Wei Ji 伟记 @ Suzhou

This shop is very near the tourist attractions in Suzhou and is constantly full of patrons. Luckily the turnover of tables is also very quick.

Every now and then, you would want to go into one of these eatery and just have a simple meal. And the simpler the meal, the easier it is to find something memorable. Wei Ji Suzhou Noodles Shop 伟记奥面馆 one of those shops. Overall, it is a simple good eat, the execution is nothing fancy, but the experience and sincerity of the shop owners can be felt in every bowl of noodles.

Urban legend has it that the Emperor Qianlong (this guy appeared in many of my blogs) on one of his trip to Suzhou was so attracted to the fragrance coming from a dirty kitchen, he approached the lady manning the stove for a taste of the noodles she was cooking. After tasting the noodles and the soup, he declared that it was the best he had tasted and gave it the name “奥灶面” meaning literally “noodles from a dirty stove”. Of course when an emperor gave it such a name, nobody can say it sounded awful. Luckily, it really tastes so much better than its name.

Ordering the noodles for the uninitiated can be a daunting task as it is laden with codes – from the doneness of the noodles (硬面、烂面) to the amount of soup (紧汤、宽汤、拌面) to the amount of scallions (重青、免青). So just like your skinny frappacinno decaf with whipped cream, you can do al dente noodle with normal red soup and pork chop topping.

A good bowl of Suzhou noodles depends on five different aspects 面、露、汤、浇、青 – the noodle, the sauces, the soup, the toppings and the final touch of scallions. Every restaurant has its unique sauce and soup that gives the noodle its distinct flavour. This shop is famous for its red soup, i.e. braised meat sauce with fish, eel and pork soup.

The topping for the noodles is called 浇头 (“drizzled on top”) and you can choose to have them drizzled on the noodles before serving, or served separately called 过桥 (“over the bridge”). The entire meal only took me 30 mins, from queuing, ordering, waiting and eating. There’s no reservation, and the tables/seats are first come first serve. You are expected to share a table just like in Hong Kong. Great experience, and great noodles.

Wei Ji Suzhou Noodles Shop (Main Shop) 伟记奥面馆 (白塔东路店)
266 Baita E Rd, Ping Jiang Qu, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Tel : +86 512 6770 3724

Visited Jun 2024