"0"^^ . "2"^^ . "2017-01-30T00:00:00"^^ . "3"^^ . "3"^^ . . . . "I'd like to take this opportunity to announce my beef noodle soup quest, detailed as follows:\n\nPROJECT OVERVIEW:\nMission Statement: Try ALL the beef noodle soups\nMission Justification: Beef noodle soup is really freakin' delicious.\nSecondary Justification: It's winter and I really freakin' love soup.\nTEAM:\nTeam Lead: Me\nTeam Members: Husband, Friends who can be dragged to various Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants\nSMEs: Fellow Yelpers\nACTION ITEMS/NEXT STEPS:\n[1] Go to as many Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants as possible.\n[2] Order the beef noodle soup.\n[3] Slurp.\n\nNow that that's out of the way, here's what I tried at Ting's:\n\nHOT & SOUR SOUP: a fairly standard cornstarchy favorite. Packed with egg swirls and veg/tofu matter. Not bad, but needed some peppercorn action and was vastly improved by the hot sauce (a chunky chili paste) I asked for. Then again, what isn't?\n\nPORK & HOT PEPPER: husband's order. Not very special. I tried to talk some sense into him, I swear, but tragically failed. Would suggest one of the more traditional dishes--anything \"over rice\" or the zha jiang mian (sort of like a Taiwanese spaghetti bolognese).\n\nThat's it. Har har, I'm hilarious.\n\nBEEF NOODLE SOUP: decently flavorful broth though not as rich and deep as Rose Tea Cafe's. The beef was a huge step up though, though it was NOT tendon, as the menu advertised, but thick chunks of a nice fatty cut with some gelatinous bits. Not completely flavorless, as most soup meat tends to me. I ate the gelatinous connecty bits and left the rest for hubby, as I often do. [SIDEBAR: depending on who you are, you likely feel he's incredibly fortunate to be with a girl who likes the \"weird\" bits/cuts of meat, as this leaves him with the prime cuts, OR that his life is incredibly sad. If you're the latter, let's be friends.] Noodles were nothing special--not fresh or handmade. Toppings included some fairly bland chopped pickled mustard greens and a halved stalk of baby bok choy.\nBNS SCORE: 2.5/5\n\nOur friends ordered the SIMPLE NOODLE SOUP WITH PORK/SHRIMP, BRAISED BEEF OVER RICE, and ROAST PORK MINIS. I'm devastated to report that not only did I not try them, I woefully neglected to even ask how they liked them. Though, judging by the fact that they had both cleaned their plates when my soup bowl still looked untouched, I'd say they didn't hate it.\n\nNo free desserts here, our meal ended with your typical nonsensical fortune cookies. We did receive some fried wonton chips with dipping sauce to start. One item of note, however, is that the service here is very much above average for an East Asian eatery. Maybe it's because I was at a table with 3 white people and they profiled us (we also received forks and no chopsticks), but I believe they actually came by at one point to ask how we were doing. What is this, a pasta place??"^^ .