Aesthetically, this restaurant is styled very nicely. It looks smaller on the outside but is bigger on the inside.
As I sat down to look at the menu, I quickly turned my focus to the "Noodle" section (the main reason of coming to Lambo). I kept reading each dish after the next... there were only about 10 different noodle dishes, and all of them soups. Nothing looked appetizing (but maybe Taiwanese noodles are just done differently than I'm used to).
I decided on ordering the beef and tomato noodles and got deep fried wontons as an appetizer. The noodles were $13 and the wontons were $6.50.
Oh yes, and that was another thing- appetizers. They had chicken nuggets, French fries and yam fries on their apps menu. That was a total turn off for me. They shouldn't have had to Americanize and already pretty basic menu.
While all of this was going on, there was the music. There was EDM (electric dance music) playing in the background the entire time I dined. It threw off the whole vibe of the restaurant. Why not play some Taiwanese pop or something?? Again, too Americanized.
My husband went to use the washroom (sectioned off by very thin curtains), and just outside the bathroom doors was a large trough-like sink with an electric hand dryer next to it. Using this hand dryer was extremely obnoxious because the sound echos throughout the entire restaurant. Not classy at all. I'm not even sure why they thought this was necessary, seeing as how the washrooms have their own sinks and hand dryers inside them already.
The wontons came first- there were about 6 tiny wontons that looked like they were frozen and then baked. For $6.50 (a little over $1 for each) it was not worth the price. They tasted fine though and were served with sweet chilli sauce.
The noodles came out, and the first thing I noticed was a big slice of a tomato laying on top. That was pretty much the only "tomato" thing about the soup. Very disappointing and unappealing. There was half of a large bok choi in the dish as well, which I enjoyed but wish there was more of. Green onions garnished the rest of the dish. The beef was quite good- it was tender and practically melted in the mouth. It tasted a bit salty though. You could tell the noodles were hand made, which was excellent. They were soft and delicious. The broth, however, was probably my least favourite (though it may just be my personal taste). I could tell the chefs used star of anise in the broth (smells and tastes like black liquorice-which I despise). It seemed very watery and salty.
I was expecting more noodle dishes, as well as noodle dishes that weren't all soups. The menu was overpriced and disappointing too. The waiters were friendly, and the ambiance was nice, but I will not be going back to Lambo Noodle Bar unless they seriously change their menu. read more