Noodle Maker

This quaint little shop is closing on May 31, 2012. The owner is retiring. So, if you haven’t tried this noodle shop, you should visit before then. The noodle dishes are amazing. However, be ready to call ahead for your orders as Sin To (the owner) is working alone. Happy retirement to the owner!

I’ve been to Noodle Maker twice. It has an excellent reputation among my friends, and I wanted badly to adore the place. I’m sad to report I’ve been disappointed by each bite. To date, I’ve tried the Flying Buddha Nun (nearly all bean sprouts, not noted specifically on the menu), the pulled pork (flavourless), the braised pig’s ear (served cold and entirely rubbery), and a chicken dish (which appears not to be on the menu anymore, but was just OK).
I must concede I unwittingly ordered a dish that prominently features an ingredient I intensely dislike (ahem, the bean sprouts), and that’s my own problem – but items I always like (pulled pork, pig’s ear) were barely palatable.
I can’t really reconcile my negative food experiences with the overwhelmingly positive ones of my friends. In any case, my husband shares my opinion, and we likely won’t be visiting Noodle Maker again. Both times, we’ve left hungry, dissatisfied, and $ 30 poorer.

Noodle Maker is an institution here in Edmonton, but it’s also a very odd establishment. The restaurant itself is quite large, with a banquette lined room with windows up front and a large, largely table-​less room in the back. The building itself feels as if it’s falling apart.
The menu itself is inspired from the entirety of East Asia — there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese dishes, I believe. Noodle Maker also serves a Pulled Pork sandwich.
At lunch hour on Tuesday afternoon, the restaurant felt very empty, though I believe that three other tables were occupied.
The restaurant pays so little attention to its décor that it purchased what looks like old tables and chairs from a chain restaurant called Robin’s.
And the only person who appeared to be serving was the restaurant’s owner. I want to say that there was a cook in the back, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he cooked the meals as well.
Now to the good part — the food.
I ordered a Goji Berry Goat ramen and it was actually very delicious. The goat meat was very tender, but I felt that the soup could benefit from some spice, so I added some Sambal Oelek. The overall flavor improved. I also appreciated the richness and depth of the broth.
The goat ramen was also served with a couple of pickled garlic cloves, which provided a good aftertaste to inform the flavor of the dish.
I look forward to returning and trying the Green Onion Cake. Apparently, this was the first place in Edmonton to serve a Green Onion Cake, which appears to be our fair city’s signature snack food.

After reading positive reviews on Unilocal and urbanspoon, I thought I would give Noodle Maker a go, as I am a big ramen noodle fan.
Overall, I can’t say anything much more than I was disappointed with my Teriyaki Chicken. The broth lacked spunk and I had a poor cut of chicken meat. For a restaurant that was dead, empty bowls and cups could be found on a number of tables.

My friends and I decided to try out Noodle Maker on account of all the great reviews from Unilocal.My first impression of the restaurant deems it a four-​star place, but after finding that something that night did not agree with me, I’m unfortunately giving it a three. (Oddly enough, my friends reported they felt fine so it just seemed to be me!)
We ordered the stinky tofu, the pork ramen and a Northern Chinese style noodle dish with ground pork. The stinky tofu was indeed pungent, but the taste is never as bad as the smell. You do smell it on your breath though, so make sure you have some strong gum or breath mints if you dare to try this dish! Probably not the best dish to order if you’re on a date though.
My pork ramen was delicious, with chewy noodles and a hearty broth. There wasn’t very much pork meat, but the tasty broth more than made up for it. My friend ordered a type of fried dish with noodles and ground pork apparently common in Northern China and enjoyed her choice.
The restaurant has a no-​fuss feel about it, yet is also very cozy. When I say cozy, I mean in terms of ambiance, because it was definitely freezing inside! Granted we visited in winter, but everyone kept their jackets on the entire time because it was that cold!
The service is that one of a kind service that will keep you coming back though. The owner is a sweet elderly man who will joke with you and is quick on his feet. Everyone seems to get a kick out of the old-​fashioned stove against one wall; it seems out of place at first, but somehow becomes rooted to the restaurant’s identity.
Despite having questionable symptoms after my first visit, I would still come back and give Noodle Maker another chance because it just seems like such a sweet little restaurant with so much to offer!

