I enjoyed eating here. I ordered the drunken noodle bowl and it was super tasty and delicious. My only problem with this place is how much you pay and the amount of food you get. It is not cheap, and you do not get much food. They also give you the tiniest glass for fountain sodas. This place is definitely worth checking out, but it is definitely not a place to eat at often on a college budget.
Review Source:For all of you Asian quick food fans, this is the place to be. During the summer it is great as you can still find a place to park, without all of the students around. All your favorite, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.
I had a wonderful chicken and tofu phad thai. It was a well portioned amount of food, and I will be willing to go back and sample some of the other fair as well. Plenty of seating even in the busy times, there is also some seating outside as well. Perfect for the warmer summer days here in Eugene.
Like everything in my life, I get lucky here because I keep my standards so low.
Kidding.
Noodle Head may not have the highest quality entrees, but I suppose that is standard for many small-scale fusion restaurants. I have been here numerous times, during the lunch rush as well as during dinner, and have yet to have any issues with my order. The food is warm and spicy and the service is fast. My favorite dish, Yen Ta Fo, is filled with seafood and fried wontons and served in red bean sauce, which is quite sweet and may require some additional spice from Noodle Head's impressive sauce and chili bar. The wonton soup was really good, too; the broth was a perfect consistency, the wontons thoroughly cooked, and my stomach completely satisfied.
The pho, though, was somewhat oily, though it did taste like the pho I am used to eating in Southern California. The drunken noodles were pretty dank, but they are ridiculously spicy.
If you want bourgie-hood, five-star Asian cuisine, then Noodle Head is not the place to go. Hell, with the arguable exception of Noodle Bowl, Ta Ra Rin, and Kamitori, I wouldn't say that there really is any place in Eugene with high quality Asian cuisine. But, if you want to have a filling warm meal that is cheap while drinking some Singha, listening to some bubbly Eurodance music, and not being overwhelmed by douchey bros, then Noodle Head is a place you should consider trying it out.
I've never been much for the traditional "hangover breakfast." Â A bunch of grease just doesn't appeal when I'm in such a state. Â No, what I want is burning hot, cleansing, invigorating Thai food.
Fine dining it ain't, but this grub scratches my itch. Â It is the only place in the Eugene-Springfield area that consistently gives me enough heat besides Ubon, which is far outside my stomping grounds. Â The secret is to order your entree "hot hot." Â If you'd like to see through time, that state can be attained by adding more hotness at the condiment bar. Â
All of the entrees are $6.50, and while the portions aren't enormous, it is enough for a meal. Â You may not agree if you're Michael Phelps or one of those people who can eat a 1/2 pound hamburger and not feel like you're gonna explode. Â I've yet to try the soups or salads, but here are the items I've tried that were winners:
Shumai - delicious little dumplings with shrimp, pork, and mushroom in. Â A nice change of pace from gyoza.
Karee Kai - Chicken in yellow curry with veggies. Â I was impressed that this dish had a little heat without my having to ask for it. Â My daughter devoured this and reluctantly shared a few bites. Â I was jealous enough that I ordered it on my next visit. Â
Sen Lek Han - I think this may be my fave. Â Rice noodles, ground pork, big slices of that freaky-looking pork with pink outlines, scallions n bean sprouts all mixed up with crushed peanut. Â
The quality of my food seems inversely proportional to how busy the place is. Â My first visit was at the end of a lunch rush, and I found my noodles all sticky and clumped together and little too oily. Â My second experience was also during lunch rush, via Pony Express, and resulted in one incorrect dish and another whose meat/veggies to starch ratio was unsatisfactory. Â My other three dine-in experiences have been quite satisfying. Â If I had an axe to grind, I could whine that tonight all the crushed peanuts and spicy stuff was underneath my noodles and oh god I had to stir it up myself, first world problems! Â I paid $6.50, got my food in five minutes, and was on my way to endorphin heaven. Â With great prejudice, four stars.
Okay, one gripe: Â The drinking glasses are tiny. Â Be ready to get up multiple times, or bring your own bottled water.
A half-eaten bowl of ramen is a sad sight.
There are real, live Asians working the counter and the kitchen, but I'm certain there's some knee-slapping going on in the back: "Stoopid American think this is Asian soup! Â Ha ha, ha ha!"
My soup smelled. Â I love to eat seaweed, but when you toss a great handful of it on top of a wide, shallow bowl full of hot soup, things start to get funky. Â The okay noodles were undercooked and a bit gummy. Â The broth was offensive. Â More ocean brine than chicken stock, it tasted like the cook waved a chicken over the pot and then emptied the salt jar. Â On every front, this was bad ramen.
