For those who are looking for something that’s both custom and a little more exotic for your pallet than what you can normally find around Stratford, your culinary prayers have been answered.
Noodlebox, an Asian street-wok restaurant franchise that first opened in Victoria, British Columbia in 2001, has made its way to Stratford under the guidance of owner/operator Jay Patel. The company’s mission is to deliver real food, made fresh, with fire; Patel is looking forward to fanning the flames for Stratford’s taste buds.
“There are flavours from all over Asia, which you can see just by looking at the menu,” he said. “We have 16 different types of noodle boxes, with something from Cambodia, Shanghai, Singapore and more. We’ve got seven different types of noodles, plus plenty of choices of protein and saucing to give you the level of heat you want.”
For those who haven’t sampled Noodlebox’s offerings before, you start out with a choice of box that can range from a teriyaki box, ginger beef, kung pao, or Yangzhou fried rice all the way down to a butter chicken box, Bombay mac and cheese, or a crispy Shanghai chicken box. Some already come with a protein component, but there are 11 options for the ones that don’t. Serves will then work with you on your heat (spice) level, going from mild up to scorching hot (which contains ghost peppers). Most boxes have a recommended noodle option, but that’s the beauty of customization – if you want zucchini noodles with your black bean and garlic box, have at it.
Patel is proud to say that everything is made fresh and Noodlebox does what it can to support local produce growers when sourcing their ingredients.
“We don’t freeze things and then just remix it – we make it fresh,” he said. “And everything on the menu can be customized according to your taste buds, meaning you can go all the way from a little heat with mild up to the scorching hot.”
There are extras available, including some seasonal options, and they also offer a number of different bubble teas and bottle drinks.
Being new to the Stratford food scene, Patel is very eager to make an impact on both people’s appetites and on the community at large. They’ve only been open a week but word of mouth has already been spreading on social media about how much people are loving the flavours they’re getting at Noodlebox, and Patel hopes that buzz just keeps getting louder.
“We’ve had lots of customers so far tell us how much they love our food, and it feels good to have a locally-owned business being supported. I’ve loved being able to talk with people on the floor when they come in, getting to know them. We’re hoping to get a bump once more people know we are here. And like I mentioned before, we really are looking forward to being able to give back to this community through some campaigns we’re planning that are going to start soon. It’s something I believe in very strongly.”
Noodlebox is located at 684 Ontario Street (Unit 2), and you can get a look at the full menu here.
