Food: North Park's Ultimate Noodles Soup

This review of North Park's Ultimate Noodles Soup is a long-delayed one. I have been enjoying North Park's latest noodle soup for over a year already (or was it two years?) and no trip to the restaurant is without an order of this very filling and satisfying noodle soup. Although lately, I'm favoring the regular wanton noodle soup over this, but still, this is one of my favories.

North Park's Ultimate Noodles Soup is one for the noodle lover's list. It a complete meal, and a jam-packed one at that. It has slices of breaded porkchop, 4 pieces of Wanton and shrimp dumplings, beef cubes (I think about 4 pieces as well), Bok Choy leaves, lots and lots of mushrooms and your favorite noodle (mine is always Hong Kong style).

This is served in a large stone bowl that stays hot a lot longer than regular ceramic bowls. They will also give you a second large bowl for the broth, because the first bowl will be filled with the solid parts of the noodle soup already that there won't be enough space for the broth . Although the last time we ate at North Park, we weren't given a separate bowl for the broth. I hope this was only because that was Valentine's Day and the restaurant was literally bursting with diners and there was a long queue of hungry customers waiting outside, that they forgot that extra bowl.

So far, the taste has remained the same although I did notice that the chunks of pork and beef had decreased in size, albeit only slightly. The Hong Kong style noodles are still al dente and the broth flavorful. And the dumplings, they're just so good especially when dipped in a soy-chili-calamansi sauce. Yum!

North Park Ultimate Noodles costs around P250 or more, but definitely less than P300. For that price, it can serve 2-3 people depending of course on how much they can eat, how much they love noodle soup and if they ordered other dishes. My husband and I would usually share this along with a siopao and North Park's fresh lemonade during merienda and we'd always be full enough to skip dinner.

Food: Classic Savory Beef Noodle Soup

Classic Savory Restaurant is known for their fried chicken, and that's what I usually have whenever we eat here. But that changed when they started serving noodle soup, Beef Noodle Soup in particular.

The first time I tried their beef noodle soup, I thought it was so delicious. The strong beefy flavor of the broth (the kinda of flavor you get from simmering the broth for hours), the thin, firm Hong Kong-style noodles, large and tender beef chunks, green Chinese pechay leaves and hints of familiar herbs and spices -- everything that I want was there. A large bowl costs less than P200, which is large enough to share with 1 or 2 more people, especially if you ordered other items from the menu. But as a single dish, I still think it's more than enough for 1 person.

Since then, I always favored Classic Savory over the other similar restaurants whenever I want my fried chicken to go with a noodle soup. But, a recent visit to the restaurant to satisfy my noodle soup craving confirmed what I have been feeling about my favorite comfort food lately -- that it is no longer as good as before.



I guess I saw it coming as I noted that  the solid contents were becoming fewer. Again, I had to prop up the noodles with the serving spoon, otherwise you would barely see them. The quality of the noodles had changed, too. They were less firm, less enjoyable. Or maybe there was simply not enough for me to enjoy.

The beef chunks became smaller and fewer, although they're still tender but somehow less flavorful. And the soup tasted a bit more artificial, like more flavorings were used instead of the natural flavor of a slow-cooked beef broth.

Actually, Classic Savory's Beef Noodle Soup is more of a sabaw now (a perfect complement to a rice meal) rather than a noodle soup that you can enjoy as a complete dish. It's still good, I guess, when you're dining with the whole family or with a few friends, and you want a soup to accompany the other dishes. But if you're alone and just want a hearty noodle soup for yourself, the amount of broth might overwhelm you.

I find it a little disappointing because I thought I found a go-to place for my noodle soup cravings. Some good things just don't stay the same.

Food: Pho Hoa Seafood Noodle Soup

Like what I mentioned in my previous Pho Hoa post, here's my review of their Seafood Noodle Soup.

Whenever available, I always pick beef-flavored noodle soups because I like the strong and savory taste of beef broth. But Pho Hoa's branch in Festival Mall  in Alabang, doesn't have the usual beef noodle soup varieties. What they have on the menu is a beef stew soup, which based on the image of the chili beside it, seems to indicate that it is a spicy soup. And I'm not fond of spicy soups.

So I settled on a seafood noodle soup.

One, because I love seafoods and two, because the picture on the menu looks inviting. And when it was served to me, it didn't disappoint. I love that the bowl was full, not only of broth, but of so many other things.

Food: Hap Chan Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

I'm an ultimate noodle soup lover, be it a Chinese noodle soup, a Japanese ramen, a Pinoy mami, an instant noodles in a cup or what have you. I just love noodle soups, nothing can fill me in with comfort and warmth as much as they do. So aside from the cheesecake series, I'm also planning a chain of noodle soup reviews to honor my favorite comfort food.

And let me begin with Hap Chan's Beef Brisket Noodle Soup.

I was thrilled when I saw a Hap Chan Tea House branch at Shopwise, San Pedro, Laguna. The location is perfect, just 30 minutes away from where I live and 2 jeepney rides away to fix sudden and frequent Chinese noodle soup cravings.