Evanston Lunch Group™ Tue Sept 16 12:30 Zoba The Noodle Bar

Are Zoba's noodles up to the standards set by Katy's Dumpling House? Maybe not, but they are made fresh daily, and I've enjoyed the food at this relatively new downtown Evanston spot a number of times. The noodles are Northern Chinese style, taught to the Thai owners by Korean friends - hence the pan-Asian menu.

I hope to see the unusual suspects there, and as many newbies as we can garner.

Zoba The Noodle Bar
1565 Sherman Ave.
Evanston, IL
847-328-7866

Usual suspect #1! Count me in!

Usual suspect #2! Me too!

Me three.

I plan on being there, too.

After a hectic summer where my teaching schedule never seemed to fit in with LTH events, I've learned from my mistakes and now I've arranged things that I can be in Evanston around noonish on most Tuesdays. (could this be another one of those "You know you're an LTHer if..." moments?) And within walking distance of work? Count me in!

Sharona

I plan on being there! Every time I walk past, I'm full or in a hurry and have been meaning to get there. Can't wait. See you all soon.

Hi,

Helen and I plan to attend.

Regards,

I'll be back in Chicago next week; I should be able to make it. Looking forward to seeing you all.

I would like to try my first Evanston Lunch Group now that my schedule has lightened up a bit (famous last words).

Count us in (Robert and Catherine, from Paris with Love-- but we are scheduled to come home Monday afternoon)

Hi,

I cannot make it today. I have something to attend to all day on Wednesday. I cannot give up too much time two days in a row.

Sorry!

Regards,

We'll miss you!

I have to bow out too last minute. I got back into town at 2 am last night and had to work this morning--I NEED to take a nap before I work for the rest of the day! Have fun!

Sharona

Sorry folks. Work SNAFU makes it impossible to get away. See you next time, I hope.

I'm glad that we could meet on such a lovely afternoon. I found the noodles to be excellent - serious quality noodles, although many of the toppings to be only good. I found the crispy teriyaki chicken to be among the best of the dishes.

I particularly enjoyed the calamari-seaweed salad, which was surprisingly excellent.

GAF wrote:I found the crispy teriyaki chicken to be among the best of the dishes.

I'd have to agree and I'm so glad you said so. I got home and was talking about it, but didn't know what it was called.

GAF, my thoughts to the letter. I should mention I was a bit surprised at how little protein went with each dish - even the tofu (except the chicken, which was more than enough, and was nicely crispy and sauced nicely) but that may be due to the fact that we had the lunch version, and I somehow missed the meatier dishes.

The handmade noodles themselves were toothsome, a bit springy, and not at all floury (as had been my one experience with handmade noodles at H-Mart,) sort of somewhere between a spaghetti and an oudon in both girth and texture. I somehow completely missed the seafood in gravy (and the BBQ pork, but I wasn't about to come to fisticuffs with ChgoMike over it. ) I'd love to hear what you all thought of them...

Lovely to see you all, and glad to welcome EvA to our little Mittag-Klatsch!

It was great to see our group of ten LTHers at Zoba today. Although I've had their food three times before, I appreciated the opportunity to try a few more dishes that were new to me. But as always, the noodles, made fresh daily in house, were the stars of the show.

Here's a sampling of what we had (please forgive photo quality; I stupidly had the camera on the wrong capture setting):

Ika Sansai - marinated squid and seaweed in a red pepper and sesame dressing


Zo's Crazy Noodles with beef - basil, broccoli, carrot, onion, bell pepper, egg, mushroom and bamboo shoot


Yaki Soba with Tofu


Zo's Sesame Noodles with Chicken


Zo's Panang Curry Noodle


Zoba Seafood Madness - described by the waiter as seafood in gravy


Thai Spicy Noodle with BBQ Pork


I'll agree with previous comments that some of the dishes were a bit light on the protein element; If my memory serves me correctly, there's a little more at dinner (and prices are $1 higher).

