One of the many pleasures in life is finding a satisfying, affordable and reliable lunch spot. For those of us who don’t have an employee cafeteria built into our HQ’s, we need to forage the urban jungle on our own. It can be a scary place!

I am happy to announce that I stumbled upon a solid spot near my office that’s all of the above. Hooray for on-point lunch games~

Ambiance: 

This no-frills hole-in-the-wall probably isn’t suited for office parties, as it can only comfortably seat about 8 – 10 people. There’s a huge hand-painted koi mural on one side and (outdated) promotional posters for Asian musical performances taped to the wall. Overall, it was a clean, small space that got the job done.

My waitress/cashier brought out my noodle bowl to me, which was a nice touch.

Service:

Since I went during lunch, the delivery boys and cooks were taking a break and bantering amongst themselves, a little raucously, but not annoyingly so. They even taunted the cook to “go work” and make my order, which I found humorous. Mandarin friendly!

Veggie Noodle Soup:

Unlike typical lunchtime portions, my Asian sistas know what’s up. For $8.99 + tax, I got a two-meal sized, huge and satisfying noodle soup that didn’t skimp on veggies. The noodles were the right amount of soft and slurpiness, and everything tasted fresh and vibrant.

The broth was just a tad salty — they did put a dab of chili paste on top that I suspect has fish in it, so next time, I will be having it plain.

One line rhyme-ary:

Noodles served delicious + hot, Auntie Guan is my new lunch spot.