Yum yum yum and YUM ! Not only is Noodle maker incredibly delicious, the story behind the owner himself is really interesting too !
I’ve been here quite a few times now and I have to say my favorite is the Spicy Dan Dan soup. Though one of the monthly specials of beef bulgogi definitely stirred the water in the favorites.
Noodle maker has rightfully earned itself a title in my staple of restaurants for it’s quality and price of food. AND monthly specials that you can’t beat !
Though the location is undesirable and anyone I tell to meet me there definitely raises eyebrows first, they’ve thanked me endlessly once we finished our meals.

Bad location — check
Bad décor — check
Bad service — check
Curry, Ramen, Kimchee you pick a place and they have a dish and all done well. The apps aren’t that great the soups are hearty, plentiful and well made.
I would rather have a poor location with good food than the other way around. Surround the table with friends and you can easily forget everything else.

The bagels are nice, the Asian food is quite good and the restaurant is ok. The location is in a not so nice part of town and if you didn’t know it was there you would likely miss it. It’s worth a stop for lunch if you like spicy Chinese.

Came here for dinner a few weeks ago on a fairly warm evening. Maybe not the best choice since noodle soup is always going to be hot, but I reeeaally wanted to try this place and I had already made plans to come here with a friend who loves noodles as much as I do.
The owner makes Montréal-​style bagels (which I miss so much) but he didn’t have any fresh ones today so I didn’t have the chance to try them. Apparently he makes them on Saturday mornings and if you want them, give him a call ahead of time to place your order.
Anyway, I started with the smiling buddha feast as an appetizer. It’s awesome — a nice assortment of Asian veggies that I don’t often get to eat, such as lily buds and wood ear mushrooms, served over a bed of wilted spinach. The thick soy-​sauce based sauce is tasty and would be great over rice. The appetizer looks small but it’s actually quite filling (especially for one person).
I love the crunchy cartilage and rubbery texture of pig ears so of course I had to order the braised sliced pig ear. It’s a small mound of salty-​spicy pig ears (but big when you consider how many slivers there are) served over a crunchy pickled cabbage. Yum.
For my main course, I ordered spicy neu rou mein. It actually wasn’t as spicy as I liked it to be but that’s ok. The shanghai noodles that it said it was supposed to come with looked more like a cross of shanghai noodles and flat fat ramen noodles. There were toooons of noodles and I ran out of the delicious broth before I could finish it. The bowl came with lots of beef shank and tendon slices as well as bok choy, yummy.
My meal came to about $ 20 with the noodles and two appetizers (which I had some leftovers to take home) so I thought that was pretty reasonable. They accept Visa which is a bonus. Overall, I liked this place and would come again — there are lots of other items on the menu of interest to me!

Been there twice and the food has always been very good. I came from Vancouver where chinese restaurants and excellent ramen places abound. It has been a «painful» journey looking for food places in Edmonton that serves authentic, good-​quality soup noodle bowls, whether Chinese, Japanese or Korean. But this place did not disappoint. Even better, they serve noodles from all 3 oriental cultures! It’s very rare to find a place that combines all 3 and does it well for each, but this place has done it. It may not boast a large selection but for the ones it offers, the taste, quality and ingredients are excellent.
I highly recommend this place. It’s location is not that great, but if you want authentic great soup noodles, especially on a cold winter day, this place will not disappoint.

