Junzi Kitchen 君子食堂哥大店 Columbia University, New York NY｜ Healthy Authentic Chinese — Restaurant in New York

This restaurant knows what it is doing. I will admit I didn't give it much thought when it first opened but it has been expanding and I was stuck in the rain. I figure why not. Sometimes life has a funny way of working out.

Junzi is respectful of traditional flavors but also does a great job of adding a modern flare to the menu. It's approachable for those unfamiliar with the flavors. Their choices are noodles or bings which are similar to wraps.

I opted for noodles during this visit, furu chicken with a side of extra beef shank. It's like guacamole, worth the extra charge. The chicken was shredded and pretty flavorful. It was a touch dry but with the sauces, it wasn't too bad. The sesame sauce wasn't too overwhelming. I prefer a stronger sesame taste but I love sesame. It's creamy but not too saucy, just enough to coat each strand of noodle. There are several choices for noodles. Rice noodles was the one that came with the order but I might try the knife cut noodles. It might be better to hold up against the sauce and have a nicer chew. The rice noodles were less springy. Get all the veggies that are offered. They add freshness and a crunchy texture to the dish. They are also just so simple but good. The flavors of the veggies themselves have a moment to shine.

Now about those beef shank, these were spot on. They were so tender but not overcooked. They still had a nice beefiness but a nice touch of savory and a just a very hint of sweet, so subtle but so well balanced.

The chili paste should definitely be added to the noodles. It's not just simply an addition of heat but there is smokiness to it. It's crispy which adds another texture to the noodles. So you will get creaminess from the sauce, crunchy from the veggies and crispy bits from the chili paste/oil.

My order of noodles were such a delight and I would happily come back even when I am not stuck in the rain and Uber is surging. The service is also so friendly. They are friendly and so patient as I decided what I wanted. Thanks for being a ray of sunshine when it was...

Junzi Kitchen exceeds my expectations. They say that they serve Asian food with a twist, that sounded weird to me, but I still went. When you walk inside, you notice how nice, and modern the decor is! Let's see what they have! You walk up to the large counter (where you order) and you notice that they have a lot of stuff, what should I have? What is really unique about Junzi Kitchen is that you can customize your noodles or wrap to fit your personal taste, I find that really nice. You are next in line. The employee behind the counter looks at you, she or he says "Pick the type of noodle you want" or something like that. You keep moving along, you pick your noodle, your meat, your sauce, your vegetables, and then there is also sauce at the end of the counter. Once you pick those, 🔎you find a table. You will probably find a table, if you do not, you can take your noodles out, because you have plastic wrapped around your bowl of noodles. Junzi Kitchen is inexpensive.

I RECOMMEND:

I recommend having the chili sauce, it makes the noodles taste so good!

I recommend getting one of the soda's for a drink, they taste...

June 29, 2021 Junzi Kitchen was delish... however ... there was a few downsides. First and foremost there were no drinks to choose from that could be drank in full cups. They had canned drink and juice boxes. In order to drink the juice box I had to poke a hole at the top and drizzle it over a cup of ice in a sample cup. Wow...There were no chips that could have been interesting to indulge in that were different interpretations of Lays. Also I asked about a picture of something on the website ..it looked like a bun of some sort with maybe peanuts up top and when split in 1/2 it had a yellow sort of center .. I was willing to try that but the attendant said they didn't have them there. Now ... considering the $16.00 + that I paid I felt left down and under appreciated with so many options in the area. I am new to Columbia and a PhD student. I hope they read this a make some accommodations for the student body that will be returning to campus in a few months. Maybe if you are scaling back because of COVID you might want to have some options to cultivate your customer...