Gourmet Noodle House is a chain restaurant in Shanghai that offer only one main item – yellow croaker noodles. They are like our hawker culture modernised – be really good with a main item and then add a few side dishes and you have a business that you can raise a family and in this case, become a successful franchise.
Their menu is only one A4 paper, which can be roughly divided into three main dishes – noodles in soup, noodles dry, and Shanghai style wantons. On the back page lists the appetisers and rice dishes available.
I chose a simple poached okras and a deep fried squid.
The okras are drizzled with a vinegar sesame oil and are quite delightful for a hot day.
I would give the squid a miss, which turned out chewy and dry with a very “old oil” taste.
On another visit I order their Lion’s Head Meatball 红烧狮子头.
It was really delicious, with a salted egg in the centre. I really recommended this appetiser instead of the squid.
Whether you or not you order a starter or an appetiser, the main attraction is still the noodles.
Yellow croaker is a native of the rivers around Shanghai and is found in abundance. I don’t believe they are wild caught these days, but there’s the law in China that will not punish false marketing very severely.
The stock is a very well done pork bone stock. The flavours are enhanced by blanching the croaker into the stock to imbibe umami into the stock. Noodles are boiled separately and then placed into the soup with the ingredients. The variations are around the ingredients that you can add and the flavours that resulted from those combinations. The most classic way, and most popular way, is still the classic yellow croaker noodles.
Found in many locations, this one is in Cloud Nine Mall which is near my office in Changning. Reasonably priced at ¥36 for the noodles, the whole complete meal comes under ¥60 in air-condition comfort.
Gourmet Noodle House 家有好面（长宁店）
1018 Changning Rd, Zhongshan Park, Changning District, Shanghai, China
Date Visited : Jun 2017
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