Noodle Theory, Oakland

Noodle Theory is a relatively new place on College Avenue that my dad (who is THE best dad ever and just brought his ailing daughter--me--soup!) pointed out to me one day. Being the food critic that I am, he asked if I had been there. Of course the answer was "no," but it did peak my interest. So, the other night I was out with two rather adventurous, food-snob buddies of mine (Margaret and Misha), and we had no idea what to eat. As we drove by, I suggested we at least take a look at the menu.

The menu for Noodle Theory is probably what a food critic would call "Asian Fusion." There seems to be an emphasis on using Japanese style noodles with Chinese flavors. In typical Berkeley fashion all of the meat seems to be organically and sustainably raised, which is something we don't see in Chinatown every day. Everything is under $10, which is fair for the noodle dishes, but a bit over-priced for the appetizers, which ranged from about $6 to $8 for only six dumplings.

It's a pretty small restaurant, with only about six tables, and an open kitchen. We were seated right away, which seemed to be lucky because about halfway through our meal there was a crowd hanging out at the door.

The waitstaff was casual but very friendly, and immediately brought us a small appetizer of edamame with oyster sauce-like stuff drizzled on top. Since Margaret was there, we had no choice but to order potstickers. Misha doesn't eat pork, so we went with the steamed shrimp and Chinese chive dumplings with Chinese black vinegar ($8.50).

The dumplings were good, but a bit too heavy on the chives instead of shrimp. It was actually very similar to that one dim sum dish with the onions and garlic inside a translucent noodle. Good, but not my favorite, especially since I know I can get basically the same thing only bigger and for a quarter of the price.

As for our entrees, Misha ordered the grilled salmon over mixed greens with thin soft wheat noodles in a wasabi miso vinaigrette. I was in food critic mode that night so I actually tried it, and quite enjoyed the dish. Everything melded together really nicely and the fish was perfectly cooked. Misha seemed to suffer a bit from entree envy later on, though, so I'd recommend getting it as an appetizer.

I ordered spicy braised pork belly over ramen noodles ($8). Since coming back from Japan I have found the coveted eringii mushrooms (available in the mushroom aisle at Berkeley Bowl), but have yet to find a good bowl of Japanese-style noodles. Unfortunately, this was still not the place, but they made the best effort that I've tried so far. The broth was relatively spicy and had lots of flavor, and the pork was cooked nicely and not dried out.

The reason I want to go back to Noodle Theory is because of Margaret's dish. Though it was on the specials list, I am under the impression that it's served rather frequently. She got duck breast over flat rice noodles (fun noodles) with a yellow coconut curry sauce ($9.50). The duck was cooked just like Chinese duck, so it had a nice crispy skin and a good amount of fat on it.

Duck aside, it was the sauce that stood out--it was amazingly flavorful, enough so that I wanted to trade with Margaret (hence, I suffered from entree envy as well). It was a lot similar to the curry sauce that we get at Pho84 with the fried snapper.

My only complaint was that the noodles weren't cooked quite right. In Chinatown, they seem to have mastered the ability to cook fun noodles without making too many of the noodles stick together. I'd imagine that this feat involves using quite a bit of grease, which these noodles didn't have, so it was probably for the best.

As we were finishing up our meals, our server began to take away our dishes as we finished them. Originally when I came into the restaurant I just thought that there were a lot of couples going out to eat where only one of them was hungry. No, it turns out that while the waitstaff is very friendly and quick, they happen to practice one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to service: taking away plates from diners before they the rest of their party is finished. That aside, I had a very nice experience at Noodle Theory, and I am eventually planning on going again, just to get the duck.

Noodle Theory is located on the corner of College and Claremont, at 6099 Claremont Avenue, in Oakland. They are open every day except Tuesday, for both lunch and dinner.

Lunch hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., except on Sunday when they are 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

To order out, call (510) 595-6988.