Noodle Zen

I love this place! With all the choices you have in the Uwajimaya food court, and if you’re craving something other than phở, than stop by Noodle Zen. I am a huge fan of their wonton noodle soup and their tom yum one. The differences are the broths and noodles. The wontons are pretty standard. The regular wonton soup is flavorful with scallions and toasted garlic. The Tom Yum is really tasty as the heat is mild and the broth is really good. I believe Tom Yum just means a hot and sour soup in Lao and Thai. Tom Yum is derived from two Thai words: Tom meaning to boiling process and Yum means of Lao and Thai spicy and sour salad, hence Tom Yum.
The people behind the counter are super friendly, can validate your parking and you can take it to go as they give you plastic tubs if you ask for take out. Which I often do as I can’t finish it all in one go.
So, if you happen to stop by Uwajimaya and need to spend $ 15 to get your parking validated, then stop by Noodle Zen. You will have «free parking» and you will leave full and happy with your soup and your goodies from Uwajimaya.

Fast food that’s not so fast!
I came here during my lunch break and wanted to try something new AKA the food court in Uwajimaya. I chose Noodle Zen because I wanted something warm and soupy, so I opted for the Thai Beef Noodle Soup. The line was kind of long, so that should have been a good sign, right? Well, I ended up waiting for 15 minutes, which for someone on their work lunch break it’s LONG! The place only had one person at the cash register and one other worker in the back making all of the food.
After 15 minutes and seeing people who ordered after me get their food before me, I asked the girl at the cash register when my food would be ready and she said «almost done.»
I did finally get my food. When I sat down at one of the open tables in the food court to try my Thai Beef Noodle Soup, the beef was hard as hell. Ugh. It did not taste good. The noodles and the broth were okay though, but I bet I can make something at home just as delicious, if not better. Or, I could have spent a few more dollars and gotten the lunch sets with the roast pork and BBQ duck.
I give this place 2 stars because the girl at the front was actually apologetic when my food arrived late. Otherwise, the rating would have been 1 star.

I am not sure why this place gets such low reviews. Granted it is not the best option overall but the best in the mall food court. It was also the healthiest on a dime for my best friend and I. plenty for the both of us to share. It was basic and diet compatible for the both of us. Customer service was awesome.

Gotta give this place five stars to offset the bad reviews, which are undeserved considering the price.
Even not considering the price, the beef udon with pepper sauce was flavorful and the portion was large, but not huge. More than I needed but not enough for two hungry people who’d been walking around all day. The noodles were perfectly cooked.
All in all, a lot of bang for your buck, and good for a quick bite on the cheap if you’re in Chinatown.

I was very shocked with my order, Chicken Yakisoba. Terrible! Unexpectedly no good. How can Yakisoba go so wrong?! Why yakisoba taste like teriyaki? Is it a Seattle thing? I’ve never ever had yakisoba in teriyaki sauce!

This is a quick-​serve Asian-​style noodle place inside Uwajimaya. The food is cheap, but I never quite like what I’ve ordered when I get lunch from here. The yakisoba noodles are squishy (they don’t grill them) and there’s just something off about the texture of the tempura (though you do get a heaping helping of fried prawns, zucchini and yam). This isn’t a bad option really, but there are many better options for asian-​style noodles on the same block.

If you’re expecting a great lunch for $ 6.50 in a food court, you probably want to rethink your criteria for greatness. If (on the other hand) you’re expecting a pretty good lunch for the price, given that you’re spending only $ 6.50 in a food court, you’re probably on the right track.
I got the chicken yakisoba, for the princely sum of $ 6.50, They cooked the fresh chicken on the grill right in front of me, and served up a good sized portion of chicken and noodles with a couple of sprigs of broccoli.
Nope, it is not the best lunch I’ve ever had. Not even the best chicken yakisoba I’ve ever had. But contrasting this with a $ 6.50 lunch from McDonald’s (or Herfy’s which is just a few feet away) this is a total win. The food is good, the service is great and the price is right.
Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Maybe typical food court fare. We had the wonton soup and teriyaki chicken with yakisoba noodles. It was edible and pretty tasty. But It lacked a freshness, seem to be pre prepared, and right tweaking of spices. I’d give this place 2 ½ stars if I could. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just not cooked well.

