I sometimes default to Chinatown for everything Asian food but sooo glad I give this place a try. Their Macau/Asian street food menu gives you a very good variety. I was pleasantly surprised trying the Macau Rice Crisp for the first time, it was a bold choice but super flavorful and all the dishes are very solid. Would come back again for other menu items and that infamous egg custard. Dishes I tried: Macau Rice Crisp Half Charcoal Chicken Char Siu Pork Wok Seared Pork Noodle read more

NoodleBird - Half Charcoal Chicken - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Came for the noodles, but the egg tarts absolutely STOLE THE SHOW! Dare we say-- the best in Chicago?! The crust was flaky and buttery, enfolding such a gooey, delicious, eggy custard. We could go through an entire box of these! The quality justifies the price ($8 per order of 2). The char siu fried rice was fragrant and good to share! The peanut noodles were okay-- We anticipated more of a nutty, tangy peanut sauce. And, we maybe could've done without the eggplant side (cold preparation). Overall, would come again just for the egg tarts! We would give the tarts a 5 star rating on their own! Pictured: Egg Custard Tart, Sweet & Sour Pork Fried Rice, Peanut Noodle, and Sweet & Sour Eggplant read more

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Great food, with gluten free options. Affordable and the bakery is awesome. Staff is friendly.

Dumplings and pastries are divine, drooling just thinking about it honestly. Expected a little more from wok seared pork noodles cause I like my rice noodles a little crispy but this was saucier than I thought, still delicious nonetheless. Will go back to try the other many dishes. Great ambiance too! read more

NoodleBird - WOK SEARED PORK NOODLES - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food here is pretty tasty, the service fine for it being a fast casual spot, and the interior is cozy and highly decorated. We ordered the corn fritters, half chicken, dan dan noodles, milk tea, and some egg tarts. The corn fritters and entrees were both very solid dishes and full of flavor. The milk tea is definitely on the less sweet side. The egg tarts were ok. The pastry of the egg tart is flaky and baked really well, but the custard is not nearly as sweet as I would prefer. If you like portugese egg tarts or typical sweet custards in general you may not like the ones here--they're just not very sweet. I felt like the custard was a slightly sweet scrambled egg. The texture was a little broken and not as smooth as I believe they should be. Overall a good place if you're looking for some Asian comfort food. read more

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Run do not walk to this restaurant! Went there last night with my husband for a pre Father's Day splurge meal and it was just fantastic. We ordered from the QR code menu at the table which I would recommend as there are more options on it than the printed menu. Got 2 drinks- Birds word and Lake Street Bird. They were both delish. Can't remember which was which but one had rum and several tropical juices and was on the regular menu and the other had gin and strawberry slurry and was on the special list. Drinks came out well ahead of the food and were potent. Got the char sui and cheese roll which was epic- crispy, cheesy, porky and just so good. Wok seared pork noodles were great as well- just a terrific sauce, tasty meat and good noodles. Smoky spicy chicken fried rice was made special with the crunchy rice pieces and intense flavors. The only thing that wasn't the best was the coffee chocolate cookie cake - it was ok but nothing special. You do get table service when you order at a table with the QR code menu, and they bus the table as well and give you carry out containers. The only thing you have to do is fetch your own silverware and napkins and hot sauce. Service was good- took a bit to get the food but they were busy with tons of carry out orders. It was not busy inside at 6 pm on a Saturday night but by the time we left after 7 it had filled up. There are tons of things I want to try on the menu and we will be back for sure! read more

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We ordered: 1. Smoky Chicken Curried Rice Macaroni Soup - charcoal chicken, carrots, daikon, greens, smoked umami bone broth 2. Minced Soy Sauce Beef Fat Noodles - bok choy, iceberg, jalapeno, onion, garlic soy 3. Char Siu Pork Collar & Egg Custard Tart Solid flavors and quality in all of the above dishes! Great variety of ingredients that worked well together. Plenty of perfectly cooked macaroni and the chicken was tender. They skimped on the fat noodles though. More rice and broccoli should come with the pork collar. The egg tart is better than what you get in Chinatown but 2 PC for $8, 6 for $24? I'll stick to Chinatown. They justify their clearly higher prices on the menu to pay their workers a higher wage, benefits, etc. I'd come back but skip the egg tarts. read more

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I've only ordered delivery from here so I cannot speak to the ambiance... but I've been mostly happy with everything I've ordered to date. Is it my favorite spot? No. Do I keep trying it hoping to find that dish that will make me rave about it? Sure do. Had the little passion fruit filled donut today- that was great if you're into passion fruit. Char siu bun- 4/5 Steamed minced soy beef with rice noodles- 2.5/5 (noodles are too thick and it was bland) Shrimp and garlic dumplings- 3/5 (they were super thick) Steamed chili peanut noodle - 3/5 There are better options around. read more

A limited menu, casual dining atmosphere, but interesting and flavorful food! I got a the smokey chicken curry rice macaroni. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with a curry rice macaroni, but the flavor was so good! There was a savory broth at the bottom, the macaroni noodles on top, smokey chicken and vegetables mixed throughout, and a dollop of curry on top. I appreciated this unique concept (as well as AMAZING flavor in the broth, chicken, and curry) but I don't know if the dish came together as a whole. I think I would have preferred if the curry came already mixed in the dish? Overall really appreciate the creativity and flavor of the food here! I think there's a couple tweaks needed to perfect the dishes, but I'm very glad I tried this place out. read more

NoodleBird - Smokey Chicken Curry Rice Macaroni - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

All the food was really good, it is a super casual atmosphere with a very good selection of sauces. The food came out quick and despite it being casual it was really well made read more

Not like what I remember. It's turned into a self serve restaurant from a dine in restaurant. Prices are expensive. But if you're giving it a shot, definitely try the char siu. It's The best out of everything we ordered. The cabbage or cucumber salads wasn't that flavorful. Egg tarts had good flavor, however it's not as flaky as the actual Portuguese tarts because they leave it sitting in a warmer. read more

NoodleBird - Pork and shrimp dumplings, tofu fried rice, cucumber salad, cabbage salad - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I've had noodlebird bookmarked on Yelp ever since my family drove past here like a year or so ago and I thought it looked good! My sister and her bf had been before and highly recommended. We got chili peanut rice noodles, vegetable Mac soup, and smoked tofu fried rice, and shared it!I also had tofu added to the peanut rice noodles. Everything was so spicy and flavorful. So delicious! Everything is gluten free too. My mom has celiacs so we brought her home a couple treats which she loved! Would totally recommend and come back sometime! read more

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My friend is allergic to soy but he said he wanted to try noodlebird anyways because it just sounds that good even though everything on the menu would probably make him And I'm not him but noodlebird is pretty good and so I would say it's worth 1 bad bathroom trip If that doesn't do it for you I don't know what will. I went with my best friend and another friend and we ordered the chicken dinner special for two, the beef noodle, and the char siu pork. The chicken dinner special is good value and lots of food: it's salad, dumplings, charcoal chicken and rice, and egg tarts. The charcoal chicken was delicious but honestly some parts of the breast were dry and it is what it is but next time I would probably skip the chicken bc other things on the menu outshine it. The coconut rice was so delicious hehe I ate every last grain, I know it's not hard to make coconut rice but it really feels so bougie to eat it at a restaurant. The noodles are so yummy you literally won't go wrong with ordering any of the handmade noodle dishes. The char siu pork was GREAT and I would definitely order it again, I ate the fattier pieces and my friends ate the leaner pieces and it was good boths ways! Finally, the egg tarts were SO GOOD so eggy and the crust was so flaky and soft and they came out warm This was a very heavy meal tbh but a hearty one! read more

NoodleBird - Chicken Dinner for 2 Special - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Absolute perfection. SO good, great vibes, amazing gluten free selection... you can't go wrong here!

I mean maybe 3.5 stars because there are some dishes here that are great. But I feel like I'm always so excited when ordering and then afterward I feel like it never quite lives up to expectations. The exceptions are the fried rice and egg tarts. The fried rice especially is some of the best fried rice I've had in the area. Super well balanced, a good amount of spice and heat with a decent amount of protein and it's a little unique. Not just your standard fried rice. The egg tarts also stand out as some of the lightest, but richest and full of flavor I've had. The soup however seems like a chicken noodle soup that is just busier. And I've had some of the apps across a handful of visits/deliveries as well and I always find them just a bit ok. read more

We tried the beef rice with egg and chicken rice. It lacked flavor but added the house made hot sauce and it was better. The service was okay, you order from a QR code, and there's not much else to it. The bartender gave me the tiniest pour of wine that ended up being 15 dollars - kind of made me not want to come back here for as much money as we spent. read more

