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2009-02-10
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Before attending a gathering at VERO with the club, there were errands to be run. I barely had time for lunch. Then the sign of "hot and sour noodles" (酸辣粉) caught my eye. I have always long for a short trip to Kowloon for this treat, and eyeing on a few people slurping noodles inside, squeezing against one another on the wooden stools, I went in for a quick bite. It's all so easy. One order of the noodles ($18) will get you a bowl with steaming soup with rustic shreds of woodear, seaweed (海帶) a
The noodles were the grey translucent ones made from sweet potato. They were slippery on the texture with a pleasantly chewy texture. The broth was faintly briny, but once you get past the initial saltiness there was nothing lurking beneath. The noodles were alright, but the only possible failure to these noodles is when you don't cook through, so that's not a problem here. The 'heat' component came primarily from the chili oil in the woodear/seaweed mix, and the red chilies in the broth. The "sour" component mostly came from the black vinegar. The entire mix and match of heat and sourness was balanced. The overall flavour, however, couldn't possibly hold the candle for any of the noodles served in joints in Kowloon. The flavour spectrum should go further to the extreme (more vinegar, more chilies) in these noodles, but let's not forget that the supporting ingredients of mustard tubers, woodear and seaweed offered that fantastic layers of textures that contrasted with the chewy noodles. That, I certainly enjoyed throughout the meal.
Wheat Gluten were in pieces, and flavorful as it soaked up the flavored broth. I have tried ordering fried soy-dough (生根) instead but the latter was too oily to begin with. Honeycomb Tripe (牛肚) was also moist and tender, unlike brisket (牛腩) which was in small bits and not-very-cooked-through white radish (蘿蔔). You can request skipping the roasted peanuts in the topping part if you prefer. In short, the noodles were good for the value, and the serving was enough for lunch (with 1-2 extra ingredients). Eating-in may be a difficult task as the seats were wooden stools smaller than the ones at a bar... The yellow walls and signs will catch your attention right away. The staff are very nice and patient to explain should there be any questions.
I realized that it's all in the name -- Sour, Hot, Noodles. Here at 好滋味, I noticed that the flavours only went halfway through...It's neither sour enough to pucker the lips, nor was it hot enough for sweatbeads on forehead either. It's satisfactory as noodles, but not when it comes to the "Hot and Sour Noodles" that reached Legendary statuses served elsewhere.
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