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Miles ClementsWed. July 02
 

Number Nine succumbs to style


PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

Number Nine echoes like an empty gallery, a long and lean place that bounces every sound back down to your table. Light doesn’t escape, either. It gets gathered up by walls painted the purest white and sent toward a ceiling that seems to rise up forever. It’s an economical space, to say the least, and one that feels at home in Retro Row.

Culinarily, Number Nine maintains that simplicity with two words: “noodles” and “beer.” That could mean anything, but here it means a Vietnamese menu of pho, bún and bánh mì. Vietnamese cuisine is a logical (and popular) option for such a stark space (clean flavors, light plates), and it’s admittedly a smart choice. But in the pursuit of its pared-down style, Number Nine neglects a restaurant necessity: substance.

Among the limited list of entrées, Number Nine’s bún eats the best. There are nine variations of the classic noodle dish, with proteins ranging from charbroiled shrimp to barbequed pork. There’s tofu, too, but the lemongrass beef is the highlight here, with the lemongrass’s sweet strains of citrus rubbing off on the whole bowl. And with all the usual accompaniments (fried shallots, Thai basil and the like), Number Nine’s bún is a worthwhile dish.

Less successful, however, are the restaurant’s few varieties of pho. There are only three choices: chicken, steak, and steak and brisket. The chicken suffers from some gristle while the rare steak is simply too thick, hefty hunks that don’t cook as evenly as the thin strips of meat that bob through better bowls of pho. The broth is the most surprising shortfall, though, an unremarkably mild mix that’s too light on star anise and all the other aromatic herbs that usually make pho such a pleasure. The broth doesn’t even seem so much a necessary component of the dish as it does a plain delivery device, one that suspends all the ingredients in an unfortunately bland base.

The restaurant’s bánh mì is a better choice. In fact, the five-spice chicken sandwich is a good order by any standards, its flavors perfectly balanced by the sting of the pickled daikon and carrot. Served alongside every sandwich, though, is a so-called Russian root vegetable salad, which is really just a simple side of beets. The beets themselves go down fine, but they make a questionable pairing—the earthy-eating vegetable does nothing but dull the sharp flavors of the sandwiches.

Further plaguing the otherwise good bánh mì is the price point—at $8 ($7 for the vegetarian), the sandwiches slap you with the most severe sticker shock, costing quadruple that of bigger and better sandwiches built up elsewhere.

Those high prices even overshadow the restaurant’s most shining success—its appetizers. Here, the restaurant edges out some variety, serving a number of standalone skewers (the lemongrass beef, the five-spice chicken) and well-packed spring rolls along with a papaya salad and a shrimp pancake. But like the bánh mì, the appetizers all suffer from inflation, as every one is either equal to or greater than the price of an entrée.

Not forgotten in all of this is the alcoholic end of Number Nine’s noodles-and-beer concept, which sees to stocking a strong list of spirits. For those with malted tastes, there are excellent European options like Leffe Blond Ale and Hoegaarden Belgian White Beer.

There’s also a small but potent pairing of wines and a few cocktails, too. But Number Nine is a restaurant before it’s a bar—a fact that even the coldest beer can’t cure.

It’s that strict logic that keeps stacking itself against Number Nine. Conceptually, the restaurant would be a fine fit for Fourth Street, a perfect place squished in along Retro Row. But to look at location alone neglects the fact that the city’s high end of Vietnamese cuisine is already dominated by Benley (an easy contender for one of the city’s best restaurants), and Number Nine does nothing to challenge the east side eatery.

Instead, it’s simple failures that send Number Nine out of focus, a restaurant that so far has succumbed to style.

NUMBER NINE 2118 E FOURTH ST | LONG BEACH 90814 | 562.434.2009 | NUMBERNINENOODLES.COM | OPEN DAILY AT 11AM | FOOD FOR TWO $25-40

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Viewing 5 Comments

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    Unfortunately, The district weekly just does not understand what numbernine is about they fail to mention many important aspects of this new hip vibe on retro row such as that the meats are 100% naturaul free range and grass feed!!! The place is spotleess (you could eat off the floor) The design is mid century modern, the food and beer is always fantastic and ten times healthier than those other places. The truth is you get what you pay for and at numbernine you are paying for an clean breathtaking ambience with damn good food and beer! This place is amazing and should be considered a five star restauraunt priced well below market for the feel. Honestly, if you just try it for yourself Instead of listening to these food critiques, you will be presently surprised!!!!
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    $25-$40 for "clean breath taking ambiance...priced well below market...? We're talking 4th street in Long Beach, right? Are there velvet ropes and a bouncer with an earpiece, too?

    "new hip vibe" sounds like something Starsky would say to Hutch.
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    Actually, I've been to Number Nine a couple of times now and I consider it pretty swellegant. Sure it's pricey for pho, but its clean (you can't say that about every pho place) and there's a "happening" vibe to it. I really CAN understand the impassioned fans.

    BUT the place is extremely noisy and the seats are designed to cause maximum pain. At this place you're paying for the ambiance and the design, not for the food or portions or anything so mundane as that. ;-)
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    i love numbernine and i'm glad it's here in my neighborhood. it's a refreshing change from the greasy norm along 4th street.
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    This review sucks. Number Nine rocks. Where does the Miles Clements think you can get a giant sandwich for $2.00? The quality of the food, the decor and price point of Number Nine are all right on. It is a great addition to 4th Street and Long Beach. We need more restaurants like this one. We have eaten here numerous times and love it. I will seriously doubt any future restaurant reviews by the district. They got this one wrong, wrong, wrong.
 
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