Took my hubby and a friend there. We ordered the spring rolls, pigs ear, teriyaki chicken ramen and the smiling buddha’s nun feast (or something similar sounding). I had the spicy neu rou mein, which was quite good. However, I felt the need to update this review because we really were severely underwhelmed by the spring rolls, pigs ear, teriyaki and smiling buddha nun feast. I felt mildly embarrassed as I was so psyched and pumped to take friends over here and the unfortunate menu choices marred the experience.
I still give the place 4 stars PERSONALLY but next time, but because of my husband and friend’s mediocre experience, I’ve docked a star for this update. I will stick to the menu options that have been strongly recommended in the past.

Pulled-​pork sandwiches, bagels and noodles under one roof? The potential for disaster is there but Noodle Maker easily scores in all three culinary categories. I finally visited after hearing so much about the place and was immediately pleased by the large silk cherry tree by the till. An antique stove sits by another wall. The room itself is sparse but is packed with loyal customers. The owner visits with everyone and makes recommendations. I noshed on deep-​fried basa with nori and they were perfectly flaky, crunchy and possessed not a trace of grease. My noodles swam in a rich, salty-​sweet broth that contained fat shrimp, pork belly and several types of mushrooms including wood ears and shitake. In a word, wow. The street outside is a bit sketchy but the warmth and good food inside are without compare. It’s a gamble when a restaurant professes to master very different genres of cuisine under one roof (*cough* certain place on Whyte Ave that recently closed down *cough*) but Noodle Maker proves the delicious exception.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! Don’t get discouraged by their location. The noodles here are as good as it gets, especially on a cold winter day, or a rainy day.
My fav is the Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Noddle Soup. A lot of depth and flavour in the broth, the noodle is perfect (Mr. To’s own recipe) and the meat is so tender a toothless grandma will have no problem eating it.
The only bad thing is the wait, sometimes it does take a long time for the food, but it definitely worth the wait.

Delicious ramen with a buttery miso soup and fried basa fillets on the side — now that’s a meal. Noodle maker has a decent sized menu of a lot of this and that from Japanese ramen, to a Korean kimchi appetizer, a long list of chinese noodle-​based dishes and of course a few beers to try out.
An eclectic mix of east Asian food in a small, dingy setting with old glass windows and counters, ordinary furniture and 70s music — almost making one feel that they were in a a rustic town in the Chinese outback. Making the setting more weird was an old stove from the 50s (is my guess) dressing one corner while near the entrance was an old school grain mill too. All this seemed very weird but I certainly enjoyed it! What made things interesting was the pink mohawk carrying elder (I don’t think he’s that old) who served us in a dandily Asian fashion. He also seemed to be the owner of the place and was certainly very approachable and fun to talk to!
I loved my fried basa fillets. The batter was light but also spiced with green dry herbs which tasted very good with the butter broth soup. The ramen was delicious and classic reminding me of my childhood where we’d have instant ramen-​like noodles at home. I must add that the serving size was huge. I had about 6 – 7 pieces of fried fish. Certainly a lot of delicious food for $ 9 :)
Lea was certainly fun company and we got to share a bit of our food, giving me the opportunity to try some of her delicious asian BBQ ribs. Everything tasted delicious and am certainly going to come here often, especially when winter’s ’round the corner!

Amazing!
I always get the same thing, and it’s always delicious. The owner is very kind and knowledgeable about ramen! He makes Montréal style bagels, too, which I think is amazing because there is nothing like it nearby!
Don’t be fooled by the location. This place is a gem!
I order the spicy dan dan mein. :) Yum!

