On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Canal Street (J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, 6)
Chambers-Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall (4, 5, 6, J, M, Z)
Grand St (B, D)
Mon-Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
"I discovered this dim sum oasis after seeking refuge from the nearby canal street. Service was very fast and friendly and the food...well,…" read more »
Loading...
Is it shameless self promotion when you name your own restaurant Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles? Probably is but when it's true then who really cares. A better name would have been Tasty and Cheap Hand-Pulled Noodles. But that seems to work too. I came by here with my girlfriend tonight after canceling on other plans for dinner. We decided to use the "let's wing it" strategy and ended up getting off the bus and wound up at Doyers Street with a bright blue and white sign telling me they had hand-pulled noodles. Tasty hand-pulled noodles to be exact.
The girlfriend ordered the House Special Noodle Soup for $6. It came with a fried egg, beef, tendon, tripe, and oxtails. The oxtails were a bit small but the beef tripe was just right. The egg was overly done but then again I never did like fried eggs. And I don't care for the intestines too much either. I ordered the Fujinese Wonton Noodle Soup for $5. I love those little wontons! They are smaller than normal wontons but they are packed full of flavor and never run the risk of getting dry meat from over-boiling.
The hand-pulled noodles were a bit on the chewy side at first. We compared them to spaghetti and realized that based on looks and texture it really could have been spaghetti. I would have thought so had I not pulled up a noodle that was improperly cut such that one end had the width of 5 noodles and gradually got thinner as it got to the other end. Funny noodle.
We made the night more amusing pointing out how waiters and waitresses in Chinese restaurants suck up to white patrons and neglect their Asian patrons. We pointed out each time it happened throughout the night. We basically never shut up throughout the entire meal.
i.e.
Girlfriend: Miss can we get some tea?
Waitress: Sorry we are out of hot water and have too cook more.
Me: Ok
Girlfriend: Did she just give that white couple more tea!?
Yes the waitress said she was going to cook more water.
It's also very amusing that they didn't have enough teapots and bottles of hot sauce for each table. Which is amazing since there's definitely less than 10 tables in the entire place. I mentioned how it was communal tea and hot sauce. I was the only one that laughed. I'm funny aren't I? Aren't I!?!?
Cheap, big bowls of fresh hand-pulled noodles and free entertainment (sort of). If you're white than you'll love this place. If you're Asian you'll like it too.
Wow I just realized that this review added together with the barber also on Doyers makes me sound so racist. What is this street doing to me?
The knife-sliced noodles (dao xiao mian) here are amazing and authentic. They're wide, thick and chewy strips that are basically just shaved off a ball of dough with a knife, and are the perfect al dente pasta.
I had the beef soup with knife-sliced noodles, which came with spinach and a little sprinkling of preserved pickled vegetables (zha cai). I added a little bit of fresh cilantro and a spoon of the homemade chili oil, and I was in beefy, brothy, noodley heaven. The beef was a little bit tough and tendony, but had such great flavor that I didn't really care- I was focusing on the noodles.
I also tried the dumplings, and I was blown away. They had the perfect skin- not too thick and not too thin- and just crispy enough. The meat filling was the best part- unlike some dumpling places, where the meat can be soggy, mushy, or sketchy in other ways, the pork was delicious in its own right instead of just being a secondary part of the dumpling. The best part? The dumplings are under $4 for a WHOLE PLATE. Yum.
Reminds me of the noodle stands that I frequent when I'm in Taipei- just cleaner and a lot closer :)
Review Dedication: Alex "Jando", "Mr. 1,500", "THE Yelp Samaritan", S! Having asked Jando about possible noodle options outside of Canton Wonton Noodle Choices, I was led to the find offerings of Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles.
"Lai Mein" (Hand Pulled Noodles in Cantonese) is a topic for which I have very little experience with. Given that a love for a combination of noodles in broth, one would be foolish to turn away from the option to explore a new rendition of a Chinese classic.
