By Livia John and Lea Rushatakankovit
Sometimes, after a long week, you’ll have an insatiable craving for something warm, comforting, and steamy. The solution: warm noodles from DH Noodles and Grill!
When you first walk in, you’re hit with a cacophony of chopsticks and dishes clattering, people chattering, and the aromatic scent of Chinese beef. The lively and bustling atmosphere greets you at the door and follows you to your seat. The restaurant is medium-sized, and you order via QR code. The servers are all super friendly and helpful.
The first thing we ordered was their signature Lanzhou beef noodles! The freshly pulled noodles were delicious and chewy; you can tell the noodles are handmade in the restaurant. The beef was very thinly sliced, and it complemented the dish well. Not the most outstanding beef there is, but it wasn’t meant to be the star of the show in the first place, so that was to be expected. We made the mistake of ordering extra beef because the menu was not very clear—usually the add beef option means there isn’t beef originally, but I digress. The broth was filling and not too heavy, but mediocre overall. This dish was definitely carried by the hand-pulled noodles!
Next we tried the scallion pancake with braised pork. The pancake itself had a satisfying bite to it, and it was stuffed to the brim with tangy shredded pork and fresh chopped lettuce. The meat was hearty and flavorful; you could absolutely tell it was pork through and through, and it really hit the spot!
Finally, we decided to somewhat balance our meal with a fresh eggplant salad heavily marinated in sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce. The eggplant itself lacked flavor, but when dipped in the sauce it came with, it became way too salty and sour; not our favorite dish of the night.
By then we were completely stuffed and certain we couldn’t handle any more food, but a quick glance at the table next to us changed our minds in an instant! No meal is complete without dessert, so we ordered the deliciously warm brown sugar glutinous rice cakes on impulse, and it was so much better than anything we could have dreamed up: steamy, gooey perfection wrapped in a light, crispy skin, drizzled with brown sugar glaze and sprinkled with kinako powder. It was super well executed and left us wondering how it could possibly be so soft on the inside and yet so crisp on the outside!
Overall, our visit to DH Noodles and Grill was definitely not a wasted one!