A good bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles depends on a richly unctuous broth, tender shreds of beef, a fine balance of aromatic spices and herbs and chewy, hand-pulled noodles. Unfortunately, Let’s Noodle doesn’t quite deliver on its star dish.

The spicy beef noodle soup (RMB36) here is tasty and filling, but far from perfect. Much of the flavor of the broth seemed to come post-cooking from the hot chili oil and five-spice powder. This heavy handed seasoning detracts from the beefiness of the stock and draws attention to its thinness. Each spoonful is enriched with oil instead of marrow or rendered beef fat.

The noodles also had the spring cooked out of them. Fresh bits of coriander and green vegetable fight to brighten the soup to no avail, though we did enjoy the flavor and texture of the beef brisket. In fact, each scoop of broth that we drank after chewing on a piece of meat revealed how good this bowl could have been. If we ordered these noodles in a much cheaper local Lanzhou lamian shop, we wouldn’t have been offended. But when you charge triple those prices, you give your broth the loving attention it deserves.

Starters such as marinated egg (RMB8) and marinated tofu (RMB12) are unremarkable, though we were swayed by the house chicken with green onion oil sauce (RMB26)–it has a freshness that stands up to the oil. Let’s Noodle has a few lunch sets in the RMB30-40 range which are better bargains, and though this trip was disappointing, we will return for the three cup chicken (RMB38) our table neighbors were happily munching on.

DETAILS

What: Let’s Noodle

Where: 1127 Changle Lu 长乐路1127号

Tel: 5403-8925