Sheng wang noodles
The never ending quest for spicy beef noodle soup takes you to weird places; this week the destination is Sheng Wang on Eldridge street. Across the street from Super Taste is another shady looking place for English-only speakers. The ordering process is pretty simple, and basically you say, "I want..." and then you point to what exactly it is you want. Then you hope they understand the broken exchange and that you do not have to cry yourself to sleep at night. Wait what? No one else does that? Never mind me then, let us get to the pictures.
Eldridge street can be a bit daunting because there are more Chinese characters on the store fronts than there are English letters. Sometimes I wonder if English would even fly in some of these places, but there is English text on the menu at Sheng Wang. You want to focus on the side of the menu that I have above in the picture. One side is Hand-Pull noodles, which is the same type of noodles across the street at Super Taste. The other side of the menu is Peel Noodles. What are peel noodles? Great question. It is actually (Knife) Peeled Noodles. The noodles are shaved by a knife and unlike any other noodles you will taste.
My favorite kind of noodles is the spicy beef version and Sheng Wang does not have that. They have things like cattle viscera noodles instead. I actually have no idea what cattle viscera is, but the people who visit the noodle shop all look like they are ordering things I have never seen before. Also, there seems to be a lot of regulars who visit because usually what happens is that customers walk in, and the waitress takes your order right away. The only person reading a menu? Yea, the guy who cannot read Chinese. Oh yea, that is me.
Sheng Wang gives you a fishball with the noodle soup, and these are Fujianese version that have meat in the middle. It is a wonderful suprise and I actually prefer these kinds of fishballs. The best thing about this place is the peel noodles though, and that is probably what I would go for every time. I still prefer Super Taste's spicy beef noodle soup, but once in a while, it is good to try something different.
Now for the "just checking if you are paying attention" non-food related paragraph. I applied for some credit card a few weeks ago, because it said the cash back percentage for restaurants was 3% or something like that. This was the second time applied, I actually applied a few months ago and got rejected. This time around, I might have fudged a number here or there regarding my income. And whaddaya know? Approved! Since this worked so well, I asked my friend whether this works with women. I do not know, since I have not tried it. Any thoughts?
Sheng Wang
27 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
212-925-0805
maybe you can get the "peeled" noodles to go, and put them in the beef soup from Super Taste.
btw, a better translation, i think, would be "sliced" noodles, instead of :peeled."
Ang
November 21, 2007 3:56 pm
Peeled noodles - how funny! They look so good though. As do the dumplings!
Agnes
November 22, 2007 5:22 am
Here is a very funny video on those Shanxi cut noodles. They cut them with a knife from a chunk of dough and they fall directly into boiling water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WOd9RO0k7Y
If your Flickr photo were a little larger in the original version, I would have been able to read the Chinese for cattle viscera in the menu for you!
kattebelletje
November 23, 2007 8:11 am
Ang,
That is a good idea, but the remaining combo would be Super Taste noodles and the Sheng Wang broth...
Agnes,
They are good noodles! Actually the dumplings at the place across the street (Super Taste) is better!
Kattebelletje,
Thanks for the link! Those noodles just fly off of the block! Pretty cool stuff.
Danny
November 24, 2007 4:25 pm
update!!!!!!!!!
November 25, 2007 2:11 am
I updated!!!!!!!
Danny
November 26, 2007 10:07 am
I think Super Taste serves peeled noodles too, but I don't know how they compare to sheng wang.
Jen
November 30, 2007 11:01 am
Hmm.. I will ask about it at Super Taste then. Thanks for the tip!
Danny
November 30, 2007 3:15 pm