Press Reviews
Greedy Guts, April 20, 2010
Brief Description: The Noodle Box chain serves yummy pan-Asian food, such as curries and stir-fried noodles and rice. Prices are a little on the higher side but still represent good value.
When I’m too tired to cook and I want fast food, I don’t crave traditional fast foods like fried chicken, or burgers and fries. My idea of fast food is fresh, made-for-you, noodles. I lived in South Australia for a number of years and one of my favourite things about the food scene there was the countless number of stores called “Wok in a Box” that were popping up everywhere. Basically, you could swing by on your way home from work and grab a box of fresh stir-fried noodles for a quick and easy lunch or dinner. The benefits were numerous; it was quite affordable (about $8 a box), it was healthy (noodles, veggies and meat/tofu) and you could select exactly what you did, and did not, want in your box. I always thought this would be a great business opportunity in Vancouver.
Looks like I am a little too late as the owners of The Noodle Box already clued onto this back in 2001 when they started their business out of a refurbished hot-dog cart on the streets of Victoria. (I would love it if this happened in Vancouver!). However, because B.C. city by-laws regarding street-vendors are so backwards they were forced to close their cart and open a store. Since then they have grown and have opened four stores in B.C. Not bad for a start as a small street-vendor.
When I was working close to West 4th, The Noodle Box became one of my frequent lunch stops. Not only can get you get mounds of steaming noodles covered in fresh ingredients and exotic sauces but they also have South East Asian inspired appetizers, such as satay and spring rolls, as well as soups and currys. In my experience, the food has always been fresh and tasty. Serving sizes are extremely generous – in fact, probably a bit too big – but, on the bright-side, that always means left-overs! Service has generally been a little slow but I can cut them some slack as they are always busy. So even though I said it was fast food, it isn’t that fast. At lunch and dinner, you will most likely find yourself queuing to place your order. You can order your noodles to go or, if you are one of the lucky few, grab yourself a seat and eat your noodles surrounded by the commotion of the busy store. The restaurant (for a lack of a better word) on West 4th has a modern, funky interior. Lots of bright colours and a welcoming, laid-back vibe assist with enticing you to dine in. Showing their support for sustainable business practices, there is also a great recycling center in-store that prompts diners to separate items that can be recycled or mulched.
I have tried almost all of the noodle boxes on the menu and I really don’t have one particular favourite as I found them all to be pretty tasty. The Spicy Peanut Box is particularly nice; Indonesian style peanut sauce, wok fried with peppers, Asian greens, crushed peanuts, herbs, sprouts, coconut milk and lime on ribbon noodles. I also like the Thai Style Chow Mein which is made with thin egg noodles wok fried with sprouts, crushed peanuts, peppers, cilantro, green onion and a light soy and ginger sauce. The Lamb Curry that I’ve had there was also pretty tasty, as is the Cambodian Jungle Curry. If you can handle it, I recommend adding some heat to your dish and the staff can help you determine what your chili tolerance level is. Some of the sauces can be a little bland without a touch of spice.
Price-wise, it isn’t overly cheap. You are looking at about $11 for a bowl of noodles but as I had previously mentioned before, the serving sizes are so large that I can get two meals out of one box. With Maenam just across the street, I really do struggle to get to The Noodle Box as much as I used to for lunch though, as they are almost on par price-wise.
Final Thoughts: I really like The Noodle Box. I wish that there were more located around Vancouver as I think that they make a great alternative to the excessive amounts of hot-dog stands and burrito stores that Vancouverites are lumped with.
The Globe and Mail, October 20, 2006
Alexandra Gill
“From the outside, The Noodle Box looks like a funky urban diner, with it’s front wall of windows, soaring ceilings, polished concrete floors and spiffy designs. And while seating is available for about 25, there is no table service. You order at the counter and pick up when your name is called. This is fast food. And the assembly-line service helps keep the prices down (no dish is more than $12).
I’ve already been a few times and never been disappointed, although some dishes are better than others. The Cambodian Jungle Curry – rice noodles in a light ginger broth with mushrooms, peppers, greens, sprouts and topped with lots of cilantro and chunks of mango – is my favorite.
These are the kind of meals I’d make for myself if it weren’t such a hassle to gather all the ingredients. Why bother anyway? The Noodle Box does it faster and cheaper than I could on my own.”
Georgia Straight, November 2006
Angela Murrills
“Noodle Box is smart, modern, and lofty with a row of tables down one side and seats counter – and windowside. You order off a board, and they call your name when it’s your turn to collect your white china bowl.
Excavate with your chopsticks at Noodle Box and you discover the protein at all levels, not just on the surface. A Thai Green Curry was loaded with big chunks of white chicken meat, crisp red peppers, scarlet chili slices like Satan’s fingernail clippings, and a lawnmower’s worth of cilantro. Mixed into the huge tangle of fat hokkien noodles in a chili-plum sauce-seasoned toss-up was what looked like a chop’s worth of lean pork in sufficiently large pieces that you could see the meat was still moist in the middle.
Cambodian Jungle Curry comes in a broth afloat with mushrooms, peppers, and greens, all funked up with star anise. Climbing a couple of notches up the heat ladder had my companion reaching for a tissue, but the sweet fleshiness of the mango on top survived the onslaught. Unless you’re determined to prove your machismo, maybe stay at the low-medium end of the scale to start. Too wussy? Hot sauce, dried chilies, and chili oil let you ramp up the heat to a level of cruelty that makes Saw 3 look like Teletubbies.
Fresh, colourful, and full of flavour, this is the essence of West Coast pan-Asian. Also demographically geared are the bevy choices – beer, pop, as much water as you want – a no-carb box for the Ron Zalko/yummy-mummy crowd, and a kid’s noodle box.
Median dish price: $10, tax included, plus an additional buck if you want to share. (Note that most dishes would feed two girlie appetites). If regular fast-food places had any sense, they’d be looking at Noodle Box as the long skinny shape of things to come.”
Times Colonist, February 11, 2005
Robyn Swanson
Jodi Mann and Nick Crooks are celebrating the second anniversary of their Fisgard St. eatery, The Noodle Box, and are about four weeks away from opening their second Noodle Box in the 800 block of Douglas St. The growth is part of their aim to serve freshly made, Asian-style meals for reasonable prices as quickly as possible. “We have to get people their meals in 20 minutes, and we don’t want them waiting in line” the 28 year old Mann said.
The spicy peanut noodle box, with Indonesian-style peanut sauce, wok fried with peppers, Asian greens, crushed peanuts, herbs, sprouts, coconut milk and lime on ribbon noodles remains the most popular item on the menu. Vying for attention is the black bean and garlic dish with Hokkien noodles,….or the teriyaki box with thick Japanese udon noodles.” All items can be custom-made to suit vegans, carb-free fanatics or those with gluten intolerance as well.”
EAT! Magazine, July/August 2003
G Hynes
Fans of The Noodle Box cart at the bottom of Fisgard will no doubt continue to flock to the new restaurant location further up the street. While small, this little eatery packs a big punch – both in flavour and in the increased number of eaters they can accomodate.
Once my order is ready, I like to take a seat at the four stool bar directly facing all the open kitchen action. Two cooks work three-gas-fired woks like they’re playing upbeat jazz downtown. It’s pretty to watch and there’s lots of spice in the air. Even the clank of the woks take on a musical rhythm. Some say Noodle Box’s chef Nick is the hardest working cook in show biz. No wonder. With 125 000 BTU’s of power heating each wok, pumping noodle dishes out at an amazing two minutes each is a cinch. “I don’t want to see the gas bills,” say Nick.