When you are in Yunnan, there is definitely 1 dish you have to try and it is the Cross Bridge Vermicelli 过桥米线. This dish is a rice noodle soup with over a century of history and has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Kunming since 2008
The dish is served with a large bowl of boiling hot broth and soup while a layer of chicken fat is also used to insulate the soup and keep it warm for longer. The soup ingredients are separated and served on a cutting board or plate, and raw vegetables and lightly cooked meats are included. I chanced upon Yun Qiao Ke 云桥客 while walking around Lijiang Ancient Town and it is a popular chain throughout Yunnan
The shop is not very big with only a couple of tables on the first floor but I think there is a 2nd floor where more customers can be seated. The deco is straightforward with wooden tables and benches
They have a few different selections for the vermicelli sets; some with more meats and others with fewer ingredients. There are also other cooked side dishes which can be ordered and eaten with the main vermicelli
The food was displayed in a very aesthetic method with the ingredients all laid out on plates in a wooden bridge-like structure. Most of the ingredients were vegetables, herbs, flowers and mushrooms with only a very small amount of meat like thinly sliced chicken and fish
Together with the bridge of ingredients, the servers also brought over a hot stone pot filled with hot chicken soup where you can see a layer of oil. The rice noodles were also served in a separate bowl so you could decide on the amount of noodles you wished to consume. You can also add noodles and soup if the amount served is insufficient
While the ingredients were pretty to look at, there was really nothing much to look at once everything was added to the clay pot of noodles. The flowers do bring out nice spring colours like yellow and pink but it doesn’t really make it more appetising. The flavours of the noodles are very light with most of the flavours from the chicken broth itself. It is a very comforting bowl of noodles which is a good alternative to heavily flavoured dishes
We added 2 more dishes to whet the appetite which are the vinaigrette cucumber and fried potatoes with chilli powder. The 2 dishes were heavier on the palate, especially after eating the noodles soup but it was great dishes to whet the appetite
Overall, I like the overall presentation of the noodle soup and as one of the most famous dishes of Yunan, it is definitely something I want to try and am glad that I tried. It is something I would crave after heavy meals and if I wanted something more comforting
Baidu Map Address: https://j.map.baidu.com/4d/dhmh
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 