I enjoyed our experience at Dagu Rice Noodle on Buford Highway. I thought the food, drink, and service were good. I recommend this place if you like noodle soups, Sichuan food, and sweet Chinese/Taiwanese-style drinks. This restaurant is a nice addition to BuHi.
Dagu Rice Noodle is an international chain of Chinese rice noodle soup restaurants. This location is the brand's first in Georgia. It opened in November 2020 on the Doraville-Chamblee border at Intown Plaza. This is the same plaza as Quickly. For those familiar with Buford Highway over the years, Dagu took over the spaces formerly occupied by Indonesian businesses Tempo Doeloe (restaurant) and Java Indonesian Foodmart: https://bit.ly/2U2DdcA. RIP.
I was drawn to this place by its "Crossing the Bridge" Rice Noodle Soup. Its broth is made with pork bone, so it's cloudy white, similar to other Asian pork-based broths such as in Japanese and Korean cuisine. The noodles are described as "Crossing the Bridge" because of the story behind them. The story is written on the wall inside the dining room.
The CliffsNotes version of the story: Over 100 years ago, in Yunnan province, China, a wife had to cross a bridge daily to deliver to her husband his favorite food: rice noodles. She found that separating the heated chicken broth, rice noodles, and other ingredients and assembling them at her husband's place made the meal taste best. This method became popular among locals and so the noodles were named "crossing-the-bridge" noodles in the wife's honor. The husband "succeeded in the royal examination" and became the "Number One Scholar." Thus, these noodles also got the name "Champion Rice Noodle."
My wife, who is Chinese American, told me "Dagu" means "big bone" in Mandarin. "Da" is big and "gu" is bone.
What drew me in to the Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodle Soup is how it looked. Its presentation. It's basically deconstructed noodle soup. Is the presentation gimmicky? Yes. Is it fun? Yes.
At Dagu, one order of Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodle Soup consists of a bowl of boiling hot broth, a tray of meat and other ingredients, and a bowl of rice noodles. The bowl of hot broth is served in a special holder/insulator so you can move the bowl without burning your hands. The broth is served vigorously-boiling at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it calms down quickly. The broth holds its heat well and stays hot for a while. If you love hot soups, this is the place for you. Dagu's soups will definitely warm you up.
The tray of ingredients looks meticulously-portioned. Each ingredient is served in a tiny tray. It reminds me banchan (Korean side dishes). I got B5. Sour & Spicy Flavored Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodle Soup with Beef Slices ($11.99). The menu has helpful pictures of most of the dishes to help you decide what to order. I was told by our fantastic server, Helen, that the order to put your ingredients into the broth to cook is meat first, veggies second, noodles last. The menu says to wait 10-20 seconds for everything to cook. I waited a bit longer.
These noodles could also be considered a preset single serving of Chinese hot pot. The beef slices were rolled-up like hot pot. My order came with five fatty slices, lettuce, corn, bamboo shoots, fishcake, scallion, quail egg, ham, imitation crab, pickled mustard greens, peanuts, mushrooms, and noodles. All of the ingredients were fresh and good quality. When combined and cooked, my bowl of noodles was hot, filling, delicious, and comforting. I really liked the broth. The fatty slices of beef made the broth that much richer. As a lover of spicy food, I found the spice level to be only mildly-spicy, but that was OK. I still enjoyed it. The spicy and sour flavors were reminiscent of kimchi-jjigae (kimchi stew), but much more subtle. I liked the noodle texture, soft and slippery.
My wife got A7. Rice Noodle Soup with Bang Bang Chicken ($12.99). Again, a flavorful broth, deep yet light, with a lot of umami. The "Bang Bang Chicken" was bone-in and sliced with a chili sauce on top. Very good.
We also tried several of the apps. To me, the most noteworthy one was E4. Sliced Beef in Sichuan Chili Sauce ($5.99). Tender, rich, and packed with flavor. E3. Salty Crispy Chicken ($4.99) was good as well. Pretty much your standard Taiwanese chicken nuggets (not spicy) that you can't go wrong with. E2. Spicy Duck Tongue ($6.99) was OK. I'm not sure I'd recommend it. The E11. Spicy Quail Eggs (6 for $4.99) were scrumptious. The eggs were marinated and had a pleasant, creamy consistency.
Before I run out of room to write, I have to mention the drinks. We got the Strawberry Mermaid ($6.99) and Garden Oreo Milk Tea ($6.49) and our friend got the G4. Mango Pomelo Meet Grass Jelly ($5.99). I think we each thought the drinks were better than expected. The Strawberry Mermaid tasted like a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar. The Garden Oreo Milk Tea tasted like a wonderful Oreo milkshake, but less thick and more icy. read more