November 8: Ferry Noodle House

Walking back from lunch a couple of weeks ago, I ran into an IT coworker and his team heading back to work. "Where'd you have lunch today?" he asked.

"Pick-Quick. I was kinda craving Thai food, but Thai Taste and their cafeteria trays didn't sound appetizing, and I couldn't think of anywhere else," forgetting about Thai Curry Simple, obviously.

"Oh. Have you eaten at Ferry Noodle House?" I had not. He sang their praises as we entered the building and flashed our badges. I then promptly forgot his suggestion.

I ran into him again a few days ago, and he refreshed my memory. It's on the pedestrian walkway to the ferry terminal, thus the name. It's cheap, he assured me, and crowded, but really good.

That's today's lunch. It was cheap, and crowded, and good.

It took about five minutes to get a seat, and I felt a little guilty taking a two-person table for just one person, but whatcha gonna do? I couldn't decide between the cashew chicken or the pad Thai, and then I saw combo number 1, which was both. I'd planned to order it 2-star spiciness with a cup of hot tea to chase away a headache I'm fighting, but when it came time to order, "What would you like?" "Combo 1" "Cashew chicken?" "Yes." "KTHXBYE." A few seconds later, I realized I hadn't ordered tea or specified spiciness. Too late; he was gone.

Moments later, it arrived. At first glance, the portions looked a little small, I dug in and finished it all off in a short time. Now, an hour later, it's sitting pretty heavy. I'm glad there wasn't more.

The pad Thai noodles were cut unusually short, which I liked, because it meant I didn't splatter sauce on myself trying to wind it or slurp it or cut it off. The cashew chicken was light on chicken, heavy on cabbage, with one sprig of broccoli. I thought at first they went light on cashews, but there were several buried in there.

It was good, perhaps not quite as good as Thai Curry Simple, but a nicer decor and slightly elevated service. Way better than Thai Taste.

(Very minor peeve: the receipt's suggested tip line based the tips on the full total, including tax. Slightly deceptive to those who are bad at math.)

Ferry Noodle House
93 Marion St
Pad Thai, cashew chicken, tap water, $13.01