But overall, I thought the food was very good, and at $12 pp including a generous tip, a good deal. Plus, the BYO policy in the evening makes this an affordable dinner option.

P.S. Mike - just because all the food came my way for a photo before anyone else got to it, doesn't mean I got first dibs. I missed out on the seafood and the BBQ pork. Your end of the table seemed to do well, though.

nr706 wrote:P.S. Mike - just because all the food came my way for a photo before anyone else got to it, doesn't mean I got first dibs. I missed out on the seafood and the BBQ pork. Your end of the table seemed to do well, though.

All I know is that because I want first dibs, I need to either sit next to you or bring a camera. Whether or not the photographer takes culinary advantage of their photographic license is up to each individual artist. And I, for one, would use that license liberally.

Of course, I'm kidding. Probably. And although the noodles are indeed great at Zoba's and the food was good, I'm looking forward to a more Thai-ish experience next month.

I enjoyed meeting and eating with everyone yesterday--a pleasant lunch on a lovely day.

To me, the best dish was the calamari seaweed salad. The homemade noodles are good, toothsome if a bit thick in the diameter department. Perhaps because we ordered so many dishes with the same noodles, I thought the different preparations, sauces, and proteins were average with none really standing out to me. The sesame chicken was fine, and the panang curry also tasty if rather mild.

For those looking for another lunch option in Evanston, Zoba can be added to the list, although not to the top of the list. Even cheaper than the meal we ordered yesterday is a $6.95 lunch special, competitive with other Evanston lunch places for the NU lunch crowd.

This will begin to sound like a broken record, but my favorites were also the ika sansai (squid/seaweed salad) and the sesame chicken. I did manage to snag a little of the "seafood in gravy," and I liked what I tasted. The housemade noodles were very good, although by the time we had finished passing the platters, the various dishes were somewhat commingled on my plate, so I had a hard time telling which preparation was which.

I also thought the service was quite good. As the first one at the restaurant, I had ordered an iced coffee, inquiring about the difference between the "Zo" and "Thai" versions. When the waiter said the Zo was creamier, I opted for that. Later, during lunch, he unobtrusively brought me a glass of the Thai version--saying there would be no extra charge--because I should really try both. As always, the highlight of the lunch was the lively conversation, especially today's, which centered on the GNR nomination and selection process.

PS. The Mexican delivery place MHays and I were discussing (but not necessarily recommending) is El Ranchito. I believe Michele said her ordering from there was limited to tacos, and I have never tried anything more adventurous from their extensive menu than sopes and tostadas, all of which were inexpensive and adequate. According to the most recent menu dropped on my doorstep, they now have online ordering:
http://www.elranchitores.com
I will try this out sometime and report back.
El Ranchito
4651 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60618
773-334-6441
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2829 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60618
773-227-1688

Not to get picky, but in case it makes a difference I was actually thinking of El Rey de Taco (although I'm inclined El Ranchito is connected to them in some way, their menus are printed and distributed so similarly) I think what made me finally try it was d4v3's discussion of tacos Pioneros inthis thread.

tarte tatin wrote:PS. The Mexican delivery place MHays and I were discussing (but not necessarily recommending) is El Ranchito. I believe Michele said her ordering from there was limited to tacos, and I have never tried anything more adventurous from their extensive menu than sopes and tostadas, all of which were inexpensive and adequate. According to the most recent menu dropped on my doorstep, they now have online ordering:
http://www.elranchitores.com
I will try this out sometime and report back.
El Ranchito
4651 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60618
773-334-6441
-----
2829 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60618
773-227-1688

When I used to live in North Center, I was a devotee of the tacos al pastor at the now defunct El Ranchito location at Lawrence and Damen. When they were on, they were out of this world, and I always thought their salsas were excellent as well, especially the green.

I have had good pastor at the Clark street location and generally think El Ranchito is reliable, although I don't get there very often now that I live in a neighborhood with bountiful taqueria options.