Noodles in Chinatown: Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle

Our Sunday lunch discussion started with Red Farm, a new dim sum place, in the West Village.  You know, Chinese food that appeals to the professional Chelsea/New York crowd.  It was closed for lunch.  So we jumped right to very authentic, in Chinatown.  Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle.


4 stars on 228 reviews?   That's pretty darn good.  4 stars on at least 100 reviews is Mark's minimum.  We jump on the F train and head south.  We get to 144 East Broadway and think "this is it?".  But they had an "A" rating, and the cool little wine bar near us got a "C".  So it can't be that bad.  I'll admit, the beef had some beef parts there were chewy, which I kind of expected after having eaten calf's calf muscle soup in China.  But I left some broth to cover that at the end.  The noodles and broth were so good, though.  The dumplings were great.

They rolled out handmade noodles on the table next to me (it's loud, the banging of the dough, sort of a "thwack thwack" every time it hit the counter).  And they wrapped dumplings behind me.

And you can't beat the prices.  Now, I hear the place to go for really authentic Chinese is Flushing, it's not even Chinatown.  But we are starting to test the limits of our comfort zone.  You basically pay by walking to the back of the store when you are done and handing over cash.  I'm not sure a tip is even really necessary.  Prices are great. How can you not order a dozen dumplings for $3?