Thursday, May 22, 2008

P.S. Noodle Pot

Just about once a week or so, Sarcastro tweets that he's hitting up a noodle joint. Curious to know exactly what that was (particularly since it seemed to be a regular thing), I inquired. Turns out that in a little strip mall behind a Walgreens that's next to a mini-golf place, there's a noodle joint.

What is a noodle joint? Well, according to P.S. Noodle Pot's secondary name, they are the International Noodle House of Asian. Okay, still doesn't tell you what you want to know? They have various Asian noodle dishes, most notably in clay pots. They're pretty cool.

I happened to be in the area of the Noodle Pot one day and stopped in to get a takeout menu. When I saw that there were these fancy clay pots of Thai noodle dishes as well as some Chinese and various other types of noodle dishes and tofu dishes, I figured this might be a good place for a foodie outing.

So several of us gathered for lunch this week and tried various things on the menu. I opted to get an express lunch that came with vegetarian (by request) egg rolls:

They were tasty, but I prefer fresh spring rolls to fried, so I'll make note of that next time. Despite several requests from five very hungry and inquisitive people, they didn't seem to be bothered by special requests.

For an entree, I ordered the Tofu Delight:

It was good, but I was a bit disappointed that it was served with rice instead of noodles. So I'll have to go back and figure out how to get some noodles with this dish. It's worth noting that this vegetarian lunch was much better than last week's Thai dish that was not only light on vegetables, but had no tofu at all. I was hungry an hour later! No risk of that at the Noodle Pot. I had enough after filling up to have another meal.

Because of a bad experience at yet another Thai restaurant earlier in the week (Nashville has no shortage of Thai food, apparently), Claudia decided to order a Pad Thai for the table to share. She was kind enough to order the vegetarian version that came with tofu:

It was very, very good. I like the copious amounts of peanuts and the large wedge of lime. I think everyone enjoyed it quite a bit.

Since I didn't get a noodle pot of my own, I took a photo of Claudia's. I'm not sure what kind of meat was in it, but it's in there somewhere. I believe it's the Tom Yum Pot. It was boiling when it arrived and still steaming when we were very near finished eating (note: you can see the steam in the photo). So if you go for a pot, either plan to stay a while or order a glass of ice. It looks tasty, no?

I think Claudia was much happier with the Pad Thai, though. Everyone else seemed to like their dishes as well. I think it's definitely worth another trip. Plus, the service was very friendly and helpful.

But don't everybody go at once. Sarcastro's worried the place will get crowded and he'll have to wait for his food in the future. I figure they'll take care of their best customer, though.

P.S. Noodle Pot (formerly Rice Bowl)
1307 Bell Rd
Antioch, TN 37013
Phone: (615) 445-4990

8 comments:

michael, claudia and sierra said...

hard to go for the brothy dish when there's a huge plate of oily (in a good way) noodles with tamarind sauce and peanuty stuff, etc on it. even the fried tofu was great.

but i still think basil's... the best. when you're in the neighborhood.

i'd go back to the noodle pot though. i liked the owners too. nice folks.

Diana said...

Mmmm... Yummy photos! I'm making pad Thai next week for my chicken-fearing husband. If it works out, he'll have to risk life and limb to try a place like this.

Course, I'll visit ahead of time for "research."

Chris Houchens said...

Since I'm in the great white North up in KY and equidistant between NashVegas and Louisville, I balance my foodie-ism between the two metros. (along with every other "big city" activity)
But if you're ever in Louisville, you might try Yang Kee Noodle. It seems very similar to this place and is one of my favorite Asian places.
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/yangkee.shtml

Sarcastro said...

I ate there Wednesday and it was packed. From hell's heart I stab at thee!

Having managed an Asian restaurant in a former life and having spent more than my fair share of time slaving over a hot wok, they have some of the best looking food I've seen in a long time come out of that kitchen.

Very glad you liked. Try El Arroyo near your office next for good authentic Mexican food.

Anonymous said...

I love pad thai. I should find a noodle place near my home - if you have any suggestions let me know.

Lesley said...

CEF: Basil's is good, but their vegetarian selection is limited. They do however employ the smart strategy of offering a small menu of things they prepare really well.

Diana: Yes, you should do some re-con at this place!

Chris: I usually try to avoid Louisville like the plague (I'm a Memphis grad after all), but should I ever find myself there at dinner time, I will definitely check that out.

Sar: Sorry bro. Agreed on the presentation, though. I really liked how my photos turned out, but I had pretty subjects.

Nicole: I think this is about as close as you're going to get. It's actually a really quick jaunt down I-24 for you. If it's not rush hour, you could probably be there in 10-15 minutes. It's only a mile west of 1-24 off Bell Road.

Anonymous said...

I stopped in for a quick bite ~12:30 today. Had an excellent curry dish (really nice balance to the flavors) and the place was not crowded.

Anonymous said...

I was tunred on to the Noodle Pot by a foodie...and they took me there last week. The folks were nice; the food was nice too!. I returned this week on the weekend ( yes, I made a trip totally across town, on the most stormy Saturday that we have had recently) in order to get some more noodles. This time I had the Pho soup with shrimp (devein all the shrimp next time, please) and spicy beef... the beef dish was excellent! I just wish there was one on the totally opposite side of town, that is as good as this one was...they were comfortably busy for a Saturday afternoon...there was no wait, and the service was good!