Hand-Pulled Noodles

I, for one, am and always will be a fan of Northern Chinese Cuisine.

Pork Pancake

Beef Noodle Soup (with hand-pulled noodles)

Shanxi Noodles (with hand-pulled noodles)

On weekends, Matt and I like to go out and explore new restaurants (plus, they're our work-out off days which means "Eat WHATEVER you want!"). Seeing as how we hadn't been to L.A. in a while, we figured..."Hey, why not?"

So after sitting in two hours of traffic and rubber necking (what L.A. freeways are best known for) we finally reached our destination.

If you want noodles that bite back, you need to go to Kam Hong Garden in Monterey Park. Just by the smell of beefy anise broth that danced on our noses as we walked in to this small restaurant, we knew that we were in for a great meal.

At Kam Hong Garden, a Northern Chinese Cuisine restaurant, they make delicious hand-pulled noodles, knife-cut noodles, and hand-cut noodles--it was the perfect place for Matt and I to cure our hankering for bold flavor and, what else...NOODLES.

Their chewy, imperfectly shaped noodles are coated in delicious gravies and/or swimming in boldly flavored broths juxtaposed by cool cucumbers or earthy leaves of cilantro and green onion to make for an amazingly fulfilling meal.

To my surprise...

Yes, the noodles were delicious, but it was the pork pancake that stole the show for me. Made with fatty pork paper-thinly sliced with cilantro, green onions, and a healthy serving of refreshing julienned cucumber, smeared with what tasted like hoisin sauce, all rolled in a Chinese tortilla (?)--similar to that of a mushu wrapper--like a burrito and cut into six servings--nothing like I had had before. It was a little messy to eat because the cucumbers tended to slip out (sad), but who knew that just a few simple ingredients could create such a flavorful finger food?

And, I have to say, the food all came out within five minutes of ordering--TAKE THAT AMERICAN FAST FOOD!!

Verdict: Chewy, flavorful, meaty mix of a delicious glimpse into Northern Chinese cuisine + the best cure for a weeks worth of a noodle soup craving.