Ku Noodle by José Andrés

I wonder about the accuracy of this «closed» marking on Unilocal.I just visited Ku Noodle a couple weeks ago and I have seen no local news reporting the closure.
Anyway for what it’s worth, Ku Noodle was a very original restaurant that broke the mold of what you normally see in big Vegas casinos. I ordered the Ku Monk noodle bowl, the Shumai, and the «bowl of cereal» shaved ice dessert. The shumai was a small, but very tasty dim sum syle dumpling dish. I was very impressed with the freshness of the ingredients in the noodle bowl. And the dessert was like nothing I’ve ever had. The description of «bowl of cereal» was very accurate. It tasted like a frozen bowl of cap’n crunch.
I hope that the restaurant stays open. If it is really closed, I hope the SLS replaces it with a quality offering and avoids a safe or trendy pick that lacks real substance.

This place definitely deserves 5 stars. I have tried just about everything on the menu, and every dish has amazing, complex flavors. Plus you can get all different kinds of Asian cuisine here.
Unlike most Asian restaurants, the food is all very fresh and plated beautifully. It’s a little bit pricier, but it’s definitely worth it. Ku is one of the few remaining restaurants in vegas (or in any city for that matter) that make their own noodles! If you’ve never had fresh noodles before, trust me, the difference in quality is unbelievable.
When people think of Asian food, they mostly only worry about price, not quality, and it’s such a shame. It’s so worth it to have freshly made Sui Mai and fresh noodles rather than frozen dim sum and food filled with MSG.
The Taiwanese shaved ice is without a doubt the best in town. It’s made in house, from scratch, so the quality at other shaved ice restaurants such as kuma show and snowflake just aren’t comparable.
Ku definitely deserves more credit and recognition. I would have to say that the only flaw this restaurant has is its location.

There’s something to satisfy all your cravings here. Noodles, buns, soup, and shaved ice desserts! And the cocktails are delicious too. The staff is awesome and service is always great here too, so that’s a plus!
Also– great hangover meal too: P

Ku Noodle was the shining star in my most recent visit to Las Vegas.
The SLS Hotel and Casino was new for us and we were not only not disappointed, but were thoroughly impressed. SLS has easy valet off of Paradise and an even easier self-​park garage. Ku Noodle is the first restaurant that you see when you enter the casino from reception.
My husband and I ordered the «Ants Climbing a Tree» and the meal-​sized «Superior Won Ton» soup. We split a small order of the Zhulong (the strawberry & mochi one) Taiwanese Shaved Ice for desert. The dinner, quite honestly blew us away. The «Ants Climbing a Tree» isn’t pretty to look at, as it’s a very dark brown plate of food. Don’t let that deter you! It was very complex and layered in flavor profiles with a fantastic mouth feel. Trust me. You can’t lose with this dish. The «Superior Won Ton» soup was aptly named! Bar none, the most savory and single best Won Ton soup that I have ever had. Stunning.
If all of this wasn’t enough, we went ahead and ordered the strawberry Zhulong Taiwanese Shaved Ice for dessert. Simply put, it changed our life. I can’t wait to try every one on the menu! From reading the menu description and the fact that it’s called «Shaved ice,» you think you can reasonably, accurately have an idea about what this dessert is. You don’t. Stop thinking. Order it. Thank me later.
I’ve got two more Vegas trips booked in the next five months. I will be back at Ku Noodle. A LOT. I’m bringing friends.
Well done, Chef!

Casual Japanese themed noodle joint at the SLS. An open view of the kitchen made for a transparent dining experience. If a dish is taking longer than expected, you can see that the reason is traffic, rather than the staff phoning it in.
Quality ingredients and house made noodles made for a refreshing meal. There is enough choice on the menu to satisfy adventurous palettes and those who like to know what they are getting into.
Easily the highlight of my visit was the stellar service. Jenna, the bartender, made the ordering process consultative, which was highly appreciated. Aside from sharing detailed knowledge of the menu, she was very pleasant to everyone in her section. Even the busser was friendly and engaged.

Checking out SLS
Came across Ku noodle: dim sum got me
Drinks: vietnamese coffee– yum! Sake punch, nakamura — refreshing drinks
Dimsum: pork & shrimp siu mai w/​22 – 24 k edible gold, pork bao bun, 5 spice duck– tasty
Server: Kate– cool one
Highly recommended
Will go back for their noodles soup

A great place if you are alone, you can sit and watch them cook. I was impressed to see a sous vide in the kitchen.
The staff is very friendly, the prix fixed lunch is plenty of food. The ants climbing a tree had just enough spice and was very tasty.
SLS is trying to develop a reputation as a foodie hotel and this place is going a long way to help them.

What a kitchen! Great view of the harmonious working staff it fill like a private show.
Creative menu I had multiple options and everything was delicious.
If you like deserts the shaves ice is a must it melts in your mouth and an explosion of flavors come out yummm! Recommend the Pina Colada ;)
Friendly & helpful staff if you are a food lover you must stop by SLS Hotel Las Vegas what an experience!

excellent drinks.
excellent service.
excellent food.

Prix fixe lunch special is one of the true deals in Vegas. Creative options, prepared and presented with great skills. Staff was also exceptional. Offered great suggestions, and had a real knowledge of the menu, and not in a canned — I memorized all of the ingredients — kind of way.
Well worth a visit~!

When you walk into this place you will probably think there is nothing special about it, but then you will look at the menu and I become intrigued. This place makes their own noodles and it shows. I ordered the «Dan Dan» this dish was perfectly spicy and delicious in every bite. To wash it down I had the lemongrass iced tea. This drink was a bit sweet for my taste but still really good and I definitely finished it. I heard great things about the shaved ice so naturally I had to order one. I had the Zhulong Shaved ice — seriously so amazing. This was not overly sweet and I could taste each component as they married perfectly. I ordered a small and it was still way too much for one person to finish especially after a bowl of noodles. Lastly, the service here was flawless from each staff member that assisted me. Do yourself a favor and eat here.

If you are a guest at the hotel and booked through Groupon, you’ll receive a voucher for a free appetizer AND 2 drinks! The green tea margarita was spectacular! Something about the chili salt made it stand out.
I went on two different day and got the Pre-​Fix lunch special: one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert! Try the Ants noodles/​Shrimp Pad Thai! You won’t regret it!

My wife and I went to Ku Noodle to celebrate my birthday (major tip: if you’re a local, the SLS gives you $ 30 off a $ 60 check in the month of your birthday!)
Ambience: the restaurant is fairly informal. When you walk in, you go through the bar area which has a fairly large bar and some regular tables. In the back is the main dining room with booths along the wall and high top tables in the center. Again, fairly informal with no tablecloths, and fairly Spartan decorations.
Food: We started with the Superior Wonton soup. It had a ton of bok choy and egg noodles with a few shrimp and pork wonton thrown in. The portion is huge, more than enough as a starter for 4 people. Good but not great. Next we have the pork and shrimp siu mai. This consisted of 6 fairly small dumplings that were not very flavorful. I have had much better in local restaurants. We followed this with an order of lo mein. This dish was fabulous. They had hand pulled noodles with ham, mushroom, cabbage, and scallion. Fairly large portion. Every bite delicious. Our final dish was the shrimp pad thai. A very large portion pad thai noodles in a spicy peanut sauce with a generous helping of shrimp and a garnish of a single giant prawn. Fabulous! But we saved the best for last. What is a birthday celebration dinner without a decadent dessert? We had a portion of shaved ice for dessert. The presentation was outstanding (see the picture). And the taste was even better than it looked! I will come back here just to get that dessert again.
Service: our server, Bailey, was at our table almost immediately to get our drink water. Because we were first timers, she helped us make some of our food selections. The food was brought out at a very nice pace. Daily check back with us at regular intervals to make sure that everything was going well. Overall the service was excellent.
This turned out to be a great place to have a birthday celebration dinner.

Non-​traditional but still delicious noodle dishes, with top notch service. The prix fixe lunch is an amazing deal for such quality ingredients.
+ Pork and Shrimp Fried Wontons were fried so crisply it shattered in your mouth. The juicy filling was the perfect texture with the delicate skin. I didn’t care for the dipping sauce and the wontons didn’t need any additional flavor.
+ Ku Monk Noodles are almost vegetarian, with assorted Asian veggies floating in a vegetable broth next to a poached egg. The broth turns a wonderful creamy color and texture when the egg is popped, exposing the dark yellow, almost orange yolk. I didn’t miss animal protein at all.
+ The best service I’ve had in any of the restaurants at the SLS Hotel. Jenna is friendly, knowledgeable about the menu, and proactive in timing the next course. Her service was head and shoulders above anywhere else at the SLS, including the fancy-​pants restaurants Katsuya and Cleo.

