CHINA
They give out menus when you sit down, but it really is unnecessary as one of the walls is covered with an enlarged version. The specialties of the house run in two columns, and narrowing down your choice is a pretty simple endeavor. Left for hand-pulled noodles, right for rice noodles.
Seeing as how the name of the place thinks highly of the hand-pulled variety, we all selected one from this column and sat back for only about five minutes before they arrived. The generous bowls are filled with a mound of noodles so dense that it takes a little maneuvering to get them to separate. The noodles are indeed tasty, and made with a care that is apparent from first bite. This kind of thin noodle could effectively end the ramen craze in this city if word got out. They seem to be producing these beauties with ease in the back while all the Japanese restaurants in town are unfreezing theirs.
The fish balls in the soup of the same name ($5) were chewy, slimy, and not fishy at all, but thoroughly addictive. If I were to order this next time I might work out a deal with my server for an extra helping of balls. The beef ($5, above) was tender and very fatty (in a good way) and more of a traditional companion to the noodles, giving the broth a bit more flavor.
Both broths were not exploding with taste, but the table was full of plenty of spices, sauces, and cilantro that was free to pour or pile in as much as desired.
The waitress was more than happy to explain the cooking process, the restaurant's progress in its first few months and answer all of our questions. Also, I want her hat!
I went to this place last week and had a nice bowl of noodles. I liked listening to the chef thwack the noodles against the wooden table in the back room.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a "disagreement" going on between the young girl waitress and her Dad, who was one of the noodle makers. I felt like I was eating at someone's house, it was pretty cool.