Neeta Marwah - Noodlebox co-owner - has added some new dishes to her eatery’s menu.
“We have recently added chicken nuggets that you can dip in different sauces, plus we have Teriyaki noodles,” Marwah told SooToday.
“We have a special every Tuesday which comes down to half the price just to ease the strain on everybody's pockets because we know the inflation rate is going so high and everything's getting expensive,” Marwah added.
Noodlebox is mindful of customers who have special dietary needs.
“People are very careful about gluten these days so we have gluten-free dishes. We have separate differently-made sauces for that. We have separate food for those with peanut allergies,” Marwah said.
Everything is made fresh at Noodlebox.
“We have nothing at all which comes frozen,” Marwah said.
“We do our vegetables, we cut our ginger and garlic like I used to do in my own Indian kitchen. Our onions, peppers, chicken - everything is fresh and done right here in the morning. That’s something that a lot of people are looking for these days because everything comes pre-packed with preservatives but we make everything fresh from scratch. That's what I really, really want people to know in the Sault. That’s what I want to put across to the people here. ”
“We want people to be healthy,” Marwah said with a smile.
Customers can dine in or opt for takeout at Noodlebox, which opened with great fanfare in July 2023 at The Shoppes on TransCanada on Trunk Road.
“Our portion sizes are really big. One dish serves two people. It’s been good. The people have really accepted us very well,” Marwah said.
That comes as a relief to Marwah, who co-owns Noodlebox with business partners Maulik Jariwala and Nilay Patel.
“We were a little skeptical because we were coming into a place with pizzas and burgers. We were bringing in new kinds of dishes,” Marwah said.
“Everything is cooked fresh right in front of you and you can customize your own dish. You can choose the noodles you want, you can choose the type of rice you want. It’s just like your home kitchen. You can just tell us what you want and the chef is going to make it for you. So yeah, business has been good.”
Noodlebox is not the first South Asian restaurant venture for Marwah in Sault Ste. Marie.
She opened her first sit-down restaurant Rasoi at 518 Queen St. E. in 2017.
Prior to that, Rasoi operated from Marwah’s home in 2009, then from a P-patch storefront at 6 Village Crt. that's now home to Antico Ristoranté.
Marwah owns another Noodle Box location that opened in Barrie in May 2023.
It was Marwah who brought Indian food to the Sault and she has blazed a trail for more South Asian restaurant owners in the Sault.
“I'm proud of it. South Asian food has caught on,” Marwah said.
“Nobody in the Sault knew about Indian food and when I introduced it, I made a lot of friends. That was my main aim because I didn't have friends in this town at all. My kids were very small and my husband was at work all the time. So I began cooking Indian food from home. Now the bond has gotten stronger and I've made so many friends since then. That was my main aim actually, to meet people. I like meeting people, making new friends and getting to know the city.”
Marwah’s passion for food runs in her family.
“It has been going on in my family for many years. My brother, my sister, my father, my grandfather, we've been in the food business for many years.”
Marwah and her husband left their homeland of India and lived in the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2008, her husband working for a Czech steel producer.
From there they made their way to Canada and her husband went to work at Algoma Steel.
“We moved here because, as any other parent, I wanted my kids to know English because back in India, English is the main language if you go to any school or if you open a business,” Marwah said.
The Sault is home for Marwah now.
“My kids grew up here. We have beautiful friends who are like family to us now. I’ve made wonderful friends in town and it has been a beautiful journey for me since 2008. When Noodlebox opened, Mayor Shoemaker was here and MP Terry Sheehan was here. Both of them were here. They came in here to wish us well and give us their blessing. That was a big thing.”
