Review: Sandra Rice & Noodles
Author: WIBIA | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, INSandra Rice and Noodles
10625 Pendleton Pike
Indianapolis, Indiana 46236
http://www.srnoodles.com/Sandrahomepage.html
Motivated by the Indy Star article by Jolene Ketzenberger, I had to make the trip out to the east side and give this a try. Indianapolis Restaurant Scene did a review on this place this past week (we’ve been sitting on this post for a month), so I felt it was time for me to chime in with my thoughts as well.
I had an early Saturday afternoon lunch with my wife, mother-in-law and mini-wibia, the Saturday after the article dropped on Wednesday. The owners are brother and sister, so it is a two person shop. We were quickly greeted and sat, but service started slow. We were placing our order and they were consistently out of the items that we wanted to order. When I say consistently, I mean 75% of the things that I wanted. I pointed at the appetizer page and asked, “so…what exactly do you have on this page?” Hence:
Chicken Satay w/ peanut sauce: $6.25
Spring Rolls: $3.95
Tom Yam Soup: $3.95
It took about 10-14 minutes for the apps to come out. Keep in mind, the chicken satay is the only thing that needs to be prepared when ordered. However, the food was good, really good. I enjoyed the peanut sauce with the chicken satay, the spring rolls were really fresh and the Tom Yam Soup was probably the best version that I have had. Again, really good.
For the entrees, we ordered:
Black Pepper Pork: $7.25 caramelized sugar, clay pot.
Chicken Pho Pho Ga $5.75 Rice Noodle, bean sprouts, green onion, cilantro. (picture in the Indy Star article)
Wonton and Egg Noodle Soup $5.95 – Pork, shrimp wontons, onion, bean sprout
However, they were out of wontons, but my mother-in-law still wanted the soup.
Lunch took a while to get to our table, but again, the flavor was top shelf. My black pepper pork was served with raw carrot and cucumber. The pork was tender and didn’t disappoint, though I woudl try somethign elese on the menu if I came back.
The star of the show was my wife’s Chicken Pho Pho Ga which was served with housin/siracha and basil and you could customize the heat/sweet levels. For my taste, just add some siracha and leave the housin alone. The broth was fragrant and I just wanted to pick up the bowl and drink it. The (missing) Shrimp Wonton and Egg Soup was equally as enjoyable for the same reasons. Fresh, fragrant and a strong broth.
Would I Buy It Again? Ummm…yes. Food: 9/10, Value: 9/10, Service was a 2/10. When we left, I counted ten tables, with a ten top as well. Forty-plus customers is just way too many people for one server. One table asked for their food to go after their apps.
Also, the menu was huge but they were out of the majority of it. Plus, if they want to keep the two person format, they really need to manage that through the menu. My next visit will be the deciding one. If they iron out the above, they will have something special. However, I can’t handle many eighty minute lunches with a nine month old. It is as simple as that.
-wibia
Tags: black pepper pork, chicken pho pho ga, chicken satay, egg noodle soup, Food, sandra rice and noodles, spring rolls, tom yam soup, wonton soup
I went a year or two ago and had the same problems with the service. The one waitress was so overextended, a regular carryout customer waiting for his order started bussing tables. It seemed that they did a brisk business, so I’m not sure what they couldn’t afford a part timer during peak hours. The food was good, but the service so cringe-worthy I haven’t returned.
The food looks excellent, though it is unfortunate that they were out of so many items and provided inadequate service.
Maybe the “spend money to make money” maxim applies vis-a-vis hiring a new server.
I went on a friday night and they weren’t out of items. It was extremely busy. The owner was very helpful with giving tips on what to order and giving us the background on clay pot dishes/pho, etc. I thought the beef pho was excellent and enjoyed one of the clay pot dishes also. I haven’t tried Saigon yet– but I think Sandra’s food is excellent.
It’s so frustrating when the service sucks. This reminds me of both of my experiences at the Smokehouse on Shelby. The service was painfully slow and the servers were very inattentive, but the food is so good that I will definitely go back.
Love your site but would really enjoy seeing more reviews on downtown area restaurants if possible.
I love Sandra’s Rice and Noddles. I havent had anything bad there and have been a few times. Also never seen it where they were out of things. Ive been in there where there was another server besides the sister/owner. I hope they continue to stay in business as it is a gem on the east side.
I love this place! We live down the street and 90% of the time they have everything on the menu. They are busy a lot and do need to hire another server, but they are so welcoming and they always give my 2 year old daughter a “baby pho” as they call it for free every time we go in (she loves their noodles) The lemongrass chicken is to die for (and the pho!) You can’t beat the lunch special prices, either! Give it another try
the food is so good better than macdonalds
my vote is 100%