A Heartwarming Taste of Qinghai, A Bu Noodles at Hopson One

While the new (and wealthy) kid WF Central has opened in Wangfujing to much fanfare, people in the east aren't just rotting at home. Hopson One, a brand-new shopping mall opened at the end of 2017, with 200,000sqm of shiny new retail space to the east of Jiulongshan subway station, a stop away from heavily populated Shuangjing.

Okay, checking out a new shopping mall, how hard could it be? When we faced the layout of this six-floor mall, we panicked – there are around 20 food and beverage stores on each floor, over 70 eateries in the B2, let alone another 62 restaurants crammed in an area called 21st Block in the basement. It looked like we were going to have to lock ourselves into this mall and start to eat non-stop day and night for months to try them all out.

How could each of the places have business in such a mall? Looking at the busy crowds dashing into the mall, and disappearing into its vast depths made us realize. The daily footfall volume could reach 60,000 on weekdays, and almost 80,000 on weekends, reported eeo.com.

After following the crowds and getting lost in the maze-like B1, we stopped in front of popular eatery A Bu Noodles, which had eager patrons queuing outside and only opened 20 days ago. It’s easy to make a decision here, given that they only serve yak noodle soup and dry noodles with sauce (RMB 28), alongside side dishes such as thick-cut yak, niangpi, pickled radish, and chuan'r.

After we sat down and ordered through WeChat, the noodles were served shockingly fast – in less than three minutes. The broth of the noodle soup (RMB 25) was incredibly rich and deep in flavor thanks to the yak bones and marrow being bowled for eight hours every day prior to serving. Similarly, the slices of yak are boiled until they are tender. We especially liked the dry noodles with sauce (RMB 28), which were covered with minced yak sauce. The noodles in both noodles were al dente which added extra texture to the meal, and is likely quite different from your average bowl of Lanzhou lamian. 

If the noodles are not enough, you could go for chuan'r. The yak chuan'r (RMB 18) came with huge, tender, and tasty chunks of yak chunks. The mutton chuan'r (RMB 22 for 10) come a little spicier, with a decent layer of chili powder covering the meat. To soothe your belly, try the savory milk tea (RMB 16), which comes served in a bowl and is similar to that found in Tibet, a mixture of Qinghai local brick tea and milk. The tea was so good in fact that we saw one keen customer in the queue secretly pouring it into her plastic Starbucks cup. We recognized and understood her excitement. 

All the dishes we ordered were served within seven minutes, that's because “people who work nearby don’t have much time for lunch, so we are trying to serve as fast as possible; normally we can cater to two rounds of customers during lunch time,” described Shan, the owner of A Bu. When we come through this part of town, and in a rush, we know exactly where to go for a solid and heartwarming bowl of noodles.

A Bu Noodles
Daily 11am-10pm. B1-D90-94, Hopson One, 21 Xidawang Lu, Chaoyang District
阿巭面道: 朝阳区西大望路21号合生汇B1-D90-94

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang