Joy's Noodle and Rice Review

View Larger Map

3257 N Broadway St
Chicago IL, 60657

Quick Review: Stopped by Joy's Noodle and Rice today after wanting to try it out for a long time and trekking all over Lakeview looking for a spot that where the wait was 20 minutes (or longer) Although there's a reason Joy's wasn't crowded and it probably didn't have to do with the economy.

Long Review: Walked into Joy's Noodle and Rice for an early dinner for some Thai food. My hopes were high as I heard good things about Joy's. Though, maybe my hopes were a little too high.

We started the meal off with an appetizer of Crab Rangoon. When it arrived it was about the size of my thumbnail. Are they cutting back on portion size due to the economy? Aren't they supposed to a little bigger? They were good nonetheless and I gobbled them (almost all of them anyway) up expecting my main course to be just a good if not better.

I went with the Bamee Noodles and my dining companion went with the Lard Na. When our dishes arrived I dug into my noodles, the pork on top looked like it scrapped off of someone else' plate a week ago and reheated for my dish. The noodles underneath the pork appeared to be Ramen noodles. I went for them first.

I could barely get the clumpy mass of noodles apart with my chopsticks so I used my fork but that didn't work much better and I felt I needed a knife to cut the noodles apart. I took one bite and was hit by an overwhelming taste of sugar. These are Ramen noodles- and why are they so sweet. Maybe the pork would counter the sweet effect.

It was chewy and may have very well been reheated. I struggled to finish my meal and instead took some of the Lard Na to see if it was better than my meal. Many of the noodles were burned and thus crunchy. Why are these noodles burned? This isn't like any Lard Na I've had, the sauce was also too salty. We both finished our meals nonetheless and were happy we didn't pay more than $7.50 for our dishes.

Although, the interior decor is nice and the service was attentive and friendly. I don't like giving them such a bad review because I had been anticipating the experience for a long time and the waiter was very nice but I don't think I going back anytime soon.

2 out of 5 stars