Niu Rou Main-nia: Jamillah Garden's version

*** 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:

Banh Mi

Bun Bo Hue

Pho

Taco Shops

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.

Comments

[nhbilly]

First time I've heard of such noodles. I looks like Vietnamese style Bo Kho with rice noodles. http://www.recipezaar.com/108893

[Kirk]

Hi nhbilly - Yes, I think it's called something like dao xiao mian.

[Jeff C]

Kirk,
Glad your none the worse for wear from your tectonic adventures in Hawaii. As always, amazing what food knowledge you have on the dishes you choose to showcase.
I'm heading to Taiwan in Nov with the wife, so hopefully we'll get some niu rou mien there.

[Jim]

Hey Kirk,

Being a Niu Rou Mein virgin, where would you suggest my first bowl should be?

[Kirk]

Hi Jeff - I was just wondering how you were doing. I'm quite envious of your trip to Taiwan, I'm sure you'll get your share of really great eat....and enough Chou Dofu for a few months? ;o) Hope you have a great vacation, and would love to hear about it when you return.

Hi Jim - I think you should head over to Shanghai City. Perhaps you can be like Capt Jack, who wrote down the dishes He wanted, and ordered them there. Or even this, on Saturdays and Sundays, SC has Chinese Breakfast specials - so you can get Niu Rou Mein for $4.75, and Xiao Long Bao for cheap as well.....sounds like an interesting, ahem, Sunday Brunch, huh?

[Didi]

Hi Kirk, welcome back.

I haven't tried the Niu Rou Mien at Jamillah Garden but had the Shanghai City version.

Agree with you that Jamillah Garden has wild consistensy regarding their food. I don't know why. I had thought that the three flavor special was good, but it wasn't as good on the following visit. I do like their traditional Xinjiang lamb dish (sorry, i forget what it's called).

[elmomonster]

Why oh why do I always forget to try this dish. You talk about it so much, yet it almost always escapes my mind when I'm at a place that serves it. Thanks for the reminder.

Too bad this one wasn't up to par though.

[Pam]

mmm, i've been jonesin' for NRM lately, 'specially cause the weathers getting colder; had a bowl of NRM at MP's Mandarin Noodle House the other day but wasn't that impressed. Gotta go find me another bowl! =)

[Jim]

Hey Kirk,

The wife came home after work and started whining about being hungry. My reply was, “You just ate yesterday for goodness sake!” Well, after she gave me “the look”, I decided to try Shanghai City for lunch. And yes, I did the Captain Jack thing; I wrote down want I wanted.

We ordered the Niu Rou Mein and Xiao Long Bao off my notes on the post-it, and Szechuan Pork off the Caucasian menu. All the dishes were good. You should have warned me about the exploding Xiao Long Baos. I bit into one and warm juice went everywhere! The sauce in the Niu Rou Mein was rich and took me a couple of minutes to get use to. The noodles were fantastic!

Thanks for the tip! The wife should be full for a couple of days!

[mizducky]

Hi Kirk--bummer about the substandard nieu rou mein at Jamillah Gardens! The idea of knife-cut noodles in such a dish sounds like a total natural--too bad they couldn't pull it off. I did love those knife-cut noodles on my last visit to Jamillah, months ago (not in soup, but stirfried with lamb)--guess I must have hit them on a good day, though.

Looking forward to hearing your opinion on that Bun Bo Hue place Cathy blogged about. I just lunched there today--my second visit--and I think they do a damn fine job. Plus they're very friendly!

[Jack]

Well, it looks good....

I think you need to add a burger category as well. You've done at least a few posts on burgers haven't you? If not, I'll be glad to participate in burger tasting anytime.

[Kirk]

Hi Didi - It seems that same inconsistentcy transfers to all the food at Jamillah Garden.

Hi Elmo - Good Niu Rou Mein, is amazing...and it'll get you hooked real quick.

Hi Pam - I'll be following along 'til you find that bowl.

Hi Jim - LOL! I think that's why they call them "soup dumplings".....there's a specific technique I use for eating them so you don't "waste" all that soup on your clothes. Use your spoon and get a bit of the dipping sauce, grab dumpling with chopsticks and place in spoon(I poke a hole in the top of the XLB to let out some of the heat, if it's too hot), and if it's not too hot hold dumpling with chopstick and bring to your mouth with the spoon under and eat...don't let that soup get away.....It's really interesting that most people always talk about the NRM broth, and sometimes the noodles are an afterthought.

Hi mizducky - We probably just missed you. I'll be posting on Mien Trung next week.

Hi Jack - I already have a burger category...but you're right I haven't done a burger post recently. Hmmm, need to grab a burger..... I'll give you a call maybe sometime next week!

[Kathy]

Hey Kirk!
You and your niu rou mein! Though seriously, nothing cures any and all ails like a good steaming bowl of that stuff.
Pretty soon you'll have to start a catgory just for "al pastor"! :)

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - LOL! Yes, I'm a major league noodle head! Still a good almond croissant......;o)

[Chubbypanda]

Hey Kirk,

Oooh! Bad niu rou mien. As an American of Taiwanese descent, I feel deep sadness and empathy.

BTW, the noodles look like they're not cut properly. True knife-shaved noodles are cut using a special tool that results in long, almost triangular noodles with thick bases and tapered tips. It allows the noodles to effectively convey the broth/sauce, and adds that special doughy texture. Few places do it right.

- Chubbypanda

[Kirk]

Hi CP - The tool is a knife that looks like a pastry scrapper - I saw it on some documentary....don't know the name, of course I just watched the food part. And the dough is sort of loaf shaped and they shave it to make Dao Xiao Mian. Jamillah Garden also has a restaurant in OC somewhere.

[Tjan]

Hey Kirk! Just found your site. It's good to see another food fan in our city of San Diego. The NRM at New Shanghai, the restaurant that Jamillah Garden replaced, was my favorite NRM in San Diego. I was so sad when they were displaced. They were open as late as 2am on weekends and was one of my great mainstays for dining in San Diego.

Enough about the past. I can't wait to sample the variety of establishments that you frequent and make known. Thank you so much!

[Kirk]

Hi Tjan - Thanks for dropping by, and the kind words. Our favorite Niu Rou Mein in San Diego right now is from Shanghai City. Look forward to more comments in the future.

[Fred]

Hello Kirk!

I had lunch today at Ariang House and I noticed that Jamillah Garden is being remodeled again. The last time they did that they had a hand-printed sign up saying, "Closed until such and such date for remodeling." Today the sign says, "Jamillah Garden is CLOSED."

I wonder if they went out of business.

[Kirk]

Hi Fred - I dropped by this past weekend...they are closed, permanently. I took a photo and plan to have in a future post.