Excellent food, great service, a real treat in Las Vegas! If you are interested in great Asian food at affordable prices, this is the place. The shaved ice cereal bowl dessert was wonderful and so unique. I would stay at the SLS again just to eat here.

«Lucky 12» ($ 20.88): Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai, Bay Scallop & Pork Siu Mai, Chicken Siu Mai, and Lamb Siu Mai. Everything was tasty with the Pork/​Shrimp and Scallop/​Pork being my favorites. The gold foil on the Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai was a nice touch. They’re decent dumplings, but certainly not the best ones I’ve had. I probably wouldn’t order these again because the noodle dishes certainly stand out more.
Crispy Bao Bun ($ 9.88): Slow-​cooked Pork Belly, pickled vegetables, peanuts, and cilantro. The bao was nice, but I didn’t care for the filling. Nothing stood out about the ingredients.
Lo Mein ($ 14.88): Hand-​pulled wheat noodles, ham, forest mushrooms, carrot, Napa cabbage, scallion, soy sauce, and cilantro. The noodles were fantastically chewy and it was an overall flavorful dish.
Dan Dan Mian ($ 14.88): Hand-​cut noodles, spicy pork sauce, cucumber, carrot, watermelon radish, cilantro, and Chinkiang vinegar. I really enjoyed his dish. I loved the spicy pork sauce reminiscent of Jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and all the vegetables.
Crispy Ocean Noodle ($ 24.88): Egg noodles, head-​on prawns, snow peas, Shiitake mushroom, and Chinese gravy. This was my favorite dish of the bunch. I love crispy noodle dishes and this was delicious. Also, the prawns were wonderful.
Taiwanese Shaved Ice (Large; $ 8.88): Coconut snow, condensed milk, fresh strawberries, toasted coconut, and mochi. I highly recommend the shaved ice (or shaved snow). This is probably the best Taiwanese Shaved Ice I’ve had. Really light, airy, and equally creamy. Wonderful flavor and I loved the toppings! It was also nice to eat out of a large bowl, so the shaved ice was nicely contained.
Overall, I think the food is really nice. Though the prices are a bit high for dishes that I didn’t absolutely love; which is why I find it difficult to return frequently. Especially with the increase of hand-​pulled noodle places in town. Otherwise, I love the fun atmosphere and we had a very pleasant experience during our visit.

Three words: Ku Monk Soup
It’s the ingredients that really set this soup apart from most of the other Asian spots serving similar noodle soups, though. Like for instance, tofu skin? What? Como say white girl? Super unique! The cabbage is distinctly uncommon too, different from what regular cabbage that you find in most grocery stores anyways. Plus, it’s full of other delicious and nutritious veggies and a poached egg for good measure. It’s spicy, but just enough to clean out your sinuses… if you know what I mean… and served piping hot which hits the spot on any given chilly night in Vegas.
I enjoyed the Five Spice Old Fashion and a specialty seasonal cocktail which I can’t remember the name of, as well. Both were refreshing and tasty.
Service was impeccable on both of my visits. Ku’s whole staff was super friendly and they tended to me through out my meal. Shout out to Kate who provided excellent service with a smile. I’ll be back!

We visited Ku noodle the other day for a quick bite at the bar and the bartender Tracy was very nice. The drinks were on point and perfect, but the food was subpar. We ordered the lettuce cups and they were too saucy and the portions were tiny! 3 small cups. The fried wontons were possibly raw unfortunately, we noticed a little too late. Then we had the Dan Dan noodles and wonton soup. All I can say is this is very Americanized. But the drinks and the bartender made me give this a 5-​star because she made us our awesome and delicious drinks.
Tracy was so awesome because she made us a lemon drop martini and custom lychee martini! If you want some awesome drinks ask for Tracy!
Update ¹²⁄₂₀₁₅: came back to visit Tracy, she recommended the Dan Dan mein. It was great! Thanks to her amazing service, we will be back again.

