Cheng Banzhang

Sometimes hunting a perfect bowl of noodles becomes a mini-adventure. I woke up in my hotel room in Mongkok, took the MTR to Lai Chi Kok, walked the streets temporarily lost, trying to guage my bearings, found the warehouse, found the right elevator, took it to the 1st floor and walked down the hallway until I started seeing posters and awards taped to the wall. The restaurant was JAM PACKED, so I was turned around and shown to the waiting room a little further down the hall. 

Within 10 minutes a woman came in shouting my number and I was seated at the communal long tables, ordered beef noodle soup and a mountain tea and waited. The crowd of people in there were all smashing plates like they were going out of fashion, smiling rabidly. I grew expectant.

10 minutes later I had slurped the last of the broth down and eaten my last noodle. Who knew such good beef noodle soup could be made in Hong Kong in a warehouse. The beef was succulent and tender, the noodles still had bite, the broth wasn't amazingly deep but held its own and got much better when I added the home-made chili sauce. 

This is one of those spots you have to be recommended, and when you do, you have to hunt it down! 

8/10