I’ve had noodles from Yunnan before, both in Yunnan and at a little restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown. The noodle is called Mixian and it’s a spaghetti-shaped rice noodle.
I like it; it’s familiar in two ways, both because of the rice noodle texture (familiar to me as a thick Chinese vermicelli) and then also reminding me of the Italian spaghetti, but lighter.
We couldn’t get into Momofuku’s noodle bar after drinks at Huertas (I could have expected that) but this place, on a corner, looked fun, and we didn’t know how newly opened it is.
I had a dish with coconut milk and shrimp; husband had some spicy chicken.
They were pleasant and interesting.
Good selection of sake, always a plus in my books.
And the dessert, a simple ice cream with some extra crunchy bits was really very nice.
On the other hand, it didn’t give me that automatic feeling (which does sometimes happen in NYC) of: I want and I want to come back. I think it’s really interesting in such a big market for food how people will specialise and then see: can I capture the public’s attention?
I can see this becoming a neighbourhood favourite not really for its novelty but for providing a homely feel, if New Yorkers will adopt Yunnan as a second home. I wish them luck!
