Chef’s Choice Noodle Bar

Customer service was prompt. Had the combination fried rice, mango sticky rice and garlic salt and pepper catfish… they were all yummy. Yes come and enjoy their food.

Noodle Bar is consistently good Thai food. The service is always pleasant and the environment is cool. The only thing I don’t care for is the parking situation, but it’s a downtown issue, not just the establishment. If you’re looking for a consistent place to have Thai, this is the place for you.

Food was good but I’ve had better Thai food. Service was good and food came out fast.

Had the LARB Salad and it was amazing! So good! :)

Excellent!
They offer a wide variety of entrée choices. Something for everyone.
Fantastic, courteous, wait staff.
Accommodating for larger groups.
Great to work with for parties.
Delicious, fresh food.
I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.
Rory Daniels

Just had lunch there. The food was amazing and our server was fantastic. The soup was over the top not only in portion size but flavor as well. I’ll be back !

Went here for the first time for a coworkers birthday lunch. Everyone ordered something different, and everyone enjoyed their food. The service was good, we got our food and checks quickly. We will be coming back.

Nice restaurant with a nice vibe. A little more on the fancy/​pricey side but still reasonable and good quality. I really like their noodles and noodles which aren’t super authentic but are still really really tasty. The food is a little salty for my tastes. Would definitely come here for a nice dinner.

Usuall have really good meals here when dining in.
Today I ordered the drunken noodles (Pad Ke Mao) to go and was completely dissatisfied. It was as if the noodles were put in a blender with a cup of oil and pulsed for 2 min. Pic posted.
Reccomend for dine in only.

Unser Essen (Pad Thai) schmeckte wie aufgewärmte Fertignudeln. Leider wurde auch an Erdnüssen gespart. Die Bedienung war sehr freundlich.

Service was good. My delicious jungle curry was hotter than hell and my buddy’s Drunken Noodle was good. I will absolutely return. Pricing was a bit high but the food was well worth it.

We stopped here for dinner on our way to Porterville and this place was really good. Jeffrey was our server and he was so funny and nice. The food was great, my review is based on the food we tried. The beef drunken noodles were very good. The shrimp Pad Thai was awesome and my daughters phở was delicious. The only thing I did not enjoy was the mango sticky rice. It was really dry and bland, I asked for a side of sauce and pored it on our rice but it was salty. We have definitely had a lot better. The mango was really good though. Everything else that we tried was great. The pork dumplings were so good.

I had heard about this place for a long time but finally was able to stop in on a busy weeknight. I was pretty surprised by this place!
The décor was really nice and modern. It was fairly quiet for how many people were seated, which was really inviting for me since I prefer restaurants where I can actually hear the person across from me.
The food was great! The pad thai was wonderful and I loved the avocado rolls. I was surprised at how delicious the food was considering the affordable pricing.
I do wish this place made the noodles in house, but the food was still very good and worth a return visit.

We came to noodle bar on a Tuesday and the spot was pretty dead. That being said, our waitress was really attentive. I’ve been here before many times and always get the same thing… the veggie ramen. I’m a vegan so this soup is my go to. its so hot and steamy and the miso is sweet. the tofu is never tough and the spinach is always put in at the last minute so its not to slimy (I’m not a fan of cooked greens to begin with so this is a must). I have to say, I’ve never been disappointed here. I can’t bring myself to rate this place more than three stars though. There isn’t anything particularly special about this place or anything that makes its «FIVE» star in my opinion. It is just good and pretty consistent.

Noodle Tom Yum was super spicy, but exactly what I was looking for. In all fairness the server let me know it is very spicy and she was not exaggerating. Second visit had the bbq pork wonton soup and it did not disappoint. The fried green beans were BOMB! I never thought I would eat a friend green bean, but my mom wanted to try them and I loved the crunchiness and the flavor. Of the empanadas I prefer the beef over the chicken. I had the avocado won tons and they were flavorful, but not my favorite. Definately getting the friend green beans again. All in all I had been wanting to try noodle bar for a long time and now that I have I will put it in my rotation of local favorites. If you are on the fence about trying it just go! The menu has something for everyone and the price is reasonable, portions are large, and atmosphere is casual.

Was on my from Las Vegas back San Jose and stopped here for dinner. I ordered the spicy cat fish stir-​fry which was kind of disappointing. It wasn’t as flavorful as I like it to be. The portion is alright though. My bf ordered the New York steak which is pretty good. Tender and succulent and has a slight Asian taste to it.

