We were hot on the trail of some Serbian hamburgers when we happened across this little item: Mr. Shi's Noodles. Looks like Beijing's OG dumplings king, Mr. Shi, has finally settled on a stronger direction for his little expansion across the way there from his original restaurant in Baochao Hutong. Here he is offering up another staple of Chinese cuisine: noodles. Hmmm. Maybe he's been eying up that Baochao Noodle House place right across from him and noticed their big, successful-looking expansion on Gulou Dong Dajie. Maybe this is him throwing down the gauntlet with this one. It's a deadly game of cat, mouse, dumplings, and noodles. The purveyor of "Beijing's Best Dumplings", Mr. Shi is pretty much a household name with expats in Beijing, appreciated for his very Western-friendly take on a traditional Chinese item. Actually, it probably goes beyond "Western-friendly" -- the menus are in English, English-language graffiti adorns the walls, the dumplings themselves are heavy in Western-conscious ingredients (read: lots of beef), and even the ayis working there belt out, from time to time, loud and friendly HELLOHELLOHELLO's to the overwhelmingly foreign clientele dropping in and out of the place. Basically, it's dumplings for crackers. And Mr. Shi's been really successful at it, no doubt. The place is always packed. For two reasons, I think: 1) Damn, is it ever a great place to take your visiting parents; and 2) The food is pretty excellent. Dude does some pretty great dumplings. As sometimes strange and probably overpriced as they may be. I've heard his reputation amongst Chinese diners is more ambivalent. The common criticism that I've heard is that he's way overpriced because Western people don't know any better. And that's not even addressing his overtly Western-oriented ingredients -- beef, cheese, even chocolate show up in his dumplings. With that in mind, we got a hold of a honest-to-god Chinese person, a for real one -- a real live, living, breathing Chinese person -- and went and tried Mr. Shi's noodles at Mr. Shi's Noodles. If you haven't had the chance to stick your head in the place, Mr. Shi's Noodles looks like this. It's two small rooms, with the back room a private table seating about 8 or so if you squeeze in. Like the main restaurant, the walls are covered in the international signatures and flags of it's guests, coming in, as they do, from far-flung and exotic lands. It's like a Lonely Planet web-forum exploded on the place. Obviously, the citizenry of certain countries feel they need to make their mark a little more emphatically than others... Anyway, the menu: That's it! Huh. Just one page and only six, very traditional bowls available. And the prices are 20rmb-25rmb -- no higher than your average corner noodle restaurant. No higher than, say, that other noodles place right across the road. It's pretty much the opposite of what you would expect if you've seen the menu at Mr. Shi's Dumplings, which is something like over 50 varieties of dumplings on offer, with some prices up around 100rmb. Here's the Beef Noodle Soup: Right on, man. Delicious. Really hits the spot, especially with the cold weather. It's a hearty bowl, with tons of mostly fat-free chunks of beef and a soothing broth. Noodles might have been a little soft, and maybe the portion was a little smaller than the norm, but other than that, this is a straight-up good bowl of beef noodles. Here's the Shaanxi 'Youpu' Noodles: A more complex and spicy number. It's also mixed with this "heated oil", which adds a fair amount of oomph to it. Pretty invigorating. Also great for winter. Really fresh. Again, portions are smaller though. In addition to the noodles, they've got Mr. Shi's Dumplings menu in there as well, so if you want to add on extra stuff, it's coming from there. For drinks, here's the beer menu: And here's the teas: Not much more to say. High stakes noodles gaming going on in Baochao. As it stands now, what little there is on the menu is being done right. One thing Mr. Shi's is good at, besides being like a horse whisperer for what white people are looking for in Chinese food, is using some decent ingredients. Apart from his, again, Western-friendly policy of "No MSG or chicken flavoring", you never get the impressions that his restaurant(s) skimp on ingredients quality. It's safe. And still cheap. It's definitely a dependable option for a lunch or a light dinner. The verdict from my Chinese dining partner: Bu cuo. *** Mr Shi's Noodles is at 81 Baochao Hutong. They're open daily from 9am to 10pm.