Now that the waiter there knows my face and order, I owe this wonderful new place a review.
King Noodle is attached to the same building as the new Evergreen Asian Market and Lanna Thai in the old Wells Fargo Financial location, tucked behind the Payless Shoe Source. They just opened about a month ago and appear busy (but not too busy) every time I go there, regardless of it being right at noon or more towards three.
Parking is pretty easy- the lot is big and nobody goes to Payless anymore anyways- so there's always plenty available. I prefer to park and walk a bit but the worst case scenario here is that you will walk 100-200 feet to your car. But that probably won't happen.
You are greeted right away when you walk in the door by someone and are seated promptly. The very first time I ate here, the waiter (who is excellent) showed my table a video on his iPhone of the chef preparing the hand-pulled and hand-shaven noodles. I thought it was a nice touch. The waiter informed us that the chef was previously making noodle dishes in China for the last 20 years. The waiter also brought us out a piece of tofu skin when we inquired what it was (hard to describe, but it's a wrinkly slice of tofu. I don't know if it's pickled or not but it appeared to have the texture of something pickled or dried).
There is a full menu of fresh Chinese food and there is the option to create your own noodle soup. I have not had the heart to deviate from the noodle soup because I go with what works.
I took pictures of the entire menu and uploaded them to Yelp, in case you'd like to see it.
There is a window in the middle of the restaurant where you can watch the chef hand pull and hand shave the noodles. That's my table- don't take it! Even if you don't get that table, you can witness the magic from other tables in the restaurant. There are some pleasant window tables where you can watch the parking lot or the beauty that is Evergreen Way.
You are handed a piece of paper where you get to make your soup selections. There are four main types of broth- chicken, Szechuan (spicy), seafood and beef. I have tried all but beef and can confirm that the Szechuan is the best. It is spicy to the perfect level, where your nose might start running but you won't require an ambulance or a glass of milk. I haven't tried the beef broth because I don't like beef.
Next are the noodle choices. You can choose between egg, vermicelli, udon, hand-shaved, hand-pulled, hand-pulled spinach, rice or instant noodles. I have tried the hand-shaved noodle (thicker with a chewier texture), the hand-pulled noodles (delicious, buttery soft and melt in your mouth goodness) and the hand-pulled spinach noodles (same as the hand-pulled, but more flavorful). My favorite are the hand-pulled spinach noodles, although I would gladly eat the regular hand-pulled or the hand-shaven noodles. Either way, the noodles are fresh and superior to any other noodle I have ever eaten.
Next you get to choose your vegetables. You get to select two from the following: bean sprouts, bok choy, leek, Chinese cabbage and mushrooms. I'm big on texture and don't want crunchy veggies ruining the beauty of my noodles so I pick two orders of mushrooms every time. And I'm not changing.
Finally, you get to choose two kind of meat. The selections are beef brisket, beef meat balls, pork skin, won-tons, fish balls, BBQ duck, tofu, shredded fungus, tofu skin, shrimp, deep fried fish cakes, clam, beef tripe, sliced pork, spicy pork skin, roast pork (i'm reading a menu, I didn't memorize this), fish fillet, cuttle fish ball, luncheon, BBQ pork, squid, sliced beef, seaweed and mussels. I have tried the BBQ duck (delicious, but it comes in a big chunk and is bone-in. You have to remove it from your soup and gnaw off the meat. It is well-prepared and flavorful), won-tons (IMHO, a bit much considering it always comes with noodles. The won-tons are shaped like bags of gold and contain identifiable beef. They are good but a bit much), and scallops. I always specially request the scallops because I saw them elsewhere on the menu and I love love love scallops. Tofu is a new addition and I'm excited to try it at some point, as long as it's fresh/soft tofu.
As I mentioned, everything I have tried is excellent. The spicy Szechuan broth does go well with the scallops, which is something I was really worried about. In the beginning, we were given a large bowl of edamame with our meals, which was a pleasant surprise. I love edamame and ate so much that I once had leftover soup to take home with me. The next time we went, the bowl was smaller and when I went on New Year's Eve, I received no edamame. I don't know if I was forgotten or they do not serve it with their meals any more. I was really sad to not receive any. I hope I get some next time I come back.
As aforementioned, the service is great. The waiter is really nice and remembers me whenever I go in.
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