While you eat, enjoy the gentle numb of the soda fountain's constant hum. Â When the beverage display's cooler kicks on from time to time, it will grind at the back of your brain.
This place will probably do ok simply because they are "on campus" and have a built in clientele. I, however am not a student and will never go back.
The person who took my order was indifferent to me being there ready to give him my money. I ordered a noodle dish and it was so so. I couldn't figure out what bothered me about it until I read the menu as I was leaving and saw that what they described on the menu was not what I got.
When in that part of town I would prefer to eat at Sweet Basil Express (Thai) or Maple Garden (Chinese).
Totally Meh.
Today I was really excited to try this place out, but ended up utterly disappointed.
I ordered the miso ramen which comes with egg, shredded chicken, shitaki mushrooms, corn, and seaweed in miso broth - according to the menu. I also ordered thai bubble tea.
First off the bubble tea was probably among the worst I've had. The texture and lack of chewy consistency of the bubbles wasn't satisfying. It was also topped with unecessary whipped cream.
When my soup was ready, I was already disappointed by the sight of it. There were ingredients in it that wasn't even listed on the menu such as bean sprouts, a fish cake, and green onions - all items I didn't even want in my soup and would've said so if aware.
The shredded chicken looked unappetizing. It looked like the chicken had been broiled, extremely plain, unseasoned, and of poor quality. Needless to say, I left the chicken untouched.
The noodles looked idenitical to noodles used in top ramen and were mediocre at best. I had to fish through the copious amount of bean sprouts to even eat the noodles... and after that, I found a lovely short black hair, in my soup, amongst the noodles. That's when I put my chopsticks down.
Safe to say I'm not going back. I should've stuck with the idea of going to Toshi's. Much, much better quality and taste.
I was around the campus area and thought i'd try the new Noodle Head.. I ordered the Pho and was pretty satisfied. The portion size was HUGE (I got it to go) and I was really impressed with the amount of meat and seasoning in it. I've had Pho that's tasteless and I can say that the Pho I had at Noodle Head was delicious. The price is pretty reasonable, too! If you're a hungry college student on a budget, Noodle Head's the place to go.
Review Source:Since they've opened on campus, I've tried Noodle Head a handful of times for lunch. The food is nothing amazing, but some items have decent flavor and are executed successfully; others need work.
Pros: Food is hot and flavorful, generous portions, affordable prices, diverse menu and service is quick. Some vegetarian and vegan options available.
Cons: Cheap prices translates to cheap ingredients translates to prepackaged food items, and factory farmed seafood and proteins. MSG suspicions run high.
Yes, the staff may say everything is prepared on site and made fresh; but explain why when I caught a glimpse into the kitchen from where I was sitting, I saw 3 bags of pre-sliced, pink tinged BBQ pork; and frozen edamame being poured from a familiar package into a boiler/steamer?
I've tried the Lad Nar Moo (sans egg), Wonton Soup (with added noodles) Udon soup, and edamame and shiumai appetizers. I like the liberal use of broccoli, bok choy and other veggies in their dishes. The different types of noodles (egg, fresh rice, or udon) when presented in a brothy environment are tasty. Broths seem a little oily and salty. The shiumai I ordered were so over-steamed, their wrappings had fallen completely apart from the filling, and the inner shrimp/meat filling was as chewy as a rubber ball. The edamame were also overcooked and really unappetizing. Didn't finish either appetizer.
Oh well, I'm sure they'll do well given the price point, menu, and location. I'm not in a hurry to return.
Thoroughly unimpressed, wouldn't eat here again.
Pros:
- We ordered delivery, and it arrived within half an hour.
- The shumai were very large
Cons:
- Spiciness: They will completely ignore the spice level you ask for. I asked for mild, and my food was almost inedibly hot. (I'm not particularly sensitive to heat, but usually prefer 2/5 spiciness. This I would estimate as 4/5 or 5/5) My husband ordered spicy and got something mild (probably 1 or 2 out of 5)
- Portion size: Yes, the food is cheap, but you get what you pay for. For my dinner entree, I got about one third of what I would normally expect from an entree. Had I actually eaten everything (I didn't because it didn't taste great), I would still be hungry. I haven't seen an entree portion that small since the last time I ate at a $150/person restaurant.
- Flavor: Everything we ordered tasted the same, ambiguously Chinese (not remotely Thai, despite us ordering two Thai entrees). Mine didn't have much flavor aside from "hot" and "sour-ish" anyway.
- Texture: The noodles were overcooked and just appeared in one flattened inseparable ball that I had to take bites out of.
