Stephie M.
Yelp
I tried an experiment with Trendy Dumpling due to an intense craving that came over me after watching a local food influencer's instagram food reel.
The dish featured in the reel was of a thin pan asian noodle, but for some reason I immediately started craving NYC's Xi'an Famous Food's Lamb Cumin Hand-Ripped noodle ( a dish that features especially thiccc, chewy, hand made flat noodles that load you up with dopamine).
I can't tell you how many times I searched "hand pulled noodles" and "cumin lamb" only to find nothing even resembling my beloved NYC dish. I got creative with my search and started looking at every Sichuan restaurant I could think of. I know it shares a border with Shaanxi and I honestly was not sure if I had even seen a Shaanxi focused place in Houston, so I was doing the most.
I saw Trendy Dumpling shortly after I started my search, but could not imagine that a place called "trendy" dumpling was putting out hand pulled noodles let alone cumin lamb. The idea of "trendy" for a restaurant seemed suspicious. But, after exhausting every other avenue I went down, I gave Trendy Dumpling's menu a chance. After a bit of digging, I noticed they had something others did not: chili oil hand pulled noodles called "Biang Biang noodles". Then, completing the equation, there was a Cumin Lamb dish nestled beautifully in the meat section.
After closely examining the menu and photos, I decided the noodles looked legit and I decided to combine the Biang Biang noodles with the Cumin Lamb dish to get my fix. I admit, it was slightly painful paying double to try and recreate one dish, but I was here for it.
I ordered to-go (which for noodles like that you ought to have them fresh), but I knew what to expect (clumped/extra chewy bits) and knew it would still be worth it.
Biang Biang Noodles: This dish is special. Unexpectedly, it featured several juicy, large, perfectly cooked bock choy. The dish also came with gorgeous white beech mushrooms. Both had soaked up the sauce in a way that still let the individual ingredients shine, but with an added savory sensation (which truly elevated the experience). The noodles were fresh/handmade and if you are pasta/noodle snob like me, I think you would agree they are absolutely lovely. Since trying this dish, I have discussed it with many locals and even had people reach out to me to share their opinion. The consensus is "please add more chili oil/sauce". ***So, I am requesting the business owner indulge us in the change request... because, this dish ought to be widely celebrated and I think with a few small changes, it could be!***
Biang Biang + Lamb Cumin: "Well, that went better than I expected". I now have a solution for my XFF craving! For any "blandness" in the noodles, the punchy flavor of the Lamb Cumin dish makes up for it. The portion of Lamb and veg is satisfying and the quality overall was better than I expected.
It just goes to show, don't judge a book by it's... er... name!