Takeout stakeout: Eden Noodles

Dumplings in spicy sauce at Eden Noodles. Photo / Doug Sherring

IN:

Unless you want to wait in a queue on a cold Dominion Rd, ring ahead to order. They have a pretty sporadic Instagram account and no official website with a menu, so you really need to have visited to know what you want. They don't do Uber Eats. We visited around 11.30am, hoping to avoid the queues - no such luck. I've been coming to this tiny, scruffy noodle bar for years and in that time little has changed - a good thing. It still serves the best and cheapest Sichuan food in the city.

OUT:

Service is brisk and business-like. If you're taking away, you hang around the door until they call your name. Last year they opened a branch in Albany, which is bigger, neater and more user-friendly, however, I still prefer this one.

THE TAKEAWAY:

If you're a vegetarian this is probably not a great place to come. Meat is king here, pork especially - though chicken and beef also feature. After scouring the menu my friend found a noodle dish without meat ($11) - and there is a vegetarian hot-pot option and the perfectly named dish number 24, "sad cold noodles mixed with cucumber shreds", called that because the noodles are so spicy they'll make you cry. I went for my usual large (20-piece) handmade pork and chive dumplings in spicy and sour soup ($12). I once asked if I could have this extra spicy and the man behind the counter hesitated and double-checked he'd heard right and smiled as he rang up the order. It was fabulous but my mouth was numb for an hour afterwards - (the effect of the Sichuan peppercorn); these days I'm happy with hot and usually add a Chinese pita bread - filled with spiced beef ($5) or a cucumber salad.

Still the best Chinese dumplings in town? Hell yeah.

Eden Noodles, 105 Dominion Rd. Ph: (09) 630 1899
We paid $23 for two.