Spicy to the Max at No. 1 Noodle House
Friday, July 10, 2009 8:47Okay folks, repeat after me: Rowland Heights. As in ROH-land Heights. That is the proper way to pronounce the city right off of the Fullerton exit on the 60. Now that that’s out of the way, how about some noodles?
No. 1 Noodle House is located in a food-court in Yes Plaza in Rowland Heights. It’s incredibly hard to find from the street, so just pull into the plaza, find parking, and walk toward the inside corner, where the weird house facades are. The people working at the restaurant has okay English, but the main menu is all in Chinese, so either bring a friend who can speak Chinese, or be ready to do a lot of pointing at pictures and asking questions.
You order at the counter, pay, are given a number, and find a seat inside the indoor food-court. If it’s a warm, sunny day like the day I visited, sit outside.
No. 1 Noodle Nouse is known for their spicy beef noodle soup. The noodles have the same texture and taste as ramen noodles, but aren’t as crinkled. I asked for what amounts to “mild” spice in the soup, but they must have a different scale than me, because I was breaking into a sweat after the second slurp. The soup packs a powerful heat, but not that much Szechuan numbness, so order accordingly. Despite the pain my mouth was in, I couldn’t stop myself from slurping up spoonful after spoonful of savory, beefy soup.
The beef in the soup, which I couldn’t really taste because my tongue was on fire, had the texture of corned beef. It was tender, fell apart in strings, and was a much needed respite from the chili-oil-laden soup. I also enjoyed the various pickled veggies thrown into the soup, but had to be careful that I wasn’t accidentally eating a chili pepper disguised as a green bean.
The BF likes the dan dan mien (cold noodles) here. If you’re looking for a solid meal, be sure to order the large serving, because the default size is quite small. He ordered these vegan (I assume the regular version has ground meat), and extra spicy. The cook took the extra spicy to heart because he put in a healthy dollop of chili paste in this bowl. I’m a wimp and already suffering some mouth pain, so I didn’t dare try a bite of these.
No. 1 Noodle House is a delicious, quick place to drop by for some good, spicy noodles and not a lot of frill. That means that you shouldn’t go there for the ambiance, although I did like sitting outside watching a nearby table of Asian high school kids play cards. It also means that you shouldn’t visit if you think that Pace Picante Salsa is the epitome of spicy. Only visit if you like eating in hole-in-the wall Chinese restaurants reminiscent of noodle stands in China. Oh yeah, do yourself a favor and grab a cold watermelon slushy at Tea Bar next door before you sit down and attack the red-hot noodles. Your fire-breathing mouth will thank me later.
No. 1 Noodle House
18180 Colima Rd
#B
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-7093
[map]
Louise absolutely LOVES filthy, cheap places! (See more of her posts). You can also find more of Louise's writing at her own website NakedSushi.
Daily Gluttony says:
July 10th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I’ve been meaning to check this place out cause I work just down then street–thanks for posting this! I hope they understand me though (either in English or in Cantonese) otherwise I’ll have to get ready to point. :)
Evan says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Wow that looks good.
SinoSoul says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
My understanding (at least from reading) is that the chef went back to Chengdu back in Oct ‘07. I never went due to this fact. MMM-Yoso reported, in Nov ‘07, that the beef noodle soup tasted “lousy”. Seems like they’ve picked up a bit?
Louise says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
@SinoSoul: Really? Where did you hear about the chef going back? I did see MMM-Yoso’s review after I went the first time. The noodle soup sounds completely different between what s/he ate and what I ate.
SinoSoul says:
July 11th, 2009 at 7:45 am
here ya go Louise:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/395768
ipsedixit is relatively trusted, as an SGV old-timer and an insider…
I never know where to comment, (your own blog, or the group blog here). I s’pose la.foodblogging gets more hits…
Louise says:
July 11th, 2009 at 11:21 am
@SinoSoul
Replying in either place is fine. More people would probably read lafb. The broth that ipsedixit describes sounds very different from the one I had when I went to No 1 last week. Maybe I got mine too spicy to taste it. The CH thread mentioned they also had knife cut, but when I asked them last time, they said they only had one type of noodle. Hm….
Pepsi Monster says:
July 11th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Just like Daily Gluttony, I worked very close to this place. I’ll check it out this place (regardless which chef works here). Either way, the food looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for the recommendation Louise!
Michael Lee says:
July 13th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Ah those noodles look delicious but deadly. Sounds like they go easy on the sichuan peppercorns.
Will says:
July 13th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I think I still give a slight edge to the dan dan mian at Mandarin Deli (the one on Atlantic, two doors down from Yi Mei). Not as spicy, but more numbing, and the noodles are hand-made (the noodles themselves at #1 Noodle House are good but not anything to write home about). Probably horribly inauthentic to order it this way, but it tastes good with the dao xiao mian as well!
I like the clean taste, and the heat at No. 1 Noodle House though… and I think the pickled veg at No 1 are slightly better. I’ve been craving it from there more than my usual places recently for whatever reason (the 2 pieces of pork I found in my “vegetarian” soup at Mandarin Deli might have something to do with it :>).
Mama’s Kitchen (Mama Jia) has a good take too, though the garlic taste sticks with you for the whole day. Make sure to order with the handmade noodles instead of the normal ones.
On a semi-related note… anyone know a good spot for Re Gan Mian (???)?
Viable says:
July 19th, 2009 at 5:33 am
@Will, it’s hilarious how you think you’re such a food expert but are so very far from it.