Joy Yee Noodle is a pan-Asian restaurant with multiple locations in the Chicagoland area. Recently group of friends and I visited the Naperville restaurant, the location closest to Plainfield. Having been to the Joy Yee in Chinatown, I first took note of how small it was in comparison. It still shared the modern style, however, with a welcoming juice bar in front, lounge like seating behind, and a small dining area.

Seated in the dining area, we were each given menus the size of the table. Despite their slightly inconvenient size, they helpfully displayed a picture of everything offered on the menu, including the 157 different milk teas and smoothies.

I debated for a while whether I should try a new flavor of milk tea or stick with one of my favorites. In the end I choose familiarity and went with almond black tea with tapioca.
I appreciate their almond tea more than any other place as they use real pureed almonds instead of an extract. It gives the tea a slight grainy texture that not everyone would enjoy, but I think it makes it more interesting to drink.

Typically when ordering at a pan-Asian restaurant such as Joy Yee, everyone orders a different dish and shares with the whole table. For sake of ease in a review, we each ordered a dish of our own.

I ordered the Red Thai Curry. Curry is a dish that consists of meat and vegetables in a sauce made using a tradition Indian spice mix called ‘curry’, usually served alongside rice. Thai curry differs because of its use of fish pastes and sugary substance used to cut the usual bitter taste.

I had this curry with chicken before and was disappointed it didn’t soak up as much flavor as I would have liked, so this time I ordered the beef. It was soft in texture as it had soaked up the saucy part of the curry in a way the chicken had not. There were also julienned bell peppers and onions in the curry. They were not completely cooked through, still holding a nice crunch to them, which is how I like them.

Any Joy Yee location is a fun place to eat with friends or family. Though the prices make it so sitting down to eat is best saved for special occasions, stopping in to get bubble tea or a smoothie can brighten any outing. I give Joy Yee a 10/10.