Albert T.
Yelp
Nearly 4 years after first hearing about Jiang Nan Noodle House, we finally made the trip to eat here, the last in the quartet of Metro Detroit hand-pulled noodle places. Jiang Nan Noodle House is located in a strip mall right off of Orchard Lake, in a frankly garish looking building. Luckily, the food inside doesn't match the exterior and were not disappointed.
Chili Volcano La-Mian w/ Regular Noodles ($11.95) - Super delicious. This has perfectly cooked bouncy noodles, topped with a chili/garlic oil shredded carrots, and green onions. The chili/garlic oil is extremely fragrant and somewhat pungent with a nice spice level. There is just enough sauce to coat all the noodles without leaving a huge puddle of oil on the bottom of the bowl. The only disappointment in the dish was the chopped bok choy on the side. While appreciated, the bok choy came out cold - it should have been heated up before serving.
Lanzhou Beef La-Mian w/ Thick Noodles ($12.95) - The broth in this dish is quite delicate with a light herbal note. They don't add any chili oil when they serve the dish, but they do have a bottle on the table so you can adjust to your preference. The toppings are perfect (and traditional) - some super tender, thinly sliced beef shank, delicately thin sliced daikon, chopped cilantro, and green onions. The noodles were thick, nice and chewy. I do wish they gave noodle type recommendations on the menu - I found that the thick noodles don't go very well with this dish. Because the broth is so light, the thicker noodles don't get much saucy coating, resulting in a very well defined floury taste on the interior. I think this dish definitely deserves a thinner noodle.
Side note: you can choose from a total of five different hand pulled noodles. You can select thin, regular and thick noodles, or if you want flat noodles they have narrow and wide. You can also customize your noodles with sides - I saw other customers order the egg and it looks like a marinated boiled egg. I regret not ordering it as an addition to my noodles.
I wish we lived closer to Jiang Nan Noodle House - unfortunately it's just the furthest of the hand pulled noodle shops and we aren't able to come up here often. Jiang Nan definitely gets a recommendation from me.