California Superblog: Goodbye to Good Food...

Hello, friends! 

Confession time: I failed on this trip. 

See, whenever I go to California, I have certain goals that I want to achieve. 

- I need to go visit my old church, Chinese Baptist Church of Orange County (Done!)

- I need to sleep in later than I would if I was back in Omaha (Mostly done!)

All my other goals are food related. I need some good dim sum. I need some soon du bu (Korean soft tofu soup). I need some In-n-Out and Tommy's. I need my mom to buy me a Blizzard from DQ. I need some quality boba. All these things I ate and they were glorious. 

BUT, there was one spot I missed... 

Mandarin Noodle House has the best beef noodle soup in the world. I will fight anyone that says otherwise. The broth is simple but so full of flavor. The noodles are always cooked perfectly (I'm a fan of the homemade hand pulled noodles). The beef has a great ratio of lean to fat and is blessed with some sort of voodoo magic that allows it to keep its form while in the bowl but immediately fall apart in your mouth in a tender flavor bite that can only be described as "joy." Have I eaten many a bowl at Mandarin Noodle House? Yes. Have I sometimes order a second soup because the first one is so good? Also, yes. Did I finish the second soup as well and then have trouble staying awake on the drive home because I was so full of delicious soup? Yet again, yes. Was it worth it? Definitely, yes. 

Earlier this year, the Mandarin Noodle House suffered a fire. The owner said that a rebuild was unlikely and that the House was done for good. I never got to say goodbye... 

This isn't the first time that a restaurant I loved closed it's doors. It's actually happened fairly recently. Jingo's (aka Seasonings 63) in CoMO was my SPOT for a spicy beef noodle soup but hasn't been around in a bit. Just this past week, my parents had their last meal at Peking in Garden Grove before it closes for good. The best Reuben in Omaha was at Shwartz's Deli, which is no longer exists. These things happen, especially in the restaurant industry. Still, it's sad to see places that I grew to love close their doors. I'll miss the meals. I'll miss the feeling I had when I entered and definitely the feeling I had when I left. 

Now I need some soup... 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam