Christina VarvisIn Noodle Nation, Evan and Barret visit China town every Wednesday for lunch and blunder their way through the delicious cuisine that there is to be had north of 104 Ave. Their opinions are their own.
King Noodle House is locate at 10613 97 St, and open from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Wednesday thru Sunday.
Atmosphere
As soon as we entered the front door, the first thing we noticed was the lively atmosphere of the space. The walls are all painted in either orange or yellow, giving the space a very cheerful, yet sassy, feeling. This is the type of space that will make you feel like everything will be ok even if you had earlier been expelled from the U of A orgy, and had to wait awkwardly outside because the friend you carpooled with is still in there (and you bought that new cologne just for the occasion, like 50 bucks down the drain).
The proprietor of King Noodle House sports a precisely groomed and elegantly waxed moustache. He maintains a no nonsense attitude, and gets right down to brass tax: what will you be having. Overall if I had to describe the atmosphere in two words: jovial contemporary.
The Noodles
Barret: I ended up getting the 13, always a classic, Pho with Brisket and Steak pieces. The time between ordering and our food arriving was fairly typical, not lightning fast, but it takes time to craft a masterpiece. If you are working with a 1-hour lunch break you are going to be fine. You’ll probably even have time to sneak in that extra cigarette and slip in through the back before the boss even notices you were gone. If I had to describe the soup in two words they would be: really good. You don’t need to take my word for it either, there is a reason this place has more positive reviews that your body has room for!
The broth was very flavourful, if you’re like me and enjoy some spice you can add it to taste, but I hardly touched the chilli paste mainly because it was already great as is. The meat was great, no complaints, steak was tasty and the brisket had the right amount of marbling so that there was plenty of flavour but not going overboard on the fat. The noodles were also great. There are three size options, so if you looking to keep that waistline in check then the small for most dishes is priced at $9.75, and you can increase to the large and “xtra” large sizes for only a small increase in price.
Evan: I was feeling pretty turnt down towards the steak option after recently learning that red meat is “probably” for suckers, so I went for the 20, also known as the chicken noodle soup. The wait was just enough time to enjoy the smell of the joint and get excited for the taste party that was coming my way. This soup totally exceeded expectations. Kings Noodle House knows presentation (note proprietor’s exceptional mustache). I personally thought the soup looked more inviting than Barret’s playhouse. The broth was flavourful and was probably the best available north of the North Saskatchewan. The chicken was succulent and plentiful. Finally, the noodle game was strong, I would describe them as: king-tastic.
Overall
Overall we would absolutely recommend King Noodle House to our friends if we ever make any. It was tasty, quick, affordable, and had great atmosphere. One note: make sure you have cash! Debit and credit are for suckers and communists, but more importantly they just don’t have the machine. Kings noodle house is also on the web, check them out at their website,on Twitter @kingnoodlehouse or on Facebook.
Tired of eating half-frozen pizza pockets for lunch? Bummed out about getting expelled from the orgy?
Join us for noodles every Wednesday around 1pm. Shoot me a text at 780-239-3481, (I’m getting super sick of Evan so please … please come with us).
