Green Bamboo Noodle House, in Fort Lee

[jhlurie]

It's just takeout Chinese, and thus not huge food news, but I've sampled this place a few times since they opened about 3 weeks ago, and they are quite good. Basically, it's a Chinatown-style noodle shop transfered to NJ, and tweaked for takeout, since this location is little more than a shack.

The King family, who run it, apparently also run a similar hole-in-the-wall operation in the Garment District, with the extremely memorable name "Noodle AA". I know this mostly from the postcard behind the register which says "Good luck, King family" and some copy of an award placard they've hung in the window for Noodle AA. The actual staff is a bit too busy to answer questions.

What makes this slightly different from the 10 million other crappy Chinese takeout places in Bergen County, is that it's distinctly Hong Kong style. The emphasis is on chicken broth based soups and noodle dishes (you get the broth as a side even with the straight noodle dishes). That same base broth (which is pretty good) is in practically everything--except for the vegetarian soups, which have a substitute vegetable broth. The noodles taste freshly made--if not obvious in the noodle soups it's definitely obvious when tasting the dumplings and wontons. I've only had a fraction of the menu thus far, but especially excellent are the Steamed meat dumplings, the Wonton/Lo Mein combo dish, and a fairly mountainous portion size of Honey Roast Pork.

Logistically, the location--Sharon Plaza, on the Fort Lee/Cliffside Park border--is a compromise. Saigon Gourmet, for years, did passably well there due to a slow build-up of loyal customers. It's too far from the center of Fort Lee to get the casual traveller, so it's limited to the neighborhood crowd, the people in the huge nearby apartment buildings, and the curious occasional shopper in Sharon Plaza. However, it's at least good enough that I'd recommend that anyone living within, or passing within a neighboring town consider a detour. After all, it's a bit less of a trip than detouring to the Garment district, or Chinatown, if you've got a killer craving for chinese noodle soup.

Green Bamboo Noodle House

795 Abbott Blvd.

Fort Lee, NJ 07024

201-886-7005

open 7 days a week

11:30am-10:30pm

delivery minimum $10

[Rosie]

Thanks for the info Jon. All food news is huge food news!

[jhlurie]

Well, despite the hole in the wall location, under a crappy TV repair place which probably hasn't had a customer in the past 20 years, this IS the same location where our friend KT (of Saigon Republic) made her living for years. And while these new folks aren't exactly competition for her (they are very definitely going for the Hong Kong style, whereas KT's stuff was always more varied), so far I've been pleasantly surprised. Noodle shops aren't that common around here--normally it's either the full blown thing like China 46, or it's the crappiest of take-outs--where the food is sugared, un-subtly spiced and gummed up for "American" palates.

[menton1]

This sounds quite good, we are often in that plaza to patronize Café Boulevard, a very nice unheralded restaurant.

BTW, wasn't it mentioned here that KT is also opening a Noodle Shop Restaurant? Where will it be and when it is opening?

[Jason Perlow]

This sounds quite good, we are often in that plaza to patronize Café Boulevard, a very nice unheralded restaurant. 

BTW, wasn't it mentioned here that KT is also opening a Noodle Shop Restaurant?  Where will it be and when it is opening?

Called Mo'Pho Noodle Company, It will be on Main Street in Fort Lee, near the corner of Palisade/Lemoine Ave. Its going to be in the spot an Itallian restaurant is now.

[jhlurie]

Although KT and these folks will both do delivery, and there will be some overlap in both menu and delivery area, I'm not very worried about KT, despite the headstart these Green Bamboo people will have. First of all, she's going to do a greater variety of soups. Secondly, she's going to have a considerable-sized seating area (her big challenge will be to get people to realize that there is a parking lot behind the place). Third, while Main street is a crypt in the middle of the day, it's packed on weekends.

These Green Bamboo guys are decent though. It doesn't really have to be an either/or thing.