I love noodles and actually had someone message me to try the ones at Fun Cart Noodle House, a newer Chinese restaurant on Robson Street, that opened a couple of months ago.
I bookmarked it because the name was eye catching and I knew eventually my noodle buddy Joyce of @monkeyeatsworld would eventually recommend it. After all, when we see each other we always end up craving for and going out for noodles. Today was no different.
Truthfully, I normally don’t write reviews when I only get to try a couple of dishes. It isn’t a fair enough assessment and not enough content for all the work required. However, I so underestimated and down rated this one that I wanted to report on how much better it was than I thought it would be. Not to mention, the noodle menu is essentially 4 dishes with the option to mix and match broth types, noodle thickness, and toppings. So I am basically covering half of this menu.
Outside the smaller shop there was an actual, physical cart advertising this smaller menu. The latter should have been a sign of good things to come, as I find the more concise the menu, the better it tends to be as time was taken to craft, perfect, and standardize each of the four specialty noodle options.
I originally let the interior affect my judgement, effectively reading this book by its cover. The small space was dingy and the scent of the industrial bleach used to wipe the tables down lingered in the air, mingling with the aromatics in the soups. Both of which were not appealing for a diner.
Ultimately your noodle choice is determined by your desired protein: Signature Braised Beef Noodle, Classic Soy Chicken Noodles, Supreme Seafood Delight Noodle, and Green Power Veggie Noodle Bowl.
We ordered the first two and was pleasantly delighted. For both we went with the thicker and traditionally used egg noodles over the other 7 options that included rice noodles, udon, ramen, flat rice noodles, shrimp roe noodles, and instant noodles.
I imagined the Signature Braised Beef Noodle like Taiwanese style beef noodle with the richness of beef and an acidic tang from pickled vegetables. Instead, this was Cantonese style beef noodle. It was so dense and bold, and with the blend of spices used, it bordered on a medicinal soup. I liked the soup as is with an umami richness from plenty of garlic. Whereas I found the slices of beef dry and the meatball grainy with a texture I found unpleasant. The best beef parts were the gelatinous tendon that wasn’t advertised, but much appreciated.
Between the two I preferred the Classic Soy Chicken Noodles and would order this one again. This tasted exactly like Classic soy chicken, but in a liquid form. The egg noodles did well to pick up all the sweet soy flavour. The chicken wings were perfectly tender and saucy, I just wish there were more than 3 pieces to go around with all this noodle. There was also the addition of egg and mushroom for added textural interest.
You can also order meat on skewers as you wait for your soup noodles. Various cuts of chicken, pork, beef, and lamb. Plus mushroom and vegetable on sticks for sides. They also have small appetizer bites and sides like deep fried pork cutlet, popcorn chicken, squid tentacles, fish, brown sugar rice cake, tempura shrimp, and takoyaki. Butter and chocolate fresh toast, rice, and/or oyster sauce broccoli or bok Choy. But we were here solely for the noodles.
In closing, I have never had noodle in soup like this before. Worth revisiting to see if it remains consistent day to day.
Fun Cart Noodle House
1329 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6E 1C6
(778) 751-9707
funcartnoodlehouse.com
