MDM Noodles

Food was good and authentic. My big complaint is they serve water in Styrofoam cups which is a huge turn off. Bad for the environment, horrible to drink from and I can’t understand why they would continue with the expense of buying these terrible cups, when they could buy glasses for .50 cents a piece and be done with it.

I was really surprised by how much I like this place! The tea eggs were good and well flavored. The BBQ lamb kabob tasted really good, not dry but tender and flavorful. We mainly came here to try the liang pi cold skin noodles. Liang pi cold skin noodles were hand pulled noodles that were very fresh and fresh tasting. It had like a peanut butter sauce very pad thai like, very delicious. You MUST try the Cumin Lamb Burger! It was surprisingly really good. It had some onions in it as well and a bit saucy. The bun tasted to the pan fried buns. The stir fried seasonal vegetables (peppers, celery, carrots, lotus root, black fungus) was really good, very fresh. Blanched quickly so it’s still nice and crunchy, flavored with some sesame oil.
The sichang spicy noodles was delicious, when eating it hot, it tasted a lot spicier but as it cooled down I added a bit more spicy sauce. It has a lot of vinegar in it so its the right amount of spicy and sour. I just don’t like the licorice taste and the huge pepper corn pieces. Also wish there was a little more meat in this, only has a little bit of minced pork.
The lamb meal soup was good and had the hand pulled noodles. The hand pulled noodles have a nice bouncy texture. The mala lamb soup was good as well, somewhat similar to the sichang spicy noodles.
Overall I really enjoyed it and would come back when I’m craving this! Also I believe there is a private parking lot in back.

yes, yes, YES. Been on a spicy food addiction lately and this place is perfect. It’s literally a no frills kinda restaurant, so don’t expect much when you walk in. Their menu is simple and I love that they use pictures on the menu, especially when it matches exactly how your dish comes to you! I opted for the hand pulled noodles with chili oil. YUM, loads of scallion and garlic and the chili oil was a perfect hot, but not too hot flavor.
I want to come back to try the Mala dishes. YESSSSS.

I’ve tried a ton on the menu, all phenomenal!!! I think I usually get the ma la or sechuan. The creamy broth with lamb is amazing too. Spicy garlic cucumber app. Just need them to start serving beer to wash it down!

I got medium spicy noodles hot oil hand pulled noodles and should have gotten hot! I’m sure it was spicy enough for most people, but it’s best to err on the side of caution with a pace you’re new to and add more from the spicy oil on the table. Also tried the spicy fried potato which was not spicy fries, like I thought it would have been, but slivers of potato with birds eye chilies.
Service was quick, and dishes come out as they are ready so your table should just start eating.
So cheap! less than $ 10 for a filling meal.

You should definitely try this place. The hand pulled noodles are wonderful. Get spicy and ma la. Get lamb. Try something with cumin. Don’t come expecting the regular fare you’d find at other Chinese joints in Boston where all the dishes come from the same regions (or are actually created here). I’m so happy to have food like this nearby:) in fact I’m going to head back with some friends right now.

I ordered the beef mala soup to go and will say that I was impressed with the service I received. The hostess/​waitress was patient and helped me with selecting from the menu — and for a novice when it comes to noodles, I really appreciate it!
I am very satisfied with the food I got. The broth was wonderfully tasty. I honestly expected to get a ton of noodles with very little greens (Bok choy, cabbage, etc) or beef, but this was definitely not the case. Delicious food and very generous portions. I paid only $ 5.50 and have plenty leftover for dinner!
Speedy service and clean interior. Maybe not the place I’d go for a date, but overall nothing to complain about (the bathroom was nicer than the one at my office, too). Minimum of $ 10 for credit cards. I’ll be back to try something else.

Zhengzhou Lamb Noodles are very authentic! The soup can rival with some noodles shops in Zhengzhou. But the noodles are a little bit too thick.
I would recommend it!

