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Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles in Chinatown, New York City
10/4/11 - There's Ping's, there's Jing Fong, there's Peking Duck House, there's Xian Famous Foods - there's so many Chinese eateries to choose from in Manhattan's Chinatown District, with all of the above spots so bustling with people, it's kinda ironic that we'd end-up at a tiny-little store, on a tiny-little side-road, in a tiny-little dining room, with only two other tables filled and a handful of take-out orders being executed our entire time there. Aaah, but don't think that this was some random occurance while touristing through the maze of streets in this particular ethnic enclave. This was a calculated response to our three New York guidebooks and many hours of internet searches, mostly from Yelp, who I trust more than the other consumer-written sites out there, especially regarding Asian cuisine.
When 5 stars is virtually impossible on Yelp with any substantial amount of reviews and 4 1/2 very rare, a solid 4-star rating with over 300 reviews, which Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles has generated, is definitely a good sign. Of course, "Professional" reviews like those in newspapers, television, and other established media do have their place and are important, but it's always good to balance them out with free, regular-person-generated, newer media sources as well. And that's all I'll say about the two very different animals, at least for today!
We pretty much covered most of Chinatown on this particular morning, criss-crossing through the Bowery, Mott, Pell, Mulberry, and many more as well as the main thoroughfare of Canal St. How does it compare to Hawaii's Chinatown? Well, it doesn't. Not at all. I mean, as far as density of people on a typical morning on Hotel or S. King St., there's not much difference, but New York's much larger sibling doesn't ebb once early afternoon arrives - it stays just as packed all day and well into the night, and covers a much, much huger area. So much huger that Hawaii can't even hope to compare!
$6 for a dozen crabs? Super cheap!
Sidewalk encroachement!
Typical street corner in Chinatown, New York
People from all over Manhattan come to this street for super-cheap haircuts
As stated, Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles is located on a tiny alley-of-a-street called Doyer, just off the Bowery. We arrived at their opening of 10:30am and found the place entirely empty - perfect!
Here's a shot of the very humble entrance:
Inside, it's just as humble as the outside, with no more than 6-7 small tables total. And I guess it doesn't matter whether it's Hawaii, New York, or wherever - in typical hole-in-the-wall fashion, several main tables were being used as a work area! I love it!
As Kumi and I conducted our search of the one and only meal we had time for in Chinatown, we didn't want the typical route of dim sum. I mean, no knockin' the steamed goodies, but somehow, I just didn't think they would be as dramatically different as the best spots here in the islands. Now, I know someone's gonna write and say I'm wrong, but it's just that I thought a bigger difference would be found in a noodle house, seeing that there's not too many Chinese restaurants in Hawaii that make their own noodles. In the end, I do believe Tasty was the right choice, albeit with a few reservations. Perhaps the biggest reservation had to do with our wait, which lasted an incredible 45 minutes, even though we were the first ones in and it wasn't crowded at all! Our server was very kind and we did get our appetizer dish in the meantime, but with both of us eager to continue our trek through Chinatown, it wasn't a very pleasant wait. At least there was a bit of entertainment - every so often, there was a loud thud, which we initially thought was a kitchen misshap. After 3 or 4 of them, however, we knew it was the sound of dough being beaten, pulled, and whipped into submission:
Placation was much stronger during our 45 minute wait, however, with this Japanese cucumber dish:
Absolutely spectacular. So simple, it was, but so delicious. If there is one particular difference between Chinese restaurants in New York vs. Hawaii, it's the fact that there is a huge Central Asian, and even Middle Eastern, influence on Chinese foods here in New York (as there are in huge swaths of China), exhibited by the use of many curry-like spices and the widespread use of lamb as a meat choice. This particular marinade seemed to be a base of fish sauce and vinegar, and was dusted with chili powder and a hint of other spices, the combination of which I've never experienced here in Hawaii. The cucumbers themselves were crisp and rough-cut, which seemed to allow greater penetration of the tasty sauce.
As for the noodles, here's perhaps the most popular way of enjoying them, in a bowl of soup:
First, the broth - very different, very deep in exotic spices, and more complex than your typical Chinese noodle soup. At the same time, when it came to salty-savoriness, it was also a bit light. There was a decent amount of mouth-watering duck underneath as well as a good deal of green onion, while a container of Chinese parsley sitting on our table also helped.
But what of the noodles?
Even more spectacular! Ok, ok - with each noodle dish being less than $6.50, you gotta overlook things like small sections, or sets of strands, bunching together because the noodles weren't completely cut through or not separated while cooking. It's all part of the fashionable imperfections that come with a house-made noodle. Of course, while another common occurance - irregular sizes of each noodle - are perfectly acceptable and even desirable at a high-end noodle house, I don't think bunching would be. Still, the taste and general quality of this particular noodle was so good, I'd say forget about the little things - they were delicious! Very stretchy, very chewy, and obviously as fresh as can be. And at these prices, you could eat like this every day!
I was glad they also utilized these same noodles in a dry, pan-fried version, as well:
A stir-fry of chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, onion, carrot, and baby greens was good enough, but they only served to complement the real draw, noodles:
As in a choice between a good bowl of saimin or a plate of fried saimin, it's always a tough decision, with the wifey vouching for her soup version and myself probably favoring the dry, as is often the case.
Yes, I do wish we could have visited a dim sum spot, and even checked out more noodle houses as well, but alas, we only had so many meals to cover so much ground! Unlike other destinations we have visited, it seems food was much more pertinent a matter here in New York - I mean, there's such a huge variety of ethnicities here that it's not really an American big-city thing, but an international thing! There's a reason New York is one of the food capitals of the world!
Next time, an ethnic food type I'm quite sure we don't have in Hawaii!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers St. in Chinatown, Manhattan
212-791-1817
10:30am-10:30pm daily