They don't take reservations so came a little earlier on Friday around 630 to try to get a spot. We had no problem getting a table for4, but it started to get packed by 7 pm. A lot of people just came in for take out. Food was good! Eggplant, rice noodle dish & dumplings were my favorite. I wasn't a huge fan of the pork dish we got but otherwise it was good! Margarita cocktail was amazing! Drank it before I could remember to get a picture. I don't think the other cocktails that I tried from others were with it. We also tried the egg tarts at the end. Overall good meal read more

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NoodleBird has been on our neighborhood bucket list for a while now. Our friends had spoken highly of it and It's just down the street from the house. We were finally able to stop in last night for dinner. The place was popping! Every table was full, the music was bumping and conversations were flowing! Despite cramped space service was very attentive and welcoming. We decided to order the dinner for two which consisted of half a chicken over rice, cabbage salad, chicken and ginger dumplings, and two egg tarts for dessert. We added and order of the cucumber salad as well. The standouts of the meal were the dumplings! Call these things Green Bay because they were packed with flavor. The chicken was really good. It was seasoned really well and had some good heat, like a nice fall cocktail that warms your insides but doesn't leave you hurting. The egg tarts were the perfect way to cap off the meal. Crisp, pillowing bundles of sweetness. Little clouds of deliciousness. I'm sorta mad at myself that we haven't tried this sooner. read more

Wednesday night stomach ache after the smoked tofu and crispy rice entree. Both me and my wife. Too oily. Gave the leftovers a second chance for lunch. Big mistake, same outcome. Won't return. read more

Don't do it. It's fine for takeout, but the staff is rude. If you want to be treated like an inconvenience then this may be the spot for you. I've served and bartended for years and I was floored by how unpleasant the staff was. The food does not make up for the experience. Will not be back. read more

I loved the chicken with coconut rice and the shrimp coconut noodle soup. I'll order again for sure.

OMG I can't even with this place. Every. Single. Thing. Was. Awesome. So freaking quaint and good. LOVE LOVE.

I ordered a ton of things for takeout and, surprisingly, everything held up in texture and was extremely tasty! We had: -Half of a charcoal grilled chicken (tender, smoky, nice subtle spice) -Char Siu pork bun (fluffy bun filled with the perfect amount of sweet and savory pork) -Heart veg macaroni Soup (needed a bit more umami, which I added with some soy sauce I had at home. Still good, and enjoyed the thick-cut veggies). -Two malasadas/donuts: black sesame cream and passionfruit (died and went to heaven) -Guava and cheese bun (perfect mix of sweet and sour/salty) -Egg tarts (buttery, delicious custard, not too sweet, maybe could've been a tad flakier) -Coconut veggie broth to sip on (yum!) While picking up, I noticed how fun it looked on the inside. So cool to have access to Macanese cuisine in Chicago. Excited to come again! read more

The seasonal special was amazing. The meals were smaller and a bit on the oily side. Generally it was ok, but maybe I need to explore the menu more. read more

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generally thought this was fine -- probably a 3.5/5. service was kinda terrible, but to be fair, the guy was new it seems, so i'm not too concerned about that. the spot is pretty informal and kinda rowdy, and i was into the general vibe. the dan dan noodles and the half chicken were fine. not sure if i'd be back for them, but might try some other options. the corn fritters and milk tea were good. i was mostly excited for the pastel de natas (the Portuguese egg tarts) -- but they were maybe some of the worst i've had. maybe because this is a fusion Chinese version, but the custard was broken and it was not very sweet at all. these are one of my favourite Portuguese baked goods and i was disappointed. would come back and try some other items. read more

Walked in during happy hour on a cloudy day. Cute authentic and trendy vibe inside and patio. Good happy hour prices! Absolutely loved the dumplings and ended up having my partner share some of his French toast. Which has bananas and peanut butter... Ended up leaving with 3 bottles of their hot sauce, which was a great deal. Will return for their house made fat rice noodles. read more

NoodleBird - Savory Hong Kong Style French Toast, Shrimp and Garlic Dumplings, Corn and Jalapeno Fritters and a few other goodies. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Adrien Lo has reimagined Fat Rice for post covid times. The restaurant has downsized occupancy tremendously since the glory days, but the delicious Macauan flavors remain, along with some new dishes and flavor treats. We carried out the vegan combo dinner which was delicious. It contained spicy corn fritters , peanut noodles and smoked tofu curry, along with sesame mochi we are saving for a nighttime treat. Nobody makes smoked tofu as delicious as this. Spices ranged from mild in the noodles to hot in the fritters. We will definitely return! read more

Crappy service and honestly the food did not sit well with my tummy.. I will not give this place a second chance.

