Lunch in Suva: noodles

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Joji's Noodle Bar at MHCC

After years of operating quietly from his hole in the wall under the Civic Centre on the Suva foreshore Joji finally decided it was time to expand the empire.

First, there was a tentative foray into new territory during Fiji Showcase. Judging by the lines, the hungry masses approved.

Joji pondered this validation of his culinary authority, and then went to see a man about an empty space in the MHCC food court.

And now Joji's Noodle Bar has a stall at the top of the escalators on the 2nd floor of MHCC. Judging by the lines during lunch hour, the hungry masses still approve.

As the name indicates, this place is all about noodles. Dalo is available with some dishes, but there is no rice available here.

Where there's noodle, there's soup. Combination long and short, Asian beef stew, chicken noodle, fish balls.

This is the combination long and short soup: chicken, beef, fish balls, wantons, your choice of noodles, in an peppery broth. There is no pork in the soup (or on the menu). They've also swapped out the usual Chinese cabbage with lettuce. This doesn't bother me, but Kania Tiko considers it to be an unforgivable deviation from the norm.

Takeaway soups are well packed.

Almost everything on the menu is cooked to order. The staple chow mein and chilli chicken dishes (with noodles of course) are cooked in bulk, but never more than is needed to keep the line moving.

New to the menu is the 'Hot, Sweet and Sour Noodles'. The proprietor describes it as being 'like a noodle salad.'

A brilliant combination of noodles and vegetables with a hot, tangy sauce holding it all together! This dish then evolved a little, and offered a choice of chicken or beef in the dish. It has since been removed from the display menu, but I am assured that they will prepare it on request.

The menu is priced a little higher than the original Joji's. This, in addition to the lack of rice and the introduction of soup, means they're not competing with their original shop. To that end, the MHCC outlet has also dropped the small serve.

Not content with the move to MHCC, they've also opened a bakery in the food court that serves up a variety of cakes, pastries and breads under the banner of Joji's Temptation ... but that is for another review.

For adding soup to the usual Joji's options, and a hot, sweet & sour noodle salad that rises above the usual takeaway offerings, a thumbs-up.

In Summary

Joji's Noodle Bar: MHCC Food Court, Level 2, MH City Centre, sandwiched between Thompson St, Renwick Rd, and Nabukalou Creek.
Opening Hours:: Mon - Sun: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Spend:: $6 - $7 per person
Rating:: Thumbs-up

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

Noodles King

Located in the old Fiji Times building on Gordon Street, Noodles King has dared to try something new: noodles! This latest addition to the asian dining scene (if you could call it that) sits opposite 2 other eateries that have challenged the status quo -- Singh's Curry House & Roma's Hook and Chook -- and so is in good company as it sets about provoking Suva's stagnant notions of what Chinese food should be.

There seems too have been some doubt about the name: the large light-box outside the shop seems, at first glance, to proclaim "Noodle King". Closer inspection reveals the addition of a small 's', reassuring us that this place deals exclusively in the plural (and more generous) style of noodle serve. Noodles King it is!

The menu is simple, the prices are cheap.

$6.80 will buy the house special, King Noodles (from Noodles King: clever, no?) (below) is a large bowl of thick home-made noodles in a bland broth topped with a bed of cabbage, chicken, pork, fish balls, a battered prawn, some raw carrots julienne and garnished with dhania/cilantro/corriander leaves.

The broth seems intended for personal customisation: bowls of chilli oil, soy sauce and salt are provided for this purpose (pictured below). The noodles are accompanied by a small side salad of shredded, vinegared vegetables: various combinations of radish, bean sprouts, carrot and slivers of raw onion have been sighted.

$7.00 gets you to the top of the pyramid: Prawn Noodles. Unless you've got a particular hankering for prawns, drop down to the King Noodles; they're far more interesting.

Noodles with gravy is the cheapest option at $3.80. The curiously named Fry sauce noodles (below) tops $4.20 worth of noodles with fried egg, soy sauce, sesame, and shallots. Other options are Beef, Chicken, Pork, Fish balls, and Egg (sunny-side-up). Takeaway or eat-in.

Suva's sad culinary bottom-feeders are also provided for in the form of chips with the usual chicken or sausage decoration, and a token smattering of the usual pseudo-chinese food-warmer offerings ... why anyone would want to eat this trash when coooked-to-order noodley goodness is available for the same price is beyond me. Coke and Pepsi fridges provide the usual drinks range.

This eatery seems a little haphazard in it's decor: yellow-green walls, blue and pink feature lights on the wall, silver ceiling fans. The eclectic ambience ranged from Eurodance to Chinese folk music to classical symphony: obviously from the well-shuffled MP3 collection of a rapacious download hero. The one redeeming touch was the food pictures on the walls: these were probably not taken in the shop, were not labelled and had "Noodle King" (rather than Noodles King) emblazoned across the bottom ... but to their great credit, all depicted food that could be ordered from the menu.

Kania Tiko held forth at some length on the shortcomings of the orange plastic seats: ill-considered ergonomics, a conspiracy to tip him onto the floor, and the unbucketly alignment of what looked like a bucket seat. Given that this is the worst criticism he could come up with -- and that it was not aimed at the food -- we should probably take this as a wholehearted endorsement of the product.

Places were set with a serviette and a little packet of 'Cool Air' breath mints, a nice touch.

Thumbs-up for trying something different and breaking the usual 'chop suey, chowmein, soup' menu rut that Suva's Chinese restaurants have become stuck in.