In Search of Chinese Beef Noodle Soup - Bull Demon King, Dai Ho, Popcorn Chicken and Corner Beef Noodle House!

Thanks for the recs will try and report back

shrug

Once a year Mian delivers some chao shou, nothing else, nothing more. IIRC, the orig write-up was very ambiguous, more of an announcement, much like “fake news”.

I also don’t f**k with Best Noodle House, especially after the Chongqing visit. Geezus that place is hogwash.

Of note, Chengdu Taste opened in Houston last month, and is doing banging biz.

My fave zhajiang, if I’m forced to eat it, is the fusiony China style at Xian Tasty, just because they do fun things with the noodles. But whatevers, I mean literally who cares, when #45 is about to stop German car importation in the US?

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Welcome back.

Just hoarding BMW & Porsche keys, in case sudden appreciation happens… Opportunity knocks.

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It had to be. It couldn’t be too “review-y.” Had to leave room for the critic to visit (another look at how the sausage is made).

I’m impressed with Xi’An Tasty too. Solid place.

The beef noodle soup at Mimi 5 Bobee in Diamond Bar is good. Best with handmade noodles, though it takes them a while.

Take it to jalopnik!

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Sorry to kind of horn in on this awesome discussion.

I actually had the opportunity to drop in and try out the bowl of beef soup at Popcorn Chicken on Sawtelle the other day, really great, addictive broth, so many noodles I couldn’t finish all of them, so really good size as well.

My bowl even contained pieces of what seemed to be tendon, though there wasn’t a ton of it.

Tendon/beef shot:

I was wondering, though, does liang mian exist anywhere in Los Angeles? The cold Taiwanese street noodles with like peanut/sesame, but sometimes also some type of red sauce?

Or is that the same thing as zha jiang mian?

Any Sichuan place or Taiwanese-Sichuan place should have it.

Cold Sesame Noodles are pretty easy to make. It is a pain in the butt to slice up the veggies though.

Yes.

Huh? Dan Dan Mian? Or do you mean spaghetti?

You can get dan dan mian at northern cafe. It has outposts in westwood and weho.

I just tried Popcorn Chicken’s beef noodle soup and while I thought it was ok but I did not have a transcendent experience that many FTCer’s had :disappointed_relieved:. I didn’t feel like the broth had a great depth of flavor I mostly tasted soy sauce and chinese herbal medicine. I got all beef shank and no tendon, some pieces were very soft while others were a bit chewy (definitely a generous portion) and crappy wilted spinach as the vegetable accompaniment. Noodles were pretty solid, nice chew but nothing to write home about. Didn’t give me any suan cai on the side to put in my soup and their chili oil was subpar. I would definitely recommend :open_mouth: ROC’s oxtail noodle soup (only had it at the weho location) over popcorn chicken’s.

On the plus side I did do a bang bang with Popcorn chicken beef noodle soup and the Karage chicken from Anzu Gourmet which is delicious.

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Sorry to hear that your experience wasn’t good. I do think that the broth has some consistency issues (although I’ve generally enjoyed the food there). :frowning:

Went to popcorn chicken tonight. Broth and noodles for the beef noodle soup were good. The beef itself was just gnarly.

Corner Beef Noodle House

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Started with seaweed. Mostly sesame oil, needs more vinegar.

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Half Meat and Half Tendon.

Of course I am going to compare to my Grandma!!!

Broth. Deep rich flavor. The downside to me is I am not a fan of a little chili oil on top. Makes it slightly more greasy than it needs to be.

Grandma JeetKuneBao would use a few chili peppers in the broth to get a little spice and warmth without the oil slick.

Noodles were good and QQ. It held up and absorb the broth well. No complaints.

Tendon and Meat were well cooked.

Pickled Veg. More can be given by request FYI.

This is a damn good bowl overall.

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XO Sauce Noodles.

Damn who else is making their own XO sauce in the 626? Most of the Canto seafood palaces are probably not.

XO Sauce here is a bomb of umami. The bland noodles serves as a vehicle for this seafood essence.

Definitely give this a try!

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Black Sesame and Peanut Mochi.
This was a nice way to cap it off. It came warm.

Consider me a fan now.

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Hi @JeetKuneBao,

So glad you liked Corner Beef Noodle House! :slight_smile: Thanks for the perspective when comparing to (what must be an amazing bowl from) your Grandma’s homemade bowl of Beef Noodle Soup. :slight_smile:

It’s one of our favorites, and yes, that Housemade X.O. Sauce Noodles are amazing, right? :grin: So much flavor! (Thanks again @ipsedixit)

The Black Sesame and Peanut Mochi Dessert is great as well.

Don’t forget you still have to go back to Cindy’s Kitchen for the Ground Pork & Mushroom over Rice dish, the Hometown Braised Pork Belly, and some more of those small plate appetizers. :wink:

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I think Chendu Taste owns Mian.

I’ve skimmed through this 95 comment thread trying to figure out if there are condiments to use with beef noodle soup. I’m still not sure, any guidance would be appreciated.

P.S. We do tend to go off topic, don’t we? :slight_smile:

Owns, in a corporate entity sense? Or rather that the taste at Chengdu far outcompetes that of Mian?

In Taiwan, some noodle joints will have chopped pickled vegetables (gai choy) on the table to mix with your soup. The piquant/spicy/sour flavor is a nice foil to the rich beef/soup.

Pics from the web.

pickes%20whole

pickles%20in%20soup

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hmm. seems to me that one goes to _______ for their beef noodle soup because they make it the way you like it. it’s not a dish like hainan chicken rice, where everyone spices it to their taste. the only thing i would imagine would be adding chili to a spicy beef noodle that isn’t spicy enough for one’s own personal tastes.

@Google_Gourmet Thanks, the noodle soup I had this morning was good, but with a strong sweet/anise flavor. I liked it, but I felt it was missing a tart component. The pickled veg would work just fine.

@secretasianman I never considered beef noodle soup as spicy, is that only with certain regions?

Beef noodle soup at Little Fatty.
IMG_6861

The meat is excellently cooked and the broth is very good, but I think I will bring some ya cai with me next time, and ask for extra chilies, just to send it over the top. :slight_smile: