Noodle Village — Restaurant in New York

For some reason this section of Mott Street is exploding with noodle shops. In addition to 1915 Lanzhou Han-Pull Noodle which I have frequented 3 weekends in a row, just 4 doors down is Noodle Village, next to it is Maxi's Noodle 3, and I saw today that Wonton Noodle 1978 will be opening shop soon in the same block! Why? The latter 3 even serve the same Hong Kong style noodles!

Anyway, I've tried Maxi's in Flushing, so we stepped into Noodle Village instead for today's visit. The decor is new and clean, very current and modern though I feel a slight mismatch to what it serves. Space is big, but the way they arranged the tables made it feel cramped. There is a bona fide waiting area. For 2 people, we got seated rather quickly.

We had to order a Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup $10.75, just so we can compare apple to apple. We also order a different dish we've never had before: Sliced Beef w. Ginger & Scallion Noodle Soup $12.95. We waited for 20 minutes and our table was still empty. The table next to us just made their order. I grabbed hold of their waiter and complained. He checked his tablet and said, you've waited 18 minutes, not quite 20. I was in awe! 3 minutes later, our dishes finally came! What's really upsetting was, within the first few bite of our noodles, the table next to us got theirs. So they only waited 5 minutes while we had to wait, ok, 18 + 3 = 21 minutes! Our order somehow got lost in the queue.

As for the dishes, the scallion beef was refreshing. Broth was delicious. I mean I love scallion. And they didn't skimp on beef. The shrimp wonton noodle, on the other hand, has the smallest serving size I've had in recent years. Wontons are also smaller.

Overall a worse than expected experience.

PS. 3.5% discount for...

The service was polite, attentive and fast. The atmosphere was "well-crowded and well-worn Chinatown hole-in-the-wall" - in other words, just right. The soup dumplings were very good (as soup dumplings are wont to be, if you'll allow me that generalization). The Chinese broccoli provided a green - albeit bland and boring - vegetable with my starchy meal. The starch itself was hot pot rice, with chicken, which I'd read would be among the best of its kind in the city but which was also, alas, boring. It was a bowl of well-oiled white rice (with the requisite browned and crunchy surface sticking to the clay pot) topped by a half-cup of bland, mostly boneless chicken pieces, some slices of mushroom and a single floret of broccoli. (The clay pots of others near me had plentiful broccoli so the fact that mine left the kitchen so bare might reflect uneven attention to quality.) I've been to Chinese bakeries that sell a pint of white rice with chicken pieces on top for about $3.50 and this was essentially the same thing, writ large and crispy.

Perhaps I'll go back, despite my disappointment tonight, because the couple to my left had clay pot rice with curry beef and the woman to my right had clay pot rice with a glorious mix of meats and greens and both looked and smelled so good (and so much better than mine) that I want to try them.

The cost was $36 + tip for the three dishes mentioned above (which I think would be enough food for two standard people).

There was a line to get in at around 7pm on a Saturday night. I heard "10 minutes" and "20 minutes" being quoted (echoes of a certain 'Seinfeld' episode?) but I was seated immediately because I was alone and there was a party of three at two adjacent...

TLDR: Hustling and bustling restaurant and staff, but great authentic food.

We arrived as a party of three around 6pm on a Thursday. The restaurant is packed with seating and was pretty full, but the staff squeezed us in.

The staff were busy running around constantly but they were quick and efficient in service and taking down our order. No frills. Bonus points for the shirts that read “keep calm eat dumplings and noodles.” Also note: 3.5% upcharge for card payments, so cash is preferred.

We ordered a black (century) egg & pork congee, a pork soup dumpling, a crab and pork soup dumpling, and fried bun with condensed milk. The food came out as it was ready and ready it was in a very short time. The congee (a rice stew is the best way I can translate it) was first. It was thick and rich and had many pieces of diced pork and century egg in it. Provided on the table was some white pepper powder, which is essential for enhancing flavor. The fried buns were next. They were perfectly crispy and fried to a golden perfection, and the condensed milk served on the side provided a perfect creaminess and sweetness to go along with it. Think donuts dipped in caramel or something. Finally, the soup dumplings were amazing. The skin was delicate and soft. The soup was rich and plentiful when sucked out. The filling was flavorful and packed alot of flavor. Accompanied by small dishes of ginger and sweet vinegar, this was spot-on and authentic.

Overall I would highly recommend this spot for a quick and hearty bite of real Chinese food. Don’t get your hopes up for outstanding service/ambience but the food more than makes...