Niu Yi Zui — Restaurant in Houston

--- NK Score = 7.0/10 ---

8/10 = Furniture/Ambience 7/10 = Food Quality 7/10 = Service 7/10 = Price (Other Ratings N/A) =( BASIC INFO )=

Small Restaurant Average Food Variety: Chinese (Pulled Noodles, Etc) Prices: Average ( $9.00 - $10.00 ) = Atmosphere =

Casual interior, dim lighting, and a very spacious environment. The ambience here is pretty calm, it's often quiet and roomy as there isn't many customers, even during Lunch/Dinner. Overall a pretty nice interior, there's even an area where you can watch them make your food. = Food Quality =

--- Oil Splash Noodle Beef ($10.00): 4/5 --- Interesting flat noodles with an exceptional amount of flavor, it really tastes better than it looks, and it looks great! The noodles are super chewy, soft, and incredibly fragrant with the fresh oily scent. Not to mention, the dry beef was also incredibly good, it's super soft, touch of chewy, and had a light, savory flavor. Definitely my favorite dish here, and it'd be the only dish I get if I come here, because it's better than the rest.

--- Bean Sauce Noodle ($10.00): 3/5 --- First thing comes to mind... expensive. Why? Well, it's a rather simple bowl of hand pulled noodles with a few basic ingredients, and that itself shouldn't sum up to $10. Other than that, the dish itself was rather plain and... original. I say original because this is what you'd probably expect from a dish named "Bean Sauce Noodle," an incredibly light and simple dish without too much flavor, but that isn't always a good thing. The problem with this dish is it's lack of an "interesting" flavor, and without that, it's just too basic for the average food adventurer. Before I finish, I'd like to point out that nothing I said suggests that this was an awful dish, but more importantly the fact that it's lacking a fundamental aspect that most people desire in their food.

--- JiuYe Noodle ($9.00): 1/5 --- Oh my jello brains... what is this ridiculously salty and tongue rupturing soup!!? There was literally no flavor or taste in this dish, besides the excessive killer sodium flavor, it was so bad I could feel my mouth splitting apart while drinking this! I absolutely must believe that there was some mistake while preparing this bowl of noodle soup, specifically this one exact bowl that I had, not every other persons, but this one. It was just so horrible to the point where if you were blind folded, you'd think you were drinking a gallon of salt. = Price / Service =

Prices are somewhat more expensive than the other Chinese restaurants nearby.

Service is okay, nothing out of the ordinary. Miscellaneous (Other): Okay Restroom Left of H-Mart

Signed NK (October 2017) Images Below By...

Hand-pulled noodles are my jam. It's so difficult to find hand-pulled noodles where I live, so I don't really have expectations to find these noodles when I'm traveling. So color me surprised when I was Yelping and found Niu Yi Zui Lamen.

This restaurant is located inside a plaza of primarily Asian stores, including an H Mart. All the tables are wooden, and it is very clean and airy inside. There's plenty of seating whether you're coming by yourself or with a group of 20.

The menu isn't very expansive, but what you need to order here is the noodles. The noodles are freshly pulled onsite according to your order. You can choose from 8 different types of noodle sizes that range from very thin to very thick. At $9, the noodles come with beef, daikon, cilantro, and leek. You can add extra noodles for $3. It's quite the steal! There are some other menu options such as braised beef or lamb noodles, Chinese hamburger (roujiamou), and cold dishes like preserved egg or tofu.

I ordered the erkuan noodles, and I was in noodle heaven. There is a substantial amount of food in the bowl, and I was really full before I slurped my last few noodles.

Service was really quick and friendly. Highly recommend Niu Yi Zui Lamen if you're in the...

This place is located on Bellaire in a strip mall in Chinatown. It's not the most obvious of choices or easiest to find. However, I can assure you that it is indeed worth the trip. There is an open window to the kitchen where you view your noodles being hand made before your eyes!

It has a nice interior. The menu is not in English so be prepared for that. But there are pictures of the different noodles which vary in degree of width from smallest to largest.

Here's what to order: Dry Hot Oil Noodle in a large thickness (Erkuan) with Beef if you like meat (pictured). The meat is served cold for all the dishes and you add it in.

I would not get the soup versions. Two colleges with me and myself were not impressed. It is bland. Also, there isn't an extensive drink menu. Their hot tea is literally just a Lipton tea bag.

The portions are very large and no one was able to finish their meal. Prices are very reasonable; about $8-12/person....