Joe's Noodle House

Joe's Noodle House
1488 Rockville Pike #C
Rockville, MD
www.joesnoodlehouse.com
Rating 3.5

Another Sunday and another outing with the family.  Our excursion took us up the daunting if not dreaded Rockville Pike.  We had to make the trip worthwhile so we planned to lunch on some ethnic cuisine that Rockville has to offer.  Joe's Noodle house is that and more.  It is a small trip to a Hong Kong Noodle house.  When we arrived we were clearly outnumbered by the Chinese speakers, a welcome feeling in any Asian eatery.  The Noodle House is not elegant, nor is it meant to be, but the food is authentic.  After being seated, laminated menus were passed out.  As promised on the website, it will take you months to get through every dish! But the menu is only the regular fare, look above the counter where owner mans the cash register. Fresh dishes are scrawled in English and Chinese with their price.  You place your order at the counter, pay and wait for delivery at the table.  The ordering experience is the exact opposite of the Seinfeld Soup-Nazi episode.  The staff answered questions and actually help modify our selections to suit our seasoned but non-native tastes.  Fast service does not mean brusk at the Noodle house.  The entire waitstaff really look like they are enjoying themselves and are helpful. Be careful, the portions are generous and the flavors intoxicating... we over ordered. We started with turnip cakes and cold sesame noodles.  Both were great, but a small note about the noodles.  They are not those cloying peanut butter noodles you may have grown accostumed to. These are the real deal: sesame through and through... A MUST! We had scallion pancakes to ease the heat of the fish and soft tofu hot pot. The kids were steered toward edemame and shrimp that they devoured. We are firm beleivers in a well balanced diet so we ordered seasonal chinese greens with garlic from the board behind the counter. We enjoyed it all but as you might imagine we over ordered. We took the remainder home after cracking open the requisite fortune cookies. Joe's Noodle House is a great find!