Summary:
— delicious broths, perfect noodles and great flavors
— vegetarian friendly with unique options
— great value for money
— friendly owner/​manager who interacts with all customers
— simple, casual place that isn’t in the nicest area
Detailed trip report (May 5, 2011):
Went here after a work function tonight with 3 others, We were all in suits and ties and kinda stuck out as the resto is a simple, casual space. The owner joked that we should be dining in one of the pricier downtown restos. We told him that we wanted to go somewhere with great food and the Noodle Maker didn’t disappoint!
We got 4 different variants of ramen/​noodles — dutch apple pulled pork on ramen, grilled onion pork tenderloin ramen with miso broth, spicy neu rou mein (beef brisket/​tendon with noodles in five-​spice broth) and spicy dan dan mein (ground beef with noodles in miso broth). I personally had the grilled onion pork tenderloin ramen and I really liked the healthy serving of pork, the sweet grilled onions, and the broth that has a deep meaty flavour which is very comforting. Everyone enjoyed their dishes — all noodles and every bit of broth was finished.
Although we all had meat, been here several times before when my wife has had the ‘smiling buddha’s feast’ (various forms of tofu, wheat gluten and veggies) and the ‘chou-​tofu’ (think it’s a combo of hoisin and shrimp paste) — she’s loved her meals every time and enjoys the uniqueness of the vegetarian dishes.
In the end, 4 bowls of noodles and 3 beers ran us just over $ 60 — GREAT value for money! Will definitely be back.

The green onion cake is a delicious appetizer I have not had in a Chinese restaurant in the states. Outstanding miso broth obviously made with great ingredients including cracked pork bones, rich, hearty and good to the bottom of the bowl. Great ramen!
Warm personal service from the owner who has enormous pride in his food, he even gave me a couple of bagels to take home for breakfast.

This place was delicious! Plus, the owner was super-​sweet. The ramen soup broth was scrumptious. As you can tell, I am smitten.
My bf and I mourn that this place is in Edmonton — since we don’t live there :(
Looking forward to our next road trip & ramen!

On top of being the only place in Edmonton to get ramen, it may also be the only place to serve chou-​dofu («stinky tofu» — a fermented Hong Kong hawkers snack) — it was very tasty, although my dining companion, from Hong Kong, said it could have been a bit more «stinky» to be really perfect. The pink-​mohawked owner is obviously very proud of his dishes and he came around to explain how he made the pickled garlic so crunchy, and which noodles were freshest that day. I was a bit nervous about its eclectic «cultural» menu — I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to try the butter chicken or goat curry here, but who knows.
I ordered the vegetarian Tsuke Ramen and was very satisfied. Lots of vegetarian/​vegan options on the menu.

The Noodle Maker is one of the few places in Edmonton that offers authentic ramen. Most of us are familiar with ramen in the form of instant noodles. The soups that The Noodle Maker offers are beyond a step up — they are in a different class entirely.
Featuring traditional Chinese toppings, as well as dishes with a Korean, Japanese, and even Indian influence, The Noodle Maker features noodles made in-​house and broth that is slow-​cooked with chicken, beef, pork, and fish bones. The restaurant also offers rice bowls and a pulled apple pork sandwich that is apparently one of their specialties.
I opted for the Smiling Buddha’s Feast which is a vegan medley of tofu, mushrooms, lily flower, and wood ear. I wanted to keep the experience purely vegetarian which was accommodated by using an alternate broth made from soy sauce and wine. It was rich and flavourful, without being overpowering. Even the noodles had a special flair — they were green, from spinach.
Other ramen choices include teriyaki chicken, grilled onion pork tenderloin, and basa fish. The «Classic Chinese Noodle Bowls» feature other kinds of soups and dishes like wor wonton, goat stew, pork belly, pork strips, pork slices, pork pork (OK, I am joking about that one) in a variety of different broths.
For rice bowls, you can choose Korean dishes like bulgogi, Indian-​influenced butter chicken or goat, and Thai style beef or shrimp, to name a few. Most soups and meals are between $ 8 and $ 12. Service is quick and the staff are ready to answer questions. In fact, when I was paying my bill, the owner told me they are planning to include more vegetarian dishes in the near future.
What is also striking about The Noodle Maker is the colourful storefront and flags on the outside, with the spacious, classy décor on the inside. You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you certainly can’t judge a restaurant by its façade, but this is one case where the two merge. It’s a bright spot on a very dreary street.