From Spaetzle to Saimintosoda

Always reliable, if not showy or flashy, Sam Woo Barbecue and Noodles and Luk Yue use commercially made but good-quality noodles of every variety: Cantonese-style egg noodles (thin-style or linguine-shaped), e-fu noodles, flat rice noodles and rice vermicelli — all done just about any way you want, whether it’s with barbecued pork, roast chicken, stir-fried veggies or in soup — all with lightning service at multiple locations. Favorites to try: beef-stew noodles with won tons, shredded chicken and salty cabbage; beef-and-egg chow fun or chow mein; satay-beef chow fun; shredded duck with salty cabbage; and the many types of egg or rice noodles in soup.

Thai and Burmese Noodles

Most Thai places serve at least half a dozen different noodle dishes, and usually they’re the same half-dozen. Thais, though, like everyone else in Asia, have an intense noodle addiction, and the restaurants that follow show off the hundreds of ways they appease them. The Sompunrestaurants may be L.A.’s only two sources for kao soi, a northern-Thai specialty sold on nearly every corner in every neighborhood in the city of Chiang Mai, and one of my top-three noodle dishes in the world. The creamy, chile-and-lemon-grass-flavored coconut-milk broth is shot through with a touch of curry, laced with chewy thin egg noodles, and spritzed with sweet car-amelized garlic. A swirl of deep-fried egg noodles to crush over the top comes alongside. Sompun does a fabulous job bringing on the traditional garnishments that make the dish expand and soar — a battalion of chile condiments, plus pickled cabbage, chopped red onion and wedges of lime.

Duck noodle soup is another scarce but wonderful Thai discovery. Rodded, in Hollywood, specializes in duck stew, duck won ton and the duck noodle soup. In the Thai-Chinese manner, it is clear, dark with duck flavor, and rich with underlying notes of onion and soy sauce. The noodles are delicate and eggy. The soup may be ordered with slices of duck (duck stew), or duck wing, or duck feet, or duck liver. And with it you get a little dish of hand-chopped bird’s-eye chiles made into a hot sauce. The dish is simple, a perfect example of the idea that less is more.

Most Thai-noodle lovers know about Samanluang Café. In case you’ve missed the two bright and quite noisy branches, take note. High turnover ensures fresh noodles in every dish, and the list of choices is a long one. For my favorite, General’s Noodle, thin egg noodles are topped with roast duck, barbecued pork and crumbles of ground pork in a broth permeated with garlic. The yen-ta-fo, a glowingly hot-sour broth crowded with seafood, comes topped with fried won ton. Late hours are another plus here.

At Chandarette Thai Noodle Bar and Grill, the setting and stylized cooking may seem a little too elegant for noodles. On the Westside, though, it’s the very best there is. The menu goes way beyond mee krob. Try sen lek, a hot, garlicky jolt of broth with chewy rice noodles, won tons, your choice of duck, shrimp or freshly roasted chicken chunks, all spritzed with crushed peanuts.

A Burmese woman once told me that mo hin nga is more popular in Burma than are hot dogs here in America. People eat it for breakfast, and roaming vendors sell it in Burmese neighborhoods. The Golden Triangle in downtown Whittier makes ã a fabulous version with thin rice noodles and flecks of mashed catfish in a soupy lemon grass–spiked gravy that’s thickened with garbanzo flour. Served in a bubbling cauldron, it’s garnished with crispy deep-fried yellow split peas, crunchy-sweet fried garlic, and cilantro.

Japanese Noodles

Since the late ’80s, escalating competition among Japanese noodle parlors has meant vying with higher and higher quality. A few shops that first imported noodles from Japan began investing in noodle-making machines. Although the newest machines do a fine job of imitating handmade noodles, there’s nothing like the human touch. By my estimate, gleaned perusing the Japanese Yellow Pages, L.A. County has close to 70 Japanese noodle restaurants and ramen shops. No longer confined to Little Tokyo or Gardena, there’s likely one of my favorites within walking distance of you.

So addicted are the Japanese to ramen, the Japanese spin on Chinese noodles, that Yoji Iwaoka’s Yokohama Ramen Museum — which displays historical lore, and gathers and serves some of Japan’s best regional ramens — draws more Japanese visitors annually than the national art museum. Some feel ramen’s popularity stems from the fact that loud slurping gives the Japanese an acceptable outlet for making a noisy public display. But I think it’s probably the brothy, garlicky goodness, the cheap price for a quick, filling meal, and the convenience that keeps ramen on Japan’s Top 10 foods list. Ramen-Ya: Its ma bo ramen is tops. Ramen Nippon: First in the Valley; the mabo ramen rocks. Kyushyu Ramen: Adorable, hip woman owner creates seductive nontraditional specialties. Eboshi: The place where straight-laced Toyota salarymen loosen their ties to slurp. Asahi Ramen: Favorite traditional place in Little Japantown West. Atch Kotch: Convenient to Hollywood post-production houses; great daily specials. Tampopo: If you’ve seen the movie, you know all about this place; three locations.