Arriving at Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles revealed a modest, almost peasantry, set up. Fragile wooden tables and chairs with disposable chop sticks at each table on are full display. Patrons dining at Tasty Hand Pulls Noodles are never here for the decor. Simply put, attendees are here only for the Lai Mein, nothing more, nothing less.
*Note: Mandarin is the preferred language at Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles. There are a few English speaking staff members here as well. Do not attempt to use Cantonese, it was a fatal move on my part.
After looking at the menu via Yelp Photo Posts, one had already determined what to order.
Beef Hand Pulled Noodles: From the initial visual inspection, the noodle bowl itself appeared similar to that of most other broth based noodle consumables. The luscious and vivid brown based broth was exemplified by the subtle use of scallions, spinach, and cilantro as aromatic and consumable base to the bowl. At first consumption, Patrons will find that the lightly delicate yet subtly firm texture of the Lai Mein was of extraordinary perfection. The noodles required almost zero effort to consume as each bite provided that warm yet comforting texture that's often lacking with Canton style noodle offerings. The petite slices of beef used in the bowl appeared to be brisket. Although slightly overcooked, the luscious abundance of fat in each peace provided a welcoming balance of tenderness and flavor. Furthermore, the spinach used as a vegetable offering possessed the perfect texture, which was amplified by the subtle use of vegetable oil in the base of the broth. Needless to say, all components of the Beef Hand Pulled Noodle was conducted with exemplary grace, for which is matched by few and far between.
Steamed Pork Dumplings: Perfectly dense outer dough texture that's complimented by a proper balance of pork & chive stuffing! The Dumplings themselves were so full of flavor derived from the seasoning and Hoi Sin Marinade that the dumplings themselves required almost no soy sauce. From first bite, patrons will discover that the semi-firm texture provides a welcoming contrast when revealing the slightly coarse and meaty center of the dumpling. There is little doubt that the flavor profile of the dumpling itself possesses such a variety that further soy sauce would simply hinder it's already complex nature.
My favorite Lai Mein restaurant in Manhattan? Absolutely! The food was fresh, delicate, and full of flavor. The service was speedy and attentive! Not much more that needs to be said other than my wanting to make this my weekly noodle spot!
Bravo to Jando once again, the Lai Mein suggestion was of superb recommendation.
Notes on Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles:
- Cash Only. Don't even think about the plastic!
- Service and Dining time averages 10 minutes. Don't get settled or comfortable. Your spot is being eyed by the line outside.
- A Bowl of Noodles & Dumplings will run you $10.00 (after tip). $10.00!?!? Yeah, that's right!
- Portion sizes are generous! If you're hungry, order two. There's no shame in overeating. Lai Mein is fresh, light, and settles well in the stomach.
$6 SPECIAL HAND PULL NOODLES WITH HEART WARMING BROTH AND MEAT AND VEGGIES! absolutely love it. My friend and I shared it, asked them for a bowl to separate. They fill your cup with warm tea off and on and leave you alone. Nice place to catch up. Paid $1 tip.
This restaurant is small, but true to the title; they serve tasty hand pulled noodles. I ordered the beef noodle soup with shaved noodles. Definitely a tasty dish, flavorful broth, plenty of cilantro, beef, scallion. The noodles were excellent as expected, chewy with a firm texture. The beef was flavorful. And to top it off, some hot chili oil. Yum. Will be back for sure!
This dish is 5 bucks. Probably one of the best 5 dollars Ive spent. A MUST TRY.
i definitely concur with everything that previous reviewers have said: this place is delicious, quick, and cheap ($5.50 for a big bowl of light noodles, yummy broth, and delicious roast duck?? goodness gracious.) the one thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned before, and so i'll add it, is that the service is... how do i put it... it's not passive. our waitress could clearly tell that we were newbies, so she instructed us to mix together the different sauces for our dumplings, and to put some of the chili oil in our soup -- and i'm not proud, i appreciated the advice. she also almost reprimanded my sister for not eating all of her pieces of roast duck... not in a mean or rude way, i can't quite describe the tone, but i thought it was funny and i kinda liked that she didn't simply whisk away our dishes without any personality.
i don't know if that made any sense. oh well.
this place was so yummy and so affordable and i definitely plan on going back.
