Chinese Noodles FACE OFF: Bamboodles VS JTYH

At Bamboodles, a noodle shop in San Gabriel, you’ll find a Noodles Master toiling behind glass making springy noodles.

To get that pleasantly chewy quality of noodle, the Master hops on a big bamboo pole and has his way with the dough. This pole led JGold to call ’em “crotch noodles.”

What’s fun about this place besides watching the Master jerk on and off the pole…yuk yuk, is figuring out how you want the noodles- cold, in broth, what toppings, what sauce, etc. The two of us opted for the Bamboodles house special dumplings, spicy beef and Bamboodles wonton noodle soups.

My friend was having a moment when she first bit into the dumpling. I was thinking about those long noodles however.

Damn, man! How are we going to get through that thick mass?

Well, quite easily for someone who frequently does noodles challenges.

We spent about 10 minutes debating what kind of wontons to get. Yeah, they had more than one kind- Bamboodles pork, shrimp or spicy wontons (which was really just their regular wontons rolled in a house-made sauce).

Of the two noodle soups we had, I preferred the beef but I want to go back to try the green tea pork noodles and the shrimp wonton noodles. Maybe I’ll try a dry noodle as well.

Service, I was surprised to find, was really friendly and quite nice. They let us linger for hours, happily refilling our tea and delighting in our delight of the Noodles Master.

Bamboodles

535 West Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776-3700
(626) 281-1226

JTYH's fried dumplings

By now you may have realized I’m somewhat dumplings and noodles happy. I am often trying to find the best dumplings and the most delicious noodles. I first went to JTYH last Fall wanting to debunk JGold’s hype.  I found the cat’s ear noodle dish to be my favorite since it consisted of some of my favorite things including wood ear. But the noodles and dumplings we had that day seemed to be a bit…chewy and not in a good way. But again, they allowed us to linger for hours. We ended up leaving such a large tip, they protested and wanted to give it back to us. Yeah, I know, a restaurant refusing tip?

So, I do have a good impression of them for that and found myself last week in the area. I decided to check them out again for a bowl of noodles and this time I got my dumplings pan-fried. I generally prefer them fried/ pan-fried. The texture of the wrapper was much improved from just steamed dumplings.  We had ordered a few dumplings last Fall and I found my fave to be the fish. Their lamb was simply too heavy for me. This time, I asked the waitress for her favorite and she pointed out the ones just marked “fried house dumplings.” I’m willing to bet these are pork and they were so juicy!

I’m a big fan of preserved vegetable and pork noodles. But usually I have these with glass noodles. JTYH is known for their knife-cut noodles. I’m still a bit baffled why everyone loves them so. I liked the broth, the toppings and…well, I like their fried dumplings. The knife-cut noodles seem to be lacking in any real flavor or depth. Maybe a Noodles Master has to whack them a few times with a giant bamboo pole to get them supple?

There’s still tons on the menu to explore so I’ll be coming back!

JTYH

9425 Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

(626) 442-8999