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| - THIS PLACE IS AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD GO AND I WISH I WENT BACK AND ORDERED SO MUCH MORE FOOD. If I could give this place 10 stars I would. It makes my other 5 star reviews feel ever so slightly undeserved.
First note, this is not Japanese ramen. It's Chinese hand-pulled noodles (pronounced la-mian) from Lanzhou, a city famous for these particular noodles. On the menu are also other dishes hailing from Xinjiang province (known for its Muslim community), like lamb skewers, rou jia mo (meat in between two toasted slices of a bun), and sesame pancakes with beef. The cumin, the meat, and the different pancakes and noodles are just...I can't do the food justice with words. I have not had food this delicious and satisfying since visiting China.
Ambience & Service:
Clean and simple, it looks more hole in the wall from the outside, but the inside was nicer. The best part? Behind the front desk, we could see a chef pulling and splitting the noodles as we ate. There's nothing quite like a dinner performance to convince you on the freshness and authenticity of what you're eating. As for service, it was blunt and efficient. The restaurant was full, but we waited 5 minutes for a table. To order, we were given a small slip of paper and instructed to write the menu numbers on them. I loved it. It was just so efficient. I also like to imagine that this is the chef's way of saying, "nothing else here matters except for what you're about to eat". Of course, it was probably just because they were busy and wanted to turn over the tables.
Food:
Everything we tried was great, so this is functionally just a list of everything we tried.
-Sliced noodles with braised beef: Imagine a chef slicing off strands from the edges of a large slab of dough into a bowl with a consistent and dangerous precision. Personally, I find the sliced noodles a lot better than the hand pulled. It was denser and, because it was sliced, the thickness within a strand of noodle varies. In the middle, the thickest part, it was denser, doughier, chewier and tasted more purely of the noodle. To the sides, it was thinner, and therefore mushier, lighter, and had picked up more of the broth. Eating one strand at a time meant tasting how the noodle and broth complimented each other; eating a spoonful of noodles meant feeling how satisfying it is to snap through the noodles and to let that simple aroma flood your mouth. The beef was also soft - to be honest, I really only paid attention to the noodles.
-Golden Needle Mushrooms: my favorite appetizer. These mushrooms were always a favorite of mine (try them in hotpot, or wrap them in aluminum foil with some butter and roast them), but this place did well to highlight its natural sweetness. It was also made with bell peppers, which was a great idea. Both bell peppers and these mushrooms have subtle flavors, but since bell peppers are commonly used to lend more flavor to a dish and the mushrooms were so much lighter, the mushrooms here picked up the flavor of the bell peppers extremely well. The chef also did well to not overcook the mushrooms as they still had snap when chewed. We should have ordered another one.
-Jellyfish salad: the jellyfish was crunchy and not slimy, a sign that it is fresh and well prepared. The sauce was also slightly garlicky; it was very light and tasty, a great appetizer.
-Hand-pulled noodles with beef: Perhaps we should have tried a different broth that was a bit more flavorful, but the noodles were just a bit too bland. Something spicy would have been nice as the noodles would act as breaks in between sips of broth. Texture-wise, the noodles were chewy.
Recommendations:
Bring a group of friends or a foodie friend and order everything on the menu. Next time, I would love to try the sesame pancake with beef, the lamb skewers, and the liang pi (cold noodles - they were out this time).
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