Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles
Warm weather has left New York, and that means it's soup season. It's also hand-pulled noodle season. While some people can appreciate a warm bowl of soup and sweating it out during the hotter months, I find greater comfort in soupy meals when it's colder outside. Last week I headed down to Tasty Hand-pulled Noodles for a nice bowl of noodles.
This place has been covered before at Eating in Translation and at Robyn's blog. Both of them went soon after the noodle shop opened, and neither really talked about the fact that Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles has great dumplings. Really, is it any surprise that a hand pulled noodle place can make great dumplings? It seems like they ALL do 'em, and they all do them really well. Seriously, they all do dumplings at least 47x better than that dumpling truck that got nominated for the Vendy's.
I got a plate of dumplings and a bowl of the house special hand-pulled noodle soup. It had some beef parts like tripe and sliced beef and some stuff I couldn't really identify. They topped it with a fried egg, which was a nice extra but I could have gone without it. The noodles here were indeed tasty, as the name suggested. It's been a while since my last bowl of hand-pulled noodles, and I don't really want to compare. Safe to say that this bowl was good enough to be polished off quickly and completely. Maybe I'm not much of a noodle snob when it comes to hand-pulled noodles... as long as it possesses enough of that mystical attribute called 'Q', then I'm cool.
So on Wednesday, there was a post on Serious Eats - NY about Dallas BBQ. There used to be a knock-off version just called BBQ near the NYU campus, and I would eat there at least once a month. It wasn't the best food ever, but it was filling and did the trick. Oh yea, it was also dirt cheap. It was something ridiculous like half a chicken, a side, cornbread, and a funky looking chicken soup. $4.99 or something. This tells you how cheap it was, and how long ago this musta been because that BBQ is now a bank.
Apparently some people think restaurants like that don't really belong in NY. I don't know... when I used to live in the breadbasket of America (read: Midwest) and hick country (read: the South), you know what were the culinary highlights of my youth? Things like Applebees and Chili's and Macaroni Grill (my favorite). Folks here in NY loathe these type of restaurants. Part of me thinks New Yorkers loathe tourists and thus dislike the restaurants that serve these tourists.
Maybe you don't like those restaurants... I really haven't eaten at those places since I started living in New York because there are just too many other options. But I don't see any reason why it's wrong to love those restaurants. If that's what you like to eat, then fine. It's kind of pathetic to hear people reject these restaurants with vitriol.
I used to really really believe in judging people based on whether they eat a certain type of food. Whether this be a disgust of a whole cuisine type or disgust of a specific food item like onions or something. The thing is, people like what they like. What's the point of making people feel bad about it? Everyone could do without that. It's different if you just want to introduce other delicious types of food. If you do it in a positive way, then people might respond a little better.
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers Street.
New York, NY 10013
212-791-1817
I agree that everyone should be respected for their own personal taste in food. The food can't be THAT bad since the chain has been around for so long. There's a market for everything and not everyone can afford sustainable food.
kim
October 2, 2009 7:51 am
I get it that some of these places are better options for food in areas without good options. But what I don't understand is why do people travel to a vast culinary city like NYC and still eat there. I mean, come on! So many options and you still eat at the Fridays or Olive Garden that you can get at home?! That's what I'm pissed at.
Hungry
October 5, 2009 12:24 pm
I like Tasty Hand-Pulled's Oxtail noodles! I will have to try their dumplings. Totally neglected to do that.
Yeah, people are gonna like what they like. I like my snails and chicken feet, and that would gross most people out. However, something about tourists really irk me...if you're gonna spend the $ to travel to NYC, why would you go to Olive Garden? My guess is that some of them -- even though they are "travelling" -- still want to stick with the familiar and predictable.
Which reminds me of the several times I've witnessed entire families from the Midwest look away or point in horror at the hanging ducks/chickens in Chinatown.
http://chillonthecheap.wordpress.com
Justine
October 13, 2009 3:28 pm
People don't have to be adventurous with their food in NYC. If they're used to chains like Friday's, Chili's, or Olive Garden, then there for plenty of places here that can give similar food but at a much better quality. For burgers, try Shake Shake. For Mexican, try a taco truck or Rosa's. For pasta, there are endless Italian places with much better food and similar prices. I don't think any of these foods are adventurous but the experience and quality are difference.
Hungry
October 8, 2009 1:06 pm
@kim,
You're totally right, there's a market for all kinds of food. We can't all like the same things, how boring would that be?!
@Hungry,
Haha, you raise a very valid point. The only way I could reason it is that people want something familiar when they're on vacation. There are people who are willing to try anything once, and then there are... other people... haha
@Nicholas,
haha, too clean is no good? Super Taste is still my favorite, with the lady that screams your order right after she turns away from you. That place will always be my favorite.
Danny
October 7, 2009 9:17 pm
Ugh, my least favorite beef noodle place in NYC. I think I'm biased because the place looks too clean, but Super Taste, Lan Zhou, and Sheng Wang will always top my list in Chinatown. Not that this place isn't okay, but there are better places. I do like the pork chop place next door though... a lot.
Nicholas
October 6, 2009 12:58 am