Sunday, August 19, 2007

chinese: i strongly recommend SHAN XI DAO XIAO MIEN



SHAN XI DAO XIAO MIEN (Shan Xi Knife Cut Noodles)
No. 2, Lane 118, He Ping An He Road
near the Technology building(科技大樓)
(02) 2378-7890

Lunch: 11AM- 2 PM
Dinner: 5 PM - 8:30 PM

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted and crowded space during busy lunch hour.

Visit reviewed: 6/26/2007

If you've never really heard of knife cut noodles (or dao xiao mien), then you're in for a treat. I'd heard of fresh noodles, rolled and cut by hand, but never really eaten the kind that is slivered off a block of dough by a flat piece of metal right before it comes to your table. The knife cut method is famous from Shan Xi, a part of China where they love noodles.



But everyone loves noodles right?



Here you can choose dark beef noodle soup or the lighter tomato-infused clear broth, you can even get the beef noodle soup with tomatoes, which is what our friend recommended. She had been coming here since she was a kid, so it was evident that it was a neighborhood favorite as the small restaurant was packed with locals.



The menu is the kind that you check off the boxes, only in Chinese, so don't expect pictures. But if you don't read Chinese and still want to try it out, you can just point to a dish that looks good at the table next to yours. Everything on the menu is very very affordable at under NT$150.

I found the soy sauce beef broth to be a wee bit salty, but I still drank half of the bowl. The noodles are chewy (very QQ) and slippery, piled in the bowl in uneven thicker and shorter pieces than you'd find from a cut noodles place. It also comes with a large spoonful of the pickled vegetables that I like and plenty of beef pieces.



You can also grab the cold appetizers such as tofu and thousand year old egg, cucumbers or green beans. There is also green onion pancakes made in the front, though I found that it was too thick and doughy for my liking.



No matter- you are here for the beef noodle soup! Although I think I remember people at other tables eating rice and other dishes, everyone at our table had noodle soup (NT$90). While I was trying to find the address for this place (before getting it from my friend), I found that actually there are quite a few Dao Xiao Mien shops, and also some with the same exact name. So maybe they are all worth a try, if you see a sign like this near you. But if you want a sure thing, I strongly recommend that you head over to this Shan Xi Dao Xiao Mien shop.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's been a while since I ate any scallion pancake...mmmm

Chubbypanda said...

I heart dao xiao mian.

joanh said...

iva: mm, i should eat some before i leave for LA

chubbypanda: is there any good ones in the OC?

Marcus E said...

if this is the noodle place i'm thining about (located just north of taida), there is a great japanese curry place located on the same street just a few doors south. when i studied chinese at taida, this curry place was my absolute favorite restaurant in taipei.. because of the reasonable price and the delicious, simple menu. if its still there, it is a Green sign i think with the word Cali (in roman letters). yum.

joanh said...

marcus: will have to look for it! :)

Rose said...

Marcus,

you´re exactly right. this is one of my favorite lunch places in the alley that serves most of the taida students.

i, too, studied mandarin at taida this past year and in previous summers. the curry place you mention is only open for lunch. its very simple meal, just rice, whatever meat or veggies you choose and then the curry. and of course you get a free cold cup of tea.

the noodle shop is quite well known in the taiwanese and japanese press. i love just watching them slice the noodles. the broth is particularly good here too.

Anonymous said...

the address should be
No. 2, Lane 118, Sec. 2, Hoping E. Rd.

I was looking for it at the An-He Rd until the lunch hour is passed.
But I still had it for dinner the same day. It was very good.

Anonymous said...

cant agree more...this place is real good...comfort food...the tomatoe noodles are the best...well...ive only tried the beef stir-fried version cause i just have to get the same tomatoe one everytime i go...
(and virgomac is right its not anho road)
-cheers

Lisa Wang said...

i've never even heard of knife cut noodles, that looks so good. next time i'm in taipei we definitely have to go.

joanh said...

rose: mmm curry

virgomac: sorry!! got the address from my friend. i guess she was mixed up. glad you still made it there.

anonymous: thanks for confirming!

ffc: yes, when are you coming back? hahah

Unknown said...

there is a better scallion pancake place down the rd from there. Same lane, but you keep walking down towards taida. It is directly across from this corner shop that sells drinks. It has a green sign and it is delicious. Do cool that you like DXM.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm surprised you don't have this little place on Ba Teh Rd, near the KMT offices, for beef noodle soup. Every part of the dish is perfection. Sorry I don't know the name but if you ask around about the fantastic beef noodle soup on Ba Teh Rd, someone is bound to know. (BTW, there's near an RT Mart. Hope that helps.)

Anonymous said...

The Shanxi place behind the old Sogo is pretty tasty as well. I don't recall the name, but it's tough to miss the giant red sign saying '山西'

Last time I went, they had doubled their space and renovated the place, so it must be at least somewhat popular...

joanh said...

edmond: i'll have to look for it, though the last time i went the pancake was better

luce: ahh.. no address or number?

grover: cool.. definitely a good sign. i will try it out!

:)