Posted by Robyn Lee, July 29, 2008 at 12:30 PM
"I don't taste much garlic in this," said Amy. I stared at my friend in disbelief as we dug into our bowls of ramen at Minca. She said...what? The pork-based broth of our basic ramens was completely saturated with garlic, maybe so much that my friend's taste buds had been shocked out of its ability to taste garlic. But I could taste it fine. And it was delicious.
Minca is my favorite ramen shop. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the best, but it caters to my desire for a gut busting mass of springy noodles bathed in a thick, salty broth. Thick like, 'I think this would solidify into a giant blob if I refrigerated it." The noodles are accompanied by bamboo shoots, black mushrooms, half of a hard boiled egg, a square of nori, chopped scallions, and the best part—slices of fatty pork that melt in your mouth like butter. I can finish off a whole bowl, despite the fact that it's probably larger than the average human stomach. Then again maybe my stomach is larger than average.
Minca
536 East 5th Street, New York NY 10009 (b/n Avenue A and Avenue B; map)
212-505-8001
Posted by Gordon Mark, May 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Editor's note: It's time for another guide from our intern extraordinaire and resident Manhattan Chinatown expert, Gordon Mark. You may remember his Guide to Bakeries in Manhattan's Chinatown, posted here last month. Now, he has set his sights on soup noodles, ladling out an equally impressive guide to navigating the food in Manhattan's Chinatown. —Zach
Manhattan's Chinatown is a huge neighborhood that just seems to keep growing. Although it's a good thing that the neighborhood offers a nearly endless number of eateries, you may be overwhelmed by all the choices. Where do you go on an empty stomach? What do you order? Sometimes, when you're faced with such a wealth of options, it's best to narrow your focus a bit. So, following that bit of advice, we're excited to present a guide to soup noodles in Chinatown. As in our guide to Chinatown bakeries, this post will cover what's available in the "main" part of Chinatown (between the Canal Street and Grand Street subway stations). Also, this guide doesn't cover pho or hand-pulled noodles—those tasty bowls of goodness will be dealt with in future Chinatown guides.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 23, 2007 at 11:20 AM
I finally made it to Thai Market, and I was mightily impressed. First of all, I loved the look of the place. There were blown-up photos of markets in Thailand, umbrellas on the ceiling, and Thai cups cleverly placed in and on gold-leaf walls. Its owners have managed to make the place look great without spending a lot of money, much like Land Thai Kitchen did 25 blocks south.
Steamed Thai dumplings with delicate wrappers were filled with minced chicken, preserved radish, and peanuts. Grilled sliced skirt steak was accompanied by al dente string beans and delicious preserved chili purée. A minced pork salad was enlivened by ginger, bird’s-eye chili, and crunchy Napa cabbage. A dish called Amber Shrimp mixed Chinese celery, onion, egg, and chili and was sautéed with yellow curry.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 11, 2006 at 10:59 AM
Is Bouchon Bakery overpriced? To help me answer that question I have decided to eat lunch at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center (3rd fl.) every Saturday after squash, until I have sampled the entire menu. This time I had a really good Pork Tonnato sandwich ($8.25) along with a bowl of chicken soup ($9.25!) . The soup was a rich brown color, obviously made from a dark stock, which is fine by me. There were a few inconsequential herb dumplings, some al dente vegetables, and a few pieces of tender dark meat chicken floating in the broth, but I actually liked the taste of the soup more after I had eaten all the other stuff. That has never happened to me before, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. The soup itself had great chicken flavor. For dessert I had a serious peanut butter sandwich cookie ($2.75) that may have been the finest peanut butter cookie I have ever eaten. The cookies were light and flavorful, and the filling tasted like an intensely flavored peanut butter mousse.
Note: All of my Bouchon Bakery meals are being eaten and purchased in the retail bakery and not the sit-down restaurant.
Posted by Ed Levine, February 24, 2006 at 1:01 PM
Three months in the slurping, my chicken soup piece came out Wednesday in the NYTimes. For those of you who don't read the Times, I am going to list my ten favorite chicken soups (I sampled a hundred) here, along with a few others I really liked that just failed to crack the top ten:
- Blue Ribbon Bakery 33 Downing Street (Bedford Street), (212) 337-0404. Matzo ball soup, $7.75.
- Cubana Café 110 Thompson Street (Prince Street), (212) 966-5366. Chicken soup with avocado, tomato, cilantro and yuca (cassava), $5.
- Fred's at Barneys New York 660 Madison Avenue (60th Street), ninth floor, (212) 833-2200.
- Estelle's chicken soup $8.
- Grand Sichuan International 229 Ninth Avenue (24th Street), (212) 620-5200. Chicken and pea shoots, $8.95; chicken with pickled cabbage, $7.95.
- Hearth 403 East 12th Street (First Avenue), (646) 602-1300. Chicken soup with escarole, chicken dumplings and pastina, $12.
- Momofuku Noodle Bar 163 First Avenue (10th Street), (212) 475-7899. Chicken noodle soup with Shanghai thick noodles, onions and scallions, $11.
- New Chao Chow Restaurant 111 Mott Street (between Canal and Hester Streets), (212) 226-2590. Chao Chow wonton soup, $3.50.
- Perry St. 176 Perry Street (West Street), (212) 352-1900. Chicken soup with vegetables, avocado and dill, $13.50.
- Pio Maya 40 West Eighth Street (Avenue of the Americas), (212) 254-2277. Chicken soup, $3.25.
- Sripraphai 64-13 39th Avenue, Woodside, Queens, (718) 899-9599. Chicken soup with mushrooms, coconut milk and galangal; Cornish hen in hot and sour soup (tom-zap), both $7.
A few others I really enjoyed:
- Akdeniz 19 W. 46th Street (bet. Fifth and Sixth Aves.) 212-575-2307; Slightly creamy chicken soup that comes to life with a squeeze of the lemon they serve it with.
- Al Bustan 827 Third Avenue (bet. 50th and 51st Sts.) 212-759-5933 Lebanese Chicken soup enlivened with the same lemon squeeze and, surprisingly, a touch of cinnamon.
- Azuri Cafe 465 W.51st (between 9th and 10th Aves.) 212-265-2920; I was lovin' the chicken soup here until I put the first piece of matzo ball in my mouth. It was ice cold. So I cut up the matzo balls into little pieces and let them sit in the soup for a minute or two to heat them up. Brilliant!
- Brooklyn Diner USA: 212 W. 57th Street (between Broadway and Seventh Ave.) 212-977-2280; Fine classic chicken soup with moist chicken and a toothsome broth.
- Teresa's 103 First Avenue (between 6th and 7th Sts.) 212-228-0604; If the noodles were al dente at this Polish coffee shop, this bargain chicken soup ($2.75) would have cracked the top ten.
