Noodles Express — Restaurant in Mount Pearl

One thing I've come to realize is that you can generally tell where someone is from based on their answer to the question "what's your favorite Chinese restaurant" for example, people from Stephenville will say Sunluck, while people from Marystown will say "Wongs". Myself, spending my formative years in Mississauga, I would have said "Mandarin"

After revisiting Mandarin as an adult I began to suspect that these preferences came from nostalgic biases, after all my taste has grown up the same as I have, and I started to wonder if the Mandarin really did have the best Chinese food. I had that question answered for me a year ago when I found Noodle express.

A cute restaurant ran by a kind family, Noodle Express uses the most fresh ingredients, making their noodles in house. When I first tried them I ordered the Minced Pork Saozi Noodle, and fell in love after my first bit. The noodle melts in between your teeth, while the pork and Stir Fry sauce brings it all together. I have since tried all the Stir fry options and a few of the combos. It all tastes amazing but the pork definitely has my heart.

Where everything is made fresh, there is generally a wait time. I understand to some this can be frustrating, but you can't rush perfection, and this is well worth the wait

Yesterday I order one of their Wok options, and to no suprise it was delicious. Consistently for over a year when ever I go I'm always satisfied and happy with what I order.

So now, when ever anyone asks me what my favorite Chinese Restaurant is, I say Noodle Express. I've converted a few of my friends over, and I hope this review will convince some of you...

Edit at bottom.

My wife and I went there at about 7:15 this evening. Within a few minutes our order was taken and we received our drink order.

Initially, the experience was positive. It's a nice looking place, open kitchen let's you see the scattered plume of fire, it's nice.

When we arrived there were 2 other tables of 2, one with food, one without. There was a table of 8, without food, and a table of 6, who seemed to be having apps..

After that an hour passed, we still had no food, though a nice young man did come and get us refills.

In that hour the two tables of 2 were finished.. The table of 8 was just starting to get food, and the table of 6 was getting mains.. A table of 2 and a table of 3 came in as well.

After another 10 minutes I went up to ask how much longer, I was told "soon, soon, soon" and shown that our ticket was not next.. But third in line.. Which made no sense since the only other tables had come in after us.

At that point I just asked them to cancel the order and said I'd pay for the drinks. I was charged $7 for the soft drinks and we left without ever getting CLOSE to eating.

I get that there's larger tables in, but you can't just let your small tables sit and stew, especially when the noodles and soup aren't something that you would be making on the spot like some of the other items.

In short.. "Express" isn't a word I'd use to describe this place.. They might have the best noodles in the hemisphere, but if they can't serve in a timely manner, no one will eat them.

Edit: the initial response by the owner offered a free meal hoping we'd return, but they've since...

The pan fried veggie noodles were incredibly tasty and the portion size was generous. I enjoyed the texture of the handmade noodles. The strawberry bubble tea was delicious. We had onion rings as a starter. To my disappointment, they were only the kind of onion rings you get in a bag at your local grocer, not homemade or anything special--though they do taste okay and the portion was good considering they were about $8.

There were a few vegetarian and gluten-free items on the menu but the dine-in menu did not show that as it does on the menu you can find online.

Service was decent and polite but felt a little cold at times. After asking for a takeout box we waited quite awhile for the server to come back with our bill but when they returned they asked if we'd rather pay at the table or front desk; I think they should've asked us that when given the takeout box so we could've went to the desk to pay instead of waiting at our table for a bill we didn't get. The server kindly showed me at the desk that there were free trinkets for customers which I thought was a really neat and unique offer.

Atmosphere was okay. There was at least one child playing around the service area and a Halloween toy that kept making sounds. The music overhead was good, mostly 90s R&B but not sure it helped with any kind of theme if the restaurant has one.

Their website doesn't have much information as to who they are, what inspired them, or any interesting details in their About section. The site often promotes their handmade noodles without details of what they are so I searched the web for...