I enjoyed my visit here with fellow Unilocalers for the Scoville Society heatastic event. Noodly and tasty, this place has something to please a few palates.
I ordered the beef mala soup, which is a bowl with beef, assorted vegetables and glass noodles. I kinda suck at eating with chopsticks, but I was trying my darnedest best at it haha. Broth was super tasty, meat was yummy, and it was a nice spice level. I got mild because I’m a weenie about lotsa spice. Blame lotsa curry and hot peppers in my youth and tons of coffee in college for giving me acid reflux. Weenie and all, I still added hot oil to my lovely bowl.
There was so much flavor in my beef mala. Potatoes, bok choy, tofu, hot peppers, carrots, mushrooms, and the beef. We also ordered stir fried potatoes. Both Alex M and I thought that these were fries, but they were totally not. They were damn delicious is what they were. Red hot chilis were in there too, which I happily placed in my beef mala bowl. Weenie? Nah. Dumplings were also ordered, which were very tasty, and reminiscent of a soup dumpling, as mentioned in Simon L’s review. Damien S. ordered a spicy fish dish (cannot remember the name, I can only remember that it was lovely).
All in all, dinner at MDM Noodle was delish. I’d definitely return!

Neat little place with very helpful staff who took a lot of time to answer all my questions and find what I was looking for.
The seafood stir fry was excellent. Loved the spice and fresh ingredients. Let your server know if you want it mild, medium, or spicy hot.
And watch out for Scoville Dining Society around these parts.

Well I am very disappointed with their Guilin mi fen. It’s 9 bucks (LA is 6.5, and NYC is 7). So, it’s totally not worth the money. For the taste, they really need to work on it. Beef is less of flavor, the noodle is awful. Won’t be back…

Cumin lamb skewers ($ 1.50 each) arrive dusted heavily in cumin. Grilled to a perfect medium rare, the meat is sweet and juicy. Tender and fatty.
An order of Wonton noodle soup ($ 7.50) comes in a large bowl with brimming with wontons and a mountain of noodles.
The chicken broth is rich and flavorful. The noodles thin yet strong.
The wontons are stuffed with ground pork and cilantro. Juicy. The noodle wraps are delicate but strong. Theses wontons are akin to soup dumpling: it is easier to eat them out of the soup spoon provided.
The space is spare but cozy a refrigerator displays ingredients and toppings that can be chosen to make personalized dishes.
The menu has a broad array of noodle and stir fry dishes that should satisfy just about any kind of craving. A host of firey chili packed dishes await my next trip.
Service is polite and efficient.

Absolutely delicious spicy and fragrant. The hand-​pulled noodles are definitely the best I’ve had. I came with my mom and she isn’t the biggest fan of spicy but she took exception to this place. Quick and super friendly service.
ALSO — CREDIT CARDS NOW ACCEPTED!

Came here tonight because my roommate was craving for some hand pulled noodles. Don’t think I’ve ever really had them before, but they’re pretty good! We each ordered a dish: I got the seafood Mala soup with hand pulled noodles, and my other two roommates got the spicy hot oil hand pulled noodles and the beef Mala soup with hand pulled noodles. All really delicious and spicy. Food came out pretty fast too. The hand pulled noodles were pretty good. I guess I don’t really know how it compares to other hand pulled noodles, but overall it tasted pretty good. Noodles were pretty thick. The seafood was alright– tasted like it was just from the packaging. So I would suggest getting something with meat. Seems like lamb is their most popular thing, but I don’t really like lamb. Plan to spend around $ 10 – 12.
Service was alright, nothing to complain about like I’ve seen in the other reviews. Only thing was it seemed like they ran out of real cups because we got styrofoam cups… Which is a really ridiculous thing to comment on. But it felt weird that it wasn’t consistent? Can’t complain though because it did feel like I was eating in Asia– get your food fast, eat, and go!

This is solely for their Sichuan spicy noodle (酸辣粉). I’m from Chengdu and I’ve been trying to find an authentic place, and was hoping that MDM will be that place. But alas, the noodles are nothing compared to what it should be! It’s not spicy enough, and the ingredients in the noodle — veggies and tofu, when if should be more meat — is a travesty to the name of 酸辣粉 （Sichuan spicy noodle)!!! They should not name it 酸辣粉, at best it should be called spicy glass noodle vegetarian soup. The taste was not strong enough, not enough spice nor sourness.
Overall a disappointment. But I will come and try their hand pulled noodles, there has to be something more than just Genes flatbread in boston.

