Grab your chopsticks and slurp up a mouthful of rich ramen, bright pho, or spicy pad Thai during your next meal in Connecticut. These 6 excellent restaurants aim to transport diners to Asia to enjoy authentic noodle recipes crafted using fresh ingredients and tantalizing flavors. Whether you decide to travel to Japan for ramen, Vietnam for pho, or China for mien, you’ll be in the capable hands of the chefs without needing to worry about jet lag.
Tiger Belly Noodle Bar has a menu packed with noodly favorites like pho and ramen. Grab your chopsticks and slurp up a mouthful of spicy red miso sake paitan ramen or smoked brisket pho. Whatever you order, you know it’ll be made from fresh ingredients and include flavorful broth that has been cooking for hours. Tiger Belly Noodle Bar also has several types of sushi on the menu.
Located in a great spot right near Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library and Toad’s Place, Junzi Kitchen is a hit with students and locals for their slurpable noodle soups and munchable bing. Menu highlights include the Furu Chicken noodle bowl, which is packed with furu sesame, chicken, bean sprouts, kale, and sweet shallots. On Friday and Saturday nights, they even stay open late—from 10:30 pm until 1:30 am—with a special Asian street food menu.
Pho Viet offers diners a really extensive menu of traditional Vietnamese food, ranging from starters through mains, all the way to desserts and drinks. For noodle dishes, Pho Viet serves seven different options of bun dishes including the very flavorful bun bo nuong, which is grilled beef on rice vermicelli. Pho Viet also serves 16 types of pho and two noodle specialties: Pho Viet Sate and the spicy bun bo Hue.
Enjoy fresh, homemade noodle dishes at Kaliubon. Noodle lovers should stop by for lunch on Tuesdays through Fridays, as Kaliubon offers a make your own noodle bar, which includes the option for a spicy broth. If you can’t make it for lunch, don’t fret as the regular noodle menu is excellent, with standouts such as wonton ramen, miso ramen, and Tokyo chicken ramen. They also offer poke bowls and mochi ice cream.
Dao Fusion Cuisine offers a mixture of Japanese and Thai dishes, with several types of noodle dishes on the menu. Dine in or take out ramen, tempura udon soup, stir fried noodle dishes, and more. Menu highlights include vegetable lo mein, pad Thai, and mei fun.
Chutni offers a huge selection of Asian dishes, with flavors and cuisine adopted from throughout the continent. Opt for anything from stir fried noodles to ramen, curry, and Indochinese. Menu highlights include tonkotsu and Sichuan hakka. Chutni also offers diners the option to order online for convenience.