somd_newbie
New Member
About 4 months ago I was in town interviewing for a position and was taken to Hot Noodle in San Souci for lunch. While the food was not stellar (flavorless at best), I was impressed by the newly remodeled interior with inviting lights and new booths and tables.
Generally, I am not in the practice of going back for a second helping of bad food, especially if I have to pay for it, but a couple of my friends wanted to try out the food there. So last night we headed over there and the first thing I noticed were the extremely dirty windows in the front entrance. It may seem that I am being over-critical, however if the entrance of your restaurant looks like it has been wiped down with Crisco, you would probably agree with me.
Upon being seated, I also noticed that the table had a huge chunk of laminate missing with jagged edges on the surface that could easily cut someone. Then the waitress brought out our drinks and proceeded to spill water all over our table, prompting us to change tables. After being reseated in the adjacent booth, we found that the table not only had the same cracks on the surface, it was as unstable as a one-legged chair.
Finally we were directed to our last table which did not have as many cracks and was much more stable, but could have used a lot of wiping down. In addition, the lights located at our booth were either burned out or not turned on, and was therefore dimly lit. We settled down and decided "whatever" and proceeded to order our food.
The pre-meal soup that was brought out was barely even tepid, such that had it cooled down even the slightest it would have congealed and turned from a "soup" to a gelatin. The waitress then brought out some sides of basil, bean sprouts, and jalapeno peppers, typical for "pho" a Vietnamese noodle soup. The bean sprouts were completely wilted, defeating the entire purpose of having them in the soup at all.
Upon being served our food, my friend who ordered the "pho" did not receive a soup spoon (who serves soup in a big bowl with no soup spoon?!), so I kindly stopped our waitress from her busy cell phone text-messaging and asked for a spoon. Almost 5 minutes later when my friend was nearly done with her meal, the waitress returned with a spoon which she proceeded to, instead of handing it to my friend, placed it in her soup bowl where it naturally just sunk in and was partially immersed. My friend fished out the spoon and finished her meal.
My plate of "drunken noodles" was also nothing to be proud of, with clumps of partially uncooked noodles, little meat, and flooded with enough sauce to give Katrina a run for her money. "Nauseating noodles" would be a more proper name on the menu for that particular dish.
Needless to say, my second experience at Hot Noodle will be my last. I was greatly disappointed. Within a matter of 4 months, the furnishings have gone down the chute with cracked, wobbly furniture and non-functioning lights. The customer service was lackluster and the food was neither appealing nor appetizing. The food they serve is a disgrace to Asian dishes; people will be better off eating elsewhere. On the bright side, if you ever need some Crisco, all you have to do is go to the entrance of Hot Noodle.
Generally, I am not in the practice of going back for a second helping of bad food, especially if I have to pay for it, but a couple of my friends wanted to try out the food there. So last night we headed over there and the first thing I noticed were the extremely dirty windows in the front entrance. It may seem that I am being over-critical, however if the entrance of your restaurant looks like it has been wiped down with Crisco, you would probably agree with me.
Upon being seated, I also noticed that the table had a huge chunk of laminate missing with jagged edges on the surface that could easily cut someone. Then the waitress brought out our drinks and proceeded to spill water all over our table, prompting us to change tables. After being reseated in the adjacent booth, we found that the table not only had the same cracks on the surface, it was as unstable as a one-legged chair.
Finally we were directed to our last table which did not have as many cracks and was much more stable, but could have used a lot of wiping down. In addition, the lights located at our booth were either burned out or not turned on, and was therefore dimly lit. We settled down and decided "whatever" and proceeded to order our food.
The pre-meal soup that was brought out was barely even tepid, such that had it cooled down even the slightest it would have congealed and turned from a "soup" to a gelatin. The waitress then brought out some sides of basil, bean sprouts, and jalapeno peppers, typical for "pho" a Vietnamese noodle soup. The bean sprouts were completely wilted, defeating the entire purpose of having them in the soup at all.
Upon being served our food, my friend who ordered the "pho" did not receive a soup spoon (who serves soup in a big bowl with no soup spoon?!), so I kindly stopped our waitress from her busy cell phone text-messaging and asked for a spoon. Almost 5 minutes later when my friend was nearly done with her meal, the waitress returned with a spoon which she proceeded to, instead of handing it to my friend, placed it in her soup bowl where it naturally just sunk in and was partially immersed. My friend fished out the spoon and finished her meal.
My plate of "drunken noodles" was also nothing to be proud of, with clumps of partially uncooked noodles, little meat, and flooded with enough sauce to give Katrina a run for her money. "Nauseating noodles" would be a more proper name on the menu for that particular dish.
Needless to say, my second experience at Hot Noodle will be my last. I was greatly disappointed. Within a matter of 4 months, the furnishings have gone down the chute with cracked, wobbly furniture and non-functioning lights. The customer service was lackluster and the food was neither appealing nor appetizing. The food they serve is a disgrace to Asian dishes; people will be better off eating elsewhere. On the bright side, if you ever need some Crisco, all you have to do is go to the entrance of Hot Noodle.
