Twisted Noodle Bar

I wanted to try Twisted Noodle Bar ever since it had opened, despite not having much of an idea about what the food was like. All I knew was that it looked interesting, promising. Then I read a description about them online which made me think I really needed to try this place out. And when I finally did, I regretted not making the time to go sooner.

Twisted Noodle Bar serves Yunnan food which an smh article described as "a complex mix of the fresh lightness of Guangdong and the powerhouse heat of Sichuan, with a good dose of spice and tang". It's an accurate description (I think) and if Twisted Noodle Bar is anything to go by, then I think I like Yunnan food!

My first visit was for lunch and having read through the menu a few times we saw that there were lots of small side dishes, noodle and rice dishes on offer. We decided to try the lunchtime special which gets you any two side dishes with a bowl of rice or Yunnan noodle for only $8.50. Bargain! So we ordered two sets of the lunchtime special and were therefore able to choose four of the side dishes - settling on Marinated Beef (normally $4.20), Baby Octopus (normally $4.80), Pig Blood with Chives (normally $4.20) and Sausages (normally $4.20). I'd had a craving for sausages so just couldn't help myself! They tasted like, well, regular sausages. Which is exactly what I wanted. Call if comfort food I guess. The pigs blood with chives was nice and pretty much what you'd expect if you're a regular consumer of pigs blood jelly. Baby octopus had a teeny bit of spice and was served cold. It was also super tender, probably from marinating, which made it easy to eat. But the best side dish of all was the marinated beef which was also served cold and had loads of flavour. I can definitely see myself ordering it again, I could see myself eating this while drinking chinese wine, cup in one hand, fan in the other, composing quatrains about the moon...

...but I digress. Back to 2011 and back to Sydney. The Yunnan Rice Noodles are served plain which makes them a good match with the side dishes. They've got a good bitey texture too which is an important aspect of noodle assessment in my opinion. All washed down with a glass of Grapefruit Juice with Honey ($3.80) which is served in one of those currently fashionable drinking jars, the flavour was so light that it bordered on absent but I actually liked it as it was refreshing to drink after eating the more heavily flavoured side dishes.

Grapefruit juice with Honey, Yunnan rice noodles, side dishes.

Sausages, Marinated Beef (and possibly the worst food photo EVER taken by my phone), Baby Octopus, Pig blood with Chives.

On the second visit I resist the urge to order marinated beef again as I wanted to try more of the menu. This time I chose a side dish of Soft Pork Bone ($4.80). Oh, what can I say - tender, juicy, melt in your mouth pork with a good dose of flavour. It's a decent sized serve for a side dish and I think I could just eat this with a bowl of plain rice and be more than satisfied.

But there's more tastiness to come as we wanted to try the Yunnan Noodles to see how the spicy/sour soup measured up. Sheung Wan Noodle ($10.80 I think) is described as beef and radish with soup noodle. You can choose the level of sour and spice and we opted for normal. It had a good kick and was delicious, the radish sponges up lots of flavour and the beef is tender (but not _as_ tender as the Soft Pork Bone). One thing to note, it's a BIG serving so if you're ordering one of the noodle soups make sure you're hungry! The only other item we ordered was a glass of Mango Ice Tea ($3.50) served once again in a drinking jar (I think I'm going to need some of these cute drinking jars for my own home one day). This drink had a lot more flavour that the grapefruit one, it wasn't too sweet so again made for a good accompaniment to the food. By the end we were so full but very satisfied. So full that I won't be coming back for a short while as I'm still digesting all those dishes, but when I do I'll be sure to try some more items on the menu.

Soft Pork Bone and Mango Ice Tea in a drinking jar.

Sheung Wan noodles - check out all the flavour and check out the tasty twisted noodles!

I happened to walk through the area on Valentines Day last month, and saw quite a few couples having dinner inside. One couple looked particularly sweet and seemed to be enjoying the food almost as much as each other's company - a match made in heaven, just like Yunnan rice noodles and side dishes!

What: Twisted Noodle Bar
Where: Shop 44/1 Dixon St, Sydney ph: (02) 9267 2327, open Monday to Sunday 11am to 10pm
How much: Side dishes range from $3.80 to $4.80, noodles around the $11 mark. The $8.50 lunch special is available 11am - 3pm daily and definitely worth trying.
Need to know: They do takeaway. And more interestingly, they do gift vouchers!!!