Halmae Noodle 할매칼국수 — Restaurant in Palisades Park

My friends and I were searching for good restaurants that were open on New Year's Day. The original restaurant for pho, that we wanted to go to was not open. Yelp showed that Halmae Noodle had pretty great reviews and they were already open at the time, so we decided to check it out.

Our party of 7 got there at around noon and there was maybe one other person/couple dining there. The place isn't very big but we still felt socially distanced since the larger table we were at was on one side of the room, and the rest of the small tables on the other, and those each had partitions in between them.

The menu is mainly noodles in soup, with the exception of a few rice dishes and their appetizers. To start, they brought us out each a small cabbage salad with a light ginger dressing, which was a nice start to the meal. They also brought some super fresh banchan (which they kept filled) of kimchi, kimchi daikon, and this other daikon in some type of sesame oil marinade (?), which I really liked. For appetizers, here is everything we ordered:

Fried dumplings - these were great. They were crispy but not too oily. You have a choice of beef or chicken and we went with the beef. It comes with 10 per order

Seafood pancake - pretty good but I don't remember there being whole lot of seafood in there

Kimchi pancake - I didn't love this one - I think the kimchi made it a bit soggy

For my main, I had the handmade noodles with fish cake. The broth was great and it was very soothing after a late NYE night. I was afraid it would be too fishy or too dashi-like but it was perfect. The noodles were just okay to me but that's because I don't love doughy/chewy noodles. These were thick little square sheets that almost reminded me of the texture of those thick wonton wrappers. By the way, these bowls of noodles are HUGE and are probably enough for two people. My friend got the clam soup and I was amazed at the number of clams she was fishing out of her bowl. We each ordered our own and we all had a full quart container to take home. My husband was the only one who didn't get noodles. He had the kimchi fried rice, and you can't really go wrong with that.

Definitely want to come back to try some of their other soups but next time, I'll get the regular noodles. Still, I'm glad Halmae Noodle was our first meal for...

I was surprised with this restaurant. I was dining alone on a saturday for lunch and this was my experience.

reasonably priced food tasted good and it seemed like it was freshly made upon order. The food did not come out in 5-10 mins like other restaurants. A big plus! the service was fantastic. My water was refilled everytime without even asking for refills and the refills came quickly. I did not wait with an empty cup for long. i love spicy foods but my body cannot tolerate it well, so therefore i sweat a lot when i eat spicy foods. I didnt even ask for extra napkins, the kind and professional hispanic staff member kept bringing me napkins because i was constantly wiping the sweat off my face. Amazing service! most restaurants do not refill side dishes unless you ask. Most restaurants simply ignore the fact that you have a side dish plate which has been empty. The servers here come by and ask you if you would need a refill on the side dish when the plate appears to be diminishing. Wow, the service here is amazing! i hope the restaurants values and beliefs do not change no matter how successful they get. Most restaurants change after success like saritgol in fort lee. I remember even 3 years ago saritgol used to serve hot tofu for a side dish, they actually had squid in their squid muchim. Their soup completely changed. Saritgol used to be a guaranteed spot. Nowadays its a semi-hit or miss, somedays the soups are so watered down and on somedays its a tease or hint of what it used to be. Dont even expect the hot tofu side dish to come back. With all of the downgrade and dissappointments they even increased prices at saritgol. This is an example, i really hope halmae noodle stays true and consistent unlike most restaurants. This place is a recommended spot for a great...

This is a fantastic spot if you're craving knife-cut noodles. We ordered a variety of dishes: Beoseot Kalguksu, 蘑菇刀切面 (Noodles Soup with Mushrooms), Maesaengi Kalguksu, 海藻面, (Noodles with Seaweed fulvescens), Deulkkae Kalguksu, 紫苏刀切面, (Noodles Soup with Wild sesame), and a Seafood and Green Onion Pancake. The portions were more than generous between the three of us. We each ended up taking half of our soup bowls home.

What I appreciate is that when you order the large noodle soup, they give you a separate small dish to cool down your noodles since the soup comes straight from the stove and is incredibly hot!

Each of the noodle soups stands out for its knife-cut noodles and unique, complex broths. The Mushroom Noodle Soup had a distinct umami flavor, with potatoes adding a starchy texture and a subtle heat in the seasoning. The Seaweed Noodle Soup was particularly notable for its seaweed and shredded cucumbers, which added freshness. It also had a slight kick of spice, which was a nice surprise. The Noodle Soup with Wild Sesame was the most indulgent. It had a rich, Alfredo-like sauce that coated the noodles perfectly. A touch of white pepper and ground sesame seeds gave it a lovely nutty flavor.

As for my favorite, the Seafood and Green Onion Pancake was sublime. It was loaded with seafood and green onions, though I wish it had been a bit crispier. The sauce served with it was tasty, but I prefer a bit more heat. Thankfully, they provided two 2 oz containers: one with jalapeños and the other with a spicy gochugaru-based sauce so I could adjust the heat to my liking.

The service was friendly, and while the place is cozy, it’s best suited for smaller groups. If you're dining with more than four people, seating...