Dan Dan Mein

Mike's post below got my mouth watering over the thought of good dan dan noodles. Having had a friend take me to his family's favorite noodle house in Monterey Park, I haven't found anything comparable here in SF (I have not looked very hard, I admit). Any thoughts or recommendations?? Thanks in advance.

Few things are as fine as a bowl of first-rate Chinese noodles. But you will not find them at San Tong, which is perhaps the worst restaurant on Irving Street.

Went there at 11:00 this morning - wish I had read this before I went. Very forgettable meal.

Hmm maybe i should have actually tried out the place but a lot of friends at one time did mention good things about the place. Maybe just as limster said the place might have gone downhill. I am sorry you had a terrible meal there, next time i will base my suggestions on my personal opinions rather than what my friends recommended.

No problem at all. Would rather try and fail than not try at all. LOL.

Actually, I've had worse at one or two other places on Irving. *chuckle*

Haven't been there in over a year, but when I last went I thought the dumplings were pretty good as far as the neighborhood was concerned.

Gone downhill?

You know, I don't have the slightest idea what "dan dan noodles" are, except they could be something cooked in a restaurant called "Dan Dan's". What are you looking for?

Maybe you're more familiar with the name, tan tan noodles.

Here's a link to a description and a few recommendations. Not updated lately but perhaps still of value.

Link: http://www.best.com/~quong/tantan.html

Thanks Melanie - was hoping to find some restaurants in the SF area that were serving, but any knowledge helps.

Sorry, that link was mostly for Jim H's benefit so that he would know what we were talking about.

Dan dan mien are not on my radar screen. It's been several years since the last time I tried the dish at DPD and I notice it's no longer on the menu there.

You might try the noodle places recommended in the other thread. Here's a link to San Tung's menu which Mike recommended. My computer doesn't resolve the Chinese characters, so I can't tell whether DDM are on this list but the peanut noodles sounds promising.

Link: http://www.222.to/santungsf/menu2.asp...

Thanks Melanie - will check it out next week.

I'd feel a whole lot better if someone could confirm that the place has what you're lookin for or maybe you could call ahead. Or maybe you'd like to try some really good Zha2 Jiang4 Mian4. (g)

Hope someone else chimes in with some other picks.

Just to confirm from the San Tung website menu:
The Noodles with Peanut Sauce is Dan Dan Noodles in Chinese.

I have Chinese character support in my browser. I didn't see DDM on the menu you linked to.

The 5th Noodle dish down says "San Xien Dan Dan Mien" in Chinese on the left side, corresponding to "Noodles with Peanut Sauce" on the right side.

Thanks to both of you for helping us out here. I actually don't know the characters for dan dan or have any reference menus handy. I would have just looked for two characters the same plus mein. (g)

You are absolutely right. I was looking for the dan dan as the first two characters. Also, I was expecting to see the simplified ones, since that's how I saw it once before. I don't really read Chinese anyway, I just play someone who does on TV.

I'm not sure I would recognize the simplified version if I saw it.
How do you play someone who reads Chinese on TV?

I don't really play someone on TV. Just an expression. I read Japanese, and I've trained myself to recognize some Chinese menu characters.

Well, San Tung wasn't the place for good dan dan mein. LOL. Went to their original address on Irving near 22nd, and had a sign on the door that said they moved to the new location (Irving near 11th). They should have just closed it completely. Ordered pork dunplings and Dan Dan Mein. The pork filling in the dumplings was pretty good - had a nice spice, but the wrappers were bland and watery. Their version of Dan Dan Mein belongs in a Chinese-Italian fusion restaurant. Noodles were precooked and served cold. The sauce at first glance looked promising, but on further probing revealed mushrooms, peas, scallops and shrimp. Not at all what I was looking for (looking for more of a street vendor style dish). Anyways, ended up only eating a little as it just didn't work. Oh well, my search continues.

Steven, is there any way that you could post a brief description of the dandan noodles you had in Monterey Park and the name and location of the restaurant on the Los Angeles Chowhound message board? I'm dying for some.

The place my friend took me to is Noodle King on Valley near Garfield (next to Cathay Bank).

These are made just like the street vendor style noodles. Thick peanutty-sauce with spicy undertone - noodles were cooked perfectly and right then.

Bless you. I'm all over it.