This is a hole-in-a-corner shop that has a perpetual queue of customers, and is convenient to pop by during sightseeing at the Wen Shu Monastery. It is well-known to tourists but locals love it too. They serve cold mungbean noodles dressed in spicy, garlicky, vinegary sauce, as well as dumplings in chilli oil and dry-tossed mala-slicked noodles. All pretty good stuff.
The main draw though, is "Tian Shui Mian", literally sweet water noodles. high. I know from past experience that any freshly pulled wheat noodles (or for that matter, wheat pancakes) in China will be awesome, but this was a new high. Thick, sweet strands of noodles cooked until there is only a pinhole-sized speck of dough in the very centre that remains uncooked, so it is at peak chewy elasticity. Tossed in an addictive velvety sauce that is mildly spicy, a little tingly, mostly very sweet and beany, with a nutty kick from a shower of finely ground peanuts. This was love at first bite. We were glad to have our own portions instead of sharing. It's like our meehoon-kuih, but thicker, sweeter, more chewy, all the while trying to get as much of the delicious sauce to adhere. The more we chewed, the sweeter it got; as we ate, the spice got us sweating too, shiok!
More information from this page. Just don't miss it if you are ever in Chengdu. We saw variations of this snack at many other little outlets, but this shop is one of the most popular, and the queue is not too crazy, we got a seat within 5 minutes. You can watch the assembly of the noodles through a window, just try not to flinch when you see the guy adding that generous spoonful of MSG into the bowl....
39 Wen Shu Yuan Jie
T: +86 28 8191 0576