[mariko]

I was going through the Best Baguette drive-thru the other night and noticed Kenny's Noodle House across the street. I think it used to be, I don't know, a bubble tea or teriyaki place or something? I noted that the parking lot was near capacity, which aroused my curiosity. Has anyone been? What's the story? Noodles!

[BigDaddy]

I looked on Yelp, which can be bizarre as hell, but we may have to make the drive over to check it out since the reviews were pretty knowledgeable. I didn't notice the hours, but they have congee, so they must open for breakfast or be open late.

[polloelastico]

BigDaddy, on Aug 25 2009, 06:19 PM, said:

I looked on Yelp, which can be bizarre as hell, but we may have to make the drive over to check it out since the reviews were pretty knowledgeable. I didn't notice the hours, but they have congee, so they must open for breakfast or be open late.

They are open at 9:30 am so chances are they will see my butt in there for some wonton soup in the future.

http://www.yelp.com/...-house-portland

[egor]

Four of us ate there several Sundays ago. For being open for such a short time they seemed quite busy.
So far:
Nobody seen making noodles.
Food seems to be Cantonese.
One waitress, oh so cute and darling , now nicknamed Schnuesschen (from German series Heimat )
My Cantonese Chinese friends' impression: small portions.
Mine: extensive menu, food good, will go back to find what they do best.

[cheeks]

mariko, on Aug 25 2009, 03:17 PM, said:

I was going through the Best Baguette drive-thru the other night and noticed Kenny's Noodle House across the street. I think it used to be, I don't know, a bubble tea or teriyaki place or something? I noted that the parking lot was near capacity, which aroused my curiosity. Has anyone been? What's the story? Noodles!

What it was last was Seolleong-tang Seoul, the only restaurant in Pdx that I ever tried to keep a secret....sadly, i think, it worked.
Named after the Korean bone soup, this place was super legit North and South menu. The wife did all the cooking and helped the husband at the FOH.
I truly miss them and wish I knew where they were.
I cannot bring myself to go back in that building, knowing they are not there. Pity, cuz I luvs me some noodles

[ILoveToEat]

I Just discovered Kenny's noodle House last Sunday and I was totally impressed with the food. I went back today (New Year's Day) for lunch and the place was PACKED.

This is an authentic Cantonese (Hong Kong) style congee noodle house. It has 75% of the typical HK congee noodle dishes, with the exception of "rice dumpling"(the kind wrapped in bamboo leaves, stuffed with sticky rice, salted pork and perserved duck eggs, here is a picture of what I'm talking about http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/eve...es_4175974.jpeg ) and "rice noodle" (this kind: http://www.foodnut.com/i/Joy-Luck-Place-Di...Rice-Noodle.jpg )

99% of the customers there are Asians. Most of the customers order the pig kidney/liver dishes. I had the kidney/liver congee the first time I visited there. I had to say, it was just about perfect. The kidney and liver were tender and not over/under cooked. Today I had the wonton beef brisket noodle soup. Delicious as usual. It has a strong favor of star anise, but not overpowering. True to the HK style beef brisket, it mixed with beef tendon. I love it!

We ordered the fried donut (this kind: http://www.hoyummy.com/wp-content/uploads/...09/img_4411.JPG ) both times. They were all good. They were hot and crispy. I asked the man behind the cash register about the fried donut the first time we ate at Kenny's. He told me that they fried it in the kitchen. I didn't go in to the kitchen and see if he's telling me the truth. But I want to find out if that is in fact the case. It's hard to find good Chinese fried donut in Portland. Kenny's does a decent job.

This place is tiny. It's about half the size of Good Taste. If the parking lot is full, it means there is a line waiting for table. Even though we had to wait 10 minutes for a table, we'd definitely go back.

[ExtraMSG]

I've been a couple times. I've had mostly good results, though I think I prefer Good Taste. My wife got a seafood soup, though, where the fish tasted off, possibly freezer-burned, or just tilapia that had been around. Sounds like I need to try some new stuff, though.

Welcome to the site, ILovetoEat.

[philthyanimal]

ExtraMSG, on Jan 1 2010, 05:23 PM, said:

I've been a couple times. I've had mostly good results, though I think I prefer Good Taste. My wife got a seafood soup, though, where the fish tasted off, possibly freezer-burned, or just tilapia that had been around. Sounds like I need to try some new stuff, though.

Welcome to the site, ILovetoEat.

who has the better won ton soup?

[BigDaddy]

We've been three times, and the best soup is the sui kai with wonton. I had spicy pork noodles the other two times, spicy enough but needed more warming time, and Jean sticks with the sui kai with noodles, six boiled dumplings on a bed of thin noodles, served with three baby bok choy. It looks like all the fried noodles come with the bok choy. They have an excellent selection of congee, but I've not been in the mood for those.

