Nudo House, Creve Coeur - Visited April 2019

It was a lovely Spring day and time for lunch and my almost graduated college age son decided we should visit the Nudo House. There is a new location being built on Delmar in the east end of the Loop, but the original operating location is in a much more convenient shopping center in Creve Coeur, near our old house and church. I was excited to go somewhere we had never visited before that was in an easy to park and navigate area. The parking lot was pretty busy with the Dierbergs and many other stores in the area, but we were able to find a parking spot not too far from the restaurant. 

Along with their regular menu, they also had some daily specials listed on a chalkboard up front. You order at the front counter, and I decided to go with the Fish Curry Ramen special they had listed. We also had to try their crab rangoons so we ordered two orders of three for our group. The rest of my party ordered the classic ramen, and two orders of the Yo-Lo mein. The seating area is deceptively deep with quite a few tables and we sat at a larger table up front.

We self served our drinks from a station in the middle which also had a large assortment of hot sauces to add to your food. Some of them did not even have labels, so I am guessing you are supposed to know what they are! As we sat with our drinks at the table, the crab rangoons arrived fairly quickly, served with several plastic pouches of sweet and sour sauce.  They were not bad but not exceptional, but the sauce packets definitely lessened their appeal.

Our entrees were served before we had finished the crab rangoons and they were all served in deep bowls with chopsticks and wooden spoons. 

Fish Curry Ramen

My Fish Curry ramen included several generous portions of breaded fish in a savory curry broth with plenty of thick ramen noodles. The broth had a little heat, but not too much and could have been spiced up with one of the many bottles of hot sauce if one so desired. I just stuck to the spice level as served and was quite satisfied with it. The ramen noodles were hearty with a little chewiness to them, and the curry based sauce stayed with the noodles well. There were other vegetables and peanuts in the broth as well to add more variety to the ramen. It was a very enjoyable meal, and I used the wooden spoon to scoop up much of the broth to consume. 

My son enjoyed the classic ramen he ordered but was not sure he had any tasted other authentic ramens to compare with it. My mother-in-law thought her lo mein was very good, but my wife did say it tasted a bit different than what she expected (as compared to typical Chinese restaurants.) I tried the last of her lo mein and will have to say it was a bit "saucier" and had more flavor to its sauce than just soy sauce and also some different ingredients added to it. 

One member of our party did try out the restrooms and reported back that the stalls were normal enough but had the tiniest little sinks in them. The service was also pretty good with employees stopping by regularly to take away empty dishes. Overall I think the experience was quite positive, with a high quality, varied and unique menu that did include some recognizable staples for the less adventurous. The food came out quickly with generous portions, and the service and environment made for a pleasant dining experience. I would definitely go back!

Food variety, quality and service