Mike’s Noodle House
Recommended by: A fellow diner at Dough Zone Dumpling House advised they were there, because they intended to go to Mike’s Noodle House, but it had a long wait and mentioned they had the best Wonton Soup in Seattle.
Description on the Mike’s Noodle House website: Not surprisingly, they ain’t got one.
Neighborhood/Type: International District
Address: 418 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: Wonton Noodle Soup, Wonton & Beef Brisket Noodle Soup
Comments: Update 9/22/19: Mike’s Noodle House just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
You can call Mike’s Noodle House, “The Il Corvo of the ID(International District)”. Like Il Corvo, Mike’s Noodle House has the following qualities:
- It has a loyal following that often leads to lines out the door.
- It has a limited amount of seats, so don’t be surprised if you’re sharing a table with fellow diners.
- Noodles(and wontons) are their specialty.
Like many places in the ID, Mike’s Noodle House is a no frills establishment. If you’re looking for pristine conditions and over the top service, this ain’t your place. If you want fast efficient service and great food that’s served very quickly, then you’ll love Mike’s Noodle House.
First things first, CASH ONLY. Don’t get caught going out on a date and only having plastic on you.
One of the things I like about Mike’s Noodle House’s Wonton Soup is the soup is very subtle and not overpowering. It reminds me a little of saimin. The plump wontons each have an entire shrimp and ground pork that are encased within the thin, but sturdy wrapping. The noodles are long, thin and plentiful.
One of the nice touches is that they provide a pair of scissors when we are sharing a bowl of soup with our 2 yr old. They bring a small bowl for her. If you’ve ever tried to transfer long noodles from one bowl to another, you know it’s going to be a mess. Having the scissors there to cut the noodles during the transfer from bowl to bowl is ingenious. I’ve not seen this in any other restaurant before.
I typically order the OG, Wonton Noodle Soup that comes with 5 wontons. The soup doesn’t come with any veggies which is a bit unusual. My wife orders the Wonton Noodle Soup with Beef Brisket. Their soups are perfect during the cold months in Seattle. Another cool feature is the big window that you can peer through as the cooks prepare the dishes.
In summary, you may have to wait, you may have to sit with strangers, you won’t be getting any travel point since you can’t use a credit card and you won’t get a warm greeting or small talk from the staff, but the soup is totally worth it.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 3.75
Service: 4.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 5.00
Overall: 4.35
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
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- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: The servers here are too busy for small talk. But a funny story. We were here eating before going to a friend’s house warming party. We noticed a couple that came in around the same time as we did. We end up at the house warming party and noticed the same couple from Mike’s Noodle House there. We both laughed. Great minds think alike. We made some small talk and we both talked about how much we liked Mike’s Noodle House and asked for some of their other favorites. They recommended Xian Noodles in the University District as a place that specializes in biang biang noodles at a reasonable price.
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