Ramenologist: Eating where you normally wouldn't: Shanghai Hand-Pulled Noodles: dry noodles with soup

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Shanghai Hand-Pulled Noodles: dry noodles with soup

When I was sick last month, all I wanted to eat was soup. For almost three days, I've been chowing down noodles and congee. In those three days, I found three things to be thankful for. God didn't take away my taste buds, people who took care of me, and Shanghai Hand-pulled noodles.

The place looks like your typical chinese restaurant, minus the turo-turo style. Instead, they have an open kitchen showing their chef working on his noodle dough, hence, the name Shanghai hand-pulled noodles.

Toss. Pull. Kneading. Ah, a dough's day!

I'm sure most chinese restaurants make their own egg noodles, and that's key for every restaurant- a personal touch to even the smallest of details. And because I claim to be an authentic food blogger, I should pay attention to these small details. AHAHAHHAHA!

Shanghai Hand-pulled Noodles' noodles are cooked well enough not to be mistaken as Hong Kong stir fry noodles, but not soft enough to pass for pancit canton. They're chewy, firm and inconsistent in shape. Maybe that's why it felt special eating it, because I know someone made it just for me, not machine-sliced. Al-dente.

Anyway, their bestseller is the dry braised beef noodle. I thought I was gonna have a problem chugging it down since I was sick then, and it was supposedly dry. But the waiter said it's no different from an ordinary soup noodle, they just serve the soup separately. I was like, "cool. I'll have one."

I was given a huge plate of noodles with huge chunks of beef swimming in sauce/broth, and a small bowl of soup. Eating it reminded me strongly of the soup my chinese lola would make me several years ago, sibut. It has this strong hint of herb- taste and smell to it that may put-off one's appetite, or easily trigger a craving. It's an acquired taste, like tuyo for the rich, or blue cheese for the poor.

For a small place, it's unsurprisingly almost full. Most of the customers are chinese families, I wonder why. I was glad to see that they also serve Apple Sidra, a carbonated apple drink that has no preservatives. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT! Mien San along New Manila also serves Apple Sidra. Nothing special about it, it's just good. And it works well with chinese food.

Their dry beef noodle comes in two sizes, a solo and large (for sharing, in my opinion). Overall, there was nothing really special about their noodle, but that doesn't make them uncommendable. If you want a simple chinese meal with free hot tea, and feel special while eating, I'd say why not visit Shanghai Hand-pulled Noodle? Try their kikiam, it's good too!