Description
This noodle shop in one of the inevitable 99 Ranch shopping centers is an attractive place, done up inside with flagstones and modern Chinese art like a $2 million living room in Scottsdale. Though Earthen is a bit more expensive than its competitors - a bowl of noodles pushes $7, simple stir-fries average $10 - it follows the formula exactly: noodles, steamed dumplings, pot stickers, chachiang mein. Earthen is the place that always has a line, and as you are finally led through the restaurant toward your table, past families and dating couples and dudes stoking up before the game, you may notice that every single table has ordered essentially the same dishes: scallion pancakes, cold Shandong-style chicken that sings arias in the key of raw garlic, noodles (more dutiful than delicious), and pot stickers, leavened by the occasional order of spicy pork or stir-fried ong choy. Recommended dishes: house chicken, green-onion pancakes, pork pot stickers, fish dumplings.
