Lam Zhou Handmade Noodles & Dumplings

For the most part when we’ve done noodles in Chinatown, the ol’ lady and I have gone to Big Wong or Hong Kong Noodle Station.

No more!

Last night we went to Lam Zhou Handmade Noodles & Dumplings in the part of Chinatown just east of the Manhattan Bridge.

Sure, that we were out in a squall and had found a dry refuge probably made the food taste that much better, but I think that only added a small amount of extra goodness to the bowls of deliciousness here.

I think the fact that you’ve got a noodle-puller doing his thing in the sparse dining room also helps. He does your noodles up right there, rolling, elongating, twirling, slapping, and strething them before handing them off to the soup-cooker.

When you get your steaming bowl of noodles, you can add a variety of condiments (above) to them. I added a hesitant drizzle of the hot chile oil at left and loved it. Spicy yet doesn’t change the flavors of the soup that much.

According to this review on Yelp

“this tiny little hole in the wall noodle joint has been escalated to celebrity status [by the foodie blogosphere]. I imagine that the recent influx of Caucasian hipster kids sporting $1000 SLR cams, streaming through the doors and shoving their 100mm f/2.8 macro lenses into $4.50 bowls of soup, must provide a constant source of amusement to the owners of this place.

Indeed, the owners must have taken note, as they now have a menu board in English and Chinese. When Robyn Lee went in November 2008, she had to get her mom to translate the menu for non–Chinese speakers.

Anyway, I think C. and I are putting this place at the top of our noodle-bowl destinations. Even if we do have to brave sideways downpours to do it.

Lam Zhou Handmade Noodles & Dumplings
144 East Broadway
New York‎ NY

Note: This is the first post on Kublog I’ve done entirely on an iPhone. It’s a bit cumbersome but possible.