(This post is for you, Jenny!)

I used to think that Lam’s Kitchen had the best noodles in town. Located on the corner of Maunakea and N. Pauahi, their noodles are the bomb – freshly made, silky soft and delightful in soup, with gravy topping, or great stir fried.

However, Pal Wandaful is always game for good noodles and I told her about MaybeItsJenny’s recommendation of a true hole-in-the-wall a few blocks away from there that had really good Beef Brisket Lo Mein – Kukui Cafe. Jenny is a true foodie, as is my Pal Wandaful, and so we went and enjoyed their Beef Brisket Lo Mein along with an order of moist and perfectly cooked salt and pepper chicken wings. Really good – and we didn’t have to worry about dishes or cups being dirty because everything was on paper or plastic plates and cups.

Since we were Downtown we stopped in to see the new and much smaller Robyn Buntin Gallery to ask about a new noodle maker they told us about before – Byong byong, or something like that. I lucked out and found an illegal parking space right in front of Robyn’s place and asked what and where the noodle people were and lo and behold – there were the noodle people – right behind my illegally parked car loading up their truck for the Blaisdell Farmers Market!

Talk about food fate! Wandaful and I HAD to check them out and boy are we glad we did. Their name is Youpo Noodles Hawaii and people follow them on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youponoodleshi/?hl=en. They make Biang Biang Mein (the sound of the noodles stretching).

We had their Cumin Lamb with cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($17), Duck with mustard greens, cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($17), and their Mushroom Tofu with cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($15).

All of them were SOOOOO good! My favorite was the Mushroom Tofu which was quite spicy – but then, I do like spicy. The sauce is indescribable – so I won’t try to describe it. Okay, maybe I will try. Savory, rich, fragrant, sexy. The noodles were unbelievable. Soft yet chewy, thick and frilly, long and continuous. The sauce, toppings and noodles were like a symphony. A masterpiece that has to be eaten fresh.

Youpo Noodles are at Blaisdell on Wednesday afternoons, Kailua Farmers market on Thursday mornings, and the super busy Kakaako Farmers market on Saturday mornings. We going again next Wednesday, right, Wandaful?

Here is a first time iMovie I did with my iphone and posted it on YouTube showing how it is made. That was a rather excruciating process that was also kind of surprisingly easy!

Update: I went again to the Wednesday Farmer’s Market today because I didn’t get to go with Wandaful last week. She cooked up her leftovers with more veggies such as bok choy, which made it less spicy. According to her, it was still good a few days later. Today I ordered the mushroom tofu again – and found out from 2 ladies that were thinking about ordering – that the mushroom tofu had 4 chili peppers – so it is the hottest. Yup, it was, but oh so ono! And like Wandaful, I will save the leftovers (instead of letting my son-in-law eat the rest) and stir fry it another day with veggies. Or, I wonder how it would be in broth like saimin. Maybe next time I’ll see if I can just order plain noodles for my little grandson to try. He will probably love the thick chewy-ness. Such a treat!