I made it out to Yanzi Noodle for lunch today. It was a bit more than a hole-in-the-wall, but only a bit. The hostess was quite excited by the food she was serving, and repeatedly claimed that they were one of only two lousifen restaraunts in the United States. She talked plenty about the "special broth" but played down the snail side of things. The only mention I heard was when another customer asked.
She advised getting the milder version of the dish, as it was "tastier." I took her advice, and found no need to resort to the jars of spicy sauce (hot oil?) on the table.
I heeded Lizhou's admonition and did not seek snails in my bowl. I did give in to the temptation to have shrimp added. Honestly, though, the shrimp did not add much to the dish. They definitely were an "add on."
The broth was nicely savory, with an opening hit of what I believe was star anise, followed by pepper heat. The lettuce was a bit unexpected (it will be hard to persuade me that it was cabbage, and not Romaine!) but was very enjoyable. The peanuts were quite enjoyable also, along with what I suspect was wood ear mushroom (the dark noodley looking bits on the right side fo the bowl. I have a harder time identifying the almost crunchy looking pieces at the top of the bowl, but I wonder if they might have been fried tofu skin. By the time I ate them, there was no crunch present.
One of my favorite parts of the dish was the fermented bamboo. Almost pickle-like, it was a nice contrast to the rich heat of the rest of the dish. I had a couple of bites, and expected to find more, but unfortunately did not. The waitress/hostess talked up the "special vinegar" in the pot on the table, and I found that also provided some nice contrast after sprinkling a bit on top of the broth. I wonder if the "special vinegar" might have been the liquid from the fermented bamboo. It had lots of unidentifiable white bits floating around the bottom of the pot.
I probably won't drive 30 minutes to have this again, but if it were 10 minutes away, I would probably become a regular. It was a nice meal, served by people enthusiastic about the food they were offering. If you happen to be in Northern Virginia, I would certainly recommend stopping in to give it a try!