Frank's Noodle House

Frank's Noodle House is located on NE Broadway, near NE 9th Avenue, in Portland, Oregon.

I joined two friends for dinner on a packed Wednesday night. Naturally, the place magically filled up even more right after we were seated, not to mention the apparent mass to-go orders that followed.

Frank's, which opened in August 2010, is basically known for their hand-pulled noodles, but they also have Korean BBQ and fried rice, among other items. If you're getting the noodles, the spice level ranges from 0-4.

There's a separate lunch menu from 11-3 Monday to Friday.

Dinner started with some pickled vegetables: daikon and kimchi.

One friend got the Beef Stir Fry Handmade Noodles ($11.95), my other friend got the Handmade Noodles with Black Bean Sauce ($9.95), and I got the Chicken Stir Fry Handmade Noodles ($10.95). Level 4 for me all the way.

The noodles I had were very good. You could tell they were handmade; they were not necessarily uniform in size throughout. Fairly thick noodles and very chewy, to my liking. Tons of flavor, pleasurable heat. However, I found it way too salty, and I needed to down a few cups of water along the way so my body wouldn't get overwhelmed by the excess salt.

The noodles with black bean sauce had a nice savory-sweetness that worked. We agreed that a half-half combo of the black bean sauce noodles and the stir-fry noodles may have been ideal.

It was a lengthy wait for our food, again because of a mass influx of people and to-go orders. I thought we got very good service despite the wait.

I will return for the other items. Many people have also praised the handmade pork dumplings, so I will need to try that for panda science.

Frank's Noodle House is a great spot to take out-of-town guests, especially since you get to dine in an actual house. 7.25/10