Asian Noodle House -- Hoffman Estates

Hi all! Did a search and didn't find anything so here goes my first post . Has anyone been to the Asian Noodle House in Hoffman Estates on Roselle next to Valli Produce. I unfortunatly work out in those lovely parts (nice commute from the city) and am always desperate for somewhere different to eat in an attempt to lure colleagues away from Chilis and the like.

thanks!

Asian Noodle House
844 N Roselle Rd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169

I go there frequently mainly for the pho, but they do a wide selection of pan-Asian noodle and rice dishes, including Malaysian-style, in an unpretensious strip mall location. Prices are very reasonable and portions good-sized. Also do some boba tea drinks.

thanks -- sounds like it's definitely worth checking out!

Went for the first time on Saturday. It's an hour for us to get to Uptown, so finding a spot 10 minutes away that does pho is huge. The broth was kinda bland, not as fragrant, but it still calms the craving somewhat.

Sredni Vashtar wrote:I go there frequently mainly for the pho, but they do a wide selection of pan-Asian noodle and rice dishes, including Malaysian-style,

I have no experience with Malaysian dishes so I want to try more of these. Do you have any favorites to recommend? I had a "weekend-only" dish from the house specials section called "Bak kut teh" (maybe, I can't exactly remember). It was a slow-cooked meat and mushroom stew flavored with what tasted like star anise. Good, but again, bland.

It's a nice bright storefront and the host made us feel very welcome and checked in on us several times. We're looking forward to returning soon.

I'm a big fan of this place as a lunch spot, or while out in the burbs shopping or whatever. However, I wouldn't say it's good enough to warrant a trip from the city, or any other suburb more than 10-20 minutes away. It's just a good, solid local place that doesn't do anything spectacularly, but does most things consistently.

thanks jonjon -- any recommendations? we're planning on checking it out for lunch later this week.

gls wrote:thanks jonjon -- any recommendations? we're planning on checking it out for lunch later this week.

I really like their Black Pepper Udon noodles!

Got carry-out from Asian Noodle House today. Didn't know what to expect from the menu, which seemed like a melange of Chinese, a little Vietnamese with a pinch of Malaysian.

The order of 2 vegetarian egg rolls were more Thai/Viet than Chinese, with a sweet dipping sauce, and very good. The rice paper spring rolls were fresh with shrimp but no pork, cilantro or mint--I'd grade those as only fair, only in comparison to the best Viet ones I've had. The combination udon was excellent; no gooeyness to the noodles whatsoever--same for the chicken with Chinese broccoli over chow fun noodles--perfectly serviceable. The spicy tomato shrimp over rice was only okay, the red sauce being tasty but with the shrimp a bit overcooked. I also had a Vietnamese iced coffee for the road, always the antidote for fighting traffic.

This place is dirt, dirt cheap--$31 for the whole works above. Bottom line is that I've had much worse that cost a lot more--that doesn't sound like a raving endorsement I guess! This place isn't gourmet by any means but if I lived close by I'd definitely be a regular. Next time I'll try the pho & other assorted soups, but I've had horrifying experiences transporting soup in the car, so it will have to be eat-in!

[quote="Anko"]Went for the first time on Saturday. It's an hour for us to get to Uptown, so finding a spot 10 minutes away that does pho is huge. The broth was kinda bland, not as fragrant, but it still calms the craving somewhat.

I would agree that the broth isn't a flavorful as the better pho places, but it's close to both work and home and when it's cold I often want a big bowl of hot soup--so it serves it purpose until something better comes along. I wish they'd also do a bahn mi sandwich.

Sredni Vashtar wrote:I would agree that the broth isn't a flavorful as the better pho places, but it's close to both work and home and when it's cold I often want a big bowl of hot soup--so it serves it purpose until something better comes along. I wish they'd also do a bahn mi sandwich.

I wonder how long it will take for a dedicated Vietnamese restaurant to "come along" near Schaumburg. I gotta think there's enough of a demand, and almost no supply. I mean, wouldn't a "Tank Noodle 2" or "Hai Yen Schaumburg" make a killing in this area?

Anko wrote:I wonder how long it will take for a dedicated Vietnamese restaurant to "come along" near Schaumburg. I gotta think there's enough of a demand, and almost no supply. I mean, wouldn't a "Tank Noodle 2" or "Hai Yen Schaumburg" make a killing in this area?

