Restaurants Review: Mian Guan (麵館)

Taipei's Yongkang Street area is littered with noodle joints of one description or another, and the appearance of a shop simply called Mian Guan, which translates as "noodle shop," would seem to give little cause for comment. It takes considerable effort to stand out from the area's crowd of exotic offerings. Mian Guan doesn't try to be exotic; instead, it offers simple food, well prepared and presented, with great efficiency. It's not food to be lingered over, but neither is it without appeal.

The restaurant's philosophy can be summed up in its house specialty, noodles with pork spare rib (招牌子排麵, NT$150), which is pretty much exactly what its name suggests - a bowl of egg noodles in broth with blanched vegetables and a pork spare rib served on the side. Though this sounds like something you might be able to pick up at a street-side stall for little more than half the price, what is presented is quite distinctive. The first thing to notice is the broth: light without being insipid, it has a natural sweetness that owes nothing to MSG or other flavor enhancers. The vegetables are blanched very lightly and retain good color and flavor. Then there is the rib, which is cooked like dongpo pork (東坡肉), a famous dish of fatty pork stewed in a rich soy-based sauce. "We chose to use the rib because it is not fatty," said head chef Hsieh Chang-chou (謝長洲), who developed Mian Guan's menu. Hsieh said that while the menu looks simple, it is built around his own philosophy of Chinese medicine, nutrition and healthy living, which he has developed over 20 years as a chef in various five star hotels.

The skills of a hotel chef can be tasted in the tenderness of the pork rib, which has just enough fat and tendon to make it moist in the mouth, without ever being uncomfortably oily. "Simple food can be served with the same attention to detail as [banquet dishes] in a big hotel," Hsieh said.

Hsieh has also added a few dishes from his native Malaysia, including ba kut teh (肉骨茶, NT$130). This dish is popular in Southeast Asian restaurants around Taipei, but Hsieh's preparation, in keeping with his culinary philosophy, is lighter than most. Noodles with chicken (Hsieh's own recipe), fried fish (both NT$130) and garden vegetables (NT$120) are also available.

Mian Guan's light and flavorful food can all be washed down with hibiscus tea mixed with hawthorn berries, which cleanses and revives the palate.