Noodlebox — Restaurant in Vancouver

"Ramen" from Hell

I took the biggest L of my life coming here. I almost never write reviews but I felt compelled to write about the worst food I've ever had in all the years I've lived in Vancouver.

I honestly feel robbed. I paid $20 for the ramen (since I paid for a protein, sirloin beef, for $4.50- which was an even bigger mistake in itself). The beef was literally inedible. It was so rock-solid The Rock would be jealous, so I threw away $4.50 from that. The soup was an abomination, an insult to the entire Asian continent. There was nothing "ramen" about the soup. It was a black sauce diluted with water and seasoned with salt. I don't know what I could've done in my past lives to deserve this meal. There were also so many vegetables, none of which were commonly used in ramen: cabbage, red bell-peppers, carrots, etc. A more appropriate name for the dish would be "black salty sauce soup with an ungodly amount of random vegetables".

My friend (who's Indonesian) ordered the Indonesian Peanut Sauce Noodles since the cashier said it was their best-selling menu item. He said it was extremely bland and mildly spicy, which is not exactly a great description of the supposed best item on the menu.

This day was extremely memorable for me, and a wake-up call that even in this modern day and age, there are still ignorant people out there who will continue to use the names of popular Asian dishes to bait unsuspecting people. There is nothing remotely Asian about...

Noodle box used to be THE spot to visit in the neighborhood- wasn’t sure what happened to the hustling and bustling dining in vibes I was used to when we used to visit frequently? Perhaps it was because of the post-COVID increase in the take out culture, or just the competitive nature of the restaurant business these past few years?

When I placed an order through UberEats on Wednesday night, I was suspicious of the one hour pick up time, thinking that it must have been the restaurant being cautious and overestimating. Long and behold, I arrived wayyy too early and saw the 10+ take out orders they were working on, with only one table opting to dine in.

This is where the 5 stars for me came in - the person working at the front saw my shocked face, asked for my name and order, and alerted the kitchen to expedite my order. I haven’t had the best interactions with hospitality staff in Vancouver this past year, so this was an instant +++++ for me. I was so beyond grateful for their kindness and accommodation, and the entire hand off process made me want to come back this week lol.

When I got home, the ginger beef bowl was hot and tasty, with a solid portion for the price I paid for. The spicyness wasn’t just spicy for the sake of it- it blended well with the rest of the dish. I had to stop myself from finishing the whole thing even though I was full already lol.

Overall- a great great team working on September 24th, and I so appreciate it. Can’t wait...

Very unhappy with my experience here. I've had several meals at Noodlebox, and this was my first time at the Kits location. When I ordered Thai Style noodle, the dish came super super salty. This is not the first time I've had Thai Style noodle so I was quite surprised it came super salty. I asked if I can get another one, which took some time to explain and then another half hour for the food to arrive, and the guy gave me Spicy peanut sauce instead, saying that this one would be less salty. But I didn't want peanut sauce. At this point (an hour past since I enter the restaurant), I almost didn't care anymore and didn't want to waste any food so I thought I'll just eat it. Then the owner/manager came and said they'll get it fixed and get me the one I originally wanted just less salty. So I waited for another 15min or so. Then, it came. Sure enough it's less salty - so much less that there's no salt at all. It was just a super super bland bowl of noodles. I got so upset but didn't want to waste another bowl and didn't want to go through another 10min to explain - so I just packed it to go and decided to just add soy sauce myself later. It really ruined my night. I would say though that the lady at the cashier...