Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Tuesday, March 8
Nouveau Noodles
A mini-review of a beloved Cedar Crest eatery.
March 1st was merely the 5th or 6th time I've dined at Nouveau Noodles, yet I do believe that I've gotten a good sense of the cuisine that is offered.
There are a few themes contained on the menu that could be loosely described, even within the confining classification of "eclectic" or "fusion" that this restaurant would normally be categorized under. I'll identify three, though there could be more.
1. 'Across the table' food. Take any 'normal' American to a restaurant that you've been gushing about and chances are they will just find it OK. They will not revel in the succulence of the rare flesh, nor be dazzled by plating or sauces. They will order the steak. Or the chow mein. No disrespect is to be inferred here - your companion is doing what is right for them and also providing you with company at a place that gives you pleasure by the mouthful. Indeed, on the menu at Nouveau there is a steak or two, a chow mein dish, and some lightly sauced noodle dishes that include meat but do not include a lot of 'weird' vegetables. I've tried the T-bone, and it was prepared well and served with very tasty thin fries. Nouveau is safe for those who "don't like Asian".
2. 'Fusion' food. Here we have mostly normal offerings like Cashew Chicken, Orange Beef, etc. One of the appetizers, the Mango Chicken eggrolls, I've had and it is 2 not-small egg rolls, enough for an entree for one person. The mango flavor is subtle but nice with the chicken, and the dipping sauce completes the dish nicely. It does not include the marinated red onions as other items on the menu do, but if you have some handy, take a bit of egg roll with onions - POW! - a great combination of tastes. Some of the other more fusion-y offerings are based on Asian staples like udon or mushrooms but then have the addition of green chile (the Cashew Chicken) or perhaps a red chile dusting on the meat (Red Chile Encrusted Tuna). Many of these flavors are sweet-hot and do work well with the lean cuts of meat offered, such as tuna and skirt steak.
3. 'Wacko' food. My personal favorite comes in here - the Seared Ahi Tuna and Seaweed Timbale. This is a salad molded into a cylinder (that's all you need to know about the 'timbale' part) made out of salad greens, soba noodles, chunks of rare and fleshy tuna, tart pickled red onions, and crunchy seaweed. Under the tower of craziness is a shallow pool of wasabi cream sauce that I could drink as a smoothie.... or eat as ice cream(!) (Robert, are you listening?!) The seaweed is strange if you've never had it - it crunches but does not yield easily like, say, a bean sprout. I adore this salad and frequently make it my main entree, especially if the soup of the day is tempting. Other examples in the wacko category would be Spicy Pork, which marries chorizo, green chile, snow peas, baby corn, and rice noodles.
Combine all of these themes, and consider the ingredients that show up in many of the menu items: green chile, orange-chile sauce, baby corn & snow peas, and noodles.... and you might just have an inkling of what awaits you in the little building on the other side of the mountain, a scant 10 minutes away from Tramway & I-40.
But don't forget on your way out the door, the apricot bread pudding. You won't regret it. Say hello to Robert as he comes around to make sure your food is great, and promise you'll be back often.... I promise that I will.
Time posted: 12:37 [permalink]
|
|
| |
CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
|
|
|
