Newly opened to surprisingly long queues, this Chinese restaurant specializes in an all noodle menu. The price range never exceeds $15, and has a pretty varied and distinctly Chinese selection.
Basically there are 3 kinds of broth - plain base broth, a ma la spicy style broth, and another focusing on the use of pickles. There are varieties for each kind, ranging form just mushrooms, to pork giblets, blood cake, or duck webfeet. Very daunting for locals, but you have regular choices of beef, pork etc. to pick from. Ordering is done at the counter, and you can easily do so past any language problems by just pointing at the large photos of each individual choice in the menu.
I had the more tame fried pork in spicy broth noodles, as I was hoping for a little crunch. Noodles are served to your table after you have placed an order, and it took quite a while for mine to come, over 5-7 minutes. Noodles are served in clay pots so be careful of the edges!
Alas they did not add in the fried pork last as I had hoped; instead the batter coating had disintegrated into the soup and became mush. I was hoping they'd put the pork just on top of the noodles so I could taste the pieces, but not so. I'd probably order something else next time.
The soup has A LOT going on in it, especially the spicy ma la style broth I had. It's flavored with a variety of pickles, vinegar, dried and pickled chilies, and chili oil, all mixed in with likely a chicken/pork bone broth. It's salty and spicy, and is NOT meant for drinking. The soup coats the noodles as you eat, and I really would not advise drinking the soup directly unless it's very cold weather and you want to warm up. That's the style of this kind of broth tho, but the plain broth alternatives may be more drinkable if that's what you prefer.
Even past lunch hour, the 2 floors of the place was packed, and seating had to be improvised. I had to share a table with either one other person or 3. Service was haphazard but the main servers were trying their best, promptly bringing me cutlery when I asked, and bring fairly patient and firm with me when I dawdled a bit while ordering. As the place continues business, they'd probably become a lot more organized as time goes by.
I would recommend this place if you're looking to try fairly authentic Szechuan noodles and more adventurous ingredients. While I didn't like my choice today, I'm still intrigued by the rest of the menu, and I do miss my pork giblets and blood cake from home. read more