Small menu packs big flavour Noodle house doesn't disappoint By: Alison Gillmor Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 Last Modified: 3:31 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019 Updates

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2019 (2183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The straight-up menu at this south Winnipeg strip-mall location is intensely noodle-focused. There are only nine main selections, but they manage to offer a whole lot of flavour.

The soup broths, including bone broths for the meat varieties, are house-made, as are the three noodle choices. With big bowls and base prices that top out at $10.59, Alfy’s Noodle House is also a bargain.

There are optional add-ins, such as tofu sticks (the kind made from thin skins) and seasoned egg.

You can request extra wontons or noodles ($1.39) or more veg ($.99) or meat ($2.99) and you can personalize your bowl with heat levels from one to five. The default setting is three, delivering a spiciness that’s warm but not overpowering.

Sweet potato noodles — very tasty and almost translucent — are a stand-out. Paired with a deep and complex sour-spicy broth, they are finished with drifts of aromatic house-made red chili oil and a scattering of chopped peanuts.

The wonton soup is also good, the pork-stuffed wontons are plump and tasty, with a hint of anise and paired with chicken broth. You can also order wontons with added wheat noodles.

Rice noodles, featured in one of the beef soups, are a bit soft and vague. The thick, curly wheat noodles, however, have a nice bit of chew.

Vegetarian options include a delicate clear broth served with those really good wheat noodles and baby bok choy cooked tender-crisp.

The sesame paste noodle bowl (a brothless option) is made with wheat noodles, the rich, smooth sesame paste offset with the vinegary bite of pickled long beans and the crunch of peanuts. The dish also includes small chunks of braised beef, though it can be ordered meatless for another vegetarian choice.

Along with the noodle-centric mains are a few simple sides, including salted edamame and little quail eggs, medium-boiled.

Drinks options are limited to canned pop and tea, including Wang Lao Ji, a popular Chinese herbal tea.

The service, which combines ordering at the counter with table delivery, is obliging and speedy, even during the lunch rush.

And while most strip-mall locations look the same from the outside, Alfy’s interior is by Fireside Design Build, the firm behind such handsome Winnipeg resto and bar spaces as Grey Owl Coffee, Harth and La Brasserie Nonsuch Brewing Co.

The cool, modern space features a black-and-white scheme with a few hits of red and cleverly uses “walls” of hanging ropes to delineate booths.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca

Alison Gillmor
Writer

Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.

   Read full biography