JC Noodle House Review

We went out to run some errands last week. We were hungry and stopped at JC Noodle House, a restaurant in the shopping center in Tampa where we were. We both love Asian cuisine, and the online menu looked promising.

The restaurant was empty when we walked in five minutes after they opened. It was a large room filled with booths. I noticed what appeared to be a conveyor belt between the tables on both sides of the room. We ordered sake and appetizers while we looked over the menu.

We started with an order of Ika Maruyaki and an order of Taco Bao with pork belly. As we studied the menu, I kept changing my mind about what I wanted for lunch. The Bento Boxes and the Hibachi entrees all looked promising, but then I turned the page to see they have homemade noodles. I knew I wanted the noodles, it only being a matter of which one. My first instinct was to get the pork belly, but since we had ordered that for our appetizer, I went with Braised Sliced Beef and Beef Balls. Chris chose to have lamb with his noodles.

We ordered our main course, and suddenly a tray came swiftly down the conveyor belt, stopping at our table. The food delivery method thoroughly entertained us. Once we took our plates, the tray quickly zipped away back to the kitchen.

The Ika Maruyaki, a beautiful grilled squid dish, was tasty. The properly grilled squid had a lovely flavor and texture. I enjoyed the sauce, which almost reminded me of yum-yum sauce, but not quite. The Taco Bao, pork belly, scallion, cilantro, and yellow pickled radish served taco-style, was spectacular. The bright flavors of the vegetables perfectly accompanied the rich pork. The order came with two, but I would have had no problem eating more.

As we finished the appetizers, I saw the tray at the end of the conveyor belt. Whoosh, the tray with our giant bowls of noodle soup quickly came to a stop at our table and announced that we should remove the plates from the tray.

We were impressed by the size of the bowls of soup. We could have easily shared one and had plenty to eat, as we ended up bringing about half of the soup home with us. The broth was comforting and delicious, with a beautiful freshness from the green onions and basil. Mushrooms added a lovely umami flavor to the dish, and we were both excited to find wood ear mushrooms in the mix. When we stirred the fried egg’s yolk into the broth, the soup took on a new decadence. The braised beef was well cooked, but the beef balls were spectacular with a fantastic flavor and texture. Our only complaint is that the lamb was a touch on the dry side.

We could see through a window into the kitchen, where the chef made the noodles as we ate. It was entertaining to watch him toss, stretch, and twist the noodles. Part of the fun of eating the noodles was stretching our arms high to find the end of the long noodles. Even without the rest of the soup, the firm but soft noodles were fantastic.

Cost for an order of sake, two appetizers, and two bowls of noodle soup $56.96.

Update 12/9/21 – We planned to go for noodle soup the other day, only to learn that JC Noodle House has, unfortunately, closed.