Jason King
AmyHuangNoodle Blast, Balgowlah and Mona Vale
January 2nd 2009 07:19
It was the first dinner my mum & I have eaten out by ourselves in about 10yrs and as opposed to crossing the road to go to one of my fave Thai restaurants in my local area I suggested we try out Noodle Blast at 400 Sydney Rd, Balwgowlah as it was next to the bottle shop.
It has a darkish warm and wooden atmosphere with the most amazing red lamp shades hanging in the window - the feng shui of the lamp shades a soothing beacon to hungry folk.
We are seated promptly with our bottle of wine and then 5min later the waiter apologises because he forgot to get us drinking glasses. No biggie. We peruse the extensive menu of over 70 meals that the restaurant claims is just "Asian" cuisine with inflences of Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan. The restaurant slogan is "what asians love in asia" - hmmmmmm
The menu looks exoitc - from Buddhist Monks Stir- Fry Noodles to Duck Hokkien Stir- Fry Noodles plus things like Japanese Char-Grilled Salmon Teriyaki. As it was just the two of us I got a limited selection of food to give an expansive tasting but mum settled on Ginger Soy Stir-Fry Egg Noodles and I settled on the Noodle Blast Mee - the house special wheat noodle soup, topped with prawns, char-grilled chicken, egg gyozas, pork cakes, bok choy, mucshrooms, tofu and sprouts - delcious.
When mum's meal arrived 15min after mine I was a bit annoyed but looked down at my bland looking bowl - prawns - check - 3 of them (acceptable), char-grilled chicken - check, egg gyozas - not likely - one boiled egg sitting on bottom of bowl, pork cakes - non existent, bok choy - oodlles of it, mushrooms - a smattering, tofu - check and sprouts check. It was like these simple ingredients were put in a bowl and boiling water was poured over it - BORING and tasteless. Mum's was ok - it tasted like ginger pad thai - not too bad except I have had better from shopping centre food courts.
I was slightly angry and pissed that I had taken mum to such a horrible food joint - not something that has happened for a long time. The prices were fair and the staff were helpful - one even fethcing mum's jumper that she had left at the table on departure but it cannot make up for such terrible food.
Moral of my story - never judge a book by its cover - I basically chose this place because of the lamp shades and when you have the slogan "what asians love in asia" - when there are no Asians eating there - AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!
NB: The picture used is not actually from the restaurant.
PS: I got an Entertainment discount book from a friend so will start venturing out beyond the Manly area soon I promise.
It has a darkish warm and wooden atmosphere with the most amazing red lamp shades hanging in the window - the feng shui of the lamp shades a soothing beacon to hungry folk.
We are seated promptly with our bottle of wine and then 5min later the waiter apologises because he forgot to get us drinking glasses. No biggie. We peruse the extensive menu of over 70 meals that the restaurant claims is just "Asian" cuisine with inflences of Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan. The restaurant slogan is "what asians love in asia" - hmmmmmm
The menu looks exoitc - from Buddhist Monks Stir- Fry Noodles to Duck Hokkien Stir- Fry Noodles plus things like Japanese Char-Grilled Salmon Teriyaki. As it was just the two of us I got a limited selection of food to give an expansive tasting but mum settled on Ginger Soy Stir-Fry Egg Noodles and I settled on the Noodle Blast Mee - the house special wheat noodle soup, topped with prawns, char-grilled chicken, egg gyozas, pork cakes, bok choy, mucshrooms, tofu and sprouts - delcious.
When mum's meal arrived 15min after mine I was a bit annoyed but looked down at my bland looking bowl - prawns - check - 3 of them (acceptable), char-grilled chicken - check, egg gyozas - not likely - one boiled egg sitting on bottom of bowl, pork cakes - non existent, bok choy - oodlles of it, mushrooms - a smattering, tofu - check and sprouts check. It was like these simple ingredients were put in a bowl and boiling water was poured over it - BORING and tasteless. Mum's was ok - it tasted like ginger pad thai - not too bad except I have had better from shopping centre food courts.
I was slightly angry and pissed that I had taken mum to such a horrible food joint - not something that has happened for a long time. The prices were fair and the staff were helpful - one even fethcing mum's jumper that she had left at the table on departure but it cannot make up for such terrible food.
Moral of my story - never judge a book by its cover - I basically chose this place because of the lamp shades and when you have the slogan "what asians love in asia" - when there are no Asians eating there - AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!
NB: The picture used is not actually from the restaurant.
PS: I got an Entertainment discount book from a friend so will start venturing out beyond the Manly area soon I promise.
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That is great news! Next time I visit the school friends in Mona I will suss it out - would be great to give some positive news - but that one in Balgowlah is so blacklisted.
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