I really like their Biang Biang style noodles, it’s the only noodle dish they have that uses that long thick noodle. The rest are a different type of handmade noodle for some reason. Also good, but not the same. So if you want that noodle it’s just 31-33 on the menu.
Food was good but it was super oily. Everything just felt drenched in oil to me.
It’s got good chew! I like. I am not too experienced with biang biang/youpo though tbh
How was the oil usage compared to other Shaanxi-style places? (Shaanxi Gourmet; Shaanxi Garden; Xi’an Tasty; Xi’an Kitchen). Amount of oil varied from place to place. I recall Shaanxi Gourmet being criticized for not using enough oil. And how about amount of vinegar? This too, seems to vary from Shaanxi place to place. Folks have said Noodle Art is heavy on the vinegar, which has kept me away. Shaanxi Gourmet started out with a light touch on the vinegar, but near the end of the Arcadia location, the cold skin noodles were drenched in it.
noodle art had a shit ton of oil as well.
I think most of these places do too much oil except for Lao Xi noodle
I always found mainland spots to be more oily compared to Taiwanese and Canto
Ipoh Kopitiam.
This wasn’t a good visit at all.
Got the classic breakfast trifecta without the soft boiled eggs.
White coffee, not much interplay between burnt and sweetness.
Kaya toast was COLD. Barely any kaya.
Kopitiam in NYC is still the best.
Oh well off to get some mooncakes
with the worldbeating quality of your recent eating streak, you were due a dud… condolences in any case 
Have you had the kaya at Breadbelly in the inner rich?
I didn’t like my first and only visit a few wks ago and don’t plan to return. Thought the food tasted sloppy and cheap. Thought it might be a “me” thing b/c the place was packed, but perhaps not.
Get some ones with lotus paste!!! Where do you like going for mooncakes? I might be in the later today. I can a place later and say, “Was JKB just here???” 
The 99 Ranch at Focus Plaza has a large selection and there is also a Kee Wah on Valley.
I like the lotus paste! They should all be on sale right now. I saw many HK imported ones going for $15-20. I actually skipped the mooncakes and got po tats at Jim’s Bakery
Lao Xi (or is it Lao Xi Er?) on Baldwin in Arcadia - house fried noodles + sesame cold noodles + dumplings + wife noodles.
Great flavors, but ALL of the noodles were on the soft side, even the fried wider noodles. Is that typical here? It’s too bad, could’ve made a good meal awesome.
I am just n=1 but I think Live Oak location is better.
Good to know, will have to give them another try at that location! Any faves there?
Min Min’s SJB looks good. Need a new spot in our rotation. TY Ernie_SGV.
Same. Wifey noodles, cats ear noodles, knife cut noodles.
was the wife actually there? i ask because ethnic chinese restaurants don’t typically embrace the chief in ‘chef’ concept in terms of standards remaining the same when the main cook isn’t there. she’s usually at the baldwin location which is why i go there instead of the OG location. we’re on pretty good terms because i was the first person to bring her non-chinese clientele back in the day and they’ve gone back without me.
FWIW, she’s also tied to noodle palace in rosemead - i’ve seen her stop in and do some stuff in the kitchen - but i don’t think she does anymore - they’ve branched out and do the shanxi oat noodles that lao xi doesn’t.
did they add the shrimp w/sriracha sauce noodles to the menu?. i confess i tried not to blanch when she told me one of her underlings had developed the dish.
was just a couple of weeks ago. the menu isn’t all that extensive, but i got the sense that they assemble stuff when you order it (like that place on garvey in MP whose name escapes but IIRC it’s in or near the same plaza that used to house the old pete wood KBBQ - god i haven’t been there in about 7 years!) so don’t go it you’re in a hurry.
the fish dumplings may not be quite as good as the ones at qing dao bread food, but they’re pretty good.
the lamb pies (with leek IIRC) were reminiscent of beijing pie house though not necessarily worthy of a peter north reference as someone once suggested on chowhound; - more leakage than, well, getting shot in the eye. i’ll just stop here.
the SJB were visually pleasing and had plenty of liquid, but were subjectively deficient in fat content.
XLB suffered from the same subjective impression that on the fat scale, they were maybe about 15 proof whereas i was hoping for about 80. the construction was not all that delicate and my dining companion lamented that they placed together touching, resulting in tears and leakage. they also seemed to be caught off guard by our request for ginger and had to scramble to slice some a little on the thick side. i’d rather get them at p p pop in that price range.
is shanxi, not shaanxi.
i did a couple of months ago. you can find the post using the search function (which most folks seem to avoid doing since the pandemic as a lot of the intelligence has become outdated) i don’t know if the menu has been revised, but i saw an unusual percentage of spicy dishes on the menu compared to other places which prompted me to speculate that it was a shaanxi subregional hanzhong (sichuan province is directly to the south of shaanxi province) style, especially since they also include some beef dishes; shaanxi tends to focus more on pork, or lamb/mutton.
IIRC the noodles were typically shaanxi in length & girth; i’ve owned belts smaller than these noodles, but while they were thick enough to retain decent ‘Q’ they seemed a bit… waterlogged - like they’d been cooked in the morning and left to soak in water until serving. maybe i’m projecting an expection of a western technique to undercook them, then cook them in the sauce so that they bind and the pasta still turns out al dente. or worse, they added oil/fat to the water to keep noodles from sticking - which also results in sauce not binding to the noodles.
i can still remember the place it replaced, empress harbor; i was dating a niece of the owner so we always cut to the front of the line. i understand jason chen (tang gong) is opening a place in monrovia, of all places, taking over the old “the monrovian” location.
Not sure, I only noticed a couple younger guys out front. As for the menu, I don’t remember seeing the sriracha sauce noodles, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there - I just focused on the specialties!
We ventured to Min Min yesterday and enjoyed everything we ordered. SJB were nicely crispy on the bottom and sufficiently juicy inside. Pan fried dumplings (pot stickers) were also very well crisped without excessive scorching. The pies/pancakes were not excessively juicy as the old Beijing Pie House version, but nicely satisfying once cooled enough for safe consumption. We ordered the pork and pickled vegetable buns. The steam buns were made to order and also reminded us of Noodle House on Garvey (RIP) when they were blowing up. There was no lack of pickled vegetable in the filling. Beef noodle soup had an aroma of sesame oil, but didn’t overwhelm on the pallet. My wife needed to add some of their potent chili oil to her bowl of noodles to reach her liking. We tried to add on the Multi Grain Pancake and was chuckled at for ordering too much food. Ultimate that didn’t arrive, which was OK by us as we enjoyed our meal and would go there again. Thanks FTC-ers for the tip on Min Min.
Min Min sounds good!
Well, yeah, it’s a more integral ingredient in Mainland styles. Can you imagine a Sichuan place without chili oil? But, even then, there’s a range.
