It has certainly been the Year of the Noodle in Philadelphia — and this tasty trend is proving its durability.
Along with Chef Phila Lorn bringing his multi-cultural, no-rules noodles to his own Mawn space in the Italian Market, the crew at the futuristic-designed Chika Noodle Bar near Rittenhouse are boldly going where no noodle has gone before. In November and December alone, not only has Miss Saigon opened at 13th and Walnut with huge crowds, another new pho restaurant, Pho Skyline, is opening at 9th and Christian momentarily.
“Remember, noodles in Asian culture represent a long life, a good life,” said Lorn, reminding Metro that noodles are eaten at the end and beginning of a New Year to symbolize such a life.
Beyond the playful Blade Runner vibe of Chika on Sansom Street comes a ramen house steeped in Japanese cultural iconography and history. Derek Gibbons, Chika’s co-owner and the person that came up with the concept, reminded Metro of the “pulled noodles” roots and its popularity during World War II — “with food shortages, noodles and broth got made from readily available cheap ingredients” — and that everything Chika does is elevated beyond its visual design of futurism.
“All of our wheat noodles’ ingredients are made fresh in house, including our broths,” said Gibbons. “It’s a very timely process to make broth, which in my opinion, always makes it a special dish.”
At Miss Saigon, restaurant partners Kenny Poon, David Taing, Chuong Nguyen and Chef Tommy Tran live and die by the noodle’s traditions as well as the modern culturalism of Vietnam.
“We wanted to bring the streets of Vietnam to Philadelphia, the authenticity that Tran learned from his mother,” said Nguyen, Miss Saigon’s director of operations. “We came here from Vietnam, together. Tommy always had a passion for cooking, upscaling the recipes of his youth, and a large part of that means a fun, sharing-style of “drinking food.”
Passion, authenticity and fun at Miss Saigon is highlighted its pho noodle soups such as its three-beef pho with its raw, rare meat, bone-in short rib and tendon meatballs bumped against rich helpings of noodles, and its Bún Riêu cran, tomato and noodle soup.
“Hey, pho with noodles is a great, comforting cure for hangovers,” said Nguyen.
Restaurant owner Charles Dang at Main Street Pho – one of several new noodle spaces in Manayunk – raved about his pho’s combination of the beef’s rich flavored broth, the meat and the fresh vegetables that go into the dish as the secret to his success.
“We offer several choices of noodles in our menu, mainly the rice noodle on our pho dishes, egg noodles for dumpling soup and our beef stew, as well as our vermicelli bowls,” stated Dang. “Noodles are a necessity in all of our meals. People in the East largely consume noodle for breakfast, and lunch, therefore, noodle is an important item on our menu, always.”
Having Mawn in the Italian Market is perfect for what Chef Phila Lorn does — the diversity of its noodle dishes, in particular, speak to the Market’s melting pot ideal.
“I don’t stay in one lane – Mawn is Cambodian, Thai, Laos. But it’s not fusion… and noodles, to me, coming up, was the ultimate comfort food, nourishing and supportive. That was my reason for opening a noodle shop. If your sad, it’s raining, it’s too hot, you need comfort. Noodles mean home.”
At Mawn, home comes with diverse noodle dishes such as Khao Soi’s Northern Thai curry with “neighborhood ramen 2 ways,” its Night Market dish with Cold Wives noodles and crispy neighborhood ramen originally made for Lorn’s staff, two different Katiews with meat and vegetarian options (“the national soup of Cambodia”) and beef noodle soup with sliced wagyu, braised oxtail and more.
At Mawn, Lorn bends the soul of the noodle to his whim, in accordance with family meal menus created by his mom, who came from Cambodian to South Philly in 1985, and is “living the American dream” through her son’s restaurant.
“The noodles at Mawn complement everything else that we have here, from our fried chicken to our steak and Prohok,” said Lorn. “We’re a noodle house with so much more.”
Remembering what Phila Lorn said about noodles being essential to a good life, Philadelphia must surely plan for a great New Year with all of this city’s new ramen and noodle houses afoot.
