Went to this place last week for lunch, I have driven past it many times, but never thought to try it because the signage is in Chinese characters, not English.
The menu has many types of dumplings as well as other entree plate options, and also “hand pulled” noodles.
We chose Pork dumplings with Napa cabbage, XLB, Onion pancake with egg and Hot & Sour soup.
I am dumpling enthusiast, but not an expert, I thought both versions were very good.The XLB (6 to an order), had nice soupiness and was not as strongly ginger flavored as some that I have had with a delicate wrapper. The boiled dumplings were also tasty and came 8 to an order.
The soup was full of tofu, pork and mushrooms, but was neither spicy nor sour.
The pancake was pretty bland and not as crispy on the outside as I would have liked, would not choose this again.
I will go back for the noodles and dumplings, the idea of dumpling noodle soup when the weather turns cooler is especially interesting.
They also have frozen items for home preparations.
Has anybody else tried this place? Favorite items?
King of Dumplings
39229 Cedar Blvd.
Newark, CA 94560
Closed Wednesdays
I’m curious what kind of noodles they serve. The sign on their window says that they make Shou Han mian 手撖麵 Hand rolled noodles— by that name, I understand these to be made from dough that’s been rolled out with a rolling pin and sliced with a knife Hand cut, knife-shaved, and other Chinese wheat noodles (SFBA/Norcal). However, y*lp pictures show them making what I describe as “lagman” in Hand-pulled and stretched Chinese wheat noodles (SFBA/Norcal) which would be stretched into noodles by hand without tools. It may not be on the menu, but there may be an option to get wide or thin noodles.
I don’t know if that’s a terminology confusion or if they switched how they make noodles— sister restaurants, see below, usually make the lagman style noodles, but there are exceptions (iDumpling uses machine-made noodles).
Here’s what I like at thei sister restaurants-- I like the lotus root appetizer and the boiled dumplings in general (no favorite). Their cold dishes in general are pretty good. If they have some kind of desert that takes 15 minutes to cook, a pastry of some sort, get that— it’s good.
I’m also curious if they make their XLB in house or if they buy them from their SF kitchens devoted to frozen dumpling making. I know that I’ve seen them hand making dumplings at Town of Dumpling, but they also sell frozen ones in bags (I’ve cooked these at home and they’re better than the ones from Ranch 99 that are served at lots of Cantonese restaurants).
According to a Chowhound post that I can’t find, former chefs of Li’s restaurants now own Shan Dong Best / Deluxe. A server at Taste of Shandong - Alice Chinese Bistro in the Sunset told he the chef or owner there worked either at Shandong Deluxe or King of Noodles. At all these restaurants you can find those mutant looking xiao long bao with a bizarre top knot and the lagman style “hand pulled noodles” Hand-pulled and stretched Chinese wheat noodles (SFBA/Norcal). Alice is the newest and does a horrendous job at lagman.b
Thanks hyperbowler for the thoughtful response, you clearly have a much deeper understanding about noodles and their differences than I.
I do plan to visit KoD again soon and I’ll ask if the XLB are prepared in house.
When I do get the hand pulled noodles, I’ll try to remember to take a photo.
Great! If the noodles taper and are irregular along their length, they are probably lagman. If a particular noodle is the same width along the length, but is a different width than other noodles, it’s probably cut with a knife.
We just had dinner there with my parents. We ordered the XLB, zha jiang mian (black bean sauce noodles) and the beef noodles. We probably should have ordered dumplings but I was in a noodle mood. The hand made noodles were excellent–springy yet tender and not overcooked. However, the beef broth wasn’t as flavorful as I would have liked and there was very little beef. The onion pancakes were pretty much tasteless, and the zha jiang mian (a meatless rendition) was okay but needed more sauce–or salt. The XLB was good but not great. If I ever go back I may try the dumplings but we weren’t impressed enough with everything else.
