So apparently my harsh review of Ramen Club assisted in its short life span. I'm happy to report the new restaurant to fill the space shows a lot more promise. It was a cold night and I learned my lesson with Ramen Club and waited until Noodle Theory was open for a couple of weeks before heading there to review it. They turned it into a modern noodle house blending noodle dishes from various Asian cultures with elements of California cuisine.
We started off with the steamed pork and dumplings with chili sesame soy balsamic vinaigrette ($8) and a beet salad ($7). They dumplings were decent sized with a lot of good flavor. I definitely wanted to try the noodle soups so went with the slow roasted niman ranch pork belly in savory pork miso broth ($15). The portion size was really big and came with a lot of pork belly. The broth was rich in miso flavor. The ramen noodles were slightly overcooked but the dish overall was really good. We also tried the niman ranch beef udon in coconut lime curry broth ($14) and grilled cod over garlic noodles ($18). I didn't taste the broth on the udon but my friend said it was really good but would have ordered it with ramen noodles instead of udon. I did try the fish and garlic noodles and they were both very good although the fish did contain a lot of small bones. For dessert, we had the donut holes with custard. This seemed like a really odd dessert for them to offer but nonetheless, they were soft and airy.
Noodle Theory offered a variety of dumplings, noodle soups, and entrees with stir fried noodles. I would go back if in the Marina but would forego the steep prices and head to Japantown for a more authentic experience. And probably not for much longer, it is still BYOB until they get their liquor license.
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
3242 Scott Street
(at Lombard St)
San Francisco, CA 94123
