Pot and Noodles

It's time to visit one of the fennel bulbs' favorite places for quick and cheap eats that are nonetheless delicious. One of them is the Pot and Noodles restaurant in the fourth floor of SM Megamall's Building A. This restaurant is totally candid and almost frill-free, if not resembling a shabby hospital canteen. But the flavors of its food and the culinary traditions it has upheld since when it opened (which almost is ten years from our food lovers' memories) is definitely beyond skin-deep.

A glass mirror on the restaurant's facade reveals a busy subsection of the kitchen - the subsection for dough and noodle-making. It definitely takes a fair amount of talent and lots of skill to pull noodles just as easy as it is to blow bubbles. Hand-pulled noodles are also better in terms of texture and taste as opposed to dried noodles that are boiled and cooked. There's a certain richness to freshly made noodles that is quite difficult to find in dried noodles. 

The Chinese call these noodles La-Mian (拉麵）which literally translates to pulled noodles. One can more or less read the history of the noodles on the information below the glass (in the picture above). La-Mian is a pervasive Chinese cultural and culinary export that is present in many Asian cuisines. And a bit of linguistics reveals that the equally famous Japanese ramen (ラーメん）is actually a direct phonetic transcription of the Mandarin Chinese La-Mian. 

The fennelbulbs' favourite La-Mian dish at Pot and Noodles has got to be the Szechuan cold noodles (Php160) as they find this dish utterly comforting. 

This dish is not as cold as its name seems to suggest. The fact that it's served not warm also seems to suggest that it is more or less an appetite-whetter, but the servings and the heaviness of the noodles already make it a meal in itself. The noodles are dressed in spicy peanut oil and pickled vegetables are added on top with a drizzle of sesame and crushed peanuts. Several slices of julienned cucumbers are added and texturally enhance the dish. The pickled vegetables justify the temperature of the dish as well. Overall the taste is redolent with garlic and the heat of the oil puts in a fairly strong, but not overwhelming, jerk to the palate. 

Another classic definitely has to be the oyster cake (Php250), which is a dish peculiar to Fujian province and Taiwan. The local Chinese call the dish uwaa-tsan (牡蠣煎蛋) and resembles an omelette stuffed with oysters, coriander, chives, and bean sprouts. 

The taste is hearty, rich, and downright filling. The dish is rather on the greasy side and this can't be avoided as it is fried. It's crunchy on the outside and the hot oysters and greens inside add a completely different dimension. It is always served with a sweet red sauce very much resembling catsup. Its size (which fills a whole plate) is good enough to satiate 2 people. 

Last but not the least is black tofu sauteed with kuchay (chives) greens. (Php175). Black tofu is made from dark soy beans which makes its skin grey and its flesh a bit darker than the regular tofu. The texture is harder and its taste nuttier than the white variety. 

The dish seems to have been sauteed in soy sauce. The strips of tofu actually taste much like mushrooms and are texturally similar to it. The chives and the soy sauce work hand-in-hand to produce a very delicious and well-balanced dish. With a cup of rice, it is more than enough to constitute a healthy vegetarian meal. 

With its affordable prices and down-to-earth menu of good and comforting Chinese food, Pot and Noodles Restaurant is indeed a place the fennel bulbs will come back to every so often.