I've not had the wonton soup at Golden Horse, so can't compare, but the wontons here are fresh and pretty well stufffed. For $6 to $7 per plate, it's a worthwhile bargain.

[jafar]

My wife and I ate there about a week before Thanksgiving. We just happened to be in the neighborhood and were hungry. I think they had only recently opened.

We both really enjoyed it. If we lived anywhere near there we would probably go occasionally.

I don't fully remember what we had but I thought the fish with noodles was really good and the beef tasted good but was tough and stringy.

[philthyanimal]

just had it on sat...dumpling noodle soup was awesome. the broth had a more earthier flavor than good taste noodle house. the contents of the dumplings weren't minced like many other places. i liked how you could see the whole shrimp and strips of black fungus, bamboo, and onions. although i enjoyed the flavors more than good taste...i dont think i'd exclusively eat at kennys. i'd like to work the menu a bit more and would probably split my dollars at both places.

[ExtraMSG]

Kenny's Noodle House
8305 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97266
503.771.6868

[jafar]

philthyanimal, on Jan 4 2010, 12:26 AM, said:

just had it on sat...dumpling noodle soup was awesome. the broth had a more earthier flavor than good taste noodle house. the contents of the dumplings weren't minced like many other places. i liked how you could see the whole shrimp and strips of black fungus, bamboo, and onions. although i enjoyed the flavors more than good taste...i dont think i'd exclusively eat at kennys. i'd like to work the menu a bit more and would probably split my dollars at both places.

My wife and I went back on Sunday after being reminded by this thread. I agree, the whole shrimps and big chunks in the large dumplings are delicious.

On Sunday the broth tasted a little burnt to me though. I have no idea how its made or if that is even possible, but it was different than last time in that regard.

[polloelastico]

I like this place. It's comfort food. The default garnish on the wanton noodle soups are sparse, with only a few slivers of the white of a green onion, but I ask them to add some bok choy and they happily oblige. And of course, the oily chili paste and dashes of white pepper complete the bowl.

Like mentioned up-thread, the dumplings are large and stuffed with entire shrimp, and the minced pork filling is mild, but fine, and it doesn't have that slight "off" or "gamey" taste I've experienced (maybe from heavy handedness with 5-spice or Shaoxing wine) at other places, like the Chinatown Good Taste location.

I will try the sui kai next time for sure Big Daddy.

[SarahWS]

I hit Kenny's with Jill on Friday night and boy was I impressed. We had some of the best service I've had in a very very long time anywhere in Portland - came to our table immediately, had us supplied with hot tea before our butts had gotten settled on the chairs, gave us sufficient time to debate the menu, brought iced water quickly, explained the difference between dishes (the menu has two almost identical sections - one is just soup and the items, the other is soup, item, and noodles), and explained when we ordered one dish that they use Asian pumpkin, not American. I haven't felt that welcomed as an initial visitor in an Asian restaurant clearly aimed at other Asians in a very long time (especially since it was done in a very gentle, motherly way with no condescension). It seriously felt like I had stumbled into the Chinese version of Cheers (in a really nice way ).

We ordered the following:

Congee with pumpkin and rockfish - it was LOADED with massive, tender chunks of fish - moist, flaky, and full of flavor. Even more heavenly the second day. I ordered the chinese donut with it - personally I prefer the ones at Ocean City during dim sum. However, I did like the congee here slightly better - the flavor combination popped more and the texture was silkier.

We also ordered the bok choy with oyster sauce - very nice


Jill also ordered the sui kai soup with wonton and noodles. We shared that as well and I think it's far better than Good Taste Noodle House. The stuffing has far less of that over-processed, poor quality meat aftertaste & far less gristle, the broth was more balanced, and the noodles had less of the unpleasant ammonia flavor. The dumplings were far more tender - at Good Taste, I have to saw them apart with my chopsticks while these separated so easily that I said to Jill how nice it was that they cut them for us and she corrected me that no, they were just that delicate. I'm comparing it to the Good Taste on 82nd & the one in Hillsboro by the way, as I haven't been to the downtown one in a year while I go to the other two locations every month or so.

[FoodLuvr]

Kenny's Noodle House is my favorite place for Chinese noodle soup. I always order the #8 (forgot the name) and love how you can choose the type of noodles: regular thing egg noodle, rice (like what they have for Vietnamese bun - thick/round kind), and the flat/big rice noodle. Service is always quick.
Although I do still love Good Taste - but more so for their rice with roast pork or roast duck dishes.