Boom Noodle

Well… Being a ramen lover myself, I wasn’t a fan of Boom’s miso ramen. Not quite sure if they used fresh noodles… Maybe they did but to me the texture and overall feeling of this ramen bowl were reminiscent of Japanese instant ramen noodles (no, not the Maruchan one, but the ones you could buy off of a Japanese grocery store).
I personally didn’t like the ramen. I’ll give Boom another shot but won’t be getting the ramen though.

Should have read the Unilocal reviews before putting in my order… ugh
Ordered take out with co-​workers today. The staff were friendly and the décor was very nice and posh. We ordered tuna rice bowl, bento box (s&s chix, miso, tempura veg), and coconut curry. We thought the food was definitely overpriced for the small portion we received and it was mediocre. We were all still hungry after our meals.
Probably won’t be coming back since I’m sure I could find better choices around the area.

After learning of the lengthy wait at DTF with tired, cranky kids, we opted not to wait and ended up at Boom Noodle. After we were seated in a spacious booth, I checked Unilocal and was dismayed to find the terrible reviews. I cautioned my husband to not set his expectations too high. For the kids, they offer a pretty good selection. I was able to order two miso soups and fried tofu cubes, which came with a bowl of rice — a single kids’ meal to split between two children.
Perhaps it was because I set my expectations low for my meal, but I enjoyed the food. I ordered the bento box lunch to include spicy garlic beef, Thai salad and steamed vegetables. I thought the portion size was decent, and the beef and Thai salad were very tasty. The steamed vegetables were boring, but I was trying to be healthy and chose them over vegetable tempura. My husband ordered the ramen, which he thought was just ok, and he kept sneaking bites of my Thai salad.
Service was courteous and prompt. Prices were a bit on the high side. I’d return in a pinch.

Came here on a Friday night and it was busy, but not too bad. I had the pad thai and my husband had the beef yakisoba. Both were ok, but you can obviously get a lot better deal for food at an asian place. Service was friendly, but the appetizer came out with the meal and waiter was slow on getting drink orders.
It is a good place to bring kids though as it’s noisy as others had mentioned and they have a good selection of food for the kids menu.

Happy hour on a Friday:
It was barely full but we still had to wait for someone to clear a booth for us.
When the food arrived we also had to ask for silverware.
Service was attentive aside from the slow start.
The floor were dirty and sticky. This is a noisy place.
Wok fried green beans: soy sauce based. Nothing special flavor wise. These were not crisp. Served with a lemon wedge. I wasn’t sure if this was garnish or not.
Tokyo ramen: braised pork, soft boiled egg, bamboo shoots, green onion, soy seasoned chicken-​pork broth, shiitake mushrooms. I would definitely return for this. The noodles were done perfectly — not too soft. Broth is wonderfully flavorful. Yes, say that 3 times fast ;). The pork was tender and flavorful. This is just one of those dishes where you know they’ve mastered this: every ingredient complements one another.
Sticky pork Ribs: needed a little more tang or sweetness to the BBQ sauce but the meat fell off the bone and the ribs had a nice crusty finish. Menu stared that this has shishito peppers. This came with shredded coleslaw.
Chicken lettuce wraps: ground chicken mixture was delicious: sweet peppers, onions, carrots, ground nuts. Served with crispy vermicelli and hot sauce. Lettuce was iceberg as well as butter lettuce. The latter is a nice change.
I would return for this!
Drinks: sapporo and sake bomb. Great paring with the wraps and ribs but can’t say this drink is memorable.
Orange sake martini: refreshing and delicious!
Restrooms were OK. Very small. You can’t wait in line inside. If you really wanted to you will stand in the middle of the room but anyone leaving either stall would run into you. Then you’d be in their way getting to the sink.
All in all, awesome value for happy hour. A couple of delicious to-​die-​for dishes but their service is slipping and I have a problem stepping on dirty sticky floors. There was a water /​drink spill right next to our booth and this was ignored.

I thought all of the Boom Noodle places had closed, but no! The one in U Village is still there. They serve the best Beef Yakisoba; it’s one of my favorite meals anywhere. I sat at the bar and the bartenders were very friendly. All in all, a great place to grab a quick dinner while shopping.
One note, they need to change their outside posted menu so the prices match the prices on the inside menu.

