Magic Taste House in Beeston located on the High Road is one of several sit down Chinese Restaurants in the area.  I had googled ‘authentic chinese restaurants in Beeston’ and it was one of three that popped up on  the top of the search page. The others being Nosh and Lucky, both of which I have also checked out.

They seem to be most popular for their buffet although the reality is that it is really an all you can eat offer where you order the dishes that you want instead of scooping it from rows of dishes like actual buffet restaurants.

I skipped straight past that as an option as I was looking for something less westernised, something spicy and something in a bowl. It was basically going to be noodles, you know that, I know that, and I have no shame in seeking them out once more.

Noodles

OK so I know that it does seem that I am a bit obsessed with noodles at the moment, but the truth is that they are so variable that its is not just the same dish each time. I had a fair few options to pick from, the ‘Five Spice Sliced Beef with Soup Noodles‘ sounded good just because it was another variation on the beef noodles that I hadn’t tried yet. The  ‘Chongqing Style Noodles’ also was very tempting I just knew that was going to be one spicy and fiery bowlful.

I then toyed with the ‘Hot and Sour Soup Noodles’ as I really do love Hot and Sour soup and I was kind of thinking that this might just be the same soup only with noodles in it. If that was the case then I was onto  a winner

In the end though I was easily drawn to the LanZhou Hand-pulled Noodles now even though in my heart I half-suspected that even though it said hand-pulled on the menu, that probably didn’t mean ‘hand pulled fresh to order’ like they do at Lanzhou Beef Noodles on Market Street. I still wanted to see what they were like somewhere else. These were probably going to be the ‘ones out of packet’ I have seen those in the local Chinese supermarkets where they come in packets like spaghetti and if that was the case well then I could test them out and maybe then try them at home.

As I ordered I loved that I got the usual whispered query ‘it is a bit erm spicy, ok?’ followed by the uncertain smile when I say yes. This was followed up with the ‘will you be ok with chopsticks’ question which was nicer than leaving someone to struggle un-gainfully if the truth is no. Now I am reasonably adept with the old wooden sticks, but I will be honest and say that if there is a nice fork available and a spoon well then I can twist those noodles up just like from a bowl of pasta and reduce the level of spillage on the shirt.  I had turned up wearing a cream shirt and was hoping to leave still clean 🙂

LanZhou Hand-pulled Noodles

The bowl arrived laden with copious slices of the braised beef sirloin. It did look a bit thin and dry on first glance, but it was actually quite tasty. I won’t say that it was juicy and it was still probably not the best cuts of meat, but then again that is the beauty of Chinese food using up whatever you have to make a tasty and filling meal. Some people I know would probably moan, but I doubt many of them would be dragging their asses across town to Beeston for a bowl of £6 noodles.

These noodles were slippery little buggers this time, they were as I suspected very much like strands of spaghetti and I really had to use my best chopstick skills as I grabbed and  scooped them upwards into my mouth so I could  slurp them quickly into my mouth. I was getting pretty adept at this, using the chinese spoon to catch spillage and to avoid splashback. Part way through the lady who had questioned my need for more familiar eating utensils and whether I could handle spice strolled by and smiled happily when she saw the gusto with which I was attacking the bowl of food.

Traditionally or perhaps I mean more typically I have seen Lanzhou soup served with either the chilli paste on the side or in the bowl but not mixed in, here at Magic Taste House the actual soup was already full of red chilli spice, I am not sure if they had mixed it in or if that was how it came from a base soup mix. As I ate I did not think that it was that hot, but maybe that was the speed at which I was working, at the end when I had finished the bowl my lips or rather the flesh around them was tingling with a warming spice burn and my brow was in need of a good mop where I had the chilli sweats 🙂

Grilled Dumplings

I probably did not need to order a plate of dumplings as well, but I did anyway as I also really love them.  These ones at Magic Taste House were almost too crispy but they just managed to stay this side of the burnt fence.  It was actually quite a good plan in the end to have these as I had something less spicy to bite on as I was working my way through those noodles. Not sure that I would race to order these ones again though, I would probably go for the steamed ones again if I came back

The Magic Taste Chinese Restaurant is located at 132-134 High Road in Beeston.

The people inside were very friendly and it was all quite relaxed. Most diners were having the unlimited buffet ‘Eat as much as you like’ for about £11-12 each. I think  you need at least 2 people to participate

I quite like the welcome at Magic Taste House and I quite enjoyed the noodles in my soup. I probably would come back again and would be looking to try the Hot and Sour Soup Noodles instead. Although I might just take a gamble and bring a friend to Eat and much we liked. I would try and make my mate eat the more unusual stuff though 🙂