Really awesome food! Always new specials and truly a delight to visit. This place makes the best noodles!!!

Very solid, would come here again or order from here for pick up / delivery. It didn't blow me away, but I can tell this place is something that would be consistently good. Their menu isn't super large so with my sister and a friend I was able to try many of their popular dishes. Honestly, you could go to Chinatown and get very similar food but the ~ vibes ~ of this place are perfect for a friend who wants to try Asian food or a casual date. Half Charcoal Chicken - yum! great to try. coconut rice was good too and not too coconut-y. Minced Soy Sauce Beef Fat Noodles (bok choy, cabbage, collard greens, jalapeno, onion, garlic soy) - thick thick noodles. if you like thin noodles, do not order this. if you're like me and love thick noodles, definitely get this. Minced Soy Sauce Beef Rice Bowl with Egg - if you like beef, but don't like noodles.. get this dish! Really want to go back to try their shrimp fried rice, hong kong style french toast, and egg tarts. Wish I had been able to try more things, but we were full. They do have an open-ish kitchen and I noticed how fresh the egg tarts were. Their online menu on their website is very accurate if you want to see what they have to offer. Overall, pricey-ish but better vibes. read more

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Takeaway: All-around great Chinese / Portuguese fusion with stand-out charcoal grilled proteins and an absolutely incredible egg tart (probably best in the city). I also want to flag the negative notoriety that owner Abe Conlon had garnered due to his workplaces practices and insensitive handling of DEI issues (most notably the cultural appropriation baked into the walls of this place). I'm focusing mostly on my personal experience in this review, but want to echo and acknowledge the many employees that have had poor (at-best) experiences under his management. Context: Dined in for dinner with two friends and did the meal for four. I haven't had a ton of Macau food before specifically (other than egg tarts), but have had plenty of Chinese food and a good amount of Portuguese. What I Got: Spicy Cucumbers (7.5/10) Cucumber salad (featuring wood ear mushrooms) tossed in a spicy sauce. I thought the sauce here was top-notch (and saved it the whole meal to mix with my rice later on), but the cucumbers themselves were perhaps a little bit disappointing. They were a bit too bitter for my taste and distracted from the overall great flavors (mushrooms were awesome though!) Ginger Cabbage Salad (6.5/10) Name kind of describes it all. This probably tastes exactly how you imagine it. Certainly not bad and a decent complement to the richer flavors that come later on, but nothing special by itself. Pork Dumplings (8/10) Thinly-wrapped ground pork dumplings served in a garlic & chili sauce - very reminiscent of a Sichuan-style chao shou with both the filling and the sauce. They did a great job at getting the perfect balance of savory and spicy with the sauce and you can really taste the quality of the pork they use. I could eat dozens of these. Smoked Tofu Fried Rice (7/10) Coconut rice stir-fried with tofu, curry sauce, and an array of different vegetables. While not something that could carry a meal on its own (which is how I feel about the vast majority of fried rice), I thought this was a great complement to the rest of the meal, particularly with the char siu (who doesn't love meat and rice). Put some of their chili oil on it if you can! Char Siu BBQ Berkshire Pork (8.5/10) Char siu over coconut rice with (uncooked?) scallions on the side. First of all, it's sort of weird that the scallions weren't better incorporated into the dish, but I'll just let it slide as decorative garnish I guess. The pork itself is great - tender in a way that is pretty different from most char siu I've had in the past. I don't know if I necessarily prefer it like this over the traditional way, but certainly appreciated the switch-up. Ultimately a pretty impressive char siu that doesn't stray too much from the classically sweet grilled pork that I've loved my whole life, while still being its own dish. Half Charcoal Chicken (8/10) Perfectly charcoal grilled chicken in a lemon / garlic / chili sauce over a bed of coconut rice - what more could you want? This was a wonderfully cooked half-chicken - the breast was a bit dry, but that's how grilled chicken breast almost always turns out. This reminded me heavily of a refined peri-peri chicken - perhaps there is a Macau-equivalent here, but that's all I was thinking about while eating this. Not that that's a bad thing - I adore peri-peri chicken. There's an undercurrent of spice here that is balanced by the various sources of rice that were provided. Egg Tart (9/10) Portuguese-style egg tarts, on-par with the best I've had in my life and certainly the top ones in Chicago. Perfectly flaky crust with a custard that's just the right balance of gooey and runny with a precise sweetness that will keep you craving more and more read more

