I felt excited about going to the Chinese Noodle Restaurant as soon as a friend and I decided on the lunch spot. Despite knowing the possibility of receiving less-than-stellar service based on previous visits, my anticipation still built over several days because I was certain the food would be delicious.

Beef Brisket and Sui Gow Noodle Soup, my order.

Are you feeling a little bit of anticipation, too?

Sui gow is a Chinese-style dumpling.

The underside of the sui gow, with visible tray marks. (A restaurant cook was making the dumplings a few tables behind us. After spooning the raw filling into the beige-colored wrappers, she would place the dumplings onto a grid-patterned tray.)

I scooped up the dumpling with a Chinese soup spoon, and as you can see, it fit but the wrapper overflowed. The filling was minced pork, Chinese mushrooms, and shrimp.

Tender beef brisket.

Egg noodles.

My friend’s bowl of Won Ton Noodle Soup.

The won tons were made of minced pork and chopped shrimp.

The noodles were garnished with yellow chives.

The service and food were as expected. Not caring to wait for a table to be cleared before we sat down, my friend and I chose one covered with empty soup bowls and half-filled water glasses. Then we waited…and waited…for menus and the table to be cleared. When the waitress finally came to our table, she poured water into the glasses! We explained that they belonged to the previous diners. She did apologize profusely for the oversight, which half-surprised me. So we ordered and discussed a return visit and all was good.