Fresh, chewy white, hand-pulled noodles in a deep and refreshing, un-fatty broth with tender slices of meat, topped with cilantro and-- if you're smart and ask for it-- a fried egg. I don't even want to write too much, for fear that I won't do justice to the simultaneous simplicity, authenticity and deliciousness of these hand-pulled and knife-sliced ramen/noodle dishes from the geographical middle of China. Having had the real thing, I'll stand by the accuracy of these imported dishes. Save room for pork dumplings, too; this is one of the few Chinatown establishments that won't skimp on meat quality just because it's tucked out of plain sight and into a dumpling wrapper-- and also one of the few places that makes them southern-style, with thin/translucent versus opaquely doughy skin.
The best:
beef noodle soup*: $5.00
roast duck noodle soup*: $5.25
10 dumplings**: $3.50
vegetable stir-fried knife-sliced noodles: under $5.50
*Add a $1 fried egg
**Add a big dollop of the red chili oil at your table for piquant, savory goodness
I'm not ashamed to admit I have eaten here at least once/week since they opened. Just that tasty.
Great knife-sliced noodles. Quick service. The fish balls were great, the duck was ok, but not really anything to write home about. The noodles in the soup were really the highlight.
The restaurant is clean, the staff (especially the cute waitress) are extremely friendly, and did I mention that the noodle soups are to die for? That and they make the dumplings with thin wrappers like mommy used to (I really need to learn how to cook these!) with delicious filling! It's easy on the pocket and they even had fish balls! They offer a fried egg with your noodles (I'm in heaven!). Haven't had the other kinds of noodle, just the signature hand-pulled noodles, but they were delicious. It's getting cold so I will definitely be back many times to try the other noodles!
They definitely do take-out, not too sure about delivery. If they do delivery, I'd be ordering from here every night!
We walked up to Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles starving, and this place did a great job of satiating us. Hand made noodles have this chewiness that can't be replicated any other way, and they just taste better. I ordered the hand pulled noodles with tofu and vegetables. It was a chilly afternoon, so the warm broth felt so good going down. We also ordered some chicken dumplings to share, and I thought the dough to stuffing proportion was right on. We were stuffed and left a couple of dumplings on the plate, and the lady came over and tsked us teasingly for wasting food, and strongly nudged us to finish them. I took one for the team and ate another dumpling. Plus, this place will hardly put a dent in your wallet.
This tiny little noodle shop stays true to its name. I ordered the beef noodle soup which the waitress recommended. The delicious and tender hand-pulled noodles were excellent, the broth was light yet still tasty, and the beef slices were quite tender as well. Adding a little bit of their homemade chili sauce added a nice little kick to the soup. I also tried some of the roasted duck with dry noodles which was essentially a pan fried noodle dish -- also very good.
While you eat you can also peek in and watch them make the noodles by hand in the kitchen as they twist, twirl and pull the dough to make long strands of noodles.
Service was friendly and pretty quick. This little restaurant is a must if you are in Chinatown and looking for a cheap meal. The beef noodle soup was $5 and I think the most expensive thing on the menu couldn't have been over $7.
Packed on a Tuesday night at 7pm, it took me nearly 20 minutes to get my soup. They messed up the order of the woman sitting next to me by giving her the wrong kind of noodles. "Excuse me, I asked for the wide noodles," said the customer; "oh, I knew that; I wanted to give you hand-pulled noodles," said the waitress. It took the poor older couple across the table nearly 30 minutes for soup.
When the soup did come, it kind of smelled of duck fat bordering on rancidity. I ordered "golden fish ball soup", and it was basically a mushy pile of stuck-together noodles in the center, some spinach leaves, and 5 fish balls. For $4.50??? SO MANY better and cheaper places in Chinatown!
I'm walking down Doyer St, it's freakin hot out, and the smells are FIERCE along this alleyway, wafting up from mystery liquids congealing in the gutters. I'm wondering if this is possibly the slummiest part of Chinatown and start rethinking my lunch plans when I find myself smack in front of the noodle shop. I walk in and the place is air conditioned! Relief!
There's a lady sitting at a desk to my right when I walk in. It's a little discombobulating. The place doesn't quite look like a restaurant without a cash register counter. I sheepishly approach and find the takeout menu. It has pictures. Good. I pick the hand-pulled noodle soup with eel - ridiculously cheap at $5.75.
Since I'm doing takeout, the lady explains that if I can't eat the noodles within 15 minutes of getting it, I should get it packaged separately from the broth and toppings. It has to do with the noodles losing its basic desire to live in hot broth over an extended period of time. She asks me earnestly when I think I'll be eating the noodles. I stare at her wondering whether I'm still on Planet Earth having a conversation about self-destructing noodles with someone who looks like a school teacher sitting behind that desk.
She's quite serious, and upon seeing my hesitation, follows up with more urgency- Will you eat it right away? Do you think you can eat it within 10 minutes? 15 minutes? Aughh! Stop pressuring me, lady! Let's see...it took me about 15 minutes to walk here, but then that means I'll START eating in 15 minutes, but it'll take me twice as long to finish. I've never thought so hard about the integrity of my noodles before. I sigh and ask for separate containers.
The wait for the food itself is a good 15 minutes, but I spend part of that watching the guy making the noodles in the adjacent room. He's pounding the dough like he just lost an argument with someone. Then some other guy blocks him from view and I have to resort to reading the menu on the wall for entertainment. Time slowly passes.
Back at the office, I dump the noodles in the broth and stir. I start eating and find that the noodles and the broth and the eel all meld together perfectly. It's a big chunk of seasoned eel and the broth has a rich flavor, sprinkled with a small assortment of veggies (some pickled). The noodles taste, well, like normal noodles. I can't even tell that the noodles are hand-made, but it doesn't matter. This meal is TASTY.
Very fresh noodles. Good broth for the soups. The knife sliced noodles (dao xiao mian) are unique --- definitely something to try if you haven't had them before.
The name kind of says it all about this place. The hand-pulled noodles are indeed very tasty. I let my waitress use the thin default kind, but there are wide, flat, chive, and knife cut (dao xiao mian) options too.
Two of us ordered the House special, which comes with ox tail, beef, tripe, tendons and a fried egg. Sounds like a steal for $6, right? Unfortunately, the tripe had a horrible hard-to-chew texture, and the ox tail was miniscule, fatty, and tough. The broth was forgettable, and seemed significantly watered down. On the bright side, I suppose, all the disappointing elements enhanced the yumminess of the hand-pulled noodles.
Another dinner companion got the Fish ball soup, which she seemed to enjoy. An order of pork and chive steamed dumplings for $3.25 was made with the thin HK style wrappers, which although good, lacked the comfort of greasy potstickers. A thumbs up for the chili sauce and huge jars of cilantro floating around. And they offer the Chinese canned coconut milk drink! That, plus the pleasant-natured small staff give it that extra star.
There's no shortage of hand-pulled noodle houses in the area, so why this one? Well, they have a nice sign in plain English that gives you a pretty good idea of what they have in there (tasty hand-pulled noodles, if you are still wondering). It is tucked away a bit from the bustle of the street and it's actually kind of a quiet corner. The inside is somewhat more gentrified than most other places, and it is actually comfortable to hang out there, unlike the cramped environs of the competition.