Best noodles in Boston so far! Truly authentic Chinese food. Great service! With parking lot!
I like the hand pulled noodles a lot.
面很好吃 要是多开几家分店就更好了！已经来了很多次了。
希望将来面的种类更多一点。停车很方便。

MDM noodles is overrated, but the prices are reasonable in the $ 7 – 10 range for noodle entrees and you will be very full. CASH ONLY!!! which is an annoyance. (There is a BoA a couple blocks away).
The good:
+Seafood Ma La soup ($ 7), add an additional $ 3 if you want your noodles to be the handmade pulled noodles. Consisted of– seafood, glass noodles, napa cabbage, tofu skin, tofu puff, bean sprout, seaweed, and bok choy.
Ultimately I regret requesting the handmade pulled noodles and would have enjoyed it more with the original glass noodles. You can choose your spice level-​did not die with the ‘medium’ hot but it had a decent amount of kick to keep the nose runny.
+Lamb meat soup ($ 9.50) — milky white broth with lamb and an assortment of vegetables n’ quail egg. Liked the broth, my man described it as having an «earthy» flavor. Personally it’s a broth I’d love to drink if I get a cold.
The bad:
–Unless you live in Brighton that is a neighborhood that lacks authentic Asian food, Super 88 or Chinatown’s myriad of options are more convenient personally. I would not go out of my way to come here again as it just doesn’t have that ‘stand out’ factor.
–Their handmade pulled noodles:
Too thick– which was disappointing because this is their main selling point. A quick look at their website is misleading because the noodles on their front page is clearly not hand pulled, but rather cut. It’s thick to the point where it starts to feel a bit like eating mochi when you have a mouthful.
–My girl friend ordered «Spicy boiled lamb hand pulled noodle» and the problem was because it was a soupless dish, the noodles were clumped together in one massive ball as it dries up after boiling. So go for the soup options if you want to avoid this.
–They close too early. 8:30pm everyday.
–$ 5 for bubble tea? They better be amazeballs, but none of us gave it a try.

Authentic Chinese food! My boyfriend and I were recommended MDM Noodle, and walked away completely satisfied and named it our new favorite Chinese spot. I almost don’t want to write a positive review because I want to keep it a secret! :)
This is not a General Tso’s and Orange chicken joint. Don’t go there expecting fancy ambience or panda bowls. But DO go there knowing you are about to eat some awesome traditional food.
We arrived at 7pm and were seated right away. There was a bit of a rush after we were seated. (How do you know you’re eating at the right place? There’s a wait!) Service was great. Very polite and attentive.
We ordered tea eggs, lamb skewers, lamb with hand pulled noodle, and MDM noodle. Everything was great and the taste was very on point with the foods and flavors I miss from having lived in Shanghai for four years.
Will definitely return!

