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Nudo House is a fast-casual, Pan-Asian eatery focused on great food and warm hospitality. Aromatic pho from decades-long family recipes and ramen uniquely created through the mentorship by one of Japan’s foremost ramen chefs are the main attractions. The restaurant also features a variety of dishes with Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino influences. The menu spans noodles and soups to sandwiches and salads, as well as popular favorites such as spring rolls and crab rangoon. Globally-inspired flavors of soft serve rotate weekly for those with a sweet tooth. Here, the tonkotsu—that unctuous collagen-slick pork bone broth that defines the perfect ramen—is creamy and supple.
Qui Tran
Nudo excels too, however, in that equally challenging arena in which a variety of Asian ingredients are masterfully blended. A crusty banh mi sandwich comprises crispy tamarind-flavored chicken, cilantro, sour pickled carrots, crisp cucumbers, and a piquant mayonnaise. A ramen bowl loaded with meaty sliced oyster mushrooms is equally unusual. A luscious oily-rich chicken broth flavors the Hebrew Hammer ramen. An oddball version of pho, with chicken, beef, and shrimp, defies expectations of this iconic stew. Any of these could have turned out silly or, worse, a gastronomic mutant.
Pho Soup
Known as one of the four “Ramen Gods” in Japan, Nakamura will host a one-day pop-up at the Creve Coeur location of Nudo House (11423 Olive) this Sunday, October 22, from noon–8 p.m. The menu will include several varieties of mazemen (brothless) ramen, a more traditional vegetarian ramen, and more. Because October is a month filled with homecomings and Nakamura has visited St. Louis in the past, Tran is calling the event the “Nudo Homecoming.” Here’s what to know before you go. Nudo also offers kae-dama, a tradition at some ramen eateries. For a couple bucks, you can get another serving of noodles, which is nice when you’re really hungry and have broth left in your bowl. Nudo carries Hitachino, a quirky brew made from wheat malt, red rice, and other offbeat ingredients that provides some interesting tastes.
Nudo House Is Now Open in Creve Coeur, Offering Ramen with Mai Lee's Pedigree
I immediately spotted the name above the restaurant, cleverly featuring a noodle bowl and chopsticks worked into the logo. There are two banh mi sandwiches on the 20-item menu, including the Banh Mi Pho Dip (pictured above), a riff on the classic French dip. Flank steak is cooked in pho stock before being shredded and mixed with pho onions and bone barrow; a side of au jus is clarified and strained beef pho stock. Pho costs $10–$13, with the highest price version being a beef-chicken-and-shrimp combo that Trans calls 3-1-Pho Shizzle.
Nudo House Creve Coeur
Qui Tran is a popular and well-respected chef in the area, having worked most of his life at Mai Lee, the family’s restaurant, that first brought Vietnamese cuisine to St. Louis 30 years ago. He wanted us to try the Spicy Miso Noodles and the Mushroom Ramen. He wasn’t there, he said, but his Noodle Squad would be there to serve us and Marie-Anne would give us the tour. This week Robin, JC, and I were driving along Olive on our way out to Creve Coeur. We were in search of Nudo House, a ramen noodle shop located in a busy, shopping mall.
The original location of Nudo House changed the game for Creve Coeur when it opened in 2017, and it’s still as popular now as it was then. The menu is just big enough, with playful takes on ramen, pho, banh mi, sides and snacks. The Pho Shizzle, a combination of steak, chicken and shrimp served with onion, fresh herbs, bean sprouts, jalapeño and citrus, is not to be missed.
The Hebrew Hammer also makes for a fine symbol of Nudo House’s glorious cultural melting pot. His mother, Lee Tran, founded Mai Lee, St. Louis’ first Vietnamese restaurant. Nudo House features Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho, crab rangoon and soft-serve ice cream swirled into a cone. The broth’s flavor is roast chicken distilled and shot through with the summery sweetness of black garlic. There is actual chicken meat in the bowl as well as bok choy, bamboo and a soft-boiled egg, but I wouldn’t fault you for requesting nothing more than the broth and some noodles. Louisans now have an opportunity to meet one of the most famous ramen chefs in world,” Tran adds.
