Noodle Master — Restaurant in Pasadena

For the first time I'm going to give credit where it belongs.

Food instagram "influencers" are really doing the lord's work. Like for real. I saw a reel of the food and funny enough I forwarded it to a friend. And her and her boyfriend went that night! The food looked so good!

A week later my boyfriend and I decided to go check out the place. I didn't realize the place is in Pasadena!! Omg! We debated if it was even worth the drive since we were coming from Houston. My boyfriend kept complaining that it was "too far". I got a little annoyed, however he sucked it up and we made the drive. LMAO.

When they say "hole in the wall" it kinda really is. It's in a strip in the Kroger parking lot. A place you would never thing to stop by. Cause it's next to other establishments you wouldn't think you really go to.

The moment we stepped foot, it was PACKED.

Here's what we ordered

Takoyaki I'm so shocked but this was so crispy, the octopus was so meaty, it was hot and fresh. It was so good that my bf ate my share. And that's a lot to say cause he mostly orders this cause I love takoyaki

Black Garlic Spicy Ramen the hand pulled noodles was quite amazing. It had the most amazing noodle slurp you could ever imagine. It was al dente but had the best chew to it. The broth was delicious! Garlic and umami. The meat was a thick slab of pork belly. Big chew in every bite.

Soup Dumplings there was a good amount of soup, so flavorful and tasty. The dumpling itself was so delicious, especially with the sauce.

Scallion pancake I feel like this needed a slight more oomph to it. Thought it was really flakey and crispy and a good amount of dough.

Let's just say, this place was so good that my boyfriend ate more than his share of food. LMAO.

If it wasn't so far, it would be a rotation in...

I honestly hardly ever go out of my way to make reviews, but this visit was my first and last. We started off by ordering the Xiao Long Bao dumplings, which were pretty decent. Then we had ordered the combination fried rice, the broccoli beef, and sautéed beef and potato noodles. Honestly, since the reviews were fairly good, I didn’t have any negative expectations but upon getting our food, that changed entirely. Firstly, the aroma emitting from the food did not smell entirely as good and honestly was off putting, and I truly believe that was the smell coming from the “meat.” To be completely straightforward, it’s clear that the meat is not entirely real meat. There’s definitely some added meat filler and tenderizer because never in my life have I consumed chicken of such consistency and taste, along with beef that is slimy and has no actual consistency of real beef. We didn’t have an issue with the shrimp, but those were provided in our combination fried rice very scarcely. Our entrees were so disappointing that we had to separate all the meat into a separate to-go box and throw it away the moment we left the restaurant. Considering the entire bill came out to $62-$66, you’re better off going someplace else. Panda Express is a lot better than this place in my opinion, and that’s a fast food restaurant. On a lighter note, the waitresses were friendly and the restaurant itself was clean upon entering, but leaving with the feeling of “what exactly did I just eat?” is not something I would ever...

I come in to noodle master about 3 times a month. I know that doesn’t make me a regular but it’s somewhere my son and I love for food and a place we meet up with a friend. Today (5/7/24) was the absolute worst experience I’ve ever had. My son is special needs and uses a stroller/wheelchair when we come in. (He’s almost 7 years old). So when I’m sitting at my table and can hear the younger waitress speaking to the waitress that’s been there for quite a while, making fun of a special needs child in the news for getting hurt, or complaining constantly to a friend of hers standing at the counter about her being broke and not having enough money. I get right now times are hard on everyone, 100% but constant complaining about being broke and not having money isn’t a way to attract customers or get a higher tip amount. The fact that she was making fun of a child, regardless of if she knew them or not, for being ABUSED in a place where they should feel safe, is absolutely disgusting. She had very very poor behavior. She interacted very well with a few tables, but was more entertained with her drama, her friend and trying to distract the other waitress than anything else in the restaurant. I don’t mean to sound like a ‘Karen’ but the atmosphere was very...