Dragon Gate, Jack London Oakland

I finally made it here for lunch after hearing and reading various reports. Their menu is huge and most previous reports mentioned their noodle dishes. Not in the mood for noodles, I picked fried shishamo after learning that each order had 10 (and not the measly 3 that other places offer). They were huge with a tasty salt and pepper batter.

Also ordered clam soup, something I grew up eating but never see on menus here. Broth was light but flavorful, the soup had bits of napa cabbage and mushrooms, and at least 10 manila clams. There could have been more clam flavor in the broth but I am just grateful this dish is on their menu.

I am looking forward to returning, was eyeing the oyster omelet dish…

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Here’s my report on Dragon Gate’s Taiwanese beef noodle soup, definitely the best TBNS (spicy variety) I’ve had in the Bay Area. It also contains a link to Luke Tsai’'s effusive review that sent me there. (Note: if you are searching, it’s actually Dragon Gate, not Dragon’s Gate.)

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Thanks for the correction - I cant figure out how to correct the thread title.

I do want to try their TBNS but would never have ordered it during my first visit because I make it at home. And for anyone who attended one of the first chowhound picnics back in the early 2000s, I brought TBNS to the picnic.

I am plannng on exploring the menu more though, and will add to this thread as I make my way.

Thanks. The one time I went, not long after they opened, they didn’t have the beef noodle soup. That disappointed me enough to keep me away! I guess I should try them again.

Went again and their string beans with ground pork was my favorite new dish because of the savory pork /dried shrimp.
Spicy shrimp dish had too much gloppy brown sauce but was decently spicy and tasty once I fished the shrimp out of the sauce.

Pork and chive dumplings were great. The wrapper is a little thicker than Tianjin dumplings but overall very good. This is my new dumpling spot now that Tianjin stopped making dumplings.

Idiot noodles were fine, still havent tried TBNS since my DCs have vetoed it every time.

What are idiot noodles and TB presumably noodle soup?

Idiot noodles is what they call them on the menu, I had never heard of this dish before but it must be a weird translation from Chinese to English. They are wheat noodles topped with a ground pork/pork belly/soy sauce topping. Mix and eat.

Taiwanese beef noodle soup=tbns

This blog say they are called Idiot Noodles (sha gua mian) because they are so easy to make that any idiot can do it – basically cooked noodles tossed with oil, soy sauce and scallions. The dish sounds similar to ban mian or re gan mian.

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Luke Tsai: the best (and spiciest) Taiwanese beef noodle soup in town.

Strong words from the critic who should know his Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

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i’m no authority on TBNS but it’s one of the best Asia noodle soups of any stripe I’ve had.

Finally tried the Taiwanese beef noodle soup. It was spicy but too salty for me to accurately assess the quality of the broth. Beef pieces were tasty, noodles were a little thinner than I like, carrot and daikon pieces were soft and cooked to the point where they tasted like broth. Not bad but not a dish I would order again given the other dishes I like better.

Love love love the Taiwanese beef stew noodle here. I like salty food and don’t find it too salty, but recognize that salt-sensitive might have issues. I love that it has daikon and pickled mustard green. Despite being of Taiwanese extraction, I prefer Thai boat noodle, followed by Vietnamese bo kho of the style exemplified by Pho Ao Sen, but this comes in a close third. I try to come in at least quarterly, if I have a long lunch and am sufficiently satiated in the Thai and Viet categories.

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