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| - Items Selected:
Preserved Egg Congee with Pork
Curry Fish Ball Skewer
Honey Glazed Eggplant with White Sesame
Sweet Potato Fries with Black Sesame
Kung Pao Mushrooms
Pan Fried Noodles
Shanghai Soup Dumplings
Spicy Steak Cubes and Rice Cakes with Ramen
Rice Omelet with Seafood Alfredo
Honey Walnut Prawns
Chef's Special Fried Chicken Wings
Grilled Ox Tongue
Fresh Fruit Napoleon
Mango Crepe
Snow Flower Sundae with Egg Custard, Vanilla Shave Ice, Red Bean, Herbal Jelly
Long on the Chinatown 'to-do' list and recommended by several folks as one of the better places to share plates in the area, it was with four friends and one youngster that lunch took place at Wendy's Noodle Café on South Jones Boulevard, the menu embracing everything from "fusion" to traditional favorites with results that were somewhat variable.
One of the few free-standing restaurants in a high-density area where places seem to come and go with the wind, Wendy's Noodle Café has been enticing diners since 2009 when its owner left her position at Chang's Hong Kong Cuisine and Dim Sum, the restaurant slowly morphing over time to entice Western palates in addition to more traditional clientele while simultaneously growing its menu to more than one hundred options.
Divided into sections ranging from "small plates/tapas" to fusion, chef's specials, rice plates, noodles and more a first glimpse at Wendy's menu can seem overwhelming to those not doing prior research, the staff's limited English - though certainly better than any foreign language skills at our table - seeing the order largely predetermined by the suggestions of others with fifteen plates divided over three courses.
Not particularly focused on noodles, but rather a variety of plates divided across the breadth of the menu to see how well the kitchen performs, it was with a large bowl of creamy Congee that the meal got started and with plenty of Pork as well as Century Egg included the rice was imbued with a deep sapor, the same to be said of the Kung Pao Mushrooms that were far less heated than some may favor, though that fact allowed the dish's umami to instead come to the fore.
Ordering a plate of simple wok-fried noodles for the pickiest diner at the table, texture on-point though flavor was expectedly lacking, better bites were found in the densely packed Fish Balls paired with thick Curry paste, the Honey sweetened Eggplant a truly addictive dish while the Sweet Potato fries would have been greatly benefitted by the salty egg-yolk featured at other similar places.
Moving on to more plates, the total bill $145.34 before tip, XLB fell far short of expectations due to a thick and sticky wrapping with soup that lacked much depth, the 'tapas' of Chef's Special Fried Chicken Wings and Grilled Ox Tongue each fairing better with the former crisp and spicy while the later was smooth and tender with a salty-sweet finish.
Offering a sizable portion of Walnut Prawns for just $14.99, the quality on par to those at Jasmine where prices run double for fewer, more good bites were found in the spicy Steak and springy Rice Cakes with Ramen as well as the unique Omelet folded around fluffy rice topped in a thick white sauce teaming with Shrimp, Squid and Scallops.
A bit weary of desserts at such a place, though pleased by the variety offered, three sweet items were selected to round out the afternoon and although the make-to-order Napoleon was far less layered than many of its French counterparts the Berries were indeed fresh amidst light Cream while the Mango Crepe ate something like a Fruit Roll-Up wrapped around more cream and with a ripe and juicy center, the Snow Flower Sundae putting an unset Custard base beneath Vanilla Shave Ice, Red Bean, cubes of Herbal Jelly.
THREE STARS: Expectedly lax in service, even with the restaurant less than 1/8 full, Wendy's Noodle Café falls somewhere in the middle of the pack for Las Vegas Chinatown, the best bet undoubtedly going with a group in order to sample many things with a focus on less finesse-oriented plates
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