Chinatown Noodle Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

Rainy night in the city and we were craving hand-pulled Chinese noodles with our eye on Chinatown Noodle Restaurant. With multiple chains across Sydney CBD, the Town Hall store has a narrow, ordinary entrance that opens up to the lively dining room and dynamic kitchen with the constant banging of the wok. Luckily we were able to secure a table during peak hours because if we came any time later, our stomachs would be impatiently growling with the line outside. Our order of pan-fried pork buns (生煎包) came swiftly but not at all hasty in its preparation. The handmade dough is adeptly shaped to be just thin enough to ensure an ample bite of meat and just thick enough to absorb its valuable juices. The filling is a savoury paradise made fresh with the cabbage still vividly green, all contained in a textural masterpiece. Finally, the long awaited stir-fried lamb noodles (炒拉面) arrived and in mere seconds, I was joyfully slurping chewy handmade noodles weaved with a fantastic XO sauce and wok hei. I was impressed with the large tasty slices of lamb alongside the variety of accompaniments with different coloured capsicums, cabbage, onions, tomatoes and broccoli stems. You'd think the stems would be hard to bite and swallow but in fact, they are cooked tenderly while retaining a firm snap. Overall, a visually and flavourfully vibrant dish that made my dreams of delectable handmade noodles come true. Completely entranced by the wonderful noodles, we added on a 大盘鸡 which directly translates into "Big plate chicken". It materialises as a gigantic bowl of braised chicken, vegetables and noodles soaked in a nourishing curry sauce. After a good toss, I was relishing in more luscious noodles between huge mouthfuls of soy sauce marinated chicken. The potatoes are absolutely delicious and reminiscent of potato wedges, deep-fried before stewed in order to prevent it from becoming soggy. Ingenious if you ask me. Such an exuberant, inexpensive dinner could have not gone without thanking the earnest, kind aunties working there. Great to see that the authentic art of Xinjiang hand-pulled noodles is thriving in the heart of the highly...

坐了40分钟等来了一份皮开肉绽的锅贴，服务员理直气壮认为虽然忘了下单但她诚心要求换我不想吃的水饺但被我拒绝了，所以这锅贴这质量浪费了我40分钟不是他们的错，这服务态度在cheap eat中餐馆业界横向对比真都能算极品了。。。最近才得知原先的老板已经把这家店给卖了，所以真的没必要再来这家店了。。。 Let me put a warning to everyone, I used to like this restaurant, I did, but I probably will not go back ever again. I walked in around 8.40pm on a Monday (15 Jan 2018) and ordered right away the pan fried dumpling (lamb and carrots filling - my all time favourite). About 9pm i realized even people came after me had their orders served, so I checked with the customer service. They came back to me saying that they forgot to cook my order and asked me to change to steamed dumpling becoz it's quicker to make. I'm like, no, I came here just for pan fried dumpling. So I waited another 20 mins, and this is what I got (see photos), barely in shaped dumplings. The worst part is I can hear them talking about me not happy about the long waiting and not willing to change to steamed dumpling, behind the kitchen glass (they kinda have an open kitchen). Excuse me, I can hear you all and I'm not the one who forgot to cook the order and I'm sorry that I want to have pan fried dumpling not the steame dumpling which I don't want to eat but is a lot quicker to cook. Seriously, this resuturant is not worth visiting anymore now. They are ruining their long-built reputation by taking granted and thinking no matter what they do they'll still have customers come in, becoz the menu price is cheap for a city location. But expect below average food and let's be honest, even for the standard of Chinese restaurants, their customer service is just a joke, they think I waited 40 mins with unpleasant dish it's my own fault and they just talked about me like I'm...

Service: 4.5/5 stars lady was pretty helpful, willing to answer questions in detail about what's in dishes, etc. and actually relayed my requests for the noodles to be thicker and not cooked too soft! Amazing for Chinese service

Noodle with Stir-Fried Lamb Topping: 4/5 stars noodles were thicker and not too soft as I feared, but also not on the level of Chinese Noodle Restaurant's in bounciness or chew. Obviously not as pulled/high in gluten; a shame flavour was reminiscent of a less smoky fried lamb noodles, and was quite tasty. The vegetables (capsicum, celery, tomato, onion) were well-cooked and -presented, but the lamb pieces were disappointingly stringy; they were significantly fatty and hence unsatisfying.

Conclusion: I've visited several times and the customer service is good a surprising majority of the time, which really makes me want to support the restaurant, but ultimately the food comes first; and after having had what's truly good, I just have to admit that this place is a tier under. I'm surprised other reviews mentioned the dumplings, because when I had them they were less flavourful and more artificial in texture, while the noodles lacked the texture (in both stir-fried, and mixed with topping forms) -- every dish just seemed to lack something. The only truly great dish is the eggplant in special sauce, which is done better here than anywhere else. Otherwise I'd recommend Chinese Noodle Restaurant in Haymarket (similar name, yes!), especially for anything involving dough.

(Dishes in photos: Noodles mixed with lamb topping, and tomato & egg mixed...