Inspired by a discussion on
, our recently reunited Chowhound Saturday lunch crew (RRCSLC…hmmm…we need a better acronym than that!) got together yesterday at MDM Noodle in Brighton MA to check out this newly opened restaurant that has apparently set the Chinese-​lauguage social media afire.
We were generally very pleased with our meal and will be back, although there are definitely some quirks that might annoy an un-​expecting customer and probably explain some of the low ratings they have received on Unilocal.From the packed house, this is clearly an example where Unilocal star ratings are not a reliable guide.
The four of us skipped the mala soups and focused instead on dishes that are apparently hard to find around Boston (see photos):
1) Liang Pi (Cold-​skin) Noodles ($ 5.50) – This was my favorite dish, and we were lucky to get it. Despite ordering around 12Noon (they open at 11:30, although you can apparently get in at 11), they had essentially run out, and we might have snagged the very last serving. Served cold, with some spicy chili sauce on top, this was refreshing and delicious.
All of MDM’s noodles are made in house (although unfortunately the kitchen isn’t visible, so you can’t see them hand-​pulling). This dish is apparently quite unusual around here, and I for one had never seen it before, so for the uninitiated: raw dough is washed in water to extract the starch (we forgot to ask what they do with the leftover dough!), then the cloudy water is left to settle overnight, the water poured off, and the settled starch is cooked and hand cut into noodles. Sounds tedious to me, but it was delicious!
2) Spicy Boiled Lamb Hand-​Pulled Noodle ($ 9) — Another favorite, these are excellent hand-​pulled noodles, thick and dense, with a very Italian al dente chewiness.
However, the dish is essentially one long noodle, so sharing is a challenge. Which brings me to one of the quirky things about MDM: While many of the dishes are served in colorful clay bowls, the only provided utensils are disposable chopsticks. Now, I’ve been told many times by my Chinese friends that my chopstick skills are better than a native’s, but apparently that is more style than function, since these noodles are so thick and dense that it was impossible for me to break them apart. When we thereupon asked for a «knife and fork», all the waiter could come up with were some flimsy plastic forks. However, this did result in our working out an fairly effective «twist to hold & twist to break» technique that enabled our four portions of noodles to go their separate ways.
We of course also asked for some plates for these 4 portions, which then resulted in our receiving 4 little styrofoam bowls. Not to mention styrofoam cups for our tea (or you can order a can of iced tea). LOL, I guess all the fancy serving bowls depleted MDM’s budge for place settings!
3) BBQ Lamb Kabob ($ 1.50 each) — Tender and strongly cumin flavored, quite enjoyable.
4) Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger ($ 4.75 each) — The same lamb as served with the noodles, in a nicely crispy bun.
Again, hard to break into pieces, so if you are planning to share bringing your own knife (and a plate) would be advised. Is BYOK legal in Brighton???
5) Shingjiang chicken stew ($ 20 for a 2-​person serving) — Our largest dish, this was again layered on top of those excellent hand-​pulled noodles, with a substantial amount of chicken, potatos, bell peppers, cilantro, green onion, garlic… Besides the generous chicken, we agreed the best part of this dish was the potatoes, which soaked up the flavor nicely.
As expected, chicken was bone-​in & chopped, so if you don’t like picking apart nondescript chicken/​bone pieces, this isn’t be the dish for you.
And that was more than enough food for 4, which with tea & 1 can iced tea plus tip, came to $ 16/​person. With such affordable, delicious, and apparently authentic food being served, is it any surprise that MDM had a waiting line of what appeared to be college-​age Asian students eager for their turn at a table?
A few other quirks worth mentioning:
~What’s up with the laser light show (see my interior photo below, with all those colorful dots)??? I was almost blinded a time or two. Owner: Please loose this ASAP!!!
~Go early or plan to wait in line. No reservations ( Unilocal is wrong).
~Cash only (although someone said CC machine was down?).
~Service, which is a criticism on Unilocal,definitely needs some work. Before we realized, we had been chatting for 30 minutes and not a single waiter stopped by our table to take an order. This continued throughout our 2+ hour lunch (they were very generous in allowing us to take our time, given there was a line waiting for seats). Anytime we needed something, we had to flag a waiter down. However, the owner did say they were short-​handed. Otherwise, service was very friendly.
~Parking lot behind?
So if you like noodles, especially at this time of year, MDM is highly recommended (despite laser light show!).

I stumbled into MDM literally the day after it opened, at 4pm on a random Saturday. When I went, the place was empty with the exception of two other patrons; so I really can’t speak for all the other reviewers who complained about ingredients running out, a long wait, or bad service. Our server was polite, patient, and helpful with recommendations. I never felt rushed, and the food came out fast and fresh. Overall, I had a very positive experience.
I got the lamb skewer and the dry spicy lamb noodles. The lamb skewer was a bit small for the price, but it was really well seasoned. The spicy hand-​pulled noodles were delicious and the size was decent, too. The noodles had a perfect springiness to them and the bowl included a generous heaping of bean sprouts and cilantro, which I loved. It was the perfect refreshing counterbalance to the complex, heavier flavor of the noodles. The noodles weren’t too spicy (you probably need to request it explicitly — I didn’t, so they just gave me the mild version, I think), but the flavor was on point otherwise.
All in all, I’m really excited to finally have some good, authentic Chinese food closer to home. Fingers crossed that this place gets past what seems to be some growing pains and becomes a permanent fixture in Brighton. For what it’s worth, it’s a great dining experience if you can sneak a visit between the lunch and dinner rush like I did.