Good news travels fast. The Da Tang Chinese Noodle House, on Middle Street in Galway city, had only been open a short time when I got the first letters about the noodles and the dumplings which are the attraction in this little place.
"I'm a sucker for dumplings and his are yumola!" wrote one friend. "We ate the dumplings with a hot dip . . . they were delicious," wrote another. "We also had a prawn noodle dish which was served with a spicy ginger sauce . . . it was delicious." Two "deliciouses" and one "yumola" is enough prompting for anyone to get in the car and head west to the city of the tribes.
Catherine O'Brien and her husband Du Han-Tuo opened the Da Tang Chinese Noodle House in the middle of last year, introducing the flavours of north and west China to the city. Having spent two years in China, she points out that, north of the Yangtze River, and in the area surrounding the Yellow River, noodles are part of daily life, for there wheat dishes predominate over rice dishes. "It's Chinese fast food, if you like, but it's very good fast food, and we thought there would be an audience for it here in Galway."
She imported a machine for making the noodles, and began by selling them in the Galway Saturday market before opening the Da Tang. It is as simple a place as you can get. The room originally had a counter at the end, behind which the cooking took place, but most of the cooking is now done downstairs with only the noodle pot remaining among the tables.
It resembles a canteen, and this is something I find reassuring in ethnic restaurants and noodle houses, as it generally signals that prices will be low, and that the focus of the place is on the food, rather than the shine from the mirrored and lacquered walls and the health of the goldfish in the bowl.
And indeed the simplicity of the Da Tang creates the perfect ambience for bringing the kids for a zingy, zappy bowl of noodles, or lingering and chatting over lunch, as a bunch of academics were doing the day I was there, or dining in the evening, with a bottle of wine and an selection of dishes from the menu.
Each day, the selection of noodle, stewed and sauteed dishes cooked from the master menu are chalked on the blackboard, and as you deliberate over the noodles with pork and hot pickled mustard, or the noodles with fried tofu, chicken and vegetables, or the noodles with pork in yellow bean sauce, or the lamb or pork dumplings, or the samosas, a plate of mixed pickled vegetables is placed in front of you.
This comprises an assortment of shredded carrot, cucumber, bean sprouts, celery, Chinese greens and cabbage, which was deliciously tart and refreshing - a perfect pick-me-up for the mouth.
I decided, finally, on the noodles with pork and hot pickled mustard, and was rewarded with a big bowl, with pale white noodles surrounded by a flavoursome broth with pieces of pork on the top.
It was handsome to look at, and very hot to eat. The dish had an intensity reminiscent of the shooting heat of Japanese wasabi mustard. But if it was hot, it wasn't incendiary, and after a few mouthfuls you quickly accommodate to the clean, sharp, citrus flavours of the chilli, and the dish offered flavours which were both refreshing and pleasing. The slight element of fattiness in the stock was also an indicator of true cooking, and the small pieces of pork were delightful.
It was a joyful dish, and the splendid, slithery difficulty posed by the noodles and the chopsticks is another element of the fun (although you will be offered a spoon if you need one). This is very real cooking, very delicately and confidently delivered by Du Han-Tuo, chef, as well as joint proprieter. As a friend pointed out to me, "No one can do what he does", and to see Du Han-Tuo at work at his noodle pot, dunking the noodles into the big cooking pot and composing the plates of dumplings, is to see a true ethnic cook at work.
The Da Tang is maybe not the best dating restaurant in the country. The reason is simple: it seems impossible not to splash your shirt with noodle stock as you negotiate your way through the dish. But, if you are either more dextrous than me or just as unconcerned about your appearance, then do bear in mind that for the Chinese, noodles have always carried the significance of longevity, and it is considered very important for everyone to have a bowl of noodles on their birthday. Not only that, but everyone who shares the noodles with the celebrant is also blessed by longevity.
That seems to me to be just one more good reason to visit the Da Tang.
Da Tang Noodle House, 2 Middle Street, Galway tel: 091- 561443 Open noon to 10 p.m. Mon-Sat.