Sherman's Food Adventures: No.1 Congee Noodle House

No.1 Congee Noodle House

*Restaurant is closed*

Despite needing to wake up early Friday morning to catch a flight to San Francisco, I decided it would be wise to play late night hockey and eat out on Wednesday night - Thursday morning. Hey, who needs sleep anyways? Polka King and I were looking for some late night eats that weren't the same places over and over again. We headed over to Broadway looking for the 24 hour Pho restaurant across from Sport Mart. But, we noticed the new restaurant beside it. After a short discussion, we ended up going to No.1 Congee Noodle House. Don't confuse this with Congee Noodle House near Main, this is actually the old Lucky Noodle House.

I naturally decided to try both the congee and noodles here since they make the claim of being No.1. For some reason, I opted for the Teng Jie Jook (Seafood Congee). I never seem to order this very often; but I guess I've had too much preserved duck egg lately. Yes, it's the same one that was in Fear Factor. Being Chinese, there are very few foods that we actually fear! I gotta say, the congee was as thick as wallpaper paste. But that isn't a bad thing, I like my congee that way. Hidden within it was a bounty of large shrimp, scallops, squid, chicken, pork rinds and lettuce. The congee itself wasn't salty and had a great aroma from sesame oil. I also got the Wonton Noodles and honestly, it wasn't anything special. For a restaurant that prides itself on noodles, this was a bit of a disappointment. The noodles weren't overcooked; but lacked chewiness. The soup was a bit on the sweet side and the wontons were quite average. I was expecting all shrimp wontons; however this was not the case. I thought the filling was a bit on the mushy side.

Polka King ordered the Scramble Eggs & Shrimp AGAIN. It's like when we used to go to Boston Pizza (Bleck!) and he would eat the Smokey Mountain Spaghetti & Meatballs every time. Well, he is an accountant... The portion size was quite decent for the price; however, it was seriously overcooked. Normally, the eggs are fluffy and runny. The one here had parts which were complete fried. A no no when it comes to this dish. I found it a bit salty too. Mind you, there was plenty of crunchy shrimp hidden within the egg.

The food in general was a bit disappointing. I mean if you are supposedly known for your congee and noodles, you'd better get both right. Unfortunately, only the congee was good. The prices were pretty reasonable factoring in the grand opening special of 10% off. It appears to be a family-run restaurant and the owners truly appreciated our business. I guess if it were late and we had the munchies, we'd give it a try again. However, the actual Congee Noodle House and Congee Noodle King are far superior.

The Good:
- Congee was thick and full of ingredients
- Prices seem reasonable
- Open late

The Bad:
- Wonton noodles were pretty average
- Cash only

No. 1 Congee Noodle on Urbanspoon

0 comments:

Search this Site