I can't say the noodles are any better than the others. I've liked most things I've tried in the area, and this is no different. Really good and cheap. If I were to get picky, it would be to say that they gave me maybe one less duck piece than I would have liked. But I did get two nice bones, and there's a lotta flavor in them there bones, just gotta suck it out of them. (Not sure if this is proper Western dining etiquette, but nobody will mind here.) Maybe this is my culinary imperialism speaking here (I believe all Asians have a smug sense of superiority of their cuisine over all others), but I would take this place over Ippudo. I am mixing apples and oranges, but yes, I am taking the $5.50 oranges over the $13 apples.
The broth is nice and clear, not too salty, and brings out the flavors of the bones. Not too much razzle-dazzle here, and that is good. You can and should ask for cilantro.
Apropos of nothing, I was delighted to conduct an entire dining transaction here in Chinese! They immediately spoke Mandarin to me for some reason, although I assume they are really Cantonese speakers here, but maybe I have that putonghua look about me. My vocabulary is worse than a two-year-old's, my tones are shaky, and I can only read about twelve characters (and ten of those are the numerals one through ten). But I did it: ordered and paid and hardly resorted to any gestures except for motioning bringing chopsticks to mouth, imitating sucking a strand of noodle through my lips, and miming opening a wallet and pulling out bills. Except for that and pointing at the specific menu item while holding up enough fingers to signify the item number, yeah, I spoke real Chinese with them and even thanked them and said goodbye without a peep of English. A proud moment.
Passed by this place a thousand times, and saw it featured in New York Magazine's cheap eats issue a couple weeks ago. Decided to come here, though I already have a fave hand pulled noodle place by my apartment (Lanzhou on E. Broadway). Decided to order the roasted duck hand pulled noodle to go. Although this place deserves 4 stars for the environment (which is AC'ed, pretty spacious, and clean) and the friendly service (the girls who work there teach you how to prepare them when taking the noodles to go, and give you hot tea while you're waiting), I was slightly disappointed by the roasted duck when I got home. There was very little duck on the bone and I was just chewing on nothing really. The broth was great and the noodles were done perfectly, but I was basically eating the noodles plain.
If I were to come back I definitely would not order that (#9 on the menu). My bf got the house special and he says that was good - I would order that instead! Always good in my book when the meal is less than $6 each.
Watching this guy Making Noodles is not a bad idea. But eating his homemade hand-pulled noodles for a really CHEAP price is the BEST IDEA!
I don't know how much they pay him to do all that work?
Chinese cheap labor in the U.S., nice job!
Coming tonight for more noodle soup again!
PS... THEY DON"T SPEAK FLUENT ENGLISH, THEY ONLY KNOW THE MENU NAMES.
This place is nowhere near as good as Super Taste. The broth can't even compare.
I got the hand pulled noodles - I wish they'd let you add your own pickled mustard greens. I don't think they put enough in. It's nice to have the cilantro jar but most of it was stems anyway.
The noodles had a thicker skin than I'd like; again, these are much much better and more delicate at Super Taste.
It's definitely on the cleaner side which is nice if you're taking someone who's a little squeamish to ghetto Asian places but overall, the food just isn't as good.
Yum. The noodles have the perfect texture and an excellent deal at $5.
The waitress is very sweet.
Clean, bright, friendly service. While I waited, I watched the chef pull the noodle dough into a long rope, twist it into a noose, and THWACK it against the marble table. Great theater!
Got the pork chop hand-pulled noodle soup, which came with a knife and plate for cutting into the big ol' pork chop that I fished from the bottom of my bowl. Toothsome noodles, heady broth, all made better after I stirred in some cilantro and hot sesame oil. A great bargain for less than $6.
Yummy, springy noodles with flavorful broth (got the Beef) -- and can't beat the $5 price.
I was in Chinatown figuring this would be a good place to shop and eat, and low and behold, while looking for a place to eat on the iPhone, I happened to pick this place blindly and found a diamond in the rough. LITERALLY. You go through an alley way next to a NY Post Office and there is this small noodle shop with REALLY tasty noodles. I don't like eating my noodles with broth, so I ordered the regular #7 type noodles with duck and ordered it dry and I REALLY loved it! I usually have good roast duck in San Francisco, but the one I ordered here was by FAR the best roast duck I've had so far. YUM! I need to find me a way to move to New York.
