Thursday, January 30, 2025, 4:15AM |  36°
MENU
Advertisement
Noodlehead in Shadyside has added 15 new Northern Thai dishes to its menu.
24
MORE

Noodlehead expands its menu for first time in over 12 years

Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette

Noodlehead expands its menu for first time in over 12 years

The popular Shadyside spot adds Northern Thai street food, salads and big plates to its menu

Aside from an occasional tweak, Noodlehead’s menu of 10 noodle dishes and five appetizers had remained largely unchanged since it opened in October 2012.

Just after the calendar flipped into 2025, the owners of the casual Shadyside BYOB establishment (who also operate the nationally lauded Pusadee’s Garden in Lawrenceville) shook things up with the addition of 15 dishes that reflect a deeper focus on Northern Thai street food.

“We just had an epiphany last summer and we got inspired to evolve,” says chief strategy officer Mona Tongdee. “We want to introduce something fresh and authentic to allow guests to explore more traditional tastes and styles of eating.”

Advertisement

The effort, spearheaded by Tongdee family members (who partner with Michael Johnson on both endeavors), took the better part of the last half of 2024.

The process included bringing in chefs from Thailand to work with the family, which includes 2024 James Beard Award Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic semifinalist Bootsaba “Gik” Tongdee, head chef of Pusadee’s Garden, to develop the menu. They hired other Thai chefs to execute the dishes and strengthened their supply chains to source top-quality ingredients from a deeper variety of vendors.

The new offerings, bold and unapologetic, are “an effort to introduce items that you won’t see on many menus around here,” Johnson says. “They’re dishes you’d find at food stalls and homes in Isaan.”

Spicy pork-rib soup, with tender, bite-sized bone-in bobbles of meat, is a stellar example of the new focus. The enlivening broth hits with tangy-sour kaffir lime notes and a punchy, aromatic fish sauce, with notes from both mellowing into harmony as you eat it. We moved up our heat to level 2 spice, which packed a solid, lingering punch; tread boldly as you move closer to level 5.

Advertisement

Among the starters, the juicy Northern Thai lemongrass sausage bursts with herbaceous flavor. It’s served with raw red onions, herbs and peanuts and makes for an excellent shareable. It, and the other appetizers, eat almost as bar food. Noodlehead is still BYOB, and with no charge aside from a 75-cent recycling fee, it’s one of the very best deals in town for that format.

Spicy wing nuggets are exactly what they sound like: chopped chicken wings fried to a crisp and coated with a moderately hot dry rub. Chopping the wings creates more surface area for maximum crispness without sacrificing juiciness, though it also increases the chance of stray bones. One pal’s solution — removing the small bones before eating — proved an effective way of minimizing any potential trauma.

The expanded menu highlights Isaan-style salads, which include a crispy rice permutation with bouncy pink pork and rice sausage. It’s garnished with herbs, red onion and tangy lime dressing, which all deliver vibrant pops of flavor. Combine them all together inside the accompanying lettuce leaves for a fun, texture-rich bite.

Other salad additions include laab, the Northern Thai/Laotian lime and mint chopped-meat salad (offered with chicken, duck or bamboo shoots), two versions of spicy seafood noodle salad and two versions of Thailand’s famous green papaya salad, som tum.

“We’re especially excited to bring over our version of the som tum. It’ll be more customizable than most of our dishes because many of our clientele are vegan and vegetarian. Plus, we offer a more authentic Isaan spicy style with the salted crab and anchovies,” Tongdee says.

The menu notes “no returns or alterations” on the Isaan-style version, which is more assertive due to the fermented fish. Some diners might find this overwhelming, but many will find it exceptionally delicious. Come with an open mind.

Rice plates anchor the new “Features” section of the menu. While the other new additions ate as well-tested, these dishes felt like they could use a little bit of fine tuning. (Note that my opinion is based on a small sample. Some of the others, including chicken massaman and panang beef curries, might already be there.)

Khao mun comes with equal portions of poached and fried chicken breast and a small bowl of seasoned bone broth. Noodlehead's already popular fried chicken, which you can still get at Street Noodle #1 or as a side, hit its marks, as did the luxurious chicken fat-infused rice and zesty ginger sauce. However, the poached breast could have been more succulent and the sidecar of soup was a bit pallid.

Stewed pork hock and belly were cooked, as they should be, to a luscious, sticky consistency in khao kha moo. But the overwhelming sweetness of the three-flavor sauce overwhelmed any chance of its necessary sour and salty components to offer a sense of balance.

Although the decision to update the menu was driven in part to address a logjam in the kitchen, which tended to get overwhelmed by orders for wok-cooked dishes, all of Noodlehead’s classic offerings (except for the green curry linguine) are still available.

The new menu, built from simmered, stewed, fried and quick-assemble components, aims to balance the workflow.

The team addressed some of the front-of-house bottleneck, too, by opening a takeout counter in an adjoining space. The shift doesn’t eliminate all the traffic (the next update I’d love to see is a system that texts guests when their tables are ready rather than having us wait for our names to be called in the small lobby). But it does go a long way to smooth the gridlock in the entrance area.

Here’s one last big change: Noodlehead is no longer cash only. The restaurant now accepts credit and debit cards.

242 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside; noodleheadpgh.com

First Published: January 16, 2025, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: January 17, 2025, 7:00 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (6)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers waits on deck in the first inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 6, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1
sports
The Pirates surveyed fans about their relationship with the franchise. It didn't go well
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
2
news
Passenger jet collides with Army helicopter while landing at Reagan Washington National Airport
Ross Park Mall announces new retail and dining offerings in 2025.
3
business
These new retail and dining options are coming to Ross Park Mall in 2025
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick slammed Mayor Ed Gainey's refusal to cooperate with federal immigration agents in a growing battle between Republicans in Washington and local Democratic officials over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies.
4
news
McCormick presses Gainey to ‘follow the law’ as Trump deportation plans play out
Beatrice and Jose Tecuanhuehue, owners of Tienda Mexicana El Pastorcito in Monroeville, Taqueria el Pastorcito restaurant in New Kensington and a mobile food trailer.
5
local
'It’s scary': Uncertainty over immigration policy impacts Pittsburgh’s Hispanic food community
Noodlehead in Shadyside has added 15 new Northern Thai dishes to its menu.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Stewed pork hock and belly are cooked to a luscious, sticky consistency in khao kha moo at Noodlehead.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Duck noodle soup at Noodlehead.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Noodlehead opened in October 2012 in Shadyside.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Kitchen workers prepare food at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Jan. 10.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Kapow Basil Shrimp served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Khao Mun, left and Papaya Salad served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Lemongrass Pork Sausage and Spicy Spare Rib Soup served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
A variety of dishes served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Duck Noodle Soup served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Khao Ka Moo served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Nam Khao Tod (crispy rice salad) served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Noodlehead opened on South Highland Avenue in Shadyside in October 2012.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Nam Khao Tod (crispy rice salad) served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Papaya Salad (Isaan style) served at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Kitchen workers prepare food at Noodlehead in Shadyside on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Spicy pork-rib soup with kaffir lime and an aromatic fish sauce is one of the new dishes at Noodlehead.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Isaan-style papaya salad is one of the additions to the menu at Noodlehead.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Noodlehead's khao mun is served with poached and fried chicken breast and a bowl of seasoned bone broth.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
The interior of Noodlehead in Shadyside on Jan. 10.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
A variety of dishes served at Noodlehead in Shadyside.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Nam khao tod, a crispy rice salad, at Noodlehead in Shadyside.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Kapow basil shrimp served at Noodlehead.  (Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette)
Tim Robbibaro/For the Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST life
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story