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| - "Eat Rice, Drink Tea, Slurp Noodles, Stay Asian" Plagiarized (hey it's all the rage), from Vegas yelper and Asian food guru Tony T; visions of Shang Artisan Noodle come dancing in.
Two things to remember; (1) hand pulled noodles and (2) knife cut noodles. Both very good, with well developed gluten, very toothsome, studded with surface imperfections that grip hold of broths and sauces making them slurpably delicious. Better still, they are made in front of you in the fishbowl kitchen to order. Good food and a show all in one.
Ordering simple. Select a noodle (hand pulled, knife shaved, or plain machine made zzzz), select a soup or sauce base. Done.
For soup bases, the Shang beef noodle, beefy with a strong anise and earthy spice flavors. Not too heavily extracted (some gelatin but not lip coating). Generous portion of well braised brisket. The pork belly, a gently sweetened pork and chicken broth with light extraction (no silky collagen), hints of earthy soy, good mixed Asian spice punch, with tender, not too fatty braised pork belly.
Sauce noodle dishes, are very strong and border on salty. Generosity is nice but... The Dan-Dan noodles (sautéed minced pork and bean sprouts in a spicy, thick soy sauce) packs a flavor punch. Nice earthy, fermented backbone balancing the heat but just too much sauce. The spicy chicken sesame cold noodle (shredded chicken breast, mixed veg in a spicy sesame sauce) very flavorful but salty. An extra order of noodles ($1.50) for both made the flavors much better.
OK starters. The pork and cabbage pot sticker well made with a crisp, well fried outer layer and light filling, agreeable. The spicy wontons, slightly overcooked and too soft. Not very spicy.
Inexpensive. All dishes below $9.
Asian service. No complaints.
In the end, sufficiently authentic dishes for the purist and enough menu diversity to keep the adventurous non Asian foodie happy.
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