Master Noodle (Saint Paul) — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Stopped by late one night to get some quick food before going home, was pretty impressed so came again today, here’s my review after stopping by twice for some dine in.

Atmosphere is great, the place is pretty decorated. Depending on the time of day you go it can be pretty noisy and rowdy but it’s not too bad. As they promote, you can see them make the noodles in real time. It’s a pretty neat feature to say the least as the chef pulls and tosses the noodles. The noodles don’t come out the most uniform thing ever but it’s pretty good overall and they taste great so nothing to really complain about.

I got the shaved noodles today and the sliced beef with the thinner noodles last time, both times I was throughly satisfied with the meal. It was a solid sized portion for the price and there’s always add on options as well if you need more. The noodles were good, the broth was okay, not too crazy but definitely not bad by any means, it’s not like I’m getting pho so definitely nothing to complain about. There is a distinct flavour albeit no real punch. To amend that, they do have soy and spices on the side, and my favorite, the vinegar. The vinegar isn’t simply just the atypical clear vinegar you get, this is red vinegar which has a distinctive taste and it’s so good with the broth. I’d recommend people try it out with whatever noodle soup dish you get, red vinegar is a bit tough to come by. Nothing to complain about in terms of the meat provided with the dish, tasty and good.

In terms of other things—I got the Szechuan chilli oil dumplings, and whilst they were good they were a bit smaller than depicted and that was a bit of a bummer. And then I also got a boba tea last time. The boba tea was okay, nothing too crazy but it’s not a dedicated boba place, so for a in house drink it’s a nice alternative.

The rest of the menu also looks solid, their fried rice at a glance seems to be similar to like sushi place fried rice, although I haven’t gotten so can’t speak for it. They also have noodle and rice bowls which do look quite nice. Tomato and eggs with rice is certainly a Chinese favorite.

All in all, solid place, quite good honestly, would recommend. Great for fellow Chinese and Asian alike, and certainly would recommend for other people of varied background to try out as well, to experience a fairly solid representation of Chinese hand pulled...

Went here for late dinner on a Saturday at 8pm. Parking is behind building. With spaces along small alleyway. We were seated at at table promptly with party of 5.

Service is either be waiter or can order food by website for the table. The waiter was pretty quick to ask what we liked, wasn't sure if it was because they wanted to make sure we finished before they closed or if they just had nothing to do.. more on this later..

We ordered some drinks then order a few different noodle dishes. Sichuan Cold Noodles, Spiced Noodles, Soup Dumplings, and a Hot noodle soup, and then a spiced cumin beef torta. The food came out very fast, I was a little surprised even, but again, they weren't that busy so it was a good thing.

The noodles were good, could tell they were hand pulled, as had some variations in sizes and thickness, but overall good texture and taste. The best thing I actually had was the Spiced Beef torta thing, which tasted more like Latino food than Asian. The rest of the food didn't have much flavoring, the cold noodles actually benefited with adding some of the vinegar they provide on the table. I thought everything was pretty well done, just that nothing particular wowed me.

When we got the bill we had a Tip already included for 9.99.. which honestly was a little strange, as it didn't seem like a set percent number we'd expect if tips were automatic (i.e. it was a weird number like 16.4..% of bill). I am a little curious if the 9.99 is some sort of flat rate though?.. I didn't bother to ask. So with that being said I didn't feel like I should tip anymore. Overall food was decent, service was succinct and fast, but nothing stood out as particularly outstanding. If you have never has hand pulled noodles before, I'd recommend you...

Go for the novelty and watch the chef perform the hand pulling. If you are looking for authentic hand pulled noodles or cut noodles, definitely worth the visit. Otherwise, is recommend something like Hong Kong Noodle or Keefer Court, more consistent, larger quantities for around the same price.

If management reads this, I don't understand the vision or goal of the restaurant. I'd start out by pointing out the community, this is Rondo/Frogtown area. With the price point, it would look like you aren't looking for patronage from the neighborhood, then why choose this location? Second, the menu is small which is good and bad. Maybe a bias on my part, but I've been taught that a Chinese chef's skills are related to how many dishes they can make. I prefer smaller menus since it allows you to master dishes and make them the best possible, but I feel like there's a lot of missed potential. I had some of the appetizers and wasn't impressed by execution or taste. The Shanghai/scallion pancake was flattened too thin, causing the layers to blend. The wood ear salad was too sour, because of excess of vinegar. The hand-pulled noodles weren't of consistent size. Third, inconsistency in ceramics. All the plates and cups look to be high quality, but then why are some plates plastic? Maybe I misidentified it, but one of the serving plates seemed to be lower quality than the rest. It was just strange to see an odd plate.

I don't mean this in a mean spirited way, and I hope that this business works out. I'll probably go again to try more items, but I feel like this has a lot more...