$ – cheap eats

i must admit that i rate based on my experiences and emotions with the restaurant. this one is no exception. i’ve been going to a&j (ben mu yuan in chinese) since forever and a day with friends, family, even by myself. and a plus is that this is a serious cheap-eats kind of place (they’ve won the award for the past 5+ years now); $20 can go pretty far for three people.

their food is more northern style chinese, meaning lots of soup noodle dishes and small dishes (xiao cai). to me, it’s much more comforting and almost seems healthier than the typical chinese take-out america has come to love (more hunan style, no?) — not as greasy. my favorites are dan dan mian (with peanut sauce; order thin noodles), nui ro mian (beef noodles; order fat noodles), and zha jiang mian (minced beef with cucumber and tofu; order fat). the descriptions in english sound weird (almost unappetizing at times), but the food is delicious.

i’ve also been having a hard time finding good fan tuans, and they offer them in the morning along wth dou jiang (soy milk, salty and sweet), shao bing you tiao, and xi fan. childhood comfort to the max.