Tiger Belly Noodle Bar is located in a quiet little strip mall in Granby, CT. Parking is relatively plentiful. The restaurant itself is a bit hard to find: follow your GPS to 9 Mill Pond Road and it's the middle store in the second plaza on the right. If you just park and walk around, it will be easier to find.
The restaurant itself is long and narrow. There are two big tables up front that each seat up to 8 people, and are often being shared by smaller groups. There are two smaller tables that seat up to 4 people each in back, by the bathroom. In the middle, there's an L-shaped seating area surrounding the kitchen and sushi counter. The view is partially obstructed by all the ingredients they keep piled up on the counters, but you can get a good sense of what's going on. It's completely casual, and service is a bit erratic, but there's a lovely sense of warmth and good humor emanating from the chefs and the harried servers.
Tiger Belly is part of the same restaurant group as Mei Tzu, so the sushi menus are almost identical. The sushi is reasonably priced and very good, with some complex options (the Mei Tzu roll is out of this world) and the usual basics.
The appetizer menu includes standard options like edamame and fried beef gyoza, but you have to give the bao buns a try. They're messy, but so delicious that you won't even care. Seriously, I've had worse bao buns at 3 star restaurants in NYC. They're a must-buy. (Two buns per order at $9, so feel free so share with a friend.)
The main menu includes two types of fried chicken, a rice bowl, and three types of soup. The fried chicken is shatteringly crispy and delicious. My kids wrinkled their noses at eating chicken on the bone, but they quickly got behind it and devoured the whole plate. We haven't tried the rice bowl yet, but the table next to us got it and seemed quite pleased; it looked like a generous portion.
The vegetarian ramen is good, the pho with brisket and dumplings is better, and "The Darkness", their signature pork ramen, is unbelievably good. I recommend trying them all, either sharing around the table or on three separate visits.
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