Xia Mian Guan 夏麵館 @ Sunway Pyramid

Established in the year of 1999, Xia Mian Guan（夏面舘）is a Shanghainese Restaurant that has built their name across the country through their famous handmade noodles, and being awarded as Shanghai Best Restaurant continuously for three years. Apart from that, Xia Mian Guan is among the very first restaurants in China which brought in the concept of healthy dining with no MSG, less oil and less seasoning.

This year, Xia Mian Guan landed in Malaysia, having their first flagship in Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall. The restaurant is tucked away at a quiet corner at Oasis Boulevard, tricky to locate but it definitely worth some search and walk to reach and get a taste of their delicious Shanghai noodles.

The entire restaurant is surprisingly spacious, classy with white and red coloured theme contrasting each other.  Oriental decorations and details are seen at all corners, highlighting the art and decor from the country with thousands years of history.

By looking at the name, our first impression for the place is: only noodles will be found on the menu. Flipping through the menu, we are impressed with the choices they offered. No doubt that noodles are the main focus for Xia Mian Guan, but there is also menu specific for ala-carte order.

Xia Signature Noodles Soup with Braised Meat Ball 豬骨湯獅子頭夏面 (RM20)

The bowl of noodles arrives in hearty portion, with handmade Xia noodles immersed in pipping-hot soup and topped over with meaty, giant braised meat ball. We like the cloudy white broth boiled using pork bone, leaving the soup relatively thick, gathering sweetness and essence of pork bone hence making every slurp of the smooth springy noodles so enjoyable.

Stewed Noodles with Minced Pork and Egg Pant with Teo Chew Sauce 潮醬肉碎茄子燜夏面 (RM16)

The noodles isn’t merely a simple toss with soy sauce, but is more complicated process where the noodles are first simmered with soy sauce, rice wine and sugar until all flavours are absorbed within, then dressed over with cubed egg plant and minced meat which are stir fried seperately. Flavourful with a touch of spiciness.

Crispy Bloated Fish (RM18)

Dory fish deep fried to golden brown, showered with a bed of sauce in savoury sweetness. Fish is crisp at the outside, soft and juicy inside. Sauce is always the winner here, great to go with a bowl of rice.

Deep Fried Chicken Cubes with Honey and Ginger 蜜汁姜芽雞 (RM26)

Awesome deep fried, tender pieces of chicken coated with sticky sauce that brings a flavoursome glaze that strikes a good balance between sweet and savoury, plus with a touch of ginger fragrance. In fact, we like the gravy prepared from honey and ginger sauce as it showcases an interesting contrasting flavour to the palate.

Crispy Beancurd skin 虎皮素鵝 (RM12/8 pieces)

Needle mushrroms, king oyster mushroom and shiitake mushroom stir fried with rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and then encase into beancurd skin, deep fried to golden brown. End result is rather inviting, especially when it is deep fried item. Taking a bite on this vegetarian friendly dish, crackling crispiness from beancurd reveals, followed by juicy, flavourful filling. Not bad in whole, just better if it could be less greasy.

Yin Yong Gai Lan with Chicken 二菘芥蘭 (RM20)

Finally a plate of green vegetables to sum up a healthier dining. It is Hong Kong Kai Lan made in two ways, where one part is made simple by only tossing with soy sauce and garnished with deep fried sliced onions. For the other part, kailan is thinly sliced and deep fried to get a crispy texture, light saltiness.