MY TOP THREE BOWLS OF NOODLES IN NY AND ONE FLOP IN DC

I am sharing to you today my Top Three Favorite Noodle Houses which happen to be all located in New York and all deserve a rave review from me, and one flop in Washington DC as it happens to be the only one I went to which has to be called out by me (haha!) for them to improve. 

TOP THREE: VIETNAMESE PHO IN QUEENS

There is this Vietnamese Pho in Queens, NY which serves a big bowl of noodle soup with a very simple broth which I could not detect if there's some fish sauce in it, fresh ingredients of mung sprouts, herbs and beef pieces, and with the usual flat rice noodles we associate with Vietnamese Pho. 

The sauce is sweet and spicy and are served for the optional drizzle by the customer which I find weird because Vietnamese Pho is just simple. But I believe the resto served Thai dishes too, thus the Sriracha. 

Hunt for this Vietnamese and Thai noodle house and you will never say no to their piping hot bowl. Check my video here.

TOP TWO: KUNG FU KITCHEN IN MANHATTAN

This can easily be my best had I not tasted my Top 1, so this easily landed on the second spot. I love the pieces of meat in it, I had Peking Duck on my first try and a beef on my second. The broth can easily go through my stomach like our very own Nilaga or Bulalo. I suspect that the familiar broth made my heart skip for this bowl of steaming joy. 

The vegetables like bokchoy and spring onions are also generous, a plus which is a special thing for me. The noodles are soft and of ideal size but nothing that stands out from the ordinary though it is featured in the video playing inside the restaurant that the owner handmade the same. I think this is their second kitchen as towards the end of the film, the owner hopes that they open in Manhattan soon. 

On top of that, they make fantastic vegetable dumplings which I dream for until this moment...

TOP ONE: SHIMIADAO HUNAN RICE NOODLES IN FLUSHING

When I tried this rice noodle bowl, I can appropriately declare that I forgot all the other noodle bowls I tasted past and recent and even forgot my name. Check my video here. 

That is how tasty the broth is which is very milky white and the noodle strand is soft and until now, I still can't believe that it is made of rice. 

I ordered ox tripe noodles, beef noodles and fish maw noodles on three separate occasions. This is located in an area I could not usually pass by but I go there just to have this noodle soup. 

The meat serving is enough, the little spices contribute to the big burst of flavor, and it is served in a stone pot that preserves the hotness of the soup longer than usual. What I could not relate to about this bowl is the addition of iceberg lettuce on top, but that cannot bring down my favorite bowl which can be had in plain or in all ranges of spiciness.   

TIP: They serve yogurt milk at the end of the meal. This freshen up the mouth either from the hotness or the spicyness. Lalalalala, my best find in New York so far.

THE BAD NEWS. A CHINESE NOODLE SHOP IN DC.

The noodle soup in DC is a flop. Greasy simple soy broth with bony duck parts. The handmade noodle strand can be ordered but I did not order the handmade which I gladly did because their dumpling is gooey and chewy. Poor service too though they have fortune cookies that go with the bill. There are 2016 publication posted on their windows and door hailing for this spot which if true, I guess the quality changed in 2022. If you get to try this in DC, hope they change for the best.