Asian Noodle House manages to stay open because their customer base is mainly Asians, ditto Schaumburg's many Indian restaurants (customers mainly Indian). My feeling is that many Schaumburgers are very much loathe to try anything that deviates too much from the chains. The better non-chain restaurants such as Sabor couldn't stay open. And even the two non-chain BBQ places that opened here closed quickly.

We had a company party at India House and had to endure much griping from staff who didn't like Indian food--even though they had never actually had any. We still hear complaints about that!

Anko wrote:I wonder how long it will take for a dedicated Vietnamese restaurant to "come along" near Schaumburg. I gotta think there's enough of a demand, and almost no supply. I mean, wouldn't a "Tank Noodle 2" or "Hai Yen Schaumburg" make a killing in this area?

According to this week's Dish, it looks like Glendale Heights will soon have Vietnamese.

Chicago Magazine's Dish wrote: John and Kevin Ngo, a pair of Saigon-born brothers, opened Tay Do (1232 Bloomingdale Rd., Glendale Heights; 630-462-8888), a 99-seat Vietnamese spot, for one reason: “My brother feels the Vietnamese food in Chicago has ruined the reputation of Vietnamese food,” says John. Oh? And Tay Do is restoring it? “My place is really elegant,” he says of the two-month-old spot. “Walls are red and gold. We have an ‘island’ with a decorated bamboo tree, a coconut tree.” The average entrée comes in under $7, but customers—particularly those from the nearby Filipino and Vietnamese churches—seem happy with the “Firepot,” a spicy $23 beast of a soup with enough noodles, seafood, and vegetables to feed four people.

Finally made it over to Asian Noodle House today but was only able to order carry out (needed to hit Valli Produce as well). Almost all tables were full when I walked in around 12:30 and predominantly Asian cliental. I was promptly greeted and shifted around when I said that I was not dining in. Because I had to bring my lunch back to the office, I thought I'd better limit myself to a noodle dish. Tried the house special Malaysian noodle which was about 6-8 shrimp with a combo of flat thai rice noodles and thinner "yellow" noodles. A few bean sprouts and green onions in the mix as well. The fresh spring rolls were ok -- a bit too loosely rolled and heavy on the lettuce. Noodles were a nice mix of well seared and soft / stuck together (LOVE those). Very similar in taste to thai Pad See-Ewe.

At under $10 for the spring rolls / noodles, it was enough for 2 meals. Like most others have said, good but not great. But a find in an area where homestyle food is not easy to find and we will make this part of our lunch rotation..... Looking forward to dining in and trying the Pho / Wonton soups on a winter day.

Pucca wrote: According to this week's Dish, it looks like Glendale Heights will soon have Vietnamese.

Chicago Magazine's Dish wrote: John and Kevin Ngo, a pair of Saigon-born brothers, opened Tay Do (1232 Bloomingdale Rd., Glendale Heights; 630-462-8888), a 99-seat Vietnamese spot, for one reason: “My brother feels the Vietnamese food in Chicago has ruined the reputation of Vietnamese food,” says John. Oh? And Tay Do is restoring it? “My place is really elegant,” he says of the two-month-old spot. “Walls are red and gold. We have an ‘island’ with a decorated bamboo tree, a coconut tree.” The average entrée comes in under $7, but customers—particularly those from the nearby Filipino and Vietnamese churches—seem happy with the “Firepot,” a spicy $23 beast of a soup with enough noodles, seafood, and vegetables to feed four people.

Glendale Heights has had multiple Vietnamese places for years. Tay Do occupies the old Pho Saigon location, and there is another Pho place up the road on Bloomingdale, and I am pretty sure there is at least one more around that same area. A few years ago there also was a pretty decent place on Batavia Road on the north side of Wheaton, which is about 2-3 miles south of there. I would not consider that near Schuamburg, even though it is a heck of a lot closer than Argyle Street.

Have been to Tay Do once so far, and found it quite good. The proprietor is quite the schmoozer, too, in a good way, so I think he will make it work.

Tried a few items the other day at Asian Noodle House:

Beef Chow Fun - very good fresh noodles, not quite as large as what I've normally seen with chow fun noodles but very enjoyable dish none the less.

Ba Kuh Teh - broth was not as complex as what I recall from having this in Malaysia, heavy on star anise here.

Cantonese Roast Duck - a let down, not marinated well & was dry. I think they are purchasing from elsewhere & reheating.