Damn you, rain! You ruined my Sunday beach plans. On the plus side, you gave me a reason to stop by the new neighborhood noodle nest.
I love my share of hole-in-the-wall cheap eats and this a welcome new addition to my list. I ordered the House Special Hand Pulled Noodles and my lady friend slurped up a bowl of Duck Knife Cut Noodles. The noodles tasted fresh, the broth wasn't too salty, the spinach was a nice surprise, and the cilantro really pulled it all together. My bowl had some decent slices of beef and yummy gelatinous pieces of tendon. We also ordered a plate of Steamed Pork and Chive Dumplings. Skip the dumpling sauce they give you and make you own with what's on the table. Mix the vinegar with the hot sesame oil and some cilantro and BAM!!! The only down side was how much the food made me sweat. I'll definitely be returning during the frostier months.
DELICIOUS!!!! Beef noodle recommended! Their dumplings are excellent too! I love thin skinned dumplings and They re generous with the amount of meat they put in! The noodles are very tasty and fresh!
tasty food for cheap. it was the delicious. happy christina c?
They give out menus when you sit down, but it really is unnecessary as one of the walls is covered with an enlarged version. The specialties of the house run in two columns, and narrowing down your choice is a pretty simple endeavor. Left for hand-pulled noodles, right for rice noodles.
Seeing as how the name of the place thinks highly of the hand-pulled variety, we all selected one from this column and sat back for only about five minutes before they arrived. The generous bowls are filled with a mound of noodles so dense that it takes a little maneuvering to get them to separate. The noodles are indeed tasty, and made with a care that is apparent from first bite. This kind of thin noodle could effectively end the ramen craze in this city if word got out. They seem to be producing these beauties with ease in the back while all the Japanese restaurants in town are unfreezing theirs.
The fish balls in the soup of the same name ($5) were chewy, slimy, and not fishy at all, but thoroughly addictive. If I were to order this next time I might work out a deal with my server for an extra helping of balls. The beef ($5) was tender and very fatty (in a good way) and more of a traditional companion to the noodles, giving the broth a bit more flavor.
Both broths were not exploding with taste, but the table was full of plenty of spices, sauces, and cilantro that was free to pour or pile in as much as desired.
The waitress was more than happy to explain the cooking process, the restaurant's progress in its first few months and answer all of our questions. Also, I want her hat!
This place must be new because there are still tacky plastic streamers hanging outside and because I'm only the 2nd reviewer - I have a feeling this will soon be a "hidden hole in the wall" sweetheart for many.
The menu is simple - about 15-20 different types of noodle dishes. You can choose soup or dried, and from several different kinds of noodles - pick the handmade type (duh!) My friend got the beef tendon noodlesoup and I got lamb noodlesoup. Nice chewy noodles, with a light soy-based soup. I was really pleased with the lamb noodle soup, and poured in some extra vinegar (i think lamb is combined with vinegar in many Chinese dishes; I think it equalizes the strong "lamb" taste). The dish was huge, and I don't think I finished more than half of my meal. At $5.50 a person, I was a happy diner.
Don't expect anything on ambiance though, the place is tiny, cramped, and armed with decor fitting for the Chinatown locals who go in for food not mood.
mmm...I'm STILL dreaming of the delicious noodles.
Okay, to be fair I don't have anything to compare to this, but it stands its own by any standard. Came here with a friend and my boyfriend because I wanted to introduce him to relatively clean Chinatown-eateries and true to the other Yelp reviews, it was quite clean and the waitresses were really nice.
We each ordered something different. Connie had the dao xiao mien (knife cut) with Pork bones (looked really good though the actual noodles reminded me of eating dumpling skins). I had the regular la mien with beef tripe (the beef wasn't that good but the egg saved the day). My boyfriend had the think rice noodles with duck - the duck was amazing!!
