself (1117 S. King St.). Of course we got the "combination" bowl, full of tasty goodies.

I liked it a lot! I personally prefer less herbs in the broth (though I know some folks love cilantro, I can't stand it), and the portion size was smaller than I expected for a "large," but it was still worth the trip. And I could tell from the plates of other diners that the rest of the menu may be where the magic really lies.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Is it the pho or me? I had pho 2 times and 2 different places and was not impressed. Both places' pho tasted like....well like an herbal broth. Bitter and funky tasting. An acquired taste? One owner was telling me the health benefits of eating pho. I was still not impressed. He then went on to add that "they" serve pho to people who are down with a cold or flu. :confused:
I was also not impressed with the plate of herbs that is served with it. :(

Noodles in our house? Pasta, usually thin spaghetti. :o

[Paul Ogata]

Pho is very herby, but that's what I like about it. If it's not the star anise that gets to you, I suppose you don't have to throw in the bouquet of basil that they serve on the side. But I loves me some basil.

Also something to watch out for is the meat they put in the soup. I don't like when it gets too funky like tendon or beef balls (?), tripe or cartilage. Just some nice sliced beef please.


At the Hong Kong airport last week, I ate at the Noodle Bar located in the Business Lounge of the Cathay Pacific terminal. Decided to give the Dan Dan Mian a try. WOW! Never had anything like it before and I'll be sure to seek it out again.

It's a spicy Szechuan noodle dish with a sesame flavored broth. Find it. Eat it. Love it. Thank me later. In retrospect I should have taken a picture of it, but I was so eager to finish it that I blanked on that.

[Kaukura]

Pho, for me at least, is best with the accompanying condiments. "For me", it tastes better with the brown Hoisin sauce, and their homemade chili sauce. I also like to use the little bowl and mix Siracha sauce and the Hoisin sauce and dip my meat into it. I like the jalapenos and squeeze the lime (or lemon) juice in it as well.

I dont think I"d enjoy it without the above sauces...

[Miulang]

Pho is very herby, but that's what I like about it. If it's not the star anise that gets to you, I suppose you don't have to throw in the bouquet of basil that they serve on the side. But I loves me some basil.

Also something to watch out for is the meat they put in the soup. I don't like when it gets too funky like tendon or beef balls (?), tripe or cartilage. Just some nice sliced beef please.
I don't mind the little shreds of tripe and tendon, but I will never eat another one of those Vietnamese meatballs again! The texture is just so bizarre. And after tasting the first one, I thought they had a consistency of a rubber ball---and I don't know of any kind of ground meat that would produce meatballs that are that rubbery!:eek:

[Beau]

I don't mind the little shreds of tripe and tendon, but I will never eat another one of those Vietnamese meatballs again! The texture is just so bizarre. And after tasting the first one, I thought they had a consistency of a rubber ball---and I don't know of any kind of ground meat that would produce meatballs that are that rubbery!:eek:

LOL...Miulang your post made me laugh! I had a very good authentic Vietnamese cookbook (I have since given that book to my father) that included instructions on how to knead the meatball mixture until it achieved the texture of a "processed" hotdog. In other words, it's suppose to be like that!:D

[cynsaligia]

Is it the pho or me? I had pho 2 times and 2 different places and was not impressed. Both places' pho tasted like....well like an herbal broth. Bitter and funky tasting. An acquired taste? One owner was telling me the health benefits of eating pho. I was still not impressed. He then went on to add that "they" serve pho to people who are down with a cold or flu. :confused:
I was also not impressed with the plate of herbs that is served with it. :(



maybe pho isn't for you. however, before you really decide that, go to the aforementioned bac nam, to chau, hong's cafe or even pho 97 on maunakea street (http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22925/2964006) and try it. i'm guessing you had some not-so-good pho. definitely, if you went to pho saigon on keeaumoku, i'd say you had some bleh pho. if you try the pho at any of the places in my list and you still don't like it, then what the pho...find some other dish you'd like, like maybe any of the vietnamese cold noodle dishes. most people like the ones with spring rolls and marinated pork or chicken.

[Lika]

I agree, those "mystery meatballs" are um, too "mysterious" to me. Also, what meat (or fish paste) is that color???? No thank you. Moa for you!
My favorite is a good udon, which is hard to find here in mainland. Or, the rigatoni pollo (served at Siena, in Reno). Penne pasta with a wonderfully thick Asiago cheese sauce that has chicken, fresh mushrooms and green onions. A side of garlic bread completes this heart attack on a plate... (I realize I eat this EVERY time I go, but why change a good thing? Altho my Dr would beg to differ on it....).:eek:

[Da Rolling Eye]

maybe pho isn't for you. however, before you really decide that, go to the aforementioned bac nam, to chau, hong's cafe or even pho 97 on maunakea street (http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22925/2964006) and try it. i'm guessing you had some not-so-good pho. definitely, if you went to pho saigon on keeaumoku, i'd say you had some bleh pho. if you try the pho at any of the places in my list and you still don't like it, then what the pho...find some other dish you'd like, like maybe any of the vietnamese cold noodle dishes. most people like the ones with spring rolls and marinated pork or chicken.
Actually, I think Vietnamese food in general is not for me. Pho was from a really crowded place in Kaimuki (11th Ave.?) and here in Wahiawa. I also used to go bar hopping with coworkers, in my younger days, and went to one bar that had a Vietnamese cook. We ordered somekind of oyster rolls and a fried fish dish. :eek: :confused: They must age the stuff before cooking. We stuck to places that had more popular local style pupus. ;)

More noodles, the zaru soba at Gyotaku.