鬥牛士牛肉麵

鬥牛士牛肉麵

While doing business near the Big Thumb Square or 大拇指廣場 in Pudong, we got to try beef noodle soup at 鬥牛士牛肉麵 “dou4 niu2 shi4 niu2 rou4 mian4”or bull fighter beef noodle in beef broth. What got our attention was the name of the restaurant: 臺灣鬥牛士牛肉麵 implying that it came from Taiwan. We wanted to compare its beef noodle with many varieties we have tried in Taiwan, US and China.

The restaurant was small with no more than 40 seats; about 10 sets of wooden tables and benches. The place was clean and the staff of several young girls and boys (in their early 20’s) was efficient and friendly. An open kitchen was located in the back against the back wall. We could see the kitchen staff working through glass panels. There were two or three people working when we were there. They didn’t look like chef to me because they were too young. I guessed the beef broth was done off site probably at a central location. All the kitchen helper needed to do was to cook the noodle and add beef broth according to customers’ order.

We ordered a small bowl of their 招牌牛肉麵 (house special beef noodle,) 滷肉飯 (rice topped with ground pork) and a small dish of 涼拌干絲 “lian2 ban4 gan1 si1” or shredded dried bean curd with celery; all common dishes that we have tried many times. The bill came to RMB 58 or about $9.50.

Well, the beef noodle was very good except the noodle could be a little better: the broth wasn’t too spicy nor was it too hot from the hot pepper oil floating on top of the broth. There was a good amount of soy bean paste in the broth but the taste wasn’t overwhelming. The six to eight bite-size pieces of tenderloin beef was very tender yet still chewy. It wasn’t over-cooked like what we usually get from many restaurants in the DC metro area: these restaurants probably left the beef simmering in the pot a little too long. I actually liked to know how they did it. As good as the beef and broth were, the noodle could be a little better because it was slightly over-cooked and wasn’t Q enough. I thought the protein content of the flour was low and the restaurant probably ordered their noodles from a supplier instead of did it in house. I called this 美中不足 “mei3 zhong1 bu1 zu2,” or a fly in the ointment if you will, too bad.

滷肉飯 was okay and it was nothing special to write home to. 涼拌干絲 was bland and 干絲 was a little tough.

All in all, even though RMB 32 for a small bowl of beef noodle was a little more than I could get from other comparable restaurants in the same general area, I don’t mind go back to 鬥牛士牛肉麵 and try other dishes on their menu.

The restaurant does offer various types of beef and two or three types of beef broth. I might want to order a large bowl next time too.