There is fabulous authentic Xian style Chinese Food to be found at Grainger Market in Newcastle
Henry Lei Xu is treating us all to a taste of it from his stall “Noodle Box and Chinese Hamburger” where noodles are the star of the show
On the corner of the row there is plenty of seating up on the stools by the serving hatch from where you get a great view of the cooks at work in the kitchen
NOODLE MENU
I ordered a bowl of the Lanzhou Hand pulled noodles in soup with Beef for £12, a tray of pork dumplings (6 for £5) and a ‘Chinese hamburger’ for £7
Traditionally the noodle soup is spicy and Mr Xu asked me if I could handle the spicy, even though I said yes he smiled with a twinkle in his eye and said he would do me ‘English Spicy’ 😎
LANZHOU NOODLES WITH BEEF
When the bowl arrived and I took my first taste I have to admit he got my spice level just right, there was enough heat to warm my me up but not too much to overpower the tastebuds
The slick of red chilli oil floating upon the broth had scared me for a moment but all was good
The noodles were thick, chewy and toothsome, very slurpable and most certainly plentiful. They were quite a bit thicker than some I have had in a dish like this and I kind of liked that as they seemed to suck up more of the broth
As always it is a bit of a mess in the eating and today I totally gave up on the chopsticks and went full spaghetti mode with a spoon and a fork. I apologise to the noodle Gods but note that my T-shirt was most grateful at the lower level of spillage encountered on this lunchtime foray
The slices of beef were cut a little ragged but were soft and tender so just about right for this dish. There was plenty of crunchy veg in the bowl mostly cabbage it seemed and that gave a nice contrast to the bite in each spoonful of the broth in between slurps of noodles
No surprise at all to hear me declare that this was a very excellent bowlful of noodles indeed!
“CHINESE HAMBURGER”
The ‘Chinese Hamburger’ which was shredded roughly chopped pork belly in a freshly made flatbread was also excellent. It was a very popular choice amongst fellow diners perched on the stools around the stall
The flavours of the pork belly really make this little bite of street food, typically seasoned with soy, star anise, cinnamon, and cloves it is way above your standard pork belly sandwich
DUMPLINGS
The pork dumplings were sublime, simple food done perfectly. Well seasoned pork mince inside soft dumpling wrappers coated in a rather tasty mix of soy, black vinegar and chilli. We ordered 6 but could have very easily eaten a lot more
I was extremely delighted to have found this stall as we meandered our way around the different food options at Grainger Market and was most happy with the food we chose.
My only disappointment is that I don’t live nearer as if I did I would be having lunch here every week until I had completed the menu 🤪😎
Located at 📍Arcade Unit 8-9, Grainger Market, Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5QQ
