House of Bowls is an eccentric little noodle nook off the main strip of Bellaire’s Chinatown. Its affordable-food-in-a-lively-atmosphere niche is clearly defined, even if the prices have gone up just a bit—they were actually pretty alarmingly low before, which resulted in a lot of corners being cut. Fortunately, this trend has reversed itself, and the noodles are better—and better than at Chinese-American joints elsewhere. They come to your table steaming and warm, with large plates of rice. Satay noodles come in a murky broth with more of a fragrant aroma than a deep broth. Stir-fried flat noodles with beef and gai-lan come exceptionally dry and sparse in meat; they lack that seared, wok-breathed flavor that can make the dish so good in expert hands. Udon noodles are thick and chewy, but their black pepper sauce is gloopy and one-note.

Walking into the multi-colored House of Bowls is like stepping into the sunlight after having been indoors all day; these bright, schizophrenic colors take some getting used to. Service has always been friendly, and if you wind up with a long wait for the food—as can happen, given the tiny kitchen capacity—the staff will at least warn you apologetically. Fortunately, you can entertain yourself in with Chinese pop videos on the flat screen, and good milk teas by the giant glassful.