THE BEST: Chinese Noodles

[barawidan]

Who makes the best dry chow fun in the city?

The best chow fun wih gravy?

best pan-fried noodles?

best noodle soup?

the best dan dan nooldes?

thanks,

B

[Pan]

Best Dan Dan Noodles would be at Spicy & Tasty in Flushing. If Flushing isn't convenient, you can get an excellent rendition at Grand Sichuan's Midtown, Chelsea, or East Village branches.

There are many different types of noodle soups. Do you want Chao Zhou? (Consider Bo Ky and Chao Chou in Chinatown, Chao Zhou in Flushing.) Hong Kong style? (Consider New York Noodletown.) Shanghainese? (Consider Yeah Shanghai.)

Are you interested in Lo Mein? I haven't been for a while but always really liked the Ginger-Scallion Lo Mein at New York Noodletown.

Congee Village isn't a noodle soup place but has some excellent noodle dishes, such as Sliced Beef with Black Bean Sauce Chow Fun Noodles. They also have excellent genuine-Chinese Chow Mein, of which I recommend Beef Chow Mein with Chinese Veg.

Please let us know what you find in your quest. I love noodles and noodle soups.

[weinoo]

And, on this same topic, is anyone doing genuine hand-pulled type noodles?

[FatTony]

Can I revive this thread? Any more good noodle recommendations?

And does anyone have a good source for fresh rice noodles?

[Pumpkin Lover]

Here's a place for hand-pulled noodles: Eastern Noodles

[FatTony]

Can I revive this thread? Any more good noodle recommendations?

And does anyone have a good source for fresh rice noodles?

←

Thanks Pumpkin Lover. I actually meant a grocery store type source to buy noodles, but Eastern sounds interesting. May have to check that out!

[weinoo]

Eastern's noodles are really good - wonderful texture and the soup's are pretty tasty, too - they're definitely making some stock back there.

I've only had the hand-pulled noodles - though others are offered as well.

Tiny, tiny place and a real dump as well - so if you don't like that vibe, get 'em to go.

[weinoo]

And does anyone have a good source for fresh rice noodles?

←

There was a great place for fresh rice noodles on the n/e corner of grand and bowery, but I don't know if she's there anymore.

[Blondie]

Eastern's noodles are really good - wonderful texture and the soup's are pretty tasty, too - they're definitely making some stock back there. 

I've only had the hand-pulled noodles - though others are offered as well.

Tiny, tiny place and a real dump as well - so if you don't like that vibe, get 'em to go.

←

I agree on all counts. Fabulous noodles (I've only had the hand-pulled as well), good soup, charmless atmosphere, but worth the trip.

[Pan]

[...]I actually meant a grocery store type source to buy noodles[...]

←

Try any big Chinese supermarket, like A&C in Flushing or any branch of the Hong Kong Supermarket, but many smaller stores also have a variety of noodles for sale.

[eatpie]

There's also a place on E B'way, just east of Bowery, on the north side of the square - that makes hand pulled noodle soup. Little sliver of a place -

think the exact address is #9 E B'Way but I don't recall an english sign.

They make a good Stewed Beef Noodle Soup and for an extra .50 a runny fried egg tops it off nicely.

[weinoo]

Checked today and the rice noodle lady is still on the nw corner of Grand & Bowery.

However, Eastern Noodles is closing next Thursday, and I couldn't really tell if they're opening somewhere else, since I speak no Chinese.

[Emily_R]

In my opinion, hands down, the best pan fried noodles I've ever had are at Sammys on 6th Ave right around 10th street. They call them their lo mein noodles, but they are not like any lo mein noodles I've had anywhere else... Handmade, almost 1/4 inch thick, toothsome, charred, and delicious. I'm drooling now....

Emily

[Gastro888]

New South Wind chachangteng (teahouse) off Division and Catherine on the right hand side has the best hai mei cheong fun - lightly oiled rice noodle sheets studded with bits of stir-fried seasoned ground pork, dried shrimp and scallions then rolled into a fat sausage . So good with oyster sauce, hoisin sauce or hot sauce on top. Best eaten fresh as they do not keep well overnight.

[YummyInMyTummy]

I dont know if i can say its the best, but i really like the chow fun with gravy at Sweet & Tart. Im not sure if they actually put it on the menu though, because I just order it in chinese

[Gastro888]

Do you mean the beef chow fun? How do you order it in Chinese? Cantonese or Mandarin?

