Le Mien on Somerset West is the most discussed restaurant in Ottawa among the city's most serious food people, and the conversation is always the same: the hand-pulled Lanzhou noodles are the best bowl of noodles in Ottawa by a distance that makes the comparison feel unfair. Mark Warburton, whose food writing is among the most rigorous Ottawa has produced, named it his #1 restaurant in the city overall — not his favourite noodle shop, his favourite restaurant.
The noodles are pulled to order from a single dough that has been developed and rested with care. The pulling itself — the repeated stretching and folding that produces a noodle with the specific elasticity and chew that Lanzhou noodles require — is visible from the dining room, and watching it is part of understanding what you're about to eat. The beef broth is clear, deeply flavoured, and seasoned with a restraint that lets the noodle texture remain the point rather than getting buried under condiments. The red braised pork option adds a second layer of flavour from a braise that has been going for hours.
The room is simple and the prices are honest — a full bowl under $18 for cooking that reflects this level of craft is the kind of thing that makes Ottawa's food scene interesting when it's not trying to be anything other than what it is.
