Handmade Noodles Featured At The Tai Ho

Tai Ho, 6312 N.E. Bothell Way, Seattle. Mandarin cuisine. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, closed Tuesday. Major credit cards. Beer and wine. Orders to go. 485-4020. --------------------------------------------------------------- -- KENMORE

Since the Tai Ho opened in 1981, little has changed. It took years before owners removed the plastic grapes that had been hung from the ceiling by former owner Don, "the Mad Italian." Other than the service - which can run at breakneck speeds - things move slowly. Prices have, of course, gone up, but only moderately. Value, along with quality, always has been maintained.

There's a strong thread of consistency that runs through the Tai Ho's menu and operation, and that thread is the noodle. It isn't like other noodles. It's the restaurant's signature strength and pride.

Tai Ho's noodles are made by hand, without machinery, the theory being that noodles made by machines taste like machines. Makes sense.

The technique - the art - is called shou-la-mien. The noodle is hand pulled. The dough - simple flour, water and soda - is rolled, pulled to double arm's length, folded, twisted and slammed until literally hundreds of the fine, bitey, tenacious little strands appear. They are then immediately plopped into boiling water.

The preparer uses no knives, scissors or other implements of construction, only his hands. You can hear the noodles being prepared for each dish - it sounds as if the kitchen help is tossing each other into the walls - and diners are welcome to step into the kitchen and watch the magic. It's well worth the price of admission.

Maybe the best noodle dish to begin with is the Tai Ho noodles ($4.80), which is plenty to start four diners. A smooth, warm chicken broth filled with shrimp, squid, and vegetables is ladled over the fresh noodles at the table. If the squid bothers you, it can be left out. The soup allows the bright flavor of the noodles to shine through. Soybean noodles ($4.80) uses a much heavier sauce, almost a soy-and-onion gravy. A little goes a long way. But it is rich, and has no tentacles. The chow meins also feature the noodle.

Strong as the noodle is, however, the Tai's reputation doesn't hang on it alone. This probably was the first restaurant in this part of the world to offer pot stickers. These cabbage-and-meat dumplings are fat and juicy with a fine pan bottom crunch. Stickers and noodles easily could make a meal.

But there are 100 or so items to choose from, from the common to the exotic and all worth at least one try. The shark fin soup ($5.95, $8.95 and $12.95) is a slightly gelatinous broth of seafood and vegetables, most notably the black mushroom, sharply cut with slivers of garlic and ginger. The black mushroom also appears nicely with pork ($6.95), large tender slices of each dressed with green onion, garlic and cayenne.

Seafood dishes at seasonal prices include whole fish braised or steamed, shrimp, scallops and prawns. Tai Ho and Mongolian beef, both spicy dishes at $6.95, are popular choices as are Snow White, Princess and Kung Pao chicken. The Kung Pao can be especially spicy, so be forwarned.

Almost everything here is in the $4 to $8 range and the portions are as generous as they are flavorful. You can't leave without something for a late-night snack or tomorrow's lunch.

But it's the noodle that should lead you in. Follow it.

Restaurant reviews are a regular Wednesday feature of the Seattle Times Snohomish County section. Reviewers visit restaurants unannounced and pay in full for all their meals. When they interview members of the restaurant management and staff, they do so only after the meals and services have been appraised.