Great convenient location, nice décor, clean, and good service. Unfortunately, the food doesn’t hold up. The calamari wasn’t bad, but the spring rolls were cold and stale — clearly pre-​wrapped and refrigerated. But the most disappointing part of the meal were the noodles. Our group had ordered a variety of ramen, and each bowl was either too salty or too bland. Save yourself some money (this place is way over-​priced) and go for the instant noodles (I swear there are some that taste better).
I will say that the affiliated dessert place next door is good. So eat lunch/​dinner elsewhere and grab dessert at Tokyo Sweets.

Overall this place was okay for my first visit.
During lunch it was pretty passive on a Saturday. I got a table right away. Food quality was good for the price. Service was good, but a little slow considering there wasn’t a lot of people in the establishment at that time. I could just be chalked up to the day that I went and not a consistent thing.
For food I ordered the Mongolian Beef, the Okonomiyaki, Spicy Salmon on crispy rice, and the crispy tofu.
Mongolian Beef — Very good. Beef was soft and the veggies were cooked enough to be soft but not rubbery. Good flavoring of the dish. Nothing in the dish outshined another.
Okonoimkaki — This was very good. If I have a craving I’m probably going to get my fix here.
Spicy Salmon on Crispy Rice — Overall this was good, but it just felt like it was something was missing. I would have liked either a little more spice (maybe more chili in the recipe), or add some type of smoky flavor would have really made this dish POP. I do need to note that this is the first time eating this dish so I may have just got one of those low flavor days.
Crispy tofu — Like the name of the dish, this is crispy tofu. Tofu was lightly fried and the «Skin» did well to stay crispy, but absorb the other flavors as well.
Overall a good place if you find yourself in the area looking for good food at a good price.

If bland, overpriced fusion is what you’re after, make a beeline for Boom. Literally every dish our party had was forgettable, if not regrettable:
Tokyo Ramen — bland ramen is worse than bad. Save yourself some ramen tears and head to Kukai or even Samurai.
Coconut Curry — how do you mess up curry noodles?! Apparently, it’s possible. Boom’s version was just odd-​tasting, completely missed the coconut note.
Bento and Yakisoba — have had better from food trucks.
Went on a Sunday, restaurant was half-​empty, but meal still took forever — would hate to see the wait during actual meal times.
Underwhelmed and not amused.

I’ve been here a few times and the food and service is always pretty good. I usually get the Beef Yakisoba or the Yaki Udon which are served up in great, large portions — often times I have enough left over for lunch the next day!
However today I decided to try something different — the bento box with garlic beef, thai salad and tempura veggies (plus rice). I didn’t taste much garlic in the beef, which was a bit disappointing — it was just a spicy sauce in my opinion. There was also a fried egg, green beans and some onions mixed in there. Unfortunately, I found the egg to be an odd addition to the dish and would have omitted it. The thai salad was pretty good though — had a nice amount of dressing and mix of greens.
The bento was alright overall, but the next time I visit, I will probably stick with one of the noodle dishes mentioned above. The Beef Yakisoba has a nice amount of heat to it from the jalapenos and a substantial amount of beef medallions and vegetables.
Also, coming with a party of three others, we decided to start with some eggrolls for the appetizer. They were delicious but were smaller than expected for the price.
Finally, looking at the dessert section of the menu, provided by the neighboring Tokyo Sweets, we decided on a S’mores crêpe to share… yes we were full by this point but none of us could resist dessert — way too tempting! It was a chocolate batter with typical s’mores ingredients. The dish was HUGE and SO decadent, piled with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and marshmallows. If you go with a group, this is a nice way to end the meal.

Boom Noodle, more like BOOOOOOOO Noodle!!!
Why, oh why did I NOT listen to the reviews, or the average Unilocal score?
Please do me a favor; if you’re thinking about dinning at this establishment, read these reviews.
Save yourself $ 50. Because I wish I did!!!
Ambiance; fun… cool… swanky. That’s where it ends.
$ 12.50 for teriyaki… which, I counted; 10 slices of chicken on a bed of rice about 4“wide. Hmmmm, a meal fit for a toddler. Did I mention the fact that it was COLD when I got it?!? We are batting about .000
Let’s keep drinking!!!
My husband got a bento box. Probably 6 pieces of chicken, tempura vegetables and about 2 table spoons of rice… $ 14.00.
Let’s keep drinking!!! (At least the beers are a decent price… $ 4.50+)
Appetizers, $ 27 worth. I got 1 Gyoza– ½. (There were also Won Ton Tuna Tacos and Spring rolls which I did not partake.) Little food for a lotta money.
Total bill, $ 160. Split 4 ways… so $ 50 with tip.
NOT WORTH IT AT ALL, WHATSOEVER!!!
Soooooooo, do yourself a favor and go across the street to Eureka! and spend the same amount of money and get GREAT (HOT) food!!! (Imagine that!!) Great drinks, and normal portion sizes!!!
You can thank me later!!!