Jose Andres, I’m sad to say this may be the biggest disappointment I’ve experienced on the Las Vegas strip. Your restaurants generally delight the palate, overwhelm the senses, and to put it simply — put a big olé smile on my face. Sadly, Ku Noodle is the exception.
I’ve tried eating here twice and both times, have been let down. I ordered all the «popular items» recommended by servers, and everything was under-​salted, under-​flavored, and far below mediocre. Add your exorbitant pricing to tasteless food, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster (pun intended).
The cocktails aren’t too shabby — but they don’t make up for the bland, boring noodle and rice dishes. In fact, I have to make up a new adjective to describe this atrocity… cardboardy. All the food was cardboardy.
Ugh, Jose Andres, I’ve lost a little faith in you.

The best thing about the SLS hotel is the restaurants. Ku noodle doesn’t look like anything fancy but I thought the food and service were fantastic when I had dinner there. I was alone so I sat at the bar and met a really nice bartender named Tracy who gave me great pointers on what to order.
I have a weakness for any kind of Asian dumplings so I was going to start with the siu mai but instead opted for the watermelon salad. Wow, was that a good choice. It was so light and fresh but with a huge explosion of flavors. My extremely knowledgeable server said that the way to eat it was to get a little of each ingredient in each bite (watermelon, radish, and greens) and that really worked but the dressing is what made it really amazing. I followed the salad with the Dan Dan Mian. If you’ve had dan dan noodles at Pei Wei then these are similar but with a more complex and less sweet flavor. I really enjoyed that dish. To top it off I had a really delicious cocktail called the Nakamura. They have really great drinks at Ku but they are a bit pricey. Fortunately I was on the company dime.
Overall, just a really great experience. I probably won’t stay at SLS again but I would definitely return to Ku Noodle.

This is a great dining option inside the SLS hotel and casino. It’s casual but still a bit fancy. Not suit and tie required just cash money!
From the moment you walk in your welcomed and greeted by the hostess. You are immersed by the Chinese writing all over the mirrors and bags of rice for good luck I’m guessing.
The bar is huge and can seat probably 20+ and is simple yet colorful.
The dining area his large enough to seat several large groups an couples.
The menu is simple for both drinks and food. I highly recommend their signature items that are in red.
Make sure no matter what you order to save room for dessert!
Chopsticks are standard and you’ll have to ask for a fork if you’re not a pro.
There are two huge TVs to catch your sports.
I’ll definitely be back.
If you’re in the SLS and want to just chow down, this is the place for you.
Thanks KU!

I really enjoyed having their 3-​course meal lunch special for $ 20. First, I got the Watermelon Radish Salad as an appetizer. It comes with sliced radishes, cubes of watermelon, with pea shoots sprinkled on top and sesame dressing. For my main entrée, under the recommendation of my friendly waitress, I ordered the Ku Monk which consists of a numerous amount of items. It is spicy noodle soup with lots of chili oil, tofu skin, cabbage, scallions, carrots, choy sum, the poached egg, chili and crispy rice crackers on the side. It was nice to have the rice crackers to dip into the broth. Finally, for dessert, I had the piña colada shaved ice with slices of pineapple. It was really delicious and a good way of ending my meal. Since the last time I was here, the service has improved remarkably.

So we just had a three course lunch for $ 20 a person, it was really a lot better than we thought! We sat at the bar and Tracy was a doll, she made us the green tea Margaritas and the cucumber cocktail perfectly, one of the best cocktails we have had since we got here. The siu mais are worth ordering and since the three course lunch deal is a great value just order up the cocktails. The friendly service made the experience that much better. If you want a great deal for lunch and be full, go here.

I expected more.
Good customer service and the food is fresh, but it’s bland and what one would expect of typical Asian-​American fusion type joints. The décor is nice and it’s really clean, but I expect that out of most places on the Strip. The flavor is what’s lacking. It just didn’t really hit the spot for me, but maybe it was just what I ordered («Ku Monk» soup). The poached egg was pretty good, but the broth and noodles were just OK.
I’d give this place another shot if staying at SLS or going to the pool party to try different dishes.