Next time I'd get the la mien with the duck or just with veggies. Broth is excellent and make sure you ask for the egg! It was free but I had to ask for it :)
My eyes lit up and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of the glorious egg on top of my noodles. Let me put it this way. NO NOODLE SOUP IS COMPLETE WITHOUT AN EGG!
I had the house special noodle soup with beef, beef, and beef.
Noodles: perfect.
Soup: light. Dare I say... no MSG? Gasp.
I agree with Nelson W. in that the ox-tail slices were kind of rough. Mine wasn't meatless though. I was fully satiated at the end.
En route to the Excellent Pork Chop House, my party of two stumbled upon a new Lan Zhou hand-pulled noodle shop. Resembling a pint-sized version of Hong Kong Station (w/ only a hand full of tables), I was shocked to see a wait staff of more than 6 people running back and forth. Opposite the open-door kitchen, in which you can see the the flour skillfully "pulled" into noodles by the chef''s hands, a menu is plastered onto a wall mirror for easy viewing.
The menu boasts 15 noodle soup combinations with choice meat and noodles (hand-pulled, rice, or dry).We ordered the Beef Hand-Pulled Noodles and House Special Hand Pulled Noodles. The house special comes with beef tripe, tendon, ox-tail, and broth that was lighter than of the Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle shop on E.Bway. Spinach and scallion added plenty of flavor too. The waitress then asked if I'd also like a fried egg on top for free. Can't top that!.
The noodles were fine and chewy, but I favored the beef noodle soup over the house special based on the flavors of the beef slices. The house special was a bit of a let down because of how meatless and rough texture of the ox-tail slices. But you still can't beat the free egg on top (only free with the house special and the vegetable noodle soup). Prices are friendly to the wallet with every item priced between $4 to $6.50. I can't wait to go back to try the pork chop version. While Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle was excellent, this one is pulling ahead in the Lan Zhou hand-pulled noodles wars - by just a free egg!
It seems like this place is frequented mainly by locals and foodies. My wife had the tendon and tripe noodle dish, with a fried egg dropped in for good measure. I had the pork cutlet noodles, which is basically a pan-fried piece of pork dropped in a bowl of broth with the noodles. We then had the $3.25 order of a half dozen dumplings, soaked in a proprietary soy sauce contained in a hot sauce container. Well worth the $14, and the firecracker waitress was a friendly and welcome addition.
Super low-budget ambience, but super great quality noodles. Broth is tasty, menu has plenty of variety (enough to make you want to go back again and again), but most of all the noodles themselves are really great. And at about $5 for a huge bowl, you can't beat the price.
I ordered the classic beef tendon hand pulled & listened as my noodle was being pulled & pounded behind the curtains to my ears content. The noodles were springy & not overcooked & the broth was subtle & tasty. I'll have to try the shaved/knife cut noodles next time & other toppings as well. They also have stir fry noodle dishes that I have to try.
Tasty is the Apple of hand pulled noodle places in NYC.
I love the rough, hole-in-the-wall feel of Lan Zhou hand pulled noodle over on E. Broadway...they make the noodles on a table right in front of you and so on.
But Tasty has got several things going for it.
A friendly young woman works there and sets a warm tone that matches the feel-good branding they are using.
Like Apple, Tasty is easy. The menu is very clear and simple. You can chose from a list of hand-pulled noodles with different meats or a variety of other kinds of noodles with the same meats.
I suspect there are other things available if you ask.
I had the veggie hand-pulled noodles. There is nothing vegetarian about the light meat broth. I think I liked the noodles better than Lan Zhou hand pulled noodle on E Broadway. More and fresher veggies, and thinner, more consistent noodle sizes. The Lan Zhou hand pulled noodles on E. Broadway has a bit richer broth.
Tasty also seems to make their own hot-pepper oil which was great.
