Tasty: Super Taste

I had read in just about very credible major New York foodie site -- Sietsema, Ganda at eatdrinkonewoman, the Cheap Eats folks at New York Magazine , and the boys over at Twenty Bucks a Day -- that Eldredge Street noodle joint Super Taste was the place to be, even if one would look garish and pale under the fluorescent lights whilst trying the hand-pulled noodle bowls. It took me a year, however, to finally get someone to come with me to the Lanzhou/Silk Road-based hole in the wall. Probably for the best: my eventual dining companion, the inestimable IB, is almost always in the mood for weather-inappropriate fare. What's more, IB had been there numerous times already, and had nothing but raves and recommendations for the best bowls of slurpy goodness. So on a hot, steamy, very-hot-noodle-unfriendly night we traipsed over to get two bowls of their hot & spicy hand-pulled noodles with beef brisket. At $4.25 a pop. No, I'm not kidding. That cheap. And, as it turns out, that good. So good. The beef broth was potent -- earthy, beefy, and according to Ganda over at eatdrinkonewoman, laden with MSG (not a problem for me, but just a heads up if you're concerned), but not at all heavy. The noodles were heavenly -- doughy, but not too thick, and the brisket a wonderful mix of about 90% inexplicably tender meat and 10% fat, the latter adding to the depth of the broth. The noodles came out in plastic bowls, accompanied by disposable chopsticks and (this was new to me) plastic, disposable chinese soup spoons. Green-unfriendly-eating aside, I finished my bowl in 10 minutes flat -- and I never finish a bowl of noodles. (Seriously: when I'm home in Los Angeles, I give my pho/noodle leftovers to my kid brother, who will finish off just about anything with gusto and delight.) And for a couple of hours afterwards, I had a hankering for seconds. Instead of seconds, IB and I headed over to Clandestino, where I tried a Pimms Cups (one of their signature drinks) -- the best post-noodle concoction if I ever drank one. Cucumbery, Pimms-y, gingery ... the best way to beat a New York heatwave. But don't get me wrong: I'm going back to Super Taste the first chance I get (they've got an eel option!), weather appropriate or not. And, as always, you're always welcome to join me. At those prices, I'll even buy you dinner.