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Everything we ate was delicious! Came for brunch and were blown away. The savory french toast is *chef's kiss* - and the egg custard tart was also a highlight. The cocktails were fantastic, as well as the loose leaf tea selection. Plenty of seating was available during the brunch time, and the food/service was great. We can't wait to return! read more

NoodleBird - Savory Hong Kong Style French Toast - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We enjoyed noodlebird at Fat Rice today. Ordered the char sui Berkshire pork, sweet Hong Kong style French toast, tofu fried rice, corn fritters and dumplings. Everything was very tasty. I really enjoyed the bakery at fat rice pre-pandemic and wish I could get some of the buns I used to enjoy. I want to try the half charcoal chicken another time. We ordered for pick up and it was ready just before estimated time for pick up. Will definitely be in heavy rotation on our dinner list read more

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Ohmygod genuinely the best ish food I've ever had. Pork and ginger dumplings were 100% fire! The creamsicle drink with mango was SOOOOOOO good. 11/10. Wait staff was nice, not too busy, cute and fun atmosphere. Really enjoyed my time, and got to enjoy with fam. read more

We ordered the Chili Peanut Noodle, Minced Soy Sauce Beef Rice Bowl, Shrimp and Garlic Boiled Dumplings (6pc) and OH MY GOODNESS they were so good. The service was fast and friendly. The star of the show were of course the egg tarts We left full, but not overly full and greasy. The cocktails were also AWESOME. Refreshing and topped off the experience. 10/10 from me! read more

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Very unique spot with excellent cuisine and a great atmosphere. I really dug the mission statement of the restaurant and loved the open kitchen concept. Watching them cook with fire is so interesting! The cocktails were quite good. Enjoyed a negroni and a spicy margarita, these were really special. My partner and I went a little overboard on cuisine, but everything was so delicious and we were starving. We started with the pork and chive dumplings with spicy chili sauce and wow - so delicious. Perfectly steamed and swimming in such a tasty. We also ordered the grilled jumbo shrimp and boy these were fantastic. The sauce again was so delicious and the shrimps were big and juicy. Enjoyed having some roasted leeks and rice with the shrimps. The roasted half chicken is my #1 recommendation here. First - the chicken is PERFECT. So moist, so fresh, excellent quality of the bird, and that smoked flavor is SO DANG GOOD. The rice and the roasted leeks again was such a delicious addition. We did ask for more sauce and we pretty much drank the sauce with the shrimp and they were so happy to oblige. SO DELICIOUS. Had to end the whole meal with egg tarts of course. WOW - again just so blown away. The delicate custard was perfectly sweet and a little subtle. The pastry outside was flaky and buttery with no soggy bottoms. Check this place out - seriously a unique spot with amazing food and great service. read more

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I had an awesome experience here at NoodleBird! I am really satisfied and impressed. Big applause to their staff. We ordered their incredible noodles and dumplings on the patio. I liked the patio a lot, it was a nice place to be. We had both the shrimp and the pork dumplings. I did prefer the pork dumplings. I also liked the beef noodles. The only problem for me was their comfort room, it's a bit small and not that decent. But still this place was good. Thanks especially to the staff and managers! read more

We were out on a day date. After trying to get a table at Lao Peng You & hearing a 2 1/2 hour wait, we called an audible and delightfully found our way to Noodlebird!! What a fantastic place. Fresh noodles, Dumplings and sooo much more. Home made hot sauce that should be on the next Hot Ones. Also, the contactless ordering is super easy and lightning fast read more

NoodleBird - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My new favorite spot!! The food was insanely flavorful and fresh. The chicken fried rice had the perfect mix of sweet, smokey, and hot. The handmade noodles are also truly outstanding. The service was amazing and felt very welcoming! read more

NoodleBird - Smoky, Spicy Chicken Fried Rice and Wok Seared Pork Noodles - Asian Fusion Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Delicious, well-packed food delivered by Uber. Tried a couple entrees (dumplings, pork noodles) and a few baked goods (passion fruit Malasada, black sesame mochi, mochi donut, BBQ pork Bao). The amount of care and quality of ingredients was immediately evident. The texture of every baked good was remarkable. The meat in the noodles was cooked to perfection. Will absolutely be eating here again. (I think the dumplings would be best eaten in person, which is true of all dumplings). read more