Get Ye Behind Me, Big Bowl
For those on a budget Penny’s Noodle Shop offers big flavors and a touch of class without the mall store posturing or prices.
Clean, simple, fast and satisfying. That about sums up Penny’s Noodle Shop, the Thai-Vietnamese hybrid that sits at the prized corner of Damen and Pierce and has been a mainstay of the neighborhood for nearly a decade now.
Penny’s is remarkably unpretentious and earnest, much in the way of an ethnically pure ma and pa noodle shop but without the earthy feel of such places. Penny’s has a touch of class. Its blonde wood floors, plate glass windows and edgy local art convey a spare, gallery-like feel that jibes perfectly with the vibe of the neighborhood.
And for a song you can indulge heartily in such flavorful dishes as hot pepper noodle, a big bowl of stir fried noodles with egg, chili sauce, onion, red pepper, tomato, basil and your choice of chicken, beef or tofu. Subtle traces of smoky flavor come through as you savor the plump seasoned noodles and devour the big chunks of tomatoes and red peppers. Or try the five pepper shrimp, a zesty combination of crunchy, sweet and spicy, on a bed of fluffy rice, complemented by a mixed salad.
Start with the Thai Spring Rolls, not just cold, but chilled. Bite through the soft roll of rice pancake and into a crisp salad of cucumbers, bean sprouts and tofu laced with omelet strips and topped with tangy sweet and sour sauce. Delicious. But be careful. The Vietnamese Spring Rolls, while tasty, are not the equal of the Thai variety, and the menu doesn’t always do a good job of communicating what you’re getting.
More than once I’ve accidentally ordered the wrong thing at Penny’s and been disappointed. They refer to too many dishes simply as “noodle dishes”, which, to my mind, implies warm, wide noodles but may actually be cold thin noodles so heavily tossed with cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts etc. that it’s really more of a raw salad with noodles in it. So be sure to confirm what you’re getting before green lighting the order. It’s one of the few gripes I have with Penny’s.
Actually, it’s hard to complain when you get such an abundance of good flavors at such low prices. It doesn’t have to be so. Rich Melman, for example, has taken the stir fried noodles concept and blown it up into the over the top suburbanized chain called Big Bowl. People don’t seem to mind paying twice as much to get pretty much the same thing in the out lot of a shopping mall. Pity them. Penny’s is right here in the neighborhood with twice as much panache at half the price.
Penny’s Noodle Shop
1542 N. Damen
773-394-0100
T-Th & Su 11am-10pm; F-Sa 11am-10:30pm; Closed Monday
Avg price of a meal for two including drinks and tax $40.00
Features: Outdoor Dining, Carryout, Delivery
Website: www.pennysnoodleshop.com
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