There’s one thing I will always believe in, and that’s the kindness of strangers. After speaking to Brad, who runs Bib Noodle bar with his wife, Qifen for just a few short encounters, he was kind enough to offer me and my pals an exclusive dining experience to experiment with their new menu! Here’s how it went.
Upon arriving at the very quiet FarGo Village at 6.30pm, the 6 of us sat in our couples outdoors, eagerly awaiting what Brad and Qifen were about to surprise us with. They’d promised a three-course set menu (which actually consisted of 6 separate dishes) and we’d brought our appetites and high spirits.
As an appetiser, we had some freshly prepared (slightly spicy and super tasty) cucumber salad to snack on as we waited for the first course of a generous helping of pork dumplings with dipping sauce. Brad made sure we were comfortable and topped up with complementary green tea, and we all chatted away the evening.
The second courses were brought out together – the first was a dry fried beef with cumin, which reminded me of spicy beef jerky (but, 1,000,000 x better). It was a fantastic complementary dish to the sweet and sour aubergine that accompanied it. I’d never tried aubergine before (can you believe it!) but this was cooked to perfection – sweet and soft to the point of melting in your mouth.
Time for the final course!
Two dishes again for the final course – BIB’s signature “Biang Biang” Pork Noodles and Braised Belly Pork on the side. You may notice there’s a lot of pork in this – there are alternatives (vegetable and tofu) but we’re a bunch of meat fanatics – and we were far from disappointed! The pork literally melted in your mouth, while the Biang Biang Noodles (named for the sound they make when being stretched and hit on the table) were soft and chewy and had such incredible flavours. Everything was cooked to perfection and we all sat in relative quiet as we gobbled up every last bit!
This was all very much a bespoke service for us as we celebrated my partner’s 30th, so I want to thank Brad and Qifen for this special treatment! I hope they considered it as much of a success as we did and they make it a regular experience which you can book and then try for yourself.
If you would like to sample some of the dishes above, BIB noodle bar are open and selling freshly made biang biang noodles, dumplings and much more to take away and eat in. Check out their Facebook page for more!