A locally owned restaurant that acts like a big national chain — and I don’t mean that in a good way.
WHO SHOULD GO: Unsophisticated diners who think Olive Garden is great Italian; suburbanites who want to pretend they’re having a ‘big city’ experience in a Disneyfied environment without dealing with real city issues like rubbing elbows with those pesky homeless people.
WHO SHOULD NOT GO: Anyone who’s actually been to Japan, or has had a really good bowl of ramen.
THE ROSES: Situated in University Village, that wonderful enclave of upscale Stepford living, Boom Noodle provides a very attractive, blandly hip ambiance. For the most part, nice, attentive, and prompt service — at least until the To-​Go Cup Incident (more on that in a moment). Large, nicely decorated dining space. Some very creative cocktails (the kimchi bloody mary is very good!).
THE THORNS: Some really weird service issues. Hostess made us wait to be seated while she wiped off a table, despite there being several tables ready for use nearby. The open kitchen reveals a back of the house staff that looks like they stepped out of a United Colors of Benneton ad. It’s a good thing they’re pretty, ‘coz their cooking is lackluster at best. Kitchen staff are not so much chefs as ‘assemblers’, working off a script, rather than having any real ‘feel’ for the food. Ramen came out with a tepid broth and gloppy, overcooked noodles stuck together. An egg was added with the intention of it becoming soft boiled, but since the broth was too cool, it didn’t set and looked like a rather unappetizing glob of phlegm. Chocolate crepes (from the dessert menu, laughingly called ‘Tokyo Sweets’) were rubbery and near impossible to cut, topped with a unimaginative and random selection of bananas, chocolate syrup, brownie bits, and nuts.
The crowning insult was The Cup Incident: wanting to leave and take our tea with us, I tried to get our servers attention to ask for a ‘to-​go’ cup. Despite repeated attempts to make eye contact, she was clearly too engrossed with gossiping with the Benneton kids in the kitchen to notice us. I finally had to go to the kitchen, and was told they had no cups for hot beverages, but they’d give me a ‘to go’ tub that is normally meant for soup, helpfully adding it was at ‘no charge’.
REALLY? No foam or paper cups??? I can’t believe we’re the first people in the history of Boom Noodle who wanted to take their tea to finish ‘on the road’. Soooo…
THE VERDICT: While the food and service is by no means awful, this is such a blatant case of a restaurant performing so far below it’s potential it’s ridiculous. University Village has a long history of failed restaurants that offered diners flashy packaging but lackluster food. Normally I’d give two stars, but I’m hoping this one star review will get someone’s attention and they can turn things around before it’s too late.
TOP TIP (diners): Go elsewhere. There’s good ramen to be found in this town, and the weird pseudo-​Japanese-​themed-​fusion you get here is not it by any stretch. Go to Ramen Man or Samurai Noodle.
TOP TIP (Boom Noodle owners): Sack the GM and the Kitchen Manager. It is clear that no one’s really paying attention, and without proper leadership, the college kids staffing the place aren’t going to sweat the details that will make you competitive in this market. Boom Noodle would probably play in, say, Kent/​Renton/​Auburn, but you’re playing in the big leagues here, and you’re clearly punching well under your weight.

They-​re back!
Boom lowered the Boom –family-​friendly lower prices are back. Good job guys. Of coarse, we all know this is just okay conglomeration, a hodge-​podge of Asian food, but they are bringing it to the mainstream and now at family-​friendly pricing.
You know what you are getting, but now it makes sense for a family meal. As predicted, the place is busy again. Nice work!

I don’t know why they have such a low rating on Unilocal.Though the food takes a while to come to your table but this is what quality is. I cam from Thailand and their Pad Thai is very authentic. Though a little sweet but it’s a good one, different from other places around Seattle.
There service is also fantastic and efficient.

