Restaurant Review: Mey Lin Pot and Noodle House in SM Megamall

Oh yes.  The noodlehouse. Noodle houses provoke different memories depending on the perception of the diner. To some, it reminds them of home cooked meals as one friend told me once when I prepared simple Chinese style noodle soup topped with pickled radish.  He said, "Fred, this reminds me of Taiwan. Hmmm.  Thank you!"  To others, it may be sophisticated gourmet.  I believe, Mey Lin Noodle House in SM Megamall are both.

La-Mien in Chinese is "Ramen" in Japanese.

As one enters the corner end restaurant located on one of the floors of the said mall, a clear window is seen displaying the noodle maker's expertise as he pulls the dough from large masses to become the final thinly pulled freshly made noodles.  Amazing!  In case one would like a bit of trivia, the Japanese word "Ramen" as in, "Ramen noodle" came from the Chinese word, La-Mien which is Mandarin for exactly just that - "Pulled Noodles"; hence, the imagery and the word.
But there is more to the traditional way of making the noodle - as they say, cliché, "The proof is in the pudding."  Is it worth the visit?

They have various ways of concocting the flavors of soups that are mixed with the noodles just as they have various ways of sautéing them as well which could be birthday style or with various meats or seafood or "Cha-Sio" pork (also known as Tsa Sio in Manila for the Chinese Barbecue style pork) and vegetables for the different sautés. However, if one really wants the essence of this establishment, noodle soup is the way to go.
 

Ansio Beef Noodle Soup.

I ordered the Ansio Beef Noodle Soup which is essentially beef flavored noodle soup with toppings of pieces of beef braised in stewing liquid usually composed of soy sauce, sugar, Chinese wine and five spices.  Some, depending on their taste may add a bit more of one or two of the spice components that make up the five spices -- star anise or cinnamon being two of them. Mey Lin's taste is somewhat more on the star anise but definitely flavorful and the beef being there though not robust enough as ones my taste buds may have experienced in other establishments.  Nonetheless, still it is good for the tummy and best for the soul; not to mention sinuses too!  The soup comes with a helping of Chinese Bok Choi beside the beef pieces balancing the meats to the blandness of the vegetable to help bring the beef flavor forward to the welcoming palate.

The Seafood Noodle Soup is clean, if that is the best way to describe it.  Composed of various seafood deli cuts like shrimp and fish balls (as Chinese would call it, "He-Ei" in Fukien Ming Nan dialect), the broth is clear with yet again Chinese Bok Choi on the side.

There are more offerings in the menu, among them are the Congees which I had the opportunity to try the Pork and Century Egg.  Now, this is considered a yardstick of Congee testing as it is available in almost all Chinese restaurants where Congee is served. Mey Lin's is well-balanced on the flavors of the pork and its counterpart, the ammoniac and nasal Century Egg amidst the blank canvas of white rice porridge with a hint of sesame oil.  Where it stands short was on the silkiness of the rice preparation. There is a reason to this, from experience, the best porridges come from hours and hours of boiling rice in water and one becomes surprised to realize that it does not take much rice grains in a huge pot of boiling water to make so much congee base.  The complication arises from the initial breaking of the rice as it boils leading to further breakdown until the starches mixes with the water to a light paste.  Because the grains have a tendency to settle at the bottom of the pot, unless the pot is thick and the simmering fire is low met with frequent stirring, the rice burns accounting for an unforgivable burnt rice flavor.  This is not the case with Mey Lin; however, it seems that the rice could use more boiling to achieve the gruel consistency it should be.  This gives a silken smooth play on the tongue and earthiness of the rice grains are well exposed. A trick to achieve this consistency is to break the grains well before they even get into the water.  The use of rejected broken rice, the kind that the Vietnamese serve with their meals in the restaurants I tried in here in Philadelphia (not necessarily real Vietnam but they are Vietnamese owned) may achieve this trick.  Another trick one can try is to blend rice with water in the highest speed thus breaking the particles very well into a starchy mixture, then adding it to a huge pot of boiling water while stirring constantly to avoid clumping. Then cover, simmering in low heat with occasional stirring. One notices that this method achieves the congee consistency that is heavenly to the feel of the tongue. 

Siao Lung Bao.

The Soupy Dumplings - also known as, Siao Lung Pao is also on the menu.  Difficult to make and if it were on the menu, it is a feature for the competition.  For one thing, it is already complicated enough to make a flavorful broth, it is even more difficult to make it gel taking loads of cartilaginous proteins from animal meat products such as feet, hooves, knuckles and other joints from where cartilage could be derived.  Trivia: does anyone know that Jell-O Gelatin is animal by product derived from the same process unlike the gulaman in the East which is a seaweed derived?  The reason for the need to make the gel soup is in the reason for the existence of Siao Lung Bao. As the gel soup is made in the cold, it is easier to cut and handle and subsequently wrapped in dumpling dough.  Because it is cold, it retains its shape until exposed to steam where the dumplings are cooked and the soup melts back in its liquid state.  As one eats the newly steamed morsels does one's tongue meet the smooth gelatinous soup though carefully lest one risks burning the tongue.  Siao Lung Bao, aside from the flavor has to balance these textures.  It should be soupy yet smooth because of the gelatinous consistency of the soup.  The dumpling wrapper should be thin but thick enough to hold the soup or else the broth escapes. Mey Lin's Siao Lung Bao could use a bit of thinning the wrapper and or increasing the soup filling as the product has a tendency to be dry.  The flavor is good though can use a bit of ginger to remove and balance the gaminess of the meat.  A suggestion too is to use sliced dried shitake mushrooms as complimentary to umami taste of the dumpling without overpowering the meat aspect of the flavor.

Mey Lin also offers the shrimp dumpling thinking that it is the same as the crystal skin dumplings also known as "ha-gao" (Cantonese) or "Sia-Chiew" (Mandarin), literally translated as Shrimp Balls.  The skin of the latter is crystal clear made with a dough that has been made relient by adding boiling water to the flour rather than using the wrapper directly made of the addition of cold water to the flour.  In both cases, the filling is a similar shirmp mixture made of minced peeled shrimp, scallions, sesame seed oil, salt, pepper to taste with a bit of ginger just enough to give that aromatic hint.  Both are steamed but the shirmp dumpling can also be steamed/pan fried or fried or served in soup as wontons.  Mey Lin's version is okay, clean to the finish but a bit bland and may use a bit more shrimp. 

Soup, noodles and dumplings. What more could I ask for? Though I asked for a serving of beer to go with lunch, never in my dreams did I expect to be served with what is essentially a "family sized" bottle of Tsingtao.  I didn't know that that was the size as it was not clear on the menu.  Anyway, with all these, I didn't have room for dessert which was a pity as I actually wanted to try their Sesame Seed encrusted Mochi Balls (a.k.a. buchi).

The service was relatively on a relaxed pace but then the food compensates for this.  Besides, it was lunch time and the business of the situation was very challenging for the wait staff.

A word on this establishment.  This is actually my second time being in Mey Lin, the first was when my brother took me here in an earlier visit back April 2013.  Now, beside our table were two young ladies sporting very "label oriented" fashion wear. They were talking in Chinese -- Fukien Chinese? No! Sophisticated Mandarin Chinese! One can hear each syllable distinct and very delicately spoken.  Now, the moral of this anecdote is simple.  If Mey Lin can have clientele like these in their simple mall restaurants, that means one thing. The food is authentic and good.
Acknowledgement. I wasn't able to take pictures of my visit in Mey Lin but the pictures are from images searched and uploaded in the internet.  My thanks to their original sources.