Kung Fu Noodle

Kung Fu Noodle brags that their noodles are hand made. Gee I noodle is a noodle to me. The only difference I can notice is Kung Fu’s noodles are a bit firmer… More aldante…
Outside of that this place isn’t bad. A touch over priced and I think that helps to explain why this place is dead at 1 pm on a Wednesday.
The beef wrap is really good. It’s very crispy and delish.
This wouldn’t be my first choice but I would certainly have not reservations about coming here again.

Remember what the original Peaceful was like, before everyone discovered it? That’s what this place feels like to me. It’s the middle of a dinner rush, and (surprisingly) there are lots of tables open. It’s not at all like the downtown location, which can have huge line ups at lunch.
This location is way bigger, and newer. I’m not digging the big screen tvs playing sports in the corners, but there you go.
My Dan Dan noodles, at just under $ 10, are a hit. Hand sheared noodles that are chewy and filling. Slightly spicy peanut sauce. A little light on the veg (some broccoli, red peppers, and cabbage), but that’s ok, because I’m more of a noodle fiend. I’ll be skipping the lunch lines from now on, and saving myself for dinner here. Cheap, delicious, and big portions! Can’t go wrong!

Good noodles. It’s a blander taste typical of the region. Excellent chicken wings with tasty spice. Bit pricey but still fair value for the lower priced ones.
Two waitresses. One was totally out of it, but one was very friendly and attentive.

Not good, food was Luke warm and noodles were mushy, the place was a huge mess over 6 tables with dishes left on them and food on the the floor, I wanted to leave but I was starving. The staff was all at one table laughing and eating while the place was a mess and one cook was sleeping on the benches.

* Hidden overpriced goodies *
This spot which used to be a Taiwanese restaurant changed over recently to become a location of the Kung Fu Noodle chain. So I figured I’d pop in and give it a try.
The variety of items on the menu came from several regions of China, with a heavy influence from Shaanxi in the selections available.
The noodle soups are priced on the high end for what is offered, which is always something that sits funny with me for a noodle shop.
I ordered the «kung fu» lamb noodle soup ($ 12.99) from the very friendly waitress. It is unusual to have such friendly service in a Chinese restaurant so that was a pleasant surprise.
The food was prepared quickly and arrived in a large bowl. First impression was decent visually, with a large mound of cilantro on top:
Digging into the bowl a bit turned up all sorts of pleasant surprises like goji berries, thinly sliced yuba strips, several types of fungus, lily buds, quail eggs, vermicelli, and of course lamb and the hand sliced noodles. The broth was a bit bland, but thankfully they had both chili oil and a smoked chili condiment available to season to taste. When adding those everything balanced out quite nicely — I particularly liked the smoked chili condiment. The lamb pieces were cooked nicely and were quite tender. There were not many of them though sadly. The quail eggs (2 of them hidden deep in the bowl) were at a pleasant doneness with the yolks still being a bit runny instead of overcooked and hardened. The goji berries had soaked up the broth and rehydrated nicely. The yuba was fresh tasting, and the fungus and lily buds added both texture and rich flavours. The broth overall did not have an excessive MSG flavour either — nice. Photos:
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The two things that would have brought this up to a 4 star dish for me were: 1) Having the noodles slightly less cooked. They were a little past the point of proper cooking and getting too soft. (And that is by my taste which prefers noodles to the softer side in this type of dish) 2) Having a better value on the pricing. $ 12.99 is a bit high for what was given.
So while the soup had lots of hidden goodies, and I enjoyed it, there is still a bit of room for improvement to get things up to a 4 or 5 star level. Perhaps with a little tweaking they can make it!