John L.
Yelp
Opened in December 2023, this place serves Chinese food that is styled after the food found in Xi'an, the ancient capitol of China. Food like Rou jia mo (this place calls them Murgers) and Biangbiang Noodles (called Hand Ripped Noodles). It is a food stall in a store with a Ben Gong's Tea stall next to it. Ben Gong's Tea sells smoothies and boba tea. There is one dining room for both businesses like in a food court. My wife and I arrived at noon on a Saturday. They had few customers. The employee knew little about the food, and the menu had no descriptions. We picked 4 dishes based on their pictures and names.
1) 12 hours Stewed Pork Murger
This was a round flatbread sandwich with finely chopped pork and white onions in sauce. The pork was moist and mushy soft. The sauce was sweet and savory with flavors of sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, and star anise. The flatbread was moist, soft, and slightly dense with a plain white bread flavor. The overall flavor was good, but the onions and pork were very mushy. I think murger is short for mushy burger. :)
2) 12 hrs Stewed Pork Hand Ripped Noodles
It had pork, baby bok choy, and noodles in an oily sauce. There was hardly any pork. There were 2 small pieces and 6 thin strips that were shredded. The pork was moist and tender with light flavors of pork and marinade. It tasted like soy sauce, star anise, garlic, ginger, cloves, sugar, and rice wine. It's a typical Chinese marinade that tasted fine. The noodles were an inch wide and 2 feet long. They had no flavor because they're made with flour, a bit of salt, water, and oil. They were cooked well and a little chewy. There wasn't enough sauce to cover some of the noodles. The sauce was oil with a very light amount of soy sauce, garlic, and msg. Ridiculously simple and bland. Basically, this was just oily noodles. This was either an error or one of their cooks doesn't know how to make sauce, make enough of it, and correctly portion meat. The next dish was portioned correctly and flavorful, so there is one good cook.
3) Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand Ripped Noodles
It had marinated lamb, green onions, and noodles in a spicy cumin sauce. It had plenty of lamb that was tender, moist, and coated in sauce. The sauce had strong flavors of cayenne pepper and cumin with background flavors of rice wine, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sugar for balance. The noodles were the same as above. This dish was flavorful, well-rounded, and very spicy hot. Less heat would be good. It was the polar opposite of the previous dish.
4) Northwest Beef Noodle Soup
It had sliced beef, white radish, green onions, cilantro, and noodles in a broth. The broth was WEAK chicken broth with rice wine, msg, and garlic. A mundane flavor profile with no depth. It became more diluted after mixing it with the noodles. The noodles were the same flavorless hand ripped noodles as above. The beef was chuck roast. It was moist and very tender with little beef flavor. The vegetables were fresh and the only thing with decent flavor. This dish is doomed for mediocrity unless changes are made. This was a waste of money.
The service was attentive, polite, and somewhat helpful. My wife was told that carryout orders can't be eaten there. Why is that? They are a restaurant with dine-in and carryout. The counter worker gives you the menu, and then you sit anywhere in the dining room. You might have to share a table with Ben Gong's Tea customers.The counter worker is the server also. The worker will come to your table to take your order and then bring the food. It's an effort to get tips for the counter worker and not hire servers. The double duty could mean slow service if it's busy. The dining room and restrooms were clean. They are in Princess Shopping Center. The parking lot is free. The debacle with the 2 dishes makes me hesitant to buy from them. I'd be willing to give this place another try and rating when the problems are fixed.
