NOODLES

Few cooking staples are as well traveled as the noodle, which traces its roots back to Asia but turns up in endless variations in cuisines around the world. The menu at Semolina pays homage to that dynamic, including its rendition of pad Thai with rice stick noodles tossed with shrimp, mushrooms, tofu, peanuts and bean sprouts. Thai Pot Authentic Thai Cuisine's pad Thai is made with classic Thai noodles, chicken, eggs and bean sprouts and is served with a side of ground peanuts and ground chilies. The Camellia Café's egg noodles combine Italian and Americana with strips of filet simmered in a rich Marsala sauce. The Tea Garden in Metairie heads back toward the traditional with its crispy Singapore noodles with Asian vegetables, chicken and beef in a brown sauce. The drunken noodles at the Basil Leaf have a saucy name, but deliver classic Thai flavors with chicken, shrimp, broccoli and mushrooms in a spicy basil sauce. Noodles fuel the soup that eats like a meal at Gretna's Hoa Hong/Nine Roses, where the hearty pho dac biet combines rice noodles with meatballs, beef tendon, tripe and flank steak in a beef broth. Noodles head from turf to surf at Little Tokyo with the Japanese restaurant's yaki udon of pan-fried noodles with seafood and vegetables. And they chill out at Horinoya, the downtown Japanese restaurant, with zaru soba — cold buckwheat noodles with a dipping sauce. Thai Pad Woon Zen is Café Equator's version of clear noodles with chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, onions and zucchini. Christina's Empress of China gives a salute to the explorer who fostered the noodle's early international acclaim with its Marco Polo noodles featuring shrimp, chicken and beef with stir-fried vegetables all in a spicy black bean and garlic sauce. Jasmine Cafe's Sweet Heart Noodle is a spicy stir-fried rice noodle dish loaded with vegetables.