Monday, February 25, 2013

Cucumbers, Dumplings and Beef Noodle Soup c/o Nan Zhou Noodle House

Dart nights are Tuesday. Generally I practice a bit at home before heading to wherever the night's match may be (half are home bar games, the other half away) but a few weeks back LW and I decided that before our respective matches that it might be nice to grab a bite. In this instance we decided on Nan Zhou Noodle House. I'd been to their original location with Mr. Ass when I first moved to Philly and while I saw its charms, whatever particular dish I ordered that day had me feeling a little funny for the next two, so I never returned. But I am aware that those who like cheap good eats in town definitely sing the praises of Nan Zhou, so I was up for trying it out again. We had their cucumber appetizer, which was nice and refreshing ... reminiscent of the spicy cucumbers at Han Dynasty but not as drenched in hot chili oil. Instead it was more of a rice vinegar/garlic thing going on. We did not let a single cucumber morsel go to waste.

Then we had an order of the steamed chicken curry dumplings. Definitely a different flavor combo, but to me they had a little too much of just 'curry powder' taste to them as opposed to a true amalgamation of individual/fresher spices. Good, but I think I'd try a different variety next time.
For the main event I chose the sliced beef noodle soup. This was pretty darn good. The noodles really are special. They have far more of a bite to them and stand up to the heat of the broth quite nicely. And the broth was also nice and hearty with a depth of flavor I appreciated. It's not pho, but you can't not see the similarities. On the whole my true wish would be the noodles from Nan Zhou with the broth from my favorite pho place. Oh man. Now that would be something.
Obligatory noodle shot.
Yep held up quite well.

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