Mogouyan Hand Pulled Noodle 磨沟沿老字号兰州牛肉面 (Square One Shopping Centre)

I always walk past this place whenever I’m at the mall and it’s always busy with ppl. It has a dining area in this restaurant and the line moves faster at night time closer to closing from 7:30 pm onwards. At 8 pm onwards, it’s usually easier to get a table. They’re known for their big bowl of hand pulled noodles. One big bowl can easily be shared with other people at the table. You can ask for small bowls if you want to share. I love that you can choose from 5 different types of noodles. Up to you on how you like to each your noodles. Broth was flavourful and the spicy level can be changed according to your preference too. No numbing feeling here so don’t worry. All the bowls are worth ordering. I love the braised red beef bowl the most because of the chunks of beef instead of slices.

Finally got a chance to try this out. Ordered a noodle dish as well as some mushrooms to start. Meal was very tasty. Spice wisely I chose level 1 out of three. Although most of the time I pick the middle ranking, I played it conservative on this one. It was just the right tolerance level for me Service was great, not too busy when I went. Around the 5PM time slot is just before the dinner rush. I enjoyed my experience here. I would definitely eat here again.

The lower rating was mostly impacted by the service that we received. We ordered various beef noodles and added eggs and extra protein to some of them. Overall the food tasted good, my parents really liked the soup and the noodles were cooked well. The noodle portion size was good but the meat portions weren’t consistent. I had an OK amount of beef in mine but my dad had less. A little pricier than what I’d expect for what we got but nothing crazy. Expect to pay between $15-$25 for a bowl ($15 is the most basic without and egg). In terms of service - no one was rude and some of them were quite friendly but we didn’t receive any napkins or utensils after we got our food and we had to ask twice. We also had to request water for the table whereas some other tables got it right when they sat down so it’s kind of inconsistent. The table beside us, one person got their bowl 10-15 min before their partner. They either need a better workflow or an additional staff member. Our table was also really close to the other ones and my parents had to keep scooting up so they could walk by, so customers on either side had to squish up against the tables each time. We ended up moving our table closer to us on the wall side to accommodate.

I ordered the signature beef noodle dish with thick round noodles and spicy tofu. The noodles came out fast but the tofu took longer to come out. The noodles taste great, a good amount of spice level for me (I picked the least spicy). I must admit the taste reminds me of Vietnamese Bun Bo Hue but with pulled noodles instead. The tofu dish didn’t come out like it showed on the menu which threw me off a little bit, but it was very crispy on the outside and soft inside. The waitresses were nice and polite, area isn’t too tight as I was able to put my mom’s walker at the table too. I would recommend to try if you haven’t yet.

I waited 15 minutes for them to open. During the time, the staffs were all avoiding eye contacts and kept their heads down. Finally I got in and ordered the original beef noodle soup. I have to say that I'm quite disappointed about the taste of the noodles. It's not like how it shows on the menu. Only a couple of thin slices of beef and the soup base is quite salty. I chose the classic noodle, but it's so thick. For other noodle places, this will be like thicker-rounder choice. The waitress was poker faced when she brought water and I smiled at her. Anyways, we could have better choices of noodles than this one.