Noodle Pudding — Restaurant in New York

I haven't had a meal out this satisfying in a long time. My friend suggested this place for dinner as she had a good experience the last time she dined here, and I must agree. The entire meal was absolutely delicious.

That being said, here are some notes about this place: They are only open for dinner - from 5:30pm They only take cash They don't take reservations for parties of 6 or less They invite you to go and wait for a table

After a 45 minute wait for a table, my three friends and I finally got settled into a nice, rear-alcove, corner table. Our waiter came by to recommend one pasta special, but said the rest was whatever was on the menu. We went completely with the menu items, decided to share everything, and ordered the following:

Razor Clams Oreganata (4) - Clean, delicate clam flavor, dressed with a crust of seasoned bread crumbs and a squeeze of lemon juice. Yummy starter!

Crispy-Fried NJ Whiting (2) - Two crispy-fried whole whiting. I took half of one whiting with the head and ate the entire head! That's how delicate this fish was! Delicious!

Fried Calamari with Spicy Aioli and Lemon Wedge - Crispy, nicely-battered, good texture/bite to the calamari without being too chewy. Nicely flavored Aioli to go along with it, but not spicy at all to my palate.

Hand-cut Linguini with Clams, Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Pepper - Homemade, al dente pasta with fresh clams so clean that they were delicate in flavor. The zucchini and cherry tomatoes added another layer of freshness and texture. The entire dish together tasted more like a light pasta primavera because there was very little clam flavor coming from the clams. It could have used a dash of clam juice, but it was still good.

Pappardelle Alla Vaccinara (oxtail ragu) with Pecorino Shavings - Homemade, al dente pasta coated with oxtail meat stewed tender. A hearty, meaty, chewy, flavorful bite with each forkful. This has a heavier, comforting mouthfeel compared to the pasta dish above. I liked having both of these dishes as a contrast in flavors and textures.

Roasted Whole Porgy - What my friends and I especially liked about Noodle Pudding was all of their locally sourced seafood. Not only do you support local fisheries and eat sustainable species, you eat the freshest caught seafood! This whole roasted Porgy was perfectly cooked! Evenly cooked and slightly crispy skin enveloped flaky, white, tender meat. Simply seasoned with a few rosemary sprigs inside its belly, the meat was still moist but fell off the bones easily. I love fish head, so I picked all of best morsels off of the entire fish head, especially the eyes! Fish lovers will love this dish!

Dessert was: Ricotta Cheesecake - More of a floured cake than a cheesecake, this delicious slice had bits of candied fruit that you would typically find in Panettone. Lightly sweet and moist, it also had bits of lemony flavor, which likely comes from the Citron. A lovely dessert that I would order again.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries - Silky, lightly sweet, and light are the best three ways to describe Noodle Pudding's take on my favorite dessert. Everytime I see panna cotta on the menu, I always havta order it. This one did not disappoint! The fresh berries that went along with it were sweet and ripe. A great complement!

Overall, I had a delicious time at Noodle Pudding. Needless to say, I will be...

One star for this venue, sadly . Just two moms trying to offer a New Years celebration with their children while their husbands are hard at work. Reservations were made last minute and we were very grateful for the accommodations! When we arrived with many well behaved children, suddenly the reservations that were made were questioned ? Stating that those reservations were cancelled by a caller. Reminded us of the price for their pre fixed menu and that it was cash only … Yes we knew that as you told us during the reservation call. The price was a bit much as others would see it for children but it was fine this was last minute ! The menu was surely not one for children again last minute and was ok we would make it work . But the venue ran out of a dish that would work for us. Also food allergies made known , appetizer served with the allergen, the solution was to replate the course? Not medically the correct course of action . From the start I believe the issue was the amount of children. Leaving me with the impression of not being kid friendly ! As an honest parent if my children are not well behaved I would not dare to inconvenience others so we can eat I would go to McDonald’s! Patrons of the restaurant stating wow kids so well behaved !! So if in fact the restaurant was worried we would be a bother I’m glad we were not .. wondering if we came without children if the food would have been available and served...

Sadly, a charming spot lacking personality.

It is a neighborhood spot which I wanted to love, however my experience was extremely underwhelming. I work in the industry too and never leave feedback/reviews publicly because I prefer to provide feedback in person / on the spot (if at all). However, throughout our 2 hour meal, we were not given the opportunity to since our server never checked in with us after taking our order.

To start, when we got seated, we greeted our server “hi, how are you?” but he just dropped menus and walked away without saying anything. He took our orders and that was the last we saw of him before he came back to drop the dessert menu. If he had checked in, we would have let him know that the Foccacia tasted stale and dry, and the pappardelle with oxtail ragu was too sweet and had some weird garnish (which was probably meant to be parsley but definitely wasn’t and left a bad aftertaste), and I had bad clams in my linguine and clam pasta.

Our server was often congregating with other employees by the bar when he could have touched the table. We weren’t offered new plates between courses (other tables were), but that wasn’t the deal breaker. It was the impersonal and lack luster attitude of our server that really made it an overall disappointing experience.

On a positive note, the host and bartender were friendly and pleasant when we...