What luck! Already behind the permanently heaving Szechuan eatery Car Bon in Ixelles, Yadan Zheng and Lingyuan Wei are reaching for the chopsticks stars with Alley Mian: a vast restaurant-cum-noodle-making theater decked out in raw concrete, light wood tables and greenery dangling from the ceiling. Take a seat and watch in awe as the lāmiàn spectacle unfolds: wheat noodles pulled longer than the Great Wall of China, slapped and stretched across the stainless steel worktop, before plunging headfirst into cavernous bowls of steaming beef broth. Toppings come gloriously stacked – braised bone-in ribeye with pak choi and bamboo shoots; boiled sliced beef with daikon; or pickled vegetables with tofu. Prefer to stay splash-free? Go dry with the wider dàndàn noodles, naked apart from a slick of chili oil, scallion oil, or sweet soy sauce, and just as delectably chewy all the same. And don’t skip the delicious (and spicy) tofu skin salad, or the Taiwanese-style shaved ice sweetened with milk and red beans. Yum! · Gwen Dalle

FEELING THIRSTY? Homemade iced teas (jasmine-lemon or milky green tea with tapioca pearls, €5.50 each) or hot versions in lychee, strawberry or grape (same price).

PRICE: Appetizers €6 to €8.80, noodles €9.90 to €21.80, desserts €7 to €8.80.