Maizuo Noodle and Crepe
Maizuo Noodle and Crepe is a restaurant specializing in bowls of hand-pulled noodles and mung bean crepes.
Maizuo, which translates to "wheat-made" in Mandarin, takes its name after its wheat noodles, which are prepared in the traditional northern Chinese way: with a simple mixture of flour, water, and salt.
The front window will give you an up-close glimpse of the chef kneading, twirling, and stretching the noodle dough on the counter.
Noodles ordered in soup can be customized in seven different shapes, from pencil-thin to belt-wide.
The braised beef noodle soup ($14.99) is one of their most popular items, with flavourful broth and tender chunks of beef brisket, bok choy, and slices of pickled radish.
But the standout feature at Maizuo are the crepes, which are made with yellow mung bean instead of egg.
A mung bean mixture is poured onto a round griddle, just like you would with a basic egg mix, and then folded with your choice of six different fillings like BBQ pork, mushrooms and cheese, or beef.
At first glance, it looks like a regular crepe, but skips out on that eggy flavour with something earthier, but just as light.
They're absolutely massive. The lamb crepe ($13.99) is delicious, if you love this gamey meat cooked with lots of cumin.
Aside from soup noodles, there are other noodle options like a spicy Shanxi gravy noodle ($14.99). It comes with beef slices, a fried egg, bean sprouts, bok choy, and a dusting of nuts and chilli flakes.
If you like it spicy, this one's a good option. The noodles are also given a hot flash of oil at the end of cooking, to liven up the flavour.
From the flaming-hot wok are four different chow-meins to choose from: beef, chicken, veggie, or seafood.
The latter is $14.99 and comes with calamari rings, squid, shrimp, onions, broccoli, and cabbage.
Maizuo also specializes in northern Chinese-style skewers, though their offering of yellow mung bean crepes is definitely what sets them apart.
Hector Vasquez