Every dish is between 4-7 dollars.
5 stars using a proprietary weighted noodle ranking system.
For the money, I would have given this place 4 stars. But then I had the dumplings. Amazing! Not that it's hard to make dumplings, it's just hard to make them this delicious.
Then I had the beef and shrimp pan fried noodles (#6 fat noodles for me). Ridiculous. I could not have asked for more uneven (because they're hand pulled) fat noodles. The beef and shrimp serving was average. But I didn't care because of the amazing flavor.
I've been here once a week since I found this and I've tried other things. You can have pan fried noodles (stir fried really) or in the soup style. The soup has much more flavor, but it really depends on your mood. I'm a beef person, but my friend had the chicken and it was really good as well.
I love this place...btw it takes longer sometimes because it's a small place and there is ONE man making the noodles. So don't complain about how long it takes, be gracious that you found this place and you just ate for under $6.
I have become a bit of a noodle addict, so I might be somewhat biased here, but these are pretty good noodles.
The food is tasty, you get it fast, and the staff are very helpful and polite. The prices are good, and you get a lot of food for the value. They give you free jasmine tea, or whatever they're brewing in the back. The noodles and dumplings are fresh and good. You can watch the guys in the back actually pulling the dumplings.
The only thing that bothers me is that there always seem to be a few fruit flies or something floating about. There are a few smashed on the menu in the front window. I'm pretty sure I inhaled one yesterday, while waiting for dinner to arrive (it's my fault, I talk too much and inhale deeply when I do).
This place makes me want to work on my Mandarin again, but going on to the food.
Fish balls filled with pork, in yummy beef broth. The asian food lover in me is glowing. Depending on where you sit, you can sneak a peek of the guy in the kitchen banging the noodles and throwing them through the air, and then dropping the fresh dough right into the homemade beef broth. Ready in minutes, very attentive friendly service (especially for chinatown) and yum. So many noodles that it took me a good 20 min or half hour just to get through most of the bowl. And I wasn't making conversation (noodles can do that to a person). The broth is very aromatic and they have all the fix-ins - homemade chilli, siracha, cilantro, etc. Also have five different kinds of noodles, will try them all and update here.
The place isn't pretty, but nothing in Chinatown is, except the big dim sum houses, Chatham Sq Restaurant and Congee Village. That said, it is clean and new, something most places in Chinatown are not.
If you live in the financial district (or lower east side or tribeca perhaps), its a short 10 - 15 min walk. Definitely worth it for a $5 dinner. I'll be back here. A lot.
We went there yesterday after seeing a note about hand-pulled noodle shops in the TastingTable NYC newsletter. I got the House Special (no tripe) with the knife-cut noodles, and my dining companion got the Fish Balls with the hand-pulled linguine-shaped noodles. My dish was only good, with tasty noodles, but the meat wasn't that exciting (except for the fried egg, yum!), and the broth needed quite a bit of additional black vinegar and chile sauce. The fish ball soup, however, was fantastic. The fish balls themselves were bursting with flavor, and the texture of the hand-pulled noodles was really remarkable.
The service for non-Chinese was excellent. The waitress pulled some photos of the different types of noodles and fish balls off the menu, and very patiently went over each type, and who likes what, and how many fish balls you get in the soup. Very helpful and friendly.
For a little hole-in-the-wall place in Chinatown, it was also quite clean and bright.
Recommended.
ate here while serving jury duty downtown last week.
I ordered the beef short rib soup with noodles. While the noodles were very good and the broth flavorful and tasty, the meat in the soup was not so good - it was extremely chewy and had an off flavor.
It was fun to watch the man making noodles in the kitchen, but overall this restaurant did not meet my expectations.
Peking Duck Lunch Special
Neighborhood: Midtown East
Best Lunch specials in town!
Neighborhood: Kips Bay
A few of the notable places I've eaten at in New…
just because our budgets are small doesn't mean…
St. Alexander Hamilton Society for Gastronomica…