Let me start out by saying that I have been here numerous times. I never pick this restaurant, but I always seem to get invited to lunches/​dinners here. The food is always tasty (might I suggest the drunken noodles with duck or the crispy duck (only available at dinner).
The problem with Chef’s Choice Noodle Bar is the service. Everyone here always seems to have an attitude and is inefficient. Once you are seated, it takes forever to get a menu and drinks. If the servers had better attitudes, this would have gotten a four star rating.
I tried to go here last night with family, but we were put off by the incredibly rude hostess. My father in law had tried to make reservations earlier in the day but was told they do not take reservations. When we got there, mind you this was a week night, we were asked if we had reservations. We stated that they had told us on the on the phone they do not take reservations. The hostess was huffy and responded that we must have called after 5 p.m. and they stop taking reservations at five. After she told us this, she also said she had no idea how long we would be waiting and couldn’t give us an estimate — odd. After sitting for about ten minutes, the waitress suggested that our party of 6 split up. She said she could seat half of our party now and the rest later when a table opened up. We told her that wouldn’t work. Typically when you go to dinner with a group you want to sit with that group. The hostess seemed confused and irritated that we wouldn’t split up. She reiterated that she had no idea how long the wait could be but that it would probably be over 30 minutes.
At this point, we decided to leave and try one of the other many wonderful restaurants downtown. I can understand this kind of attitude on a Friday or Saturday night. However, this was a week night and they truly didn’t look slammed. If the hostess had been polite and given us a wait time in the beginning, we would have just stayed and waited.
In the end, I’m always let down by the service but never let down by the food. I will really only come back here for the duck since a lot of places in town do not have duck on the menu (the crispy duck is seriously to die for!). In the future, I will make sure I have reservations and those reservations are made before 5 p.m. I will also cross my fingers that I get a good server!

I have dined here quite a few time over the years. I enjoy the curries and coconut rice, as well as the tofu squares and avocado rolls.
But for this particular review, I am reviewing a take out order. I have been craving ahi poke and a search on Unilocal showed that this place has it. I was very much looking forward to trying it. I picked up my order of Tom Kah soup, orange chicken and ahi poke, which was prepared promptly, and took it home to try.
The ahi tuna looked delicious-​very colorful with mango pieces. I was excited to try it even though I noticed it had a strong smell. The first taste had me spitting the bite out as fast as possible and gagging. It had such a strong fishy taste and bad smell. I couldn’t take it. My friend who likes fish tried it and couldn’t stomach it either proclaiming it «Disgusting.» It was the worst ahi poke I have ever tried. That was a huge disappointment. If I had been at the restaurant I would have absolutely sent it back. I was so tired though, I didn’t want drive back. But I will never order that again from CCNB.
The orange chicken was decent but not something I would order again. It wasn’t gross or anything; it just didn’t do it for me.
The tom Kah soup was okay, but I didn’t finish the small bowl.
Overall this was a surprisingly disappointing experience.
I think if I go back I would stick to the curry which I like there. But this order definitely left a fishy taste.

One of the rare instances where the food is so deplorable, it tanks the review.
Chef’s has been around for a while and was a pleasant surprise to the downtown area. Service is standard quality. They have a casual dining room with a menu chock full of Asian inspired dishes. However, there’s nothing appetizing on the menu. While the noodle bowls are ridiculous in size, I can’t seem to find the allure of it. The broth tastes store bought, the noodles the only saving grace. The crab rangoon was overpriced and bland. The ahi poke appetizer was a joke on a plate. The fish and chips looked like it was fried up from the freezer section at Costco.
I love to eat and this is probably the second most disappointing meal I’ve had in recent memory (Padre being #1).

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed the Noodle Bar yet! It’s one of my favorite places to eat downtown and I can’t get enough! I can probably come every day for a week and not get tired of it because of the sheer number of options available!
Some of my favorite meals include the Thai Salty Pork with a side of Papaya Salad, the Teriyaki Chicken with some brown rice, the Yakisoba Noodles, the Drunken Noodles with ANY protein option, and the Phở options are also delicious!
The service has been really good about 90% of the time. We like to come here for group lunches to celebrate birthdays because they’re good about getting us in and out with good time.
The décor is tasteful and simple. It’s a nice restaurant with plenty of booths and extra tables in the back room. Usually very busy during the normal lunch hours as well but make a reservation and you should be ok.
Again, this is one of my favorite restaurants in town and I will always say yes to a meal at Chef’s Choice Noodle Bar! Every time.

Ever since I read McKenzie’s review, I wanted to go here. I was worried about the wait tho’. My co-​workers and I went out to lunch yesterday, and I asked where they wanted to go. The foodie co-​worker said this place was one of their absolute favorites. We couldn’t get in because of the long wait, and my co-​workers only have an hour for lunch. We ended up having to go ago another restaurant nearby. Very disappointed.
Today, however, since I took my lunch late, I came back. I ordered exactly what my co-​worker said was her favorite. SO DELICIOUS!
There’s a chinese noodle dish called chow fun that I just love, and I’m always on the look out for it. Thick rice noodles. My Facebook profile picture is chow fun –that’s how much I love chow fun!
I bragged to my friend that I intended on going back today to Chef’s Choice. My co-​worker told me her favorite dish here was the drunkin noodles which is like chow fun, but spicy! WHAT? CHOW FUN??!
Of course I ordered it — It was sooooo incredibly good! I could have easily polished off the entire dish myself but forced myself to take only a moderate serving so that I could have some to enjoy later.
I also got the phở — with glass noodles (supposedly lower carb — still very good) meatballs and duck — that was good, very flavorful. HUGE servicing! Even I did not come close to finishing it! I also tried the shrimp spring roll, which is also good, fresh tasting. The service size was a bit small, but it was delicious. The presentation was nice.
Hands down, the drunken noodles was the best, and I will definitely go back soon and order that again.
The service, as Pricilla said, is amazing. Nice ambiance. The perfect dining experience — as long as you avoid the lunch rush from 11:30 to 1:00. I got there at 1:30 and the parking was so easy, and I got a fab booth right away. I worked and ate happily. A perfect way to end the work week…