Cassandra rated Everyday Noodles 4.5 Globes out of 5.
The food at this restaurant was incredibly authentic. All the noodles are made by hand and the cooks do so behind a piece of glass so diners can watch. The owner works with the Taiwanese government to bring cooks to the United States to teach his staff, according to the restaurant’s website.
With around 20 tables, the small restaurant is found on Forbes Ave in Squirrel Hill.
To date, this was the most messy food review I have ever done. For that, I cannot give it five out of five globes.
To be fair the mess was my fault because I did not realize that the pork soup dumplings, eight for $15, quite literally meant that it had soup inside of it. When I took a bite of the dumpling, it proceeded to explode into my hair. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
I was more embarrassed than surprised. I did, however, feel better about myself when our Editor-elect Carson Folio made the same mistake the following day in a revisit to the restaurant.
I watched Carson take a bite into the dumpling that, when placed entirely into the mouth, exploded with a meaty, balanced broth flavor of mouth-watering pork. From his reaction, I realized he didn’t heed my warning.
As I sat across from him, I watched as the broth projectile shot across the table, splattering a little onto my phone.
Despite my physical or worldly grievances as I dined, it did not alter that the flavor of the food at Everyday Noodles, and the speed of the wait staff were top of the line.
In the minced pork over rice, $9, the meat juice seeped into the rice flavoring on the bottom. While the rice wasn’t sticky it also wasn’t dry, achieving an unprecedented balance between the two. At the top of the dish, as the pork continued to sit, it did not lose its moisture in the rice.
It feels odd to praise such a simple dish as rice and pork, but the subtle meat complimented the rice with its bolder juice flavor so well. Easily, it is a more affordable, filling and balanced meal that shouldn’t be forgotten or brushed aside.
The minced pork over rice also came with an aged egg that somehow tasted like egg yolk entirely in each egg layer, with a slice of yellow radish as well.
In retrospect, I realize now that I somehow managed to only order pork dishes. Yet, the menu at Everyday Noodles manages to make each form of the pork taste very different from the others. The pork rib noodle soup was the last dish I ordered.
I taught myself that individual pieces of the dish’s meat, which was attached to small bones, should be placed entirely into the mouth like the soup dumplings. Then, after cleaning all the meat off, the bone should be politely pulled out so that others do not have to watch you awkwardly naw on the bones from the tips of your chopsticks.
As for the noodles, I ordered the wide ones. They were nicely chewy but didn’t taste special other than the noticeable absence of preservative flavor. The broccoli in the broth was harder than desirable, but the vegetable and meaty-flavored broth made up for it. The liquid wasn’t overly flavorless or salty.
For dessert, I had the creamy crispy mini buns for $5, which I don’t recommend. The buns were simple, tasting very bready and not very sweet. The sweetest component to them was the drizzled donut-glaze sauce over the top of them.
As a last note, if you don’t know how to use chopsticks beware! I don’t say this to roast Carson. They may keep spare forks or chopstick helpers, but by coming here and dining in, you will be forced to learn how to use them by trial and error.