Tried this place for the first time today. While I wouldn't consider it a destination restaurant, as others have noted, if you live out here, it's nice to have it. And one can't argue with the prices -- most dishes range from $4.75 to $5.95. Had the braised noodles with duck. The menu says this comes with shrimp wonton, which turned out to be a very flavorful soup with shrimp wanton in it -- but it seemed like the shrimp may have been bolstered with pork. The noodles were pleasant, though they benefited from a bit of chili oil, and the duck was lovely. Hot tea, good soup, pleasant noodles with tasty duck, all for $5.95. I'm not complaining.

I do want to go back and try a few more dishes --like the ma po tofu and Hainan chicken rice -- dishes I've had in China, so I'd have something to compare.

The owner did say, when we told him we enjoyed the food, that if we came back, he could show us things that aren't on the menu. I figure that alone is worth another visit. But as noted above, the place was packed with folks from SE Asia -- my friend and I were the only Westerners at the time we visited.

We were going to go shopping at Valli, so we ordered Vietnamese iced coffee to go. They use Café du Monde for this, and it was really nice. So stopping for a carry-out beverage before shopping is another possibility. And while it's not comparable to Argyle Street, I live in Arlington Heights, so this is 20 minutes away, instead of an hour. Definitely good enough, when factoring in the distance -- and the proximity to entertaining grocery shopping at Valli.

Had lunch w/Cynthia today, the black pepper udon noodles w/beef was VERY satisfying on this cold day.

Enjoyed lunch -- company and black pepper udon.

This was the first time I'd been at Asian Noodle House before noon (got there at 11:30am). Other times I've been there, it has been around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. It reminded me of something I noticed a few weeks ago at Tank Noodle. At Tank, a friend and I arrived for an early dinner -- just before 5pm -- and the place was packed with Asians. As the Asians finished dinner and filtered out, they were replaced by Caucasians.

Today, at Asian Noodle House, most of the folks there before noon were Caucasians. My previous visits, mid-afternoon visits, it was wall-to-wall Asians. On at least one occasion, my dining companion and I were the only Caucasians in the place. Actually lines waiting to get in pretty much from 12:30 to 3.

So is this fairly universal? Do Asians tend to eat mid-Afternoon? Or is it just a total fluke that the two Asian places I've been to in the last few weeks are experiencing this phenomenon.

Cynthia wrote:Enjoyed lunch -- company and black pepper udon.

This was the first time I'd been at Asian Noodle House before noon (got there at 11:30am). Other times I've been there, it has been around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. It reminded me of something I noticed a few weeks ago at Tank Noodle. At Tank, a friend and I arrived for an early dinner -- just before 5pm -- and the place was packed with Asians. As the Asians finished dinner and filtered out, they were replaced by Caucasians.

Today, at Asian Noodle House, most of the folks there before noon were Caucasians. My previous visits, mid-afternoon visits, it was wall-to-wall Asians. On at least one occasion, my dining companion and I were the only Caucasians in the place. Actually lines waiting to get in pretty much from 12:30 to 3.

So is this fairly universal? Do Asians tend to eat mid-Afternoon? Or is it just a total fluke that the two Asian places I've been to in the last few weeks are experiencing this phenomenon.

I just created a survey monkey tool to answer this exact question. I will let you know when I have all 4.427 billion responses.

Asian Noodle House, mainly Malaysian lunch with friends, one of whom grew up in Sinapore. Hiding in plain sight in the wilds of Hoffman Estates, A.N.H. offers Hainan Chicken Rice, Malaysian Char Kuay Teow Mee, Chow fun with beef, broccoli and gravy and off menu Curry Laska.

Hat tip for Pradeep for shepherding our tasty lunch. We had 7-items, including fried chow fun, and it came to $50. Last night Sun Wah Barbecue, today Asian Noodle House, my culinary cup runneth over!




Asian Noodle House, Count me a Fan!

I love the Curry Laska from Asian Noodle House. From my last visit the Curry Laska is an off menu item as its wasn't on the menu. You have ask for it when ordering.

polster wrote:From my last visit the Curry Laska is an off menu item as its wasn't on the menu. You have ask for it when ordering.

Yes, off menu. Our server, who I suspect is the owner, mentioned he would make other Malaysian signature dishes such as Chili Crab, roti etc with suitable notice. If Asian Noodle House didn't take almost an hour each way I'd be there tomorrow for lunch. Though it won't be long before a return visit.

Off menu “Pin” noodle soup. Really fishy broth with handcut chewy noodles that resemble squid. So so good.