Menu
Stay awhile, rent one of the restaurant’s karaoke rooms and rock the mic with your group. Not long ago, vegan restaurants were few and far between – especially in St. Louis county – but now, they pepper the landscape with dishes that rival their omnivore-friendly counterparts. Bombay Food Junkies' plant-based fare is thoughtfully prepared and full of flavor thanks to owners Sid and Pancha Krupal's dedication to fresh local produce and intricate spice blends. The entire menu is packed with favorites, but pay special attention to the chaats, a general term for the street food found all over India.
Nudo House Is Now Open in Creve Coeur, Offering Ramen with Mai Lee's Pedigree - Riverfront Times
Nudo House Is Now Open in Creve Coeur, Offering Ramen with Mai Lee's Pedigree.
Posted: Tue, 08 Aug 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Nudo House is a perfect pairing of ramen and pho and two chefs' styles
The Classic Nudo ($12) is the best pork tonkotsu ramen I’ve eaten in St. Louis, so deeply flavored you expect to find Porky hanging out at the bottom of the bowl. As with the Hebrew Hammer, the broth is the prime source of pleasure, made with pork bones boiled for 20 hours. In the soup are slices of pork belly marinated for two days and then braised. Garlic and a traditional shoyu (soy sauce) seasoning accent the pork richness.
Soy milk is the unexpected ingredient giving this broth its creaminess. Tran says that along with “a few other surprises,” a brothy, vegetarian ramen will also be available. The flagship Nudo House opened in Creve Coeur in 2017, and a second location opened on the Delmar Loop in 2021. “In 2019, when chef [Nakamura] opened his first restaurant in the U.S.—Nakamura in New York City—Marie-Anne and I were on hand, honored to be able to help him do that." In 2016, while spending a week with him in St. Louis, Tran and Velasco refined their vision and drilled down into the subtleties of ramen preparation. “I don’t think we would have been as successful as we became without his tutelage” Tran says.
The Long-Awaited Nudo House Brings Ramen, Pho and More to Creve Coeur - Feast Magazine
The Long-Awaited Nudo House Brings Ramen, Pho and More to Creve Coeur.
Posted: Fri, 27 Oct 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
You’ll also find some exceptionally fine ramen and other edibles that reflect a rewarding merger of Asian foods. Although it might fly under the radar, Anis Hyderabad House is a gem in Creve Coeur, with an extensive menu of standards and creative dishes that balance flavor and heat. The options when it comes to chicken, goat, lamb and seafood curries alone are nearly endless, with favorites such as achari chicken and vindaloo. Don’t forget to take a peek at the specials list on the menu before you order, where you’ll find a rotation of dishes that don’t stick around for long. La Bonne Bouchee has been treating the St. Louis area to French pastries and confections for over 40 years thanks to owner and Master Chef du Patisserie Olivier Leguet, but sweets aren't the only thing it has to offer.
So Velasco and Tran named their chicken tonkotsu ramen the Hebrew Hammer. A bowl ($12) is a revelation — not least as you wonder how a broth can be so rich with emulsified fat, how it can so perfectly slick the springy noodles, without any porcine assistance. When Marie-Anne Velasco and Qui Tran were developing the broth for Nudo House’s chicken tonkotsu ramen, the chefs marveled at how much fat rose to the top of the pot. When it opened last summer, Nudo House STL almost instantly became one of the top ramen restaurants around, combining hip with sophistication, fun with a serious approach to the art of noodle noshing.
“I make my own,” the chef says when we ask about the pao cai, the pickled-vegetable relish that spikes the spicy ramen. Nudo’s kimchi is also made on site, something few local Korean restaurants can claim. Attention to such details permits the creative riffs that characterize the place.
(The house selection seems to change; if a Hitachino stout is available, try it—a stout complements ramen’s hearty broths better than any other beer.) And dessert? Soft-serve ice cream regularly rotates with tropical flavors. Red miso, wine-redolent and bearing a salty smack, flavors the O’Miso Spicy ramen with a pungent saltiness beneath the considerable fire of the broth’s chili-hot spice.
"The food and staff are fantastic. Everything from the tamarind chicken, to the crab rangoon, to the ramen are addictively delicious." Il Bel Lago is a taste of The Hill in Creve Coeur, thanks to brothers Carmelo and Frank Gabriele, the family behind the famed Giovanni’s on The Hill. After nearly 20 years in business, the restaurant is an icon on Olive Boulevard with a robust lunch and dinner menu that has something for everyone.
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