- The shumai were very large, but also just tasted of generic chinese MSG pork broth. Plus, they were supposed to be pork shumai, but turned out to have shrimp in them as well. As far as 'execution', we basically just got a box of pork meatballs with some shumai skins loose in the box because none of them actually stuck to the shumai. Didn't really have anything in common with shumai, come to think of it, it was just a box of pork meatballs and boiled wonton skins. I ate one and left the rest, they just weren't very good.
Conclusion:
I ate a bit of my entree but would've been hungry regardless, and left the shumai too. I ended up making a sandwich and having that for dinner instead. Next time I'll stick with take out from Chao Pra Ya, or Sweet Basil (same owner as Noodle Head, but way better food). Or perhaps Chinese food, because that's what this was, not Thai.
Good noodles, good price.
What, you need more details? Okay.
Pros:
The herbs are fresh and bright, and the dishes are simple but tasty, with a decent portion size and lots of good aroma.
I especially enjoyed their drunken noodle, though the udon and pho I have had there were also quite tasty.
The ambience works well. Clean, casual, but with style, just like the food. It is comfortable to eat there.
Cons:
My friend did not enjoy the crunchy pad thai. Also, the spice levels have varied on different days, which could be a problem for some people.
They recently raised their prices to $6.50, so it's no longer the cheap place to eat on campus, but definitely not expensive.
Went here for the first time today and I was impressed. Â
1) Clientele--mostly Asian. Â A good sign.
2) Affordable and decent portion size.
3) The array of condiments is impressive. Â They even have a dish of nam prik pao alongside the fish sauce & chiles, the sriracha, the crushed chile, and sugar, as well as a vinegar-with-orange chiles sauce that is fiery.
4) Good thing the condiments were spicy because my noodles were not. Â They must have mistaken me for a gringo.
5) The menu is full of errors and just plain weirdness. Â One dish is listed as containing chickpeas and garbanzo beans. Â Wait a minute!
6) The space is attractive and modern--a big improvement over the decor when an Indian restaurant lived here.
7) The flavors here actually taste Thai, not like "Americanized" Thai food.
8) Yes, it is really basically a Thai restaurant though they have a few dishes from other regions. I noted a couple Japanese dishes and a Korean dish. Â But it's Thai food, people.
9) Two friends of mine, both Thai, swear by this place. Â
10) Bottom line--I'll definitely be back.
I've come here a couple time and don't really understand the 3 stars. Not the best noodles I've had, sure, but definitely at least a 4 star. That being said, I'm a student at UO so maybe my perception of what is considered "good" is slightly colored by the fact that it's a departure from dorm food.
I've had both the Phó and Chinese dumpling soup and both were excellent. The Phó especially had a generous serving of meat, which I can't say is the case for most places specializing in Phó. The dumplings were nice and soft, and I didn't get the feeling they were trying to short change me on them- for a $7.00 price, that's good to see. One of my friends had the Udon, which I personally thought tasted a little odd, and I felt similarly towards my friends Coconut chicken soup. I think I'll stick to clear broths, personally.
The service has always been friendly and quick here, and the restaurant is certainly very clean and modern.
Anyways, I'll definitely be coming back here during my duration as a student here when I'm looking for a departure from the norm or want a noodle fix.
Offering noodle soups, rice bowls, and noodle plates each for $5.75, I can tell that noodle head is going to be a lunch/dinner staple for many UO students. The service is extremely quick and friendly and there are plenty of tables.
Too me the flavors aren't always quite there- either a bit too dull or not quite the right balance, and sometimes the noodles can be a little mashy but for the price, it is not bad.
Today was the first day they were open, and I was pleased with what I had. Â I liked Bombay okay, but it wasn't spectacular so I'm fine with the change.
The service was friendly and quick enough. Â Not too many other customers, but considering it was the day after a 3-day weekend at school...during summer session...on the first day it was open, there were enough to make me feel like I wasn't in a dive.
I had the Lad Nar Moo, which is a chinese/lao dish that had wide rice noodles, pork, and some vegetables. Â Though I had asked for it spicy, the lady said "are you sure, it's really spicy?" and I said "yes" and she still was hesitant, so I said medium was fine. Â When she brought me my dish, she said I could add more spicy by adding pepper sauce, but I didn't really need it. Â It wasn't OMG spicy, but it was definitely enough to make you warm.
The interior is nice, way more updated than the old stuff in Bombay. Â The outside patio also looked really inviting in the warm summer sun. Â There is a double side concrete bar that divides the store in two sections.
It gets three stars for a good first impression. Â I'll be back to try other dishes.
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