The Eye of the Noodle

In the contest of man and machine, I'll take Chef's Noodle House any day.

A A A Comments By Jason Sheehan Thursday, May 26 2005

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I did like the simple macaroni-and-cheese I tried in Aurora -- a heavyweight, fresh-cream-and-butter concoction that was exactly as gooey, warm and comforting as mac-and-cheese is supposed to be. And at the Colorado Boulevard outpost, my mushroom stroganoff was cooked, if not with love, then at least with some talent and an understanding of what you need to do with good ingredients. I'd already tried the potstickers in Aurora (fried in a pan that hadn't been wiped down, which made them taste like char and scorched butter) and downtown, where they were just plain burned. But the Colorado Boulevard cooks prepared them correctly, allowing me to taste, for the first time, how truly awful this company's potstickers were -- up from frozen, limp, gummy, and filled with a chickeny hash as uninspiring as paste.

There were other plates, other noodles, other locations. And every time a dish was bad -- which was most of the time -- it was bad for the most obvious reason. It was bad simply because no one in the kitchen cared enough to make it good. With every opportunity to do worthwhile things, the kitchens at the various Noodles & Company locations usually let those chances pass by.

Mark Manger

He's the chef: Billy Lam and wife Van Muoi.

Details

10400 East Sixth Avenue, Aurora, 303- 363-6888. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday- Saturday

Chef�s Noodle House
Saigon dumplings: $3.50
Shanghai soup: $3
Thai noodles: $7.50
Vietnamese noodles: $6.95
Udon noodles: $8.95 Noodles & Company
Pad Thai: $5.50
Udon: $5.50
Potstickers: $2.95
Wisconsin mac & cheese: $4.95
Stroganoff: $5.25

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And then there's Billy Lam. With every opportunity to throw up his hands, give up, surrender after years of scraping by, he never has. Instead, he continues to believe that every customer, every plate, every noodle matters. I've tried both the noodle machine and the noodle man, and I've made my choice. I'll take fast food made good over good food made fast every time.

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