BY JONATHAN SHIKES, @COLOBEERMAN

Hi Stuffed readers,

One of Denver's most unusual events takes place Friday and Saturday when the Saigon Azteca Night Market returns to the Westwood neighborhood. The Mexican-Vietnamese mashup includes food, culture, music, and vendors. Want to test your eating skills? There is a birria ramen-eating contest on Friday featuring food from Ninja Ramen and Kahlos Restaurant, followed by a Bo Kho Tamal-eating contest on Saturday with food from Ton Yumz and Cultura Chocolate. Get details here.

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Yuan Wonton chef serving first-class meals for United Airlines

TIP POOL

What restaurant would you drive across town at rush hour to eat at?

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EAT THIS

Noodles by Nina

I know that we recently featured another dish from Noodles by Nina in this newsletter, but I just couldn't help myself because the Mongolia Beef Sliced Noodle Stir-Fry ($18) is just that good. Opened in December, Noodles by Nina (originally called Magic Noodle House) is part of a small but absolutely fantastic trend in metro Denver of restaurants using hand-pulling techniques to make their noodles. But even better, this particular dish is made with wide, rough-cut noodles, which help them hold more sauce and give them a chewy, rich feel and a comforting texture.

I've always been a wide-noodle guy, whether it's Italian pappardelle, Chinese biang biang or the sen yai used in Thai dishes like pad kee mao. Wide noodles can be harder to wind around a chopstick or a fork, and much more awkward to slurp than thin, round ramen-style noodles, but they offer delights I simply can't ignore. The Mongolia dish also includes onion, chile pepper and big chunks of well-flavored beef. Noodles by Nina has at least two other menu items made with wide noodles that I have tried, a tofu stir-fry and a signature tomato and egg knife-sliced plate -- but it's the beef dish I keep thinking about.

1400 E. 17th Ave., Denver; noodlesbyninadenver.com