The other wide noodle shop I tried recently was Noodleosophy. This week I had a $4 CVS coupon that was use or lose, so I swung by the 99 Ranch plaza after my Thursday run.
Compared to Duan Chun Zhen, Noodleosophy makes no attempt to bill itself as high-class dining. You order from the touch screen and pick up a buzzer that rings when your order is ready. There is a minimum of interaction with the staff during the meal.
I ordered the $11 “sizzling garlic biang biang” and added $2 shredded pork toppings. That day, Noodleosophy had a Yelp check-in special, so I got a $6 dumplings side as a freebie. I also got a free lemon tea as a reward for dining in. (Those four dumplings were tasty, but $6 is pricy for the amount provided.)
The meal came out after 10min. If I hadn’t added the shredded pork, the dish would’ve been vegetarian; the biang biang noodles were primarily accompanied by mung bean sprouts, garlic and broccoli. The dish went against many of my healthy food habits (oily? check. lots of carbs? check. hard to swallow foods like broccoli? check. red meat? check.), but I survived.
The portion size on the main course was rather generous. Looking around, many of the other customers failed to finish their plates. I was in no rush, so I took my sweet time; after 40min, I managed to finish it all. Anyhow, I enjoyed my meal, but am not likely to come back because of my healthy food habits. Besides, biang biang noodles shouldn’t be too hard for my mom to make.
