*** Jamillah Garden has since closed.
I think most regular readers already know that I love a good bowl of Niu Rou Mein, the savory Chinese Beef Noodle soup. According to Wikipedia, Chinese Beef Noodle soup was created by the Hui, an Islamic Chinese people during the Tang Dynasty. According to the story, when the Koumintang fled to Taiwan they brought along Niu Rou Mein. And Taiwan has truly embraced Beef Noodle Soup, to the extent that Taipei now hosts an annual Taipei Beef Noodles Festival. Enough to make a "Noodle-Head" quiver in excitement, no?
So far, I’ve had a few bowls of Niu Rou Mein in San Diego, and my favorite by far is the version served by Shanghai City. But a few weeks ago, I decided to go to the "source", and finally have a bowl of Niu Rou Mein from the local Islamic Chinese restaurant, Jamillah Gardens. One item of interest is that as noted in my previous post on Jamillah Gardens, is the availability of Knife Cut Noodles, which are flat noodles cut from a rolled piece of dough. The noodles are of various width and length, and when done right has a mildly chewy and doughy texture.
Add a dollar to the regular price of the Niu Rou Mein($6.95 + noodles = $7.95), and you get the Niu Rou Mein with Knife Cut Noodles.
The broth had a good amount of oil, with a mild beef flavor, and was quite weak overall. Nice body….but no soul. Some of the pieces of beef were on the gristly-tough side, but had a decent amount of flavor. To me there needed to be a stronger beef and 5 spice flavor, along with a bit more sweetness.
The noodles this time around were on the gummy side, and were not as enjoyable as I’ve had on previous visits.
Which kind of shines a light on the various meals I’ve had at Jamillah Gardens; wildly fluctuating in flavor and quality.
But still, another Niu Rou Mein crossed off my list. And in order to keep track, I’ve decided to start a Niu Rou Mein category. I think there are still at least six or seven more Niu Rou Meins to try in San Diego……so I’ll keep on ca-noodling along.
Jamillah Garden Chinese Islamic Restaurant
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
One last note: I’ve gotten a few Emails requesting that I add a few categories, and after going through all my old posts I can understand. So in addition to Niu Rou Mein, I’ve added these:
Hopefully, I’ve updated old posts accordingly. I aim to please…so whoever "ItsBasedonADare" is, hang in there. I’ll let you know if I find Haggis! LOL! BTW, IBAD(yoso-clever), I know what movie that came from.