Chow Down Phoenix!

Rating:

Oasian Noodle Bar has been a bit of a hit and miss restaurant for my wife and I. We visited the Southeast Asian fusion restaurant when it first opened a few years ago, and had a wonderful experience our first couple times. It kind of deteriorated from there, mostly because of the inconsistency in the preparation of the food. Because our first impression was such a strong one, I think we tend to give Oasian the benefit of the doubt, remaining hopeful that our next visit will be as good as our first.

We went back recently, and unfortunately it was a lackluster meal. We started with an order of pot stickers ($4). They were much larger than typical pot stickers, with a lot more filling. That would generally be considered a good thing, but the pork filling had an odd flavor, which I didn’t care for. My wife, on the other hand, thought they were okay.

I ordered my favorite Oasian entree–the Masaman Curry ($8.50). It has chicken, potatoes, onions, and peanuts served with a peanut-curry sauce. This was the dish I fell in love with the first time I tried Oasian. The presentation still looks great, but the curry sauce has been really watered down the last couple times I’ve ordered it. This ends up making the dish rather bland. When the curry sauce is served at full strength it’s really good, but quite spicy. Perhaps customers were complaining it was too spicy so the owner decided to tame it down.

My wife got the House Lo Mein ($7), which seems to be her favorite dish at Chinese restaurants lately. She enjoyed the meal, but she definitely prefers the lo mein at J&K Chinese.

Oasian Noodle Bar is certainly capable of putting together a really good meal. I just wish they were more consistent. Their inconsistency has caused me to visit less frequently over the past couple years.

Oasian Noodle Bar
1935 S. Val Vista Rd., Ste 107 (Map)
Mesa, AZ 85206
(480) 632-1245
hours: need to confirm