For Mother’s Day lunch this year we decided to enjoy lunch at a new to us restaurant in downtown Spartanburg, the “Monsoon Noodle House”.  We have heard great thing about it, and from what I could tell it had great reviews on UrbanSpoon (a great resource when you are wanting to check out a new restaurant if you are unsure whether or not you want to eat there).  Monsoon Noodle House has a 91%  rating with 281 likes which is most positive.

One advantage of early worship services on Sunday is that we can generally make it to the restaurants before other places let out.  We have been hearing about this place for a while now.  It reopened last spring after a fire destroyed it, so the restaurant has been packed  every time we have been by there.   It’s a popular hangout for many of the college kids from Wofford University, just a couple of miles away.

While Monsoon Noodle House filled up quickly after we arrived, we were the first through the door, which allowed for me to ask a few questions about the menu and snap a few quick pictures of the restaurant interior without random people in the pictures.

I love the environment as the restaurant itself is very open with a contemporary vibe.  If you don’t like sitting right next to strangers in a restaurant, this probably isn’t the place for you as the layout encourages you to mix and mingle.  Fortunately, I have very social kids, so this was just the right environment for us.

Each of the chairs had a “M” cut into it.  I thought it was rather neat.

I fell in love with the noodle display or as I referred to it as the “Wall of Carbs” which is actually a display of all the noodles you can sample here.  Unfortunately for me it was not a carb day (yes, I went to a place that specializes in noodles on a no carb day…), so my family partook in all of the sampling, constantly telling me how good it was.

As for the food, the staff was great to answer questions about what was in everything.  As is true with most Asian fusion restaurants there were lots of sauces and of course noodles.  You can choose your spice when it comes to the food or even make it vegetarian.  And they do not use MSG in their foods, either which is a real selling point for me.

There is something for everyone.

As difficult as it was, I kept to my diet and ordered Mongolian beef without the sauce.  Mongolian stir fry is all about the flavor of the onion anyway, which there was plenty of, so it was still quite good.

I didn’t eat the rice…. my kiddos enjoyed it for me.

Audley ordered his Mongolian beef with the sauce & absolutely loved it!  He also enjoyed the Potsticker dumplings.

And to top it all off, Audley ordered the Monsoon Wings which were fried chicken wing pieces with an absolutely amazing spicy/sweet chili sauce.

I did try just one of these …. they could be dangerous for my diet.

He loves to try new food, especially if it is Asian themed.

The kiddos each ordered something different.

Madeline started off her lunch with Thai tea which is a strong iced tea with cream.

I took a sip of this, too.  Then I told her to keep it away from me!

Lot’s of cream.

She and MacKenzie both enjoyed sesame chicken for their lunch.

Since their plates didn’t even have one grain of rice left on it, I assume that they liked it!

Bradley had Chinese hot tea with his lunch, which accompanied his Sukayiaki Udon.
This dish consisted of shrimp, chicken, scallions, mushrooms, snow peas and eggs.

It looked amazing!

Over-all I have to say we really enjoyed our lunch at the Monsoon Noodle House.  The service was fast and efficient, and the staff was very helpful in seeing that my sometimes picky needs were met.  I highly recommend checking them out if you are ever in the area.  And if you need added incentive, Monsoon Noodle house in right on Main Street and borders several great local shops and the beautiful Daniel Morgan Square.  You could spend an entire afternoon enjoying just three city blocks!

We have discovered quite a few local eateries in the Greenville/Spartanburg area, so I hope to try out a few more this summer and share them.

I know this doesn’t seem like the ideal vacation get-away, but it’s a great area with a lot of local interests.  Maybe you’ll be inspired to check it all out someday!

Have a great weekend!