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| - For my quick stint in Vegas, this was the place I was most excited to try. A handmade noodle place in Vegas serving beef noodle soup? I couldn't wait! We arrived at around 11:30am and waited for 15 minutes for seats at the bar. We had a perfect view for the noodles being made and the potstickers being wrapped.
We started with the spicy wontons, which were pretty average. They're exactly as you'd expect them to be. I actually would have preferred if they were a bit more spicy. We also got the beef pancakes, which are essentially "sheng jian bao", except a little flatter. An order comes with four and each one was generous in filling. They were fried to a nice golden brown. The strange thing was that the order came with a knife and the waitress said to cut them in half to let the juice out since otherwise it'll squirt out as you bite it. I disagree. The whole point is to eat this juicy pan-fried bun and not let the greasy goodness end up on the plate. Eat these like you would a xiao long bao. Hold it in your spoon, bite the top open, suck out the broth, and keep eating.
For noodles, we went with the Shang's beef noodle and the pork belly noodle, both with knife-shaved noodles. Both were good, but the beef noodle was the better of the two. The broth was so complex and rich, with a great beefy flavor. The braised beef brisket was tender and plentiful. The pork belly noodle broth was a bit muddled and required some hot oil to "brighten" it up a bit. The noodles were delicious, with a really nice texture to them.
We also got the zha-jiang noodle which was, surprisingly, my favorite dish today. It came with carrots, cucumber, and edamame to mix with the nice rich sauce. We went with the hand-pulled noodles this time and they were so perfectly "QQ".
The staff were all really friendly. There was a huge line waiting outside, but you never felt rushed. They were attentive and often asked how we were doing or if we needed more hot water for our tea.
The MVP of this place was the guy making the noodle. He's a beast in the kitchen. He went between pulling noodles, shaving noodles, warming up bowls, portioning noodles, and helping on the finishing line. He was constantly busy and was the reason food was coming out of the kitchen so quickly and consistently.
Why 4 stars instead of 5? I'd like the knife-shaved noodles to be a bit broader and a bit thicker. The noodles were great at the start, but quickly got a bit soggy. I usually prefer knife-shaved noodles to hand-pulled because knife-shaved noodles are thick enough to not get soggy. Unfortunately that wasn't the case here.
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