Noodle Bowl ramps up flavors to make a memorable meal

A little over two years ago, I happened to be attending an EforAll showcase night at the Groundworks co-working space in the Quest Center while working on a story about Manny DeBrito and his fledgling A’s for J’s company.

Among the many other aspiring entrepreneurs were Madalena Jezierski, her husband, James, and their son, Matthew, who were handing out small dishes of shockingly delicious ramen. I raced back to the paper raving about this new culinary delight and one of our reporters, Auditi Guha, quickly wrote a story about their impending opening.

That was in June of 2016.

Finally, in April 2018, the Noodle Bowl opened on Purchase Street in the heart of downtown New Bedford, in between Ming Sushi and the Green Bean.

On the Friday of the first week they were open I stopped by and was faced with a handwritten sign in the door informing me that due to overwhelming demand, their noodle maker had broken down and they’d be closed all weekend.

But after more than two years of tribulations, and little bad luck, the Noodle Bowl is finally offering its small, carefully curated menu of fusion ramen bowls, velvety steamed buns, crisp spring rolls and creative specials to all broth lovers.

On a recent Saturday evening, I arrived with my sister, Laura, her boyfriend, Pat, wife, Becca and our son, Cooper. It was my third visit, and during the first we learned Cooper loved their broth more than anything except maybe his Clifford plush. He sucks it down faster than you can shovel spoonfuls into his mouth.

My second visit was takeout, and I was very impressed by how they packaged our order — separate tubs for the broth so you could pour it over your bowl when you got home, along with small cups of their homemade hot chili sauce and toasted sesame oil.

When a restaurant brings that much attention to detail to the little things, you know they’re putting the same carefulness into preparing fresh, delicious food, and that’s precisely what I’ve experienced from the Noodle Bowl in my three visits.

It’s a small restaurant, with just three small tables, a long bar along the front windows perched over Purchase Street, a smaller bar overlooking the open kitchen and a large communal table in the middle. The sidewalk out front offers a couple of shaded tables, as well.

Clean and modern, yet sparse, the high-ceilinged dining room has a zen feel, with a wall of potted plants, a rock feature in the middle of the communal table and a throwback record player in the back. (Bonus: you can browse their collection and choose your own mealtime soundtrack!)

My only reservation about the dining room is there is only one four-top table, and it was occupied when we showed up with our 1-year-old son, forcing us to sit at the raised communal table. It was probably a funny sight seeing Cooper in his high chair, looking up at us from our knees. But Madalena and her gracious staff made us as comfortable as possible, even offering to walk him around the room when he got fussy. When the four-top opened up, they helped move us over, and since the bowls are served on metal trays, it was quite easy to transport our food.

So how was the meal? Spectacular. I try hard not to go overboard with five-star food reviews, but this one left no doubt.

For drinks, my sister tried the Rekorderlic pear cider, which was refreshing, just a tad sweet and lightly carbonated, while Pat opted for the Lucky Buddha beer, which came in an appropriately squat bottle that they washed for him to take home. Becca and I went for tap water, which came with lemons and, I’m not kidding, noticeably sturdy straws. All beverages, which include Soku and Sake offerings as well as Boylans sodas, are bottled or canned.

We started off with two of the daily specials for appetizers, the fried baby octopus ($9) and barbecue chicken steamed buns ($8).

The regular menu features two steamed bun options, and I’d thoroughly enjoyed the buffalo fried oyster ($10) ones before, despite not being a big oyster fan. Their steamed buns are mind-bogglingly moist, with a beautiful, chewy texture. They were topped by a pickled slaw and poached chicken and accompanied by a homemade barbecue sauce.

Without the sauce they were a little bland, but the thin sauce with little bits of cooked onion brought everything together with its blend of sweetness and vinegar tang. It reminded me of Swineheart’s Sweet Caroline, a barbecue sauce out of Georgia (Random note: My favorite BBQ sauce of all time is from Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous in Memphis).

The fried baby octopus was quite possibly the best octopus I’ve ever had. Unbelievably tender with just a touch of crunch from a very light batter, the half-dozen or so full-bodied baby octopus were joined with a soy scallion dipping sauce that provided a salty counterpunch to the sweet, fresh octopus.

After the light appetizers — I’ve also enjoyed the bahn mi spring rolls (with fresh basil, rice noodles, pickled veggies and cucumber for $6) although I would rank them lower than the two specials — three of us went for ramen, while my wife chose one of that night’s specials: Seared scallops over squid ink fettuccine.

A beautiful pasta dish, it came with four perfectly seared scallops over a bed of colorful fettuccine and topped with pea greens, spring onions, carrots, purple Brussels sprouts and a crunchy lemon gremolata (a mixture of herbs and lemon peel).

The scallops were delicately cooked and the homemade pasta was boiled to a perfect el dente to retain some bite and chew. Don’t be scared of the squid ink, it doesn’t change the flavor much, it’s more interesting for your eyes than your taste buds.

I ordered the double beef bowl ($14). I’ve now tried it twice, and it’s one of my favorite dishes in the area. I have little doubt it will make my Best of the Year list.

Tender, fall-apart braised beef and thin-sliced rare steak sit atop a bowl of wavy ramen noodles, roasted green onion and cabbage. It’s all tied together with a ginger soy broth that delivers significant depth of flavor.

All the carefully selected ingredients are built into a culinary adventure that hits every umami note on your tongue. It’s so complex it’s hard to describe the specific flavors, so you’ll have to allow me to use over-generic words I try to stay away from like “delicious” and “tasty.”

My sister tried the ramen special of the day with roasted chicken, a 55-minute egg and a miso broth. This broth was much lighter than the others, which are darker and richer. Think of a truly well-sourced chicken noodle soup broth.

The egg was poached at an extremely low temperature for 55 minutes, leaving the yoke creamy but not runny and the white as light as a cloud. It’s hard to nit-pick with anything at The Noodle Bowl, but I would note the chicken, while tender, was a little bland.

Pat tried the Portuguese-inspired Tuscoila bowl ($13), featuring large chunks of fork-tender cacoila, crispy potatoes, kale and a house-made giardiniera (think Italian relish) in a spicy saffron pork broth.

It’s like the best kale soup on steroids, and it’s what I had ordered on my first visit, and what initially brought me back for takeout just a couple weeks later.

While we were plenty full — the bowls are generous in not only flavor, but size — we decided to split a crème brulee, made in house by Madalena, with a chocolate mousse at the bottom underneath smooth custard and the traditional scorched sugar crust on top.

I never order crème brulee, because I’m usually not a fan of custards, but boy, this one was spectacular. Sweet and creamy, but without being overly eggy, digging to the bottom to get to the chocolate mousse made it even more delectable.

Our bill came to $94.10, including tax and those two drinks. This isn’t bargain food, but I can attest that you get the quality you’re paying for.

Because they pay all employees a living wage, tipping is discouraged, but we still left a little extra on the table due to the notably friendly service.

If you’re in search of new, challenging flavors, or are intrigued by what seems to be a nationwide surge in high-end ramen shops, or just enjoy food that makes you look up from your first bite to exclaim “That’s really good!” give this new downtown New Bedford spot a shot.