Let’s say that I am always hesitant to try out fancy Chinese food places as most of them are not authentic but tend to be more on the frou frou side. It is usually either doused in extra soy sauce or covered in some type of sauce where one can hardly taste what they are eating.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Jose Andres creations and thought to try this place out. I am very thankful that I did.
Lo Mein– 3.5÷5: This dish was very flavorful but almost had too much sauce. I love the assorted vegetables and the pan fried flavor. This brought back memories of good Chinese noodles, but nothing out of the ordinary. Just expect it to be saucy.
Shrimp/​Pork Wonton Soup– ⁴⁄₅: Although this dish was on a lighter side, I was impressed with the soup broth. It is light and NOT SALTY! Thank you for not overly salting the soup broth. The noodle were overcooked and soggy, but the wonton pieces were quite delicious. The wonton skin was actually quite thin and I am quite surprised as you will never find that in most restaurants. Soup broth on point.
Vegetable Noodle Soup «Ku Monk”-5/5: Can we just keep talking about this soup noodle? This vegetarian noodle soup was phenomenal. The spice level on this was off the charts. It was so delicious. The chips on the side were also very interesting. I loved that this dish had an extra twist to it and that is what I was expecting from Jose Andres!
Not sure why the reviews for this place are mediocre, but you can get a great authentic bowl of noodles here. I would definitely come back here when I am back at the SLS hotel!

I am so glad we decided to stop by for lunch. They have a variety of Asian style beers and great tasting cocktails to choose from. The Siu mai dumplings were complimentary with the Unilocal check in and we had to purchase 2 cocktails as well. Totally worth it. My friend also received a $ 10 off coupon from the hotel as a guest; at first they were only going to honor one deal, either Unilocal or coupon but the manager was cool about it and allowed us to use both.
There were 4 of us dining so we ordered a bunch of stuff to share. Plates are not huge but plentiful; we had plenty to go around and had food leftover. Check out the pics below with all the names. My friend was craving Ramen but unfortunately it is not offered on the menu.
We had excellent service as well. Tracy took care of us. She was more than attentive and was able to give us the low down on all the menu items. Most importantly she brought my beer on the quick.
Great service, great prices, and an overall cool place to have a meal. Come by and grab a bite. Tell Tracy that I said what’s up. Happy eating!

I came here with my main squeeze for Social Sundays (locals with state ID and the SLS Code Card get 50% off the bill) with an Open Table reservation for 8PM sharp. When we approached the host stand, the host was clearly struggling. The host muttered to himself and made calls while we stood in front of him waiting to be helped and another gal just stared at us. He instructs her to «greet the customers». Kind of a no-​brainer, right? We finally get our reservations confirmed and wait maybe 5 minutes before we’re seated. If first impressions are everything, Ku Noddle was clearly not off to a great start.
PS the water sucks here. I wouldn’t recommend slurping that stuff down. The mister ordered a Pepsi and I got the Thai Iced Tea ($ 4), which was absolutely fine btw.
BEIJING TOMATO ($ 12.88): Vegetarian options are severely limited here, but this entrée did the trick. I think the dish was fine but could’ve used more flavor. Maybe more greens? More visual appeal? There’s a little pot of chili sauce on the table and I loaded 3 spoonfuls to add some spice to the noodles. ³⁄₅
HAKKA FRIED RICE POT ($ 26.88): This potted dish is mixed together at the table, and I was able to sample some before the pork belly and sausage were mixed in. I really liked the rice. The crispy texture was different but it worked! My husband wasn’t really a fan. He picked out most of the meat and complained of a stomach ache later on in the evening. He stated the hefty $ 26 price tag would have been ridiculous for this entrée if we paid full price. ³⁄₅
SERVICE: Dismal. Got off to a slow start and we had to ask for refills all 3 times. He was fast to get the check though. Hmph. 2.5÷5
VIBE: I expected it be more crowded on a Social Sunday. Even so, it was LOUD in here. Bad for conversation. It’s a causal Asian diner with trendy features. The restaurant is all white with a few blotches of blacks and reds. It was freezing in here! I was so glad I brought a jacket. The metal chairs didn’t help any either. ³⁄₅
PRO TIP: There’s a Unilocal check-​in offer for a free Siu Mai but I couldn’t even check while I was in the restaurant! My cell phone reception inside Ku Noodle was kaput.
Worth a Return Visit?
I came, I saw, I conquered. That’s it. Me and my husband both agreed we would not come back. Pros? Dinner was $ 25 pre-​tip.
Unilocal 100 CHALLENGE 2015: #147

Arrivé là par hasard dans ce restaurant du SLS HÔTEL je me suis régalé … La qualité des noodles était tout simplement au top.
Le service agréable, comme de nombreux restaurants d’hôtel de Vegas ca manqué de lumière du jour mais le service était impeccable !
La cuisine ouverte est très sympa, on peut voir la
Concentration et la précision des gestes des cuisiniers. Je recommande vivement !