Atlanta: Gu's Kitchen

When I arrived to Gu's Kitchen, around 1:15 on a breezy Tuesday afternoon, I was hungry. I was starving. Famished. Having completed the 4 hour drive in record time, I was angry. Having encountered Atlanta traffic, where a 97 in a 55 is the norm, I was shell-shocked. But one thing that kept me going was the thought that, after placing an order at the well-groomed iPad register and taking a seat in a sleek room of 42, I would have my noodles.

I planned on the Chengdu Cold Noodles, which arrive to the table in some sort of chopstick jenga. I've studied photos of the dish like a monk over his illuminations. Yet it still boggles my mind as to how it;s constructed. Unfortunately, I got cold feet when faced with the menu. My companion stuck with her order of Dan Dan Noodles and Sweet and Spicy Pork Dumplings. Yet I realized that, with only 4 days in Hotlanta, I had to go big. Or I had to go home. I went for the Numbing Dry Fried Beef Noodles.
The woman up front looked frightened.
-"It's very, very spicy"
-"That's alright with me"
And indeed it was.

The service was fast.The guero who maintained our table kept us stocked on water and amenities. Noodles and dumplings arrived fast, and were only a tad off-temperature. Both had a similar base of fresh, beige noodles with the meat and toppings like cream on the cone. The dumplings were sweet, spicy, warm. But the noodles. Upon first bite, I felt transformed. The noodles were...WERE...

Good. Pretty damn good actually. Not outstanding, life-changing, or anything else. But very good. The noodles, especially if you haven't tucked into anything for a while, were filling. In a cruel twist of fate, the more you eat, the fuller you become. Yet, as you get deeper into the bowl, and the beef, cilantro, sauce, and oil become one, it gets tastier and tastier. In my carb-induced haze, I experienced some truly sublime bites. The Dan Dan Noodles were much the same. Unfortunately, the whole bowl did not match up. But it was good. Great, even. And sometimes, that's all you need.

OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10, Satisfying and delicious noodles and dumplings. Nothing more, nothing less.