*YIKES, HORRIBLE CHINESE FOOD*
PROS:
— Simple menu. THAT’S IT!
—–
Stopped by the food court for an early lunch, since my friends and I were all craving for different foods. I wanted udon, and I unfortunately went to Noodle Zen. They have a simple menu: udon + your choice of meat + your choice of sauce. (They also have plenty of soups on their menu)
I decided to get the udon chicken with ginger sauce! The noodles were good, but the chicken was a bit undercooked and really bland even with ginger sauce! I didn’t enjoy my food at all. I probably had the worst food on our table!
Skip this place!

Add $ 2 to choose one more item!

I found this place to be quite the diamond in the rough. Their soups were full of flavor and filling. The cashier was nice enough to recommend some soups as well. Will definitely return here once I get a chance.

WTF is up with the green soba veggie noodles? They have some cyan blue spots scattered about… hm… hmm… hmmmmmmmmm… I had the Veggie Chicken, btw. The pictures, the shop, all seemed promising… UGH! Fortunately, this was totally bearable, plus a water to flush this shtuff down.
Although, credit to the gal. She seemed nice with a nice smile.

This $ 10 chicken reminds me of something…
…oh, yeah, it tastes just like $ 2 Swanson frozen tv-​dinner chicken!

There’s not really a lot I can say about what I had here. I did the veggie udon with (I believe) black bean sauce and it was decent, nothing special. The price seemed rather high, but high prices are pretty standard for food court fair. I’d go here again in a pinch, but I’d rather leave the store and go somewhere else to eat. Either that or purchase delicious items from Uwajimaya itself!

I’ve tried various combinations of stir-​fried noodles here (veggie udon, yakisoba with different meats and different sauces). The noodles tend to be overdone or soggy. I stopped eating here because the level of grease sometimes made me queasy.
Try the other lines in the Uwajimaya food court if you need a meal that is quick and under $ 10.

Decent stir-​fried noodles but this is only a place to go for quick or take-​out lunch where you get a large quantity of food for the price you pay. Their Thai Beef Noodle Soup is pretty good so if I go there for lunch, this is usually what I order to-​go.

I tried the chicken yakasoba.
It was ok.
Zipzap Zubidy Bop!

When this place first opened it was not too bad. Over time however it has become just as crappy as the rest of the places in the food court. Overpriced and overdone noodles and I just threw my lunch out. I got the soba with tofu and pepper sauce. Seems they used the soba from yesterday or something, dried out, over done. What a waste of $ 8!!! Never again. Don’t eat hear unless you like overcooked food, high prices.

good gawd. Thought that maybe I’d check out the «J-​Town» of Seattle to see what the local Japanese «fast-​food» was like. Granted, this is a noodle joint in a Japanese market’s food court. But that’s the thing: in the SF Bay Area or in Los Angeles, that fact alone usually guarantees you a fairly decent to at times a downright terrific Japanese-​style lunch.
Unfortunately, this place does not cut it. Ordered two things: Tempura Udon and Chicken and «Prawns» stir fry. The noodles, vegetables, chicken, and «prawns» were cooked on a diner-​style range. (I don’t know why I didn’t notice this while I was ordering) That shamefully undersized shrimp, which cost an extra $ 2.00 were seriously about an inch long, stretched out. The udon noodles were soggy, pasty, and just plain gross. The tempura was also floppy and stale.
The staff was nice, and the soup base was decent (although kind of salty). Don’t mean to be a jerk, but… one star, because I can’t put down ½ star.

I got the wonton soup which included shrimp/​chicken wontons, noodles, and baby bok choy.
The broth was inedibly salty, however, the wontons were great and the noodles were good as well.
I’ve only eaten here once and chose quickly, but it looks like you have the option of mixing and matching noodles, sauces and meats. Always a plus for a picky eater.
I would definitely get the wonton soup again, even with the salty broth.
Service was fast and they brought the food out to me which was nice and unexpected.