Beef Brisket Noodle Soup and More at Nosh in Beeston

Nosh is an authentic Chinese restaurant in Beeston serving up Szechuan, Hunan, and North Eastern styles of food. It is not your typical Westernised Chinese restaurant that you will find everywhere, this place is serving a more rustic, somewhat more honest, and I find somewhat more delicious style of Chinese Food. You have to go and try it!

It is not that easy to find, so I took a picture to guide you, the main entrance is just a door way opening out onto High Road on the pedestrianised section. You then walk down a narrow corridor that opens out into a courtyard within which lies the actual restaurant itself.

When I visited it was half full of young Chinese and local Families, tables were filled with dishes.

I was peering away trying to spot stuff I wanted to try. It was all looking pretty good so far

Lets check this out

Noodles

I was, as I always seem to be, in the mood for noodles and more specifically noodles in soup. That was lucky as they were offering a fair selection of options.

It didn’t take me long to pick I saw what I was after straight away.

“One bowl of Noodles with Stewed Beef Brisket in Soup please”

Noodles with Stewed Beef Brisket in Soup

I ordered the “Noodles with Stewed Beef in Soup” and that is exactly what I got, a perfect literal translation of the dish for once. This is one seriously good bowl of food, it was as if someone had just tipped the entire contents of their beef casserole into a bowl of fresh noodles added a few bits of green and passed it over to me.

I know that there was probably a bit more to the preparation than that, but this really is such a humble bowl of food and yet so excellent it deserves a greater exaltation and level of praise. The Beef brisket itself was plentiful, maybe I mean bountiful, it was thick, soft, tender and delicious. I really liked that they have left the fat on the diced cuts as that just added more flavour and unctuous texture to the bite. The chunks are big enough and easy enough to fish out with the chopsticks as well which is always and added bonus when trying to take on bowls like this.

The noodles were great as well, they are made fresh and you could tell, they had that soft silky texture that I love, slipping easily into my mouth as I was sucking them up greedily from the stock. I don’t think it was a pretty sight as I was grabbing whatever I could hold with the chopsticks before leaning in for a big old slurp. I made the sensible decision to wear black just in case of soup splashback.

The stock itself seemed pretty simple, packed with beef flavour, perhaps a touch of 5 spice? it was one of the richest and tastiest I have found in Nottingham thus far. I really could imagine the beef bones bubbling away in a pot releasing and developing flavour, then being ladled onto my freshly cooked noodles in that bowl.

The other flavours and bites were coming from ginger and green onion that had been mixed into the stock, there was a fair amount of wilted green leafed Chinese cabbage in there as well all adding crunch to the experience.

This was an amazing bowl of food, filling? yep I was stuffed, but in a really good way. It felt heartening, it felt healthy and I left feeling refreshed and satiated.

What is more this was only £6!

Fried Pork Dumplings

I also have a bit of a penchant for ‘a dumpling’ or in this case I guess really ‘a potsticker’ so I also ordered a plate filled with fried pork and mixed green. These were tasty enough but perhaps crisped for just a moment too long in the pan as they had almost become a bit burnt on the bottom where they had stuck to the pan. I liked the filling and I was happy enough dipping it into my bowl of black Chinese vinegar and garlic. I know these don’t look perfect but they were still pretty good and I would chance these again when I go back to Nosh, and trust me I will be coming back!

Menu Stuff

I was very intrigued to see the section of Stewed Dishes of Northeast Style of the menu. This looks to be right in my wheel house and is probably going to be on the list of things to try next time, I already have my eye on the “Stewed Baby Chicken & Tea Tree Mushroom”

Other Menu Sections I took a fancy too

The Vegetable section which also seems to include quite a lot of meat was offering up a fair number of dishes that I want to try as well.

The Mapo Tofu is always one of my go to favourites, there is something about the way that fiery red chilli in the sauce numbs your mouth, it is a perfect foil for the soft white chunks of tofu and keeps bringing you back for more pain and joy.

I also really want a plate of the ‘Ants climbing Trees’ which is basically strands of noodles coated with minced pork that clings onto the noodle as you scoop it from the plate. Lovely stuff.

I really like Nosh in Beeston, it brought back some happy food memories and gave me some most tasty and delicious food. I loved that it was quiet, humble, down to earth and had no frills, pomp or ceremony.

This is a place that you can come and just enjoy your food and not have to get dressed up all fancy and just feel at ease.

I will be coming back, I have to, I have the scent of the good stuff in my mind and the memory of that soup is still nagging away in my thoughts calling me to return!