Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup - and Shop - Shanghai China

Hello to the sovereign nation of Taiwan!   (aka NOT China)

Home of the super delicious beef noodle soup.

Not only am I not an expert on this dish, this is the first time that I've ever had it....

 So be ready for a lot of inaccurate info...

My primary mission is to locate Taiwanese Pepper Salt.  Yeah, I don't know what that is either, but someone wants it, and I'm gonna fricken get it, one way or another! 

Via my vast network of Taiwanese friend and colleagues I am guided to this spot that not only sells all things Taiwan, but there's a small restaurant in the back serving a limited menu, with the star being the famous Beef Noodle Soup.

Shit tons of stuff, most  of which I have no idea what it is because I don't read Chinese (are there Taiwan specific characters????  F if I know).  I am, however, able to locate the famous pepper salt, mainly because that label is in English, and cause I'm also super smart.  Check, roger that.

In the eating area there is a nice graphical depiction of what the heck this soup is all about.  Again, I can't read it but the photos are cool.

Work is over, we're hungry, and it's time for a beer first.

Taiwanese beer, BOOM!

Tastes like a lager, crisp and refreshing.

Let's get down to it.

Soup.  Looks and smells killer.  Very beefy.

The first impact is the broth.  An amazingly complex and deeply beefy flavor.  As you stir it you can see the many layers of flavor and components.  Deep and rich, delicious.

The noodles are also amazing.  Like a wide and flat ramen noodle.  They are slightly chewy, toothsome is the word maybe (I'm trying to avoid saying al dente.... but I don't know why because that pretty much sums it up), but it's more than that, there's a bounce to them that is really pleasant.  I believe the word in Taiwan is "Q", which to me explains it perfectly.

The beef is not terrific.  It's a little dry and tough in some places but hey, I'm in a small strip mall in nowhere Shanghai, so they get a pass for that.  

I bet if someone in, let's say Brooklyn, were to make this in an authentic Taiwanese restaurant the beef would also be killer.  I'd bet...

A plate of mushrooms and various fried unknown things appears...  Nicely fried and then coated in some kind of lightly sweet brown sauce.  Other than the mushroom though, I have no idea what the what.  Good though.

To finish the meal we enjoy 2 local Taiwanese fruits.

Nope, no idea the names.

They both tasted very similar to each other and had almost no flavor, just a slight sweetness.  But what I think their charm is is the freshness and crispness of the flesh.  Refreshing and palate cleansing almost.  A great finish to a great lunch.

  

Taiwan?  Yeah, it's great.

Maybe I'll go there some day.

DVA

Proof Bakery, The Manufactory (Tartine Biano), Gjelina - LA Roadtrip - Food Fest 2019 - Crushing It

L Fricken A

LA

Los Angeles

The City of Angels

Does it suck?

If you'd asked me that question a few weeks ago I'd say "Ab-So-Fricken-Lutely!"

Today, however, is the culmination of countless hours of work by my good buddy Luigi who has been, over the years,  tirelessly reinforcing the merits of this world famous city.  

Hmmm, we shall see....

The journey begins at Proof Bakery.

Where in LA are we?  No idea, and I don't really care.  Should I ever come back my phone will guide me.  

And to be clear for just one second, to me (yes, and probably ONLY me in the whole world)  LA starts at Carlsbad and ends at Santa Barbara.  It's all fricken stinkin' LA.  There's no OC, or Blah Blah Blah.  Just one big blech.

OK, back to the story kids.

It will probably not be surprising to any of you that know us, we arrive early.  

We wait for the shop to open, at the ready for a nice coffee and a pastry or two...

Or maybe more.

Yes, we are professionals and we're not messing around

I am a huge fan of an Almond Croissant.  This one was OK. The puff pastry was beautiful.  Flaky, light, not greasy at all.  Inside there was a wonderful almond paste mixture, really nicely done.  The issue is the topping.  It has the WOW factor that sucks you in and frankly it wasn't all that flavorful. It didn't ruin it, but my expectations were very high just looking at it ad it didn't deliver.

This was my first non-me  Canelé

It was good, exactly like mine except a little darker, but it tasted 100% spot on.

We killed it, all (well, the Italian Stallion still has some banana bred to finish but meh, I know place to get better banana bread...)  

A really great spot.  I would for sure go out of my way to come here.  I wouldn't drive up just for it though, but it was a great start to our day.

Coffee break

Next up, The Manufactory

This place is a brand new restaurant/bar/shop from 2 terrifically famous guys

Tartine(San Fran amazing bread)  and Biano (Phoenix amazing pizza)

It has only been open a few weeks and it felt like it.  Very stale and un-lived in space.  Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful and will be a huge success, but it needs some character.

We just ate 8 pastries and 4 coffees, but what the heck, let's have breakfast now!

Looks like a burger, eats like a burger, is actually a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich.

It was lighter than it looks, but it still sat pretty heavily in our bellies.  The saving grace was the bun, nice and light and airy.  Decent, but I probably wouldn't order it again.

This little hummer was magnificent.

Tartine toasted bread with cream cheese and salmon, pickled citrus, etc...

The pizzas later were awesome, but this toast was simply perfect.  I WOULD drive up for this alone.  Or better yet, instead of spending the hours on the road to get here I'd spend them making this myself.

Delicious

On to Venice

Gjelina

Pizza

There's a line, and we're not particularly hungry right now (yes, shocking). So we take a short walk to the beach and check out some freaks.  If you've never been to Venice Beach, and this was my first time, I highly recommend it.  It's one stop shopping for beautiful weather and awesome scenery.

Let's just leave it at that.

Pizza time.  When we returned the wait wasn't terrible.  Soon we were seated and ready to crush some more food...

We ended up choosing 4 pies to share.

The first is Gruyere, caramelized onion, fromage blanc, and arugula.

I'm not a fan of arugula on pizza but this was OK.  A good choice to begin this part of the journey.

Spicy chorizo, calabrian chili, red onion, mozzarella.

I like spicy, but cavalo!!  This was a bit too much for me.  A good balance would have been to eat the next pizza and this together, alternating slices.  I say that because I liked the flavor but the spice overpowered it, a bit.  It was distracting.

Looking at it again makes me want to eat it RIGHT NOW though.  I don't care how hot it was, the taste was killer.  And look at the crust.  Charred on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.  

 The style was e a cross between a New Haven and Neapolitan.  Delish. 

Luigi's fave

Pomodoro, confit tomato, oregano, olive oil, burrata

A beautiful pie, I loved it

And now the king of the castle.

For this pie, I'd drive to LA, and back in that hellish traffic....

Lamb sausage, confit tomato, rapini (the best part), pecorino, asiago

Simply perfect.

The right balance of flavors on top and an amazing crust underneath.  Crisp, chewy, light, wonderful.

And then, the bottom falls out.

Warm date cake with ginger gelato, whiskey sauce....

We did not share this, each to his own.

Just mind blowing

After our meal we walked next door to where the pies were being made (they have added a walk up counter to the area with the cooks and oven) and man-o-man, the owner is at the helm, taking every pie in and out of the oven himself.  

Love it. 

We need more of this in SD.  

An owner who is the chef who makes the recipes and who cooks (or at least oversees the cooking) of his food, in his restaurant.  

  

Who do we know that can give us this?....

We want  need it

Do I hate LA?

Not so much any more.

But really, when you have great company and are enjoying great food does it really matter where you are?

Share a meal, talk about something that matters (to you), live outside yourself

DVA