Back in my post on the Niu Rou Mian from Zen Modern Asian Bistro, “FOY” Dereck mentioned that the NRM from the “original” location of Zen was still quite good. So, during one of our local sessions of “May Gray“, I decided to check out the restaurant that had replaced Zen; called Mein St Asian Kitchen. Which, I believe had moved from the Little Italy Food Hall? Since it was a Sunday, the restaurant wasn’t open until 11am….they open at 10 during the week and I was somewhat concerned with finding parking. But much to my surprise, the parking lot was qutie empty at five to eleven. Heck, that location of March & Ash always seemed busy to me!
When that “open” sign lit up, I walked on in. While the furnishings look much the same as before; the place seemed a little more worn with “stuffs” stacked everywhere.
The nice older gentleman handed me the menu. While Mein Street has everything from Kimchi Fried Rice, Sushi, to ABC (American Born Chinese) Dishes on the menu, I immediately located what I wanted.
I was here for the NRM, while $19 for a bowl of noodle soup seems kinda steep, the version at Zen is $22 (+ $1 for suan cai), so this was quite a bit cheaper. So, I placed my order.
Soon enough, the absolutely steaming, molten bowl of NRM arrived.
Strong anise fragrance danced in the air! Trying not to singe my tongue, I cautiously took a sip of the broth.
Huh…..pretty light in terms of richness and beefiness, though the flavors of soy sauce, the aromatics, white pepper, and a bit of spice came through quite cleanly. Making the broth acceptable.
Like what I’d had at Zen, the noodles weren’t very springy, a bit overcooked, and the relative thinness of the broth made it not coat the noodles very well.
The highlight of this bowl was the beef….and there was quite a bit of it.
It had been nicely prepared. Tender, but not falling to shreds, it had been cooked well and had retained a wonderful beefiness and some of the aromatic tones as well. It was delicious.
This was the one category where I think Mein St was better than what I’d had at the new Zen location. Though I think the version I’d had at the “old Zen” was better than this.
The two folks working were nice; especially the woman working who quickly told me she “didn’t speak English”…she was so sweet and using Google translate I managed to let her know my wife is from China; but I only know “bad words” in Mandarin. She cracked up! I then busted out “Kuài diǎn, kuài diǎn” (hurry up, hurry up) and “Bì zuǐ” (shut up) and she really laughed.
To put things into perspective, I do think that Mein’s NRM is better than the versions I’ve had on Convoy or Mira Mesa. Though with gas prices these days….I need to take the 45 mile round trip (Zen is “only” 26 miles) into consideration when thinking about future visits!
Mein St Asian Kitchen
13510 Sabre Springs Pkwy Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92128
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm
Thanks for reminding me about this location Dereck! Hope you get to try the NRM at Zen’s new location to compare!