PHAT NOODLES?

Driving through Naperville over the weekend. Anyone ever tried a place along Ogden called Phat Noodles?

PHat Noodles
614 E. Ogden Ave
Naperville, IL 60563
630-717-1199
http://www.phatnoodles.com/

I like it despite the name. It's pan-asian, kind of like a smaller version of Joy Yee down the street but with no atmosphere and better food.

Would you recommend any dishes in particular?

I've been a few times. Anyone I've taken has always been pleased.

Starters
The Lettuce Wraps w/Chicken were very refreshing and light if you don't mind doing some of your own assembly.
The Asparagus Beef Roll is really good also.

Main
I don't remember everything I've eaten there. The two dishes that stand out are the Phat Noodle Stir Fry (keeping with the name sake it has to be good, right?) and the Spicy Noodle Plate. The spicy noodle plate wasn't that spicy - but the seafood was prepared well. Great flavors. That would have to be my recommendation.

http://www.phatnoodles.com/
614 E. Ogden Ave
Naperville, IL 60563
630.717.1199

A good, solid place to catch a quick meal in the company of hungry college students and locals -- I like it, but there's definitely no atmosphere in there, got to agree. It's great for a rainy day though.

Favourite dishes:
* Udon noodle stir fry - this really hit the spot for me, but the...
* Phat noodle stir fry - is even better, the shrimp makes a great accompaniment. It's not too spicy and the sauce is really good, a bit more sweet than anything else.
* Hot honey ginger tea - I recommend this if you've got a cold. Went there when I was feeling poorly and it was just the thing to make me feel better.

Has anyone been recently? And how are their non-noodle dishes?

Any info would be helpful. Thanks.

jh

Define recent? I've been within the last year.

I haven't had anything bad - yet. Although, I've only been a few times.

This place is really great! They did a nice job with the interior because your eyes aren't assaulted with the typical red and gold Chinese decorum but are treated to a clean, modern space. During lunch time they're pretty busy because they have a good lunch special, but go here for dinner if you want a casual dinner with great Chinese and Thai dishes. They don't add MSG to their food. The ingredients are impeccably fresh, and the portions are large and inexpensive. The Asian calamari is really good-- salty, spicy, lightly breaded squid pieces (not skimpy rings!) are fried till crispy and topped with a little fried garlic and chilies. If you like shrimp, their Spicy Crispy Shrimp is prepared the same way. For entrees, order several noodle dishes to share. My favorite is the Spicy Seafood Udon Combo-- The udon noodles are stir fried with large scallops, shrimp, and wilted baby spinach in a spicy satay sauce. They have a new item on their menu that might be my #2 favorite: Crazy Spicy Noodles are wide rice noodles stir fried with chicken and basil in this hot and spicy sauce. Although the description sounds rather simple. This dish is not! While you're eating it, you get a simultaneous sweetness with heat and the great aroma of the basil. It's SO GOOD! The owner (an adorable Chinese woman) said its her adapted version of a Thai dish. The Spicy Noodle Plate is also a great dish-- noodles with the appearance of swollen spaghetti (I don't know what kind they are) are stir fried with shrimp, scallops, and squid. The sauce reminds me of the spicy red pepper paste used in Korean cooking. For the above dishes, I hesitate to use the word "sauce" because there is no excess liquid in these dishes. I don't like my food doused in greasy, starchy sauce and thankfully, the chef knows what he's doing. The conventional Chinese dishes are also very well-executed. I like the Beef Chow Fun (wide rice noodles stir fried with large pieces of beef, onions, and bean sprouts) and Pepper Noodle Beef (pan fried wide rice noodles topped with stir fried beef, green bell pepper and onion in a black bean garlic sauce). Whenever I'm on break from college, I have to go here! I'm more than confident that if you go here and try some of the dishes I mentioned, you'll leave with a very happy tummy!

i've only eaten here once and remembered only that the food was not good or bad.

i guess i should try it again

Mmm...great dinner tonight at Phat Noodles! There's usually a carry out and/or dining in coupon on their website that changes every month or so. Print that out before going. Sometimes when they're busy, you have to be patient, but I think it's worth the wait! Recommend!


Pan Fried Potstickers.


Crazy Spicy Noodles.


Spicy Seafood Udon Combo.

Can you tell I like my carbs? haha


Beef chow fun.


Singapore noodles.


Spicy beef udon.

Driving eastbound on Ogden in Naperville this past Monday, I had completely forgetten that Katy's Dumpling House is closed Mondays. Not wanting to battle Rte59 construction traffic back to Aurora until later, I remembered this thread about Phat Noodles from a few years back which I had put on my mental "list" of places to try.

We were not disappointed in our little adventure!

We followed spiffytriphy's advice as a starting point for our first visit.

We ordered the Asian Calamari as an appetizer, a couple sodas and then my wife and I ordered a Thai Iced Tea to split/try. The Asian Calamari was outstanding, one of the highlights of the night exactly as ST described above: salty, spicy, lightly breaded. It was very good. Served on a small bed of lettuce, my wife was eating that as a "hot salad" as that contained the garlic and peppers that didnt stick to the calamari.

A note on peppers. A couple of the dish descrpitions noted "jalepenos" as the peppers being used. In reality they we using what appeared to be a green Thai pepper.

Crazy Spicy Noodles were again, just as described above: sweet, then heat, then an aroma of basil. This was our first time trying the wide rice noodle and it was much "lighter" than it looked like it would be. This was very good.

Beef Chow Fun was the next dish that came out and was another wide noodle dish with extremely tender pieces of beef in it. We liked this also and can see this and Crazy Spicy Noodles being are "standard order" which we then get 2 new dishes each time with, the same way we get Stir Fry Onion Pancake, Dan Dan Noodles, and Chicken with Red Peppers as our launching point each and every time at Katy's.

Last up was the Spicy Seafood Udon Combo. Now this, for us, was a miss. It was loaded with crab meat, shrimp, scallops and (by chef's mistake) squid, but it was just too much seafood. It definitely had bang for the buck in that regards, and it was not a cheap dish at $16.95, but just too much. Maybe if it had come out first, our feeling would be different as we were peaking already. The udon noodles and the spicy sauce were very good, and we do look forward to exploring the other Udon variety offerings here.

The Thai Ice Tea was a new experience as mentioned, and it was really, really, interesting?

We have no idea if the Ice Tea, or any of the other dishes were "supposed" to taste like they did, as we are by no means experts in any area of food. But after exploring menus all over Aurora for Mexican, dabbling in some Indian cuisine in Naperville, and spending plenty of time working our way through Katy's menu based on recommendations here, we do know what we like.

We liked Phat Noodle and have every intention of coming back, with others, as we want to order a number of items next time so we can share.