Madison Restaurant Review: Hong Kong Station

I will admit I was first interested in Hong Kong Station's unique noodle ordering system. You are given a pen and a sheet where you can choose from 8 different types of noodles, 3 different broths and more then a dozen mix ins and toppings. It's like the Coldstone of Noodles.

On my first outing to Hong Kong Station I shared a nice meal with this cutie.

She was (un?)fortunately more interested in the magna-doodle then the food, though she seemed love the broken flakes of eggroll wrapper.

I tried the beef broth with Ramen noodles, beef tenderloin, and beef meatballs. The ramen noodles were good but nothing to blog about.  The beef broth was fairly flat. There are a few condiments on the table which make it better. Personally I think what this broth really needs is a deeper roast on the bones before they make the stock and another 4-6 hours of simmering. It is a beautifully clear broth, which means it hasn't come to a full boil, which causes a stock to become very cloudy.

Beef Broth with Ramen noodles beef balls and tenderloin.

I also tried the spicy broth with Chinese egg noodles shrimpballs and shrimp dumplings. The Chinese egg noodles are nearly identical to Wah-Kee's noodles, maybe their source? The Spicy broth had a tiny bit of a kick, but more importantly Szechuan peppercorns floating on top. I told Pete chew on one of those and he spent the rest of the meal asking me "Why would you do that to me?" The analgesic effect slowly wore off as my amusement faded. Chewing on these fills your mouth with a unique flavor and numbs your mouth completely.

Best Grocery Store in Shanghai

My hotel ended up being about one block away from one of my co-workers, so he was able to show me a lot of local spots for dumplings or laundry. But none of it compares to the day he showed me the "best grocery store in Shanghai" it was "very famous". He was sure that I would like it. He said this chain was all over China and every major Chinese city had several. This grocery nervana was just 3 blocks away from my hotel. He walked me over to show me this gem.

Pronounced Waal-Martu

Beijing is famous for a cheap quick lunch of noodles called Zhajiangmian "Fried Sauce Noodles"

After touring around the forbidden city all morning we were looking for a quick lunch. We took a cab who told us he would take us to a great place for Beijing noodles. After I got done talking about how cabbies always know the best places for food and I had never been steered wrong.