[Chris Amirault]

We had terrific hand-pulled beef noodles at Super Taste Restaurant (26 N Eldridge at Canal) this weekend. They are, apparently, a Muslim Lanzhou specialty; I'd never heard of them or the place until a character in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum's website recommended it. Dirt cheap, too: very good steamed dumplings, and two bowls of soup for $11 + tip.

[weinoo]

Super Taste is one of the 3 hand-pulled and/or peeled noodle restaurants in a one-square block area...just across the street, downstairs at 27 Eldridge is the place that does both hand pulled and "peel" noodles (which are quickly shaved off a block of dough into the boiling water/broth), and around the corner at 28 Forsythe is the third - I believe called Eastern Noodles. All slightly different, same prices and delicious for their specialty. Eastern Noodels was previously at 27 Eldridge St. till they moved around the corner.

[ned]

We are really fond of an odd sort of noodle that I'm not even sure if can rightly be called a noodle at Shanghai Cafe on Mott near Canal. The are discs cut on the bias that I think are rice based. Three cheers for Shanghai Cafe.

[weinoo]

Yeah, they may even be called rice cakes - and they're deliciously on the menu in various preparations at Momofuku Noodle Bar as well!

[Gastro888]

Those are rice cakes and they're similar to the rice cakes (ddok, forgive my spelling) that Koreans use. Super yummy! But is a rice cake like a noodle or does it deserve its own thread?

I'm surprised no one's talked about yee-fu (E-fu) mein. Braised with lobsters, yum!

[weinoo]

It seems like Manhattan will soon be overrun with hand-pulled noodle places - especially Lanzhou style hand-pulled noodles, which may well be the definitive ones.

There are the 3 "originals," including Super Taste and Great Eastern Noodles (on Eldridge St. and Chrystie St.); there are at least a few on East Broadway, including Lan Zhou Handmade Noodles at #144, and then there's the newish Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, on Doyers St.

There's even a place on Madison St., which sells hand-pulled noodles by the pound, which you take home to cook, and which I wrote about on Tasty Travails.

Well, add one more to the fray - not opened yet, but soon to be, as can be seen from this sign...it's on Division St., btw.

Hand-pulled noodles - the new pizza? A great addition to our dining choices? Which is your fave?

[BryanZ]

I was at Supertaste this weekend. Dumplings were pretty good, fish balls rather weak. The soup was fine, but I was expecting better. The noodles are nice a bouncy but the broth was just fine. Some of the toppings could've been better too. Not bad, but I'm not rushing back either.

[gastrodamus]

There are the 3 "originals," including Super Taste and Great Eastern Noodles (on Eldridge St. and Chrystie St.); there are at least a few on East Broadway, including Lan Zhou Handmade Noodles at #144, and then there's the newish Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, on Doyers St.

←

i'm a fan of both tasty hand pulled noodles and super taste, though i don't particularly love the beef slices in the hot & spicy soup. unfortunately you can't really see the noodle man in action in either locations, though at tasty hand pulled, you can hear him slapping the dough; not as obscene as it sounds.

if you're in the mood for chow mein, both congee locations have good seafood versions. kings seafood (39 e. broadway, 2nd fl) does it well also.

xiao la jiao (little pepper) in flushing has the best dan dan noodles IMO. i also second pan's reco for grand sichuan, but the lex ave branch isn't as good as the others. szechuan gourmet is another goto.

not to switch countries, but if you haven't tried the korean kalguksu (literally knife noodles), arirang opened a new location in ktown. the hand-made dough is cut with a knife to form the noodles. you can also get it w/sujebi, which is hand-torn dough. the thick broth has a nice umami flavor w/o using too much, if any, MSG. well, at least i didn't tweak afterwards. a single order is enough for two. the restaurant is kind of tough to find so look for this sign from the sidewalk. the menu is translated so no need to be intimidated.

arirang - 32 w 32nd, 3rd fl.

[weinoo]

Since we should stay focused on Chinese noodles in this topic (though we can certainly start another about Korean noodles, if need be), I've always found the differences in the hand-pulled noodle shops to be quite subtle. That is, most of the soups and certainly the toppings are fairly similar...but in the noodles themselves, there's quite a difference from one shop to the next.

I prefer the thicker and chewier noodles at Lan Zhou on East Broadway to the thinner style like we had at Tasty Hand-Pulled this past weekend. And that is part of what's cool about checking out all these places - they each have their own noodle-making person (s), and each one makes the noodles slightly differently - the recipes may be a bit different as well.

I've always found the soup and whatever toppings come with it as vehicles to help get the noodles to mouth.

In any case, there seems to be no shortage of noodles available for tasting.