Hey Noodles! Where are the noodles?!
If you want my brief synopsis of my first visit to Hey Noodles, it's there in the first paragraph. It's not a good sign when the name has noodles and you don't get any!
I am slow to the braised protein trend. Seeing that I am always in this area for Starbucks and Popeye's Chicken, and walk past this eatery when I'm picking up food from Pizza Hut, I decided to give Hey Noodles a try.
The first time, I ordered takeout through Uber Eats and got the following:
- Fresh watermelon juice
- Yummy braised chicken with regular egg noodles
- Salted crispy chicken bites
With the yummy braised chicken, I got to order the spicy and numbness levels. I tend to not go crazy with them when I first order from a place. I also got the cilantro removed.
My order was ready pretty fast. I was running errands that day. I pulled into the plaza, parked, and walked over to the restaurant.
I looked at all the signs posted on the doors. There were a lot of them. The first one said to wear a mask. Check!
The next sign had in Chinese that if you buy a watermelon drink, you get one for free. This offer wasn't mentioned in English on the sign. I didn't see this offer on Uber Eats, either. I was thrilled to get a free drink, though. I then grew tired of looking at all the signs and simply walked in.
When I got inside, I talked to a woman. I said my name and that I was picking up an Uber Eats order. She asked for the order number, which I showed on my phone. All was well. My two bags of goodies were on the table. I thanked her, got my goods, headed to my car, and drove home.
Let's start with the yummy braised chicken. I was pleased to see star anise when I took the lid off the container. There were generous chunks of chicken, onion, potatoes, mushrooms, and bell peppers. The onions were more on the raw side, which I don't enjoy in a braised dish. I'd rather have them cooked longer and get soft like the other ingredients. I took all the onion chunks out. Everything else was flavourful and done well. There was one large slice of ginger, which I also took out.
I had ordered regular egg noodles. They were missing. In the container that should have had egg noodles, I got rice. Ugh! The broth for my nonexistent noodles accompanied my order. All I saw were dried shrimp, seaweed, and egg in the broth looking back at me, also wondering where the noodles were.
I made the best of my screwed-up order. I got a plate, put down my steamed rice, and poured the yummy braised chicken on top. It was filling. I still wanted noodles, though. I wasn't in the mood for rice, which was the main reason why I went with noodles.
The watermelon juice was the best! It was refreshing and tasted fresh.
The salted crispy chicken bites were good. They were packed in a small rectangular box. I was hoping to get more for $8. They weren't super crispy or salty, but were yummy. The box soaked up a good portion of the oil.
The second time I ordered from here, I did it through Hey Noodles's site. I got watermelon juice. The site has issues. By the time that I got to the store to pick up my order, the young man who was there said that they had run out of watermelon juice. So, how come the site doesn't tell you immediately that it's out of stock? I basically wasn't impressed that I drove over to find out that it was out of watermelon juice. I also had to ask for a refund. Additionally, I asked that the guy communicate with the folks responsible for the ordering site to improve upon this feature of letting customers know when items are unavailable. I don't think that he cared. Same goes for the owner who was sitting there.
It's a shame. The watermelon juice is so good here when it is available. I won't be coming back anytime soon. I may try a different location and see if my order is completed correctly. Maybe I'll call this location Hey Rice, as it's more fitting to my experience.
(203) read more