You see there are TWO restaurants in this complex...just a few doors apart...that look the same. Same same but different. Chinese Noodle House vs Chinese Noodle Restaurant. What’s the difference? I have no idea? They look the same. Their signage is the same...same colours + same font. The both have picture menus on the store window with smiling waitresses outside who try to coax you inside to partake of their noodles (and other goodies). Both restaurants have the same tables and chairs. The plastic grape vines hanging form the ceiling are the same in both restaurants. I assume they are owned by the same same people too?
I’m SO confused. It’s like a bizzaro world of Chinese food.
I drag The BFF to The Prince Centre one night to help me figure out where I’d eaten my first dose of handmade noodles. We work out it was Chinese Noodle HOUSE but end up eating at the Chinese Noodle RESTAURANT for some reason unbeknownst to me.
Chinese Noodle Restaurant, just like its doppelgänger Chinese Noodle House, is TINY! The restaurant only seats about 30 people and we are packed in tighter than sardines. The staff run the place with the military precision akin to so many cheap and cheerful eateries. The goal is get us in, feed us and get us out to allow more people from the line outside to get their fill of dinner here. If you go to a restaurant like this knowing what to expect, which is brisk + efficient service usually without a smile you'll have a great + tasty time. Go in expecting to be treated like you're in a three star restaurant with the staff pandering to your every whim and you'll walk away wondering WTF just happened.
The meal starts as most do in a cheap + cheerful Chinese eatery – with complimentary tea and me asking for a fork! My constant request for a fork in eateries like this always brings a smile to the face of staff (probably as they think to themselves "this girl's an idiot").
As well as handmade noodles, these restaurants are well know for their dumplings - both the pan-fried + steamed varieties. We kick things off with a serve of Light Pan-fried Dumplings ($8.00 for 12 dumplings). The filing of pork and chives is moist with a good hit of garlic and the thick pasty is deliciously pan-fried until the bottoms are brown + crisp. We each make ourselves a little bowl of vinegar and soy from the condiments available on the table and happily dip our dumplings.
Our next dish is the Special Braised Eggplant ($11.80). It's a flavoursome dish with a rice sauce coating the eggplant. The eggplant is lovely and tender, although our plate of eggplant is a smidgen too oily.
The Xinjiang style stir fry noodles ($9.80) is the last dish to arrive at our table. If I gave the impression that dishes are being delivered to us one at a time then I'm sorry! Within 10 minutes ALL our food is on our tiny table and we gobble things up to make room for the other plates. The noodles are wonderfully plump + chewy and super l-o-n-g so that slurping is required (think Lady and The Tramp). Our noodles come with beef (though you can choose whatever you like) and thick chunks of capsicum and tomato.
As we leave the Prince Centre and head to Central Station the BFF points out another same same restaurant, Chinatown Noodle Restaurant. Now I'm more confused than EVER!
Chinese Noodle Restaurant is at TG7, Prince Centre - 8 Quay Street, Haymarket Chinatown. Phone them on 9281 9051.
Maybe they bought both shops, didn't want to bother tearing the walls down and didn't want to name them "shop 1" and "shop 2"?
ReplyDeleteThe shops are separated by quite a few shops in between (plus a staircase) so they'd never been next to each other...they are like twins separated at birth.
DeleteWe used to go to Chinese Noodle Restaurant all the time when I lived in Ultimo. Such great value.
ReplyDeleteChinese Noodle House never used to look so similar. Could this be a recent thing?
Also, I like the external shot from across the road.
It's definitely been this way for about a year at least, which is when I started to get REALLY confused about what the heck was going on - and which place I'd eaten at initially.
DeleteThis place is brilliant! The fake grape vines and tapestries just add that special something to the place! On comparison between this one and their doppelgänger restaurant, I'd say that this one's consistently better... not sure why, given that they've got the same menu and owner...
ReplyDeleteI went to the other place last night -- so far I rate it better. Isn't it funny how they are basically the same place but we all have our favourite.
DeleteLove that first shot - I've never seen that building from that angle! Love the eggplant dish here, and the dumplings. And the hand pulled noodles. And...
ReplyDeleteThe noodles were great -- I could eat them every week.
DeleteLooks good Mel...you had me at the fake grape ceiling :)
ReplyDeleteLOL. There seem to be A LOT of restaurants in Sydney with fake grape ceilings. It's kinda...odd.
DeleteI never remember the exact name either, because its all too confusing. I just remember - the red menu wall!
ReplyDeleteNow that I know there are FOUR places almost the same I'm more confused than ever.
DeleteAnother one...or two...to add to the list of places to try!
ReplyDeleteI'll come with you one night after work Katie -- it's a great place for a quick after work dinner.
DeleteWow that first picture makes the Prince Centre look so much fancier than I remember!
ReplyDeleteSunset makes everything look pretty doesn't it?
DeleteThis place is a sydney institution and I'm glad you visited. I come often (not often enough) and love it. dirt cheap and an all round awesome feed. They might not know what a coke zero is, but hey, it's a top feed.
ReplyDeleteIt is a top feed - totally agree!
DeleteHee! Hee! I loved your comment about the bizarro world of Chinese food. Sometimes a quite apt description. There used to be only 1 Noodle House. Things have changed since I last visited many yonks ago!
ReplyDeleteThere are FOUR now Cindy - three in the Prince Centre alone!
Deletewent past this restaurant last night. damn both Chinese Noodle House and Chinese Noodle restaurant looks exactly the same. even has the same decor. sooo confusing!
ReplyDeleteIt is SO confusing! The trick I guess is just to eat at them both. LOL.
DeleteLove this style of restaurant, cheap and delicious. You always feel so satisfied on leaving.
ReplyDeleteCheap is an understatment!
DeleteOh I am now craving Chinese food... for breakfast :)
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteLove the Prince Centre. So many cheap and cheerful food options. Re: the fake grapes - it's actually a sign that the food is Uighur, an ethnic group that lives in Eastern and Central Asia, aka the Silk Road. Here travellers would stop and rest at little eateries, eating at tables set up beneath grape vines for shade. Once you know the background story, the grapevines seem a little more romantic than kitsch! lol
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I remember this now from the Uighur place that used to be across the road. I know that the food is Northern Chinese (yum) but not that the grapes are synonymous with that style of food.
DeleteYeah, nothing odd about the grapevines. As Helen says, it's just a sign of a restaurant that serves North-west Chinese food. This is one of the first restaurants I visited in Sydney. Haven't been for ages, though. The robotic service just cracks me up. Those girls can be hopelessly rude sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe service is priceless. I normally get a smile when I ask for a fork (a pity smile, right)?
Deleteone of my favourite places for Chinese beef noodle soup, unfortunately u smell of the broth afterwards! hahaha
ReplyDeleteToo funny. A coworker told me to visit this place but now I am unsure which one he is referring to. How confusing!! Def need to check this place out!
ReplyDeleteLove how they hand make their noodles and you can watch them in action if you eat in. Mmmm don't mind a bit of their dumplings and noodles right now :P
ReplyDelete