Service on par with burger King. A waste of 20 minutes and off to better pastures as we watched customers get ignored and overheard complaints about the food.
This was round two for us. Hence the knockout 1 star blow.

This was my worst takeout experience EVER. Beware if you order any sort of soup from here.
Placed a takeout order in person for chicken phở and a teriyaki chicken bento box at 130 today. Sat and waited for almost 30 mins with no indication that my order was forthcoming. Went up to the hostess and asked, at which point she checked and told me it would be another few mins. 10 more mins go by & I see what looks like my takeout bags on the back kitchen counter, while the hostess tries to deal with the ever increasing line of customers at the door. Bag continues to sit there. I go up to her and ask if I can pick up order, she says ok, and I go back and confirm with the guy in the kitchen that the order is ready. He says yes. I pick up my bag, start to head out the door, and one of the customers standing in a line of maybe 10 people says to me, «Your bag is dripping.» Sure enough, drops of phở were leaking out of a hole in the bag and landing on the floor.
The kitchen had packed the phở in a cup with a lid that wasn’t secured in any fashion, and this cup was sitting on top of a box of what I assume is chicken (I never opened the box, as I was picking up the phở for my brother in law). The cup and its loose lid were in its own knotted plastic bag, but not tied tight enough to hold the lid on. It wasn’t a lid that had a lip that attaches tightly… just a lid with a lip that «sits» on top. Phở was sloshing around inside the bag, dripping down the sides of the cup, and the lid was barely sitting on top.
I turn around with my dripping bag of phở, and inform the hostess that it needed to be repacked. She takes it and scurries back to the kitchen, repacks, and returns with the phở AGAIN in a cup with a lid that’s just sitting on top, unsecured, inside a loosely tied bag. No tape, nothing, and phở had already splashed out inside the plastic bag.
At this point, I was pissed. Asked for the manager, at which point the hostess took the bag back and went back to the kitchen. When she returned, she said that her manager was repacking the phở herself. Another 5 minutes goes by & the manager appeared with the phở finally in a cup with a secure plastic (not paper) tight fitting lid and taped! She’d also secured it into a small tray type container to keep it upright. After she apologized profusely and refunded my money, I was on my way. I’m still not sure I understand how a place that serves lots of varieties of soup hasn’t figured out how to pack it for a to go order.
Never tasted the phở (delivered it intact to my BIL) but the bento box was for my fiancé and it was pathetic. Photo has been uploaded. What was supposed to be a teriyaki chicken bento box with steamed veggies and a Thai salad turned out to be a box of greens with a few morsels of chicken. Again, pathetic.
I’ll never come back here. Kudos to the manager for at least refunding my money and being able to safely contain my soup.

Hit the spot. Shared happy hour Goyza edamame, music soup, and 3 juices. Every dish was delicious. Will have to come back for crepes
. Spacious and nice open air design. Cost: under 23.00,

HAPPY HOUR. HAPPY HOUR. HAPPY HOUR!
For a place in U Village, I expect really high prices and little food, but to my surprise they actually had filling portions! Their regular prices weren’t even that bad. They also had a really comprehensive happy hour menu. They had everything from cheap drinks to some of their most popular dishes on their. Very pleased with this place. I must go here more often.

Oh Boom… what happened?
This used to be my favorite HH spot near work but they failed me during my last visit. They started changing the menu a few months ago, but I kept coming back. Now, things have changed so much, I can’t call it the same Boom Noodle I fell in love with a couple of years ago.
They’ve completely changed up the HH cocktail menu, so my favorites are gone. They’ve reduced the size of the HH food menu and even the originals that still appear on the menu have changed. The broth for the Tokyo Ramen was lacking in any flavor and seasoning. My boyfriend opted for the sweet and sour chicken from the regular menu and that was only mediocre at best.
Service, though not rude, was impersonal.
The highlight of the meal was the edamame purée (though now it only comes with sweet potato chips). As good as it was, unfortunately, it’s not enough to keep me coming back.

Looked for a «noodle» place while shopping and bumped into Boom Noodle. The Bento Box lunch special for $ 12 was very filling, almost too much food. The only thing is the Pad Thai was a little heavy on the sauce.
The Boom Edamame Purée crispy vegetable, pickled cucumber was AMAZING! $ 6.
Staff was friendly and welcoming! Refreshing drinks.