Proprietor Edwin Zoe can thank his mother for Zoe Ma Ma's success: Zoe persuaded her to run the kitchen at his original Boulder restaurant, where she built a menu with recipes from her native Taiwan and Zoe's father's native Shandong. The resulting items include a heady Taiwanese beef noodle soup, one of that country's most famous and revered dishes; zha jiang mian, or chewy noodles topped with stewed pork and a generous tuft of julienned carrots and cucumbers; and the CPR, a five-spice-laced stew of chicken and potatoes served over rice. The dishes were such a hit in Boulder that Zoe opened a second Zoe Ma Ma by Union Station, which quickly became a hit among office warriors looking for a unique, quick lunch. Keep an eye out for the special lion's-head meatballs, served only on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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