★★ Chan's Kitchen - Redmond

Chan's Kitchen is a new Cantonese restaurant that opened recently in Redmond. Besides a good amount of Hong Kong style noodle soup they also have a wide variety of stir fried noodles, fried rice and authentic Cantonese cuisine. On my first trip I tried the noodle their owner recommended, 柱侯牛腩麵 (Zhu-hou beef noodle soup).

The Soup - tasted like regular Hong Kong style wanton noodle soup, with a slight taste of Chinese herbs that is probably from the stewed beef.

The Noodles - were the typical Cantonese style egg noodles that were then and very firm. Different from Japanese style noodles, these Cantonese noodles are not very springy and can be quite tough, they don't just slide down the throat smoothly like Udon-noodles.

The Toppings - were bok-choy and the stewed beef. The beef is not very soft but tastes very good. It uses a special sauce called Zhu-hou sauce that is a blend of traditional Chinese herbs: anise star, orange peel, blended with fried garlic, red onions then stewed with rock sugar and water.

Overall - I am a huge fan of Taiwanese style beef noodle soup, which is usually less sweet and much more spicy with a lot more exotic Chinese herbs and spices. The Hong Kong variety is still relatively new to me, and it might be by built in bias but I feel that the soup and noodles here are better matched with regular wontons.

Chan's Kitchen - 2560 152nd Ave Ne Redmond, WA 98052