OK Noodle --- Shaanxi cuisine in Newark!

Still an hour from my destination, a bunch of cold items seemed like the ideal food for takeout. Okay... and I couldn't resist getting hand-pulled noodles, even if the drive might kill them.

I peered into the kitchen as they prepared my order and watched a young chef take long rolls of dough from a tray and lengthen them by pulling his hands outward in order to prep the wide noodles. These were for big-plate lamb.

An hour later, I opened my order. The noodles for the big plate lamb were packaged separately from the lamb sauce, and the noodle mass surprisingly peeled apart into individual noodles! The thick and wide flat noodles had a floury aroma, and a wonderful scrape-your-tongue texture for the sauce to adhere to. Delicious.

Big plate lamb: The lamb sauce contained lamb pieces cut small enough to eat with chopsticks (bones and all), potatoes, onions, green pepper, spices, and a little heat. The lamb was tender, lots of fat, but too gamey for my taste.

Xi Bie Salad : Chunks of lightly pickled cabbage with pickled chilies were a good companion to the hearty big plate lamb. The chilies themselves were pretty good too. It's only $3.50.

Crispy black fungus: light and crunchy wood ear mushrooms with a mix of some white fungus.

Liang pi : as good as Xian Gourmet. The crunchy cucumber slivers helped amplify the bold spicing and acidity. The gluten cubes that topped the noodles were too squeaky but I suspect that's a take-out artifact ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liangpi )

OK Noodle
5492 Central Ave
Newark, CA 94560
Hours: everyday, 11am-3pm, 5pm-9:30pm
Cash only (if you're really nice, they'll take credit card with a $25 minimum)