Rose's menu of East Asian-inspired dishes and housemade pastries is perfect for an afternoon or evening with friends. Order a few steaming noodle bowls and some veggies and dumplings to share, and save room for dessert. Seriously, the miso gingersnap ice cream sandwich tops quite a few lists and has been included in numerous national magazine articles about Durham. Hungry for brunch? Rose’s has you covered there as well.
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Hours:
Monday: Closed Tuesday: Closed Wednesday: Closed Thursday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Friday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Saturday: 11:00 AM – 9:30 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Rose's Noodles is a cute place on the outskirts of downtown Durham that offers its own twist on a ramen shop. When visiting around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. The restaurant had a couple people sitting outside with a few tables full and an open counter on the inside. The atmosphere is very cute. Having a open kitchen with areas dedicated to making their own homemade sweets. It seemed promising but outside initial expectations things deviated.
My partner and I both ordered one of the steamed buns which looked just as they do in any of the other photos that you find, but while tasteful, did not feel fresh made and was actually not hot at all. All. The insides were warmed but it's hard for me to confirm if these were "freshly steamed".
I ordered the tonkotsu ramen and my partner ordered the The pork option belt noodles. The tonkotsu ramen was delicious and had savory flavors with tender meat, and well cooked noodles. For my partner, her belt noodles were good but it was hard to acknowledge and enjoy The taste of the ingredients due to them being doused and chili sauce. To the point where it was inedible. This is a shame because the noodles were definitely homemade and quite delicious but could not be enjoyed.
This would have not been as bad if our service would have made up for it and provided adequate water for us to accompany the burn of the noodles. After being sat and given the initial bottle of water to share at the table, the only way I was able to get service from there on was to flag down our server. At one point another table got up and went outside with their water bottle to refill it at the water tank that is provided for the people that are sitting outside.
The food was delivered by one of the chefs, at no point did our waiter check on us to see how we were doing and we also had to flag them down when you were ready for the check after having not eaten a bite of food for over 5 to 10 minutes. The server seemed more occupied with folding menus and stamping takeout boxes than tending to their tables.
The last thing to comment on was that even though it was a very cute restaurant, it looks like that wiping down surface area is not a priority. As The ledge that the flowers were sitting on had not been wiped for a couple days the dust that had accumulated around it was not a pleasant sight. Please see image.
In summary, it could have just been an off day + maybe our expectations of the food were not correctly aligned, but I accomplished two trips in one visit being my first and my last. If tempted to go back it may be due to trying the sweets as I have heard good things but this will be a takeout experience rather than a dine in.
Sharday McCoy
May 7, 2025
5
Found this place while visiting Durham. There were no bad bites. Every bite was delicious. The food is good I would eat it again. I would recommend this spot to others. The desserts are an absolute must have.
Anna Hiltner Nouzeilles
Apr 27, 2025
4
This is a very unique place! The bakery is the highlight, their pastries and cakes are amazing. I especially loved the cinnamon carrot cake cheesecake and the passion fruit tres leches. I wasn’t as impressed with the savory foods here. The spring rolls were mostly filled with rice noodles, and the sandwich was good but overpriced and lacked structural integrity. Menu and baked goods seem to be constantly changing so it’s hard to know what you’ll get when you go, which is hard if you find a favorite dish that then disappears or prefer planning your meal, or it can be good if you like a surprise and variation and adventure. Staff are super nice.
Ron K
Apr 24, 2025
3
This place is a little weird. To start off, almost everything has pork, so you already know that limits the menu to less than a handful of options to choose from as someone who doesn’t eat pork. Secondly, a little overpriced for a semi self serve restaurant. My noodle bowl was $18. Thirdly, if I hadn’t paid attention, I wouldn’t have realized that they charge you 4% MANDATORY hidden fee to cover THEIR vacations, and THEIR 401k, and THEIR insurance. Let me help myself before helping others! When I asked what this automatic charge is, the cashier pointed at the little sign on the counter explaining why. Pretty disgusting if you ask me. This should not be a mandatory fee whatsoever, but an optional one. While the veggies noodles (one of the only thinks I can get on their menu) was okay, because of hidden behavior like this, I won’t be returning back.
Colleen Spang
Mar 22, 2025
5
Favorite spot in Durham! I always bring visitors from out of town here for lunch. All ingredients are so fresh and flavorful. Can’t go wrong with the steam buns, belt noodle bowls and a baked good!
Hind Alawar
Mar 2, 2025
4
Really cool spot, we ordered the noodles/ the steamed buns / the dumplings *pickle / and a radicchio salad. They have they’re own style of everything like the ramen tasted unique, the dumplings the same, feels like walking into your aunties house for food you notice that her food just is different, good but different! The salad was not for me as far as the texture, but everything else was delightful, fun to try!
Yu Mi
Feb 23, 2025
5
Cozy environment, very delicious, quality food. They have an extensive dessert bar which we enjoyed too. Waiting staff is very accommodating and nice. Menu is very straightforward which I really liked too. 10/10 would go again 🤗
chanmyae hanthar
Feb 15, 2025
5
Went dinner for Valentine’s Day it was packed make sure to make reservations please because of the shop is kinda small, we only had to wait like 15 minutes to get table and they called us.we got steamed buns pork and potato in it.Belt noodles and tonkatsu ramen I really liked the belt noodles the sauce is incredibly good.Make sure to get the dessert after because you can’t missed them they are very good.
Caleb Whitaker
Dec 2, 2024
5
A unique spot with Chinese inspired fare, ice cream sandwiches, and SO many pastries/desserts! The buns and dumplings are a must and save room for dessert. Grab a reservation if you can as place is quite small.
Daniel Perry
Nov 18, 2024
5
Rose's is brilliant. The menu, which rotates based on local availability of ingredients, is always super interesting. The Katsu (fried chicken sandwich) in particular was extraordinary. The vibe inside is also really cool and they play really good music.
sparrowmedrama
Sep 21, 2024
4
Soy-tonkatsu ramen had a taste similar to seafood ramen in Tokyo. The house made belt noodles with veggies were spectacular, though the bottom of the bowl had a lot of extra sauce which made it salty. The katsu sando was crispy and delicious. It was a little pricey, but everything was quite good and the desserts were phenomenal!
Karli Guyther
Aug 2, 2024
5
I recently had brunch here, and it did not disappoint! I started with the pork steamed bun and then tried the hot & sour sweet potato noodles. Both were so favorful and authentic! The noodles were definitely more on the spicy side, so beware of that, but if you like a bit of heat, you will definitely enjoy this dish! The portions were huge too, so I had a ton of leftovers. These dishes are really meant to share, and the prices are very reasonable. I highly recommend, and will definitely be back often.
John Doe
Jun 16, 2024
4
The food is really good. Unique taste. The sweets are absolutely amazing. The staff is very nice.
There is not a lot of room inside.
The food is quite pricy.
There is very little parking.
The wait is really long if you go during weekend dinner. Be prepared to wait 40 mins.
If you know what you're getting into, definitely worth it.
