Iona C.
Yelp
The saying "don't knock it 'till you try it" doesn't work for every circumstance in life, but it's totally appropriate when it comes to figuring out what to order here at R' Noodles.
I have a weird aversion to spicy things and a lot of other different types of food. Yes, I know that I'm missing out on a whole world of flavors and textures and am all the poorer for it. For example, I'm about 50-50 when it comes to lengua tacos. I have to actively think of different things other than the fact that I'm eating a cow tongue that had taste buds for fear of stopping mid-bite. Wish I didn't have these mental hangups, but I do.
That said, the "safe and normal" order here would have been the Guilin rice noodle soup which I feel like I've had at the Classic spot on 10th Street and Alice. This seems to focus on a smattering of simply prepared ingredients paired with a pretty flavorless, slightly murky broth.
Thankfully, photos of the LiuZhou River Snails soup were up on Yelp and, well, it just looked far more interesting than the classic noodle soup. The title made me think there'd be some type of escargot deal happening, but it turns out that the broth is made with snails while the soup itself is free of the little gastropods.
My friend and I got to R'Noodles at around 11:30 am and were met with a pretty empty restaurant. Approximately 15 minutes later, though, the entire place was packed full of couples, friends, families (group of 7), so yes... do yourself a favor and get here for an early or late lunch.
A waitress greeted us upon arrival, seated us, gave us menus, and dropped off hot tea. When she came to take out order, she noted that the LiuZhou soup was spicy. I don't deal too well with spicy food so she agreed that she could make it mild. In addition to the soup, my friend and I both ordered their homemade soy milk which came in a chilled glass mug (so refreshing and not too sweet)!
It didn't take very long for our soups to come out and, well, even if it had taken a while it would be so, so worth it. I honestly don't think I've met a more interesting bowl of soup. It came with a VERY generous heap of rice noodles at the bottom that seemed pretty endless (not that I'm complaining). What I loved, though, was the fact that the noodles, which are themselves pretty flavorless, were paired with so many different additions (tofu, fried peanuts, half a boiled egg, bamboo shoots, diced green beans, thin yu choy, and what I'm going to assume were strips of julienned black fungus) all swimming in an absolutely delicious broth.
Side Note: The tiny pieces of fried tofu ended up being the only thing spicy about the soup, but even that wasn't too bad.
I couldn't quite pin down all the flavors that came together in the broth, all of the various spices in addition to the river snails, but they came together so beautifully. Even though it has been pretty hot (80s-90s) in Oakland, I would still come here for soup.
Last note, I'm not normally a person who shares an entree unless I'm out eating family style, but I would probably throw in the towel when it came to this soup. The portion size was so large, and the ingredients so plentiful, that I'd probably split an order of the soup alongside an order of their dumplings or some other appetizer or two if I was eating with someone else.