NooshiDC.com
1120 19th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-293-3138
Subway – Dupont Circle is closest, but Faragut North is not too much farther
Parking - Street
It’s Saturday afternoon, and D.C. is packed due to the cherry blossoms blossoming. I am hungry and head over to M St. where there are many restaurants, bars, strip clubs, businesses, and more. I’m in the mood for sitting outside due to the nice weather and for noodles. Spicy noodles. I spot Nooshi Oodles Noodles & Sushi. I had a bad Drunken Noodles experience there before, but I thought I’d give it another chance. I’m glad I did. Here’s my review (alongside grainy phone-camera pictures).
Overall: C+
Food: B-
Rainbow Roll - $10: B
Mee Goreng - $8.95: C
Curry Laksa - $8.95: B
Service: C
Atmosphere: C+
Price: B+
The restaurant is trendy in terms of deco, and it’s a decent place to bring a date, friends, or even just to go by yourself. On the sidewalk, in front of the restaurant, are several tables, some with umbrellas, where you can choose to sit outside.
When you walk in, you notice the sushi bar to the right. It’s modern, equipped with a Corian-type counter, and nicely done and with the Asian flair one would expect but tastefully so. The sushi area has what looks like a bamboo floor, but you can’t help but to notice the large pieces of duct tape holding some of it together. When you pass the sushi bar, the restaurant opens up, and there are steps to the left where there are tables and booths and then more tables to the right on the bottom floor. Again, the interior designer did a fairly nice job in here, and it’s not overdone with the predictable Asian garnishings. The first time I was there a year ago, it was incredibly hot. It was too hot to sit outside, and the A/C was broken, so there was a large fan. This time, I sat in a booth that had duct tape holding the cushion together. Those couple of things reduced my “atmosphere” rating.
I started out with and appetizer called the Rainbow Roll. This is sushi that consists of salmon, tuna, red snapper, BBQ eel, avocado, and cucumber. It is served in a ceramic crescent-shaped bowl that looks wooden or bamboo upon quick glance. It’s accompanied by the typical wasabi and gari (pickled ginger). The presentation is nice in that it does look like a rainbow. As far as taste, well, I’ll admit that I am not a sushi expert. Yet. I know I like it, but I know I’ve had better. Considering that I’ve paid more for sushi (this was $10), the taste wasn’t much different, but I had so much less at other places, then I’ll give this a higher rating than average.
I told the waitress what I wanted: long noodles with pork but spicy. She started telling me about the Phuket Noodles, but when I asked her “which noodles?” to hear her say “phucket” a couple times, she moved onto Mee Goreng. Well, it had the long noodles, and it had the pork… but where was the spice? Luckily the food was right from the kitchen, because there was no heat in my mouth from the dish. It tasted good – almost exact to Pad Thai. But when you’re looking for spice, you’re specific that you want spice, and you don’t get it, your feeling goes limp like a noodle. The menu actually has it listed as follows: Mee Goreng (spicy)The description says:A marriage of Malaysian & Indian-style stir fried egg noodles with a choice of chicken, beef, or pork.The presentation was decent; it was served in a stainless steel curved bowl. What helped the rating is the low price for an entrée.
I also tasted their Curry Laksa. “A spicy noodle soup with blended spice paste and coconut milk-creamy, rich & aromatic. Served with egg noodles, and rice vermicelli.” This one delivered much better than the Mee Goreng. It was very Thai, since it had that familiar coconut milk. It felt creamy in my mouth although it was soup. The taste and smell both made a strong impression and worked with each other – what I smelled is what I got. The presentation wasn’t bad: the soup arrived in a large bowl atop a bamboo “coaster” accompanied with the typical Asian soup spoon. If I return to this establishment, I will definitely get this one next time.
In the end, would I go back? Sure – if I was in the neighborhood. I would never take someone there if they’re in the mood for Asian food, and I’m more than walking distance away. But it is in a hotspot of DC, and I had clients that are in that area, so I may be back.
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