New York Noodle Town

(212) 349-0923

28 Bowery (Bayard Street)
New York, NY 10002 40.7151 -73.9968

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Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Downtown

Hours:

Daily 9am-4am

Price:

$

Last updated 9.11.08

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

Cash

Restaurant Special Features:

Lunch Spot, Group Dining, Cheap Eats

Cuisine:

Noodle Shop, Chinese

Smoking Permitted:

No

What People Are Saying About New York Noodle Town

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

This bright corner spot continues to draw crowds all day and late into the night. The roast meats are popular, particularly the crisp-skinned baby pig, but the duck, soy sauce chicken, and char siu (roast pork) are also big winners. When summer comes, the salt-baked soft-shell crab is as much of a New York ritual as a trip to Coney Island. There are better spots in town for roast duck, baby pig, and char siu, but chefs still flock there at midnight for a Cantonese barbecue fix.

Editor's Tips

When to Go:
If you're looking for crispy baby pig, and you should. go in the early afternoon, when it's still crisp and warm.
Know Before You Go:
Some Chinatown savants think Sun Say Kai, on Baxter Street, is even better for meats.
Fun Fact:
Noodle Town remains one of the city's top chef hangouts: on a given night, you might see Jean George or Wylie Dufresne.
ambiance
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. Let me just say that this place is not where you go for a romantic dinner.
  2. poor interior decor
  3. Sometimes overly crowded, sometimes not, and as others have said, no ambience at all, just great food.
food quality
87.5% positive
  1. Nevertheless, this place opens till 4AM and serves some really delicious dishes late at night.
  2. ... great chunks of meat with crispy skin and a little bit of flavorful fat.
  3. The other dishes such as roasted pork, chicken, and duck rice dishes are awesome.
  4. Some previous posts praise the noodles and soups, and while they're pretty good, they just aren't at the same level as the baby pig, duck or salt-baked shrimp.
  5. The soy sauce chicken on rice was cold, undercooked, and hideously pink and raw looking.
  6. The roast meats are heavenly, especially the roast baby pig.
  7. The price and good noodles makes this oen of my regular stops in Chinatown.
  8. It has one of the best wonton soup in the city.
  9. The food is excellent.
  10. Noodle dishes are good (mmm, beef chow mein) as is shrimp with walnuts.
  11. You come here for the great shrimp wonton (everywhere else adulterates their's with pork, this place doesn't) or sui gao.
  12. The noodle/dumpling soups are amazing.
  13. The Roast Duck is great too, but I actually like it even better as part of a dish (i.e. served with flowering chives or pea shoots).
  14. Sometimes overly crowded, sometimes not, and as others have said, no ambience at all, just great food.
  15. This place looks like an oversized version of your local Chinese takeout joint (you might even have to share a table)but the food is authentic Hong Kong style and CHEAP.
  16. It is amazing food and would go back in a second!
  17. Order a bowl of shrimp dumpling soup, a plate of delicious roast pork or duck and beef chow mein (pan fried noodles).
  18. cheap good food
  19. Overall, this place has great food at a cheap price.
  20. Ironically I usually don't order noodles here.
  21. "Salt-baked" soft-shell crab, shrimp or squid are all great though I think the title is a misnomer, it seemed like they were fried
  22. The food is absolutely divine.
  23. Great prices (about 5 or 6 bucks for a meal) !
  24. Sickening food, horrible staff, gross interior, weird patrons, MSG, etc. etc. etc.
overall
100.0% positive
  1. You come here for the great shrimp wonton (everywhere else adulterates their's with pork, this place doesn't) or sui gao.
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. It is amazing food and would go back in a second!
service
12.5% positive
  1. The Food is pretty good but the service is so bad it's just not worth the wait.
  2. Never in my life I have seen such awful service, AWFUL in every way.
  3. Others have also complained of same bad experience with staff and service.
  4. Sickening food, horrible staff, gross interior, weird patrons, MSG, etc. etc. etc.
value
93.75% positive
  1. That said, it simply is not worth waiting in a huge line.
  2. The Food is pretty good but the service is so bad it's just not worth the wait.
  3. Overall, this place has great food at a cheap price.
  4. The price and good noodles makes this oen of my regular stops in Chinatown.
  5. cheap good food
  6. Everything tasted absolutely perfect, and I knew that they didn't buy just cheap, low-quality ingredients.
  7. Great prices (about 5 or 6 bucks for a meal) !
  8. No need to worry about spending big bucks here.
4 Star Rating: Recommended

01/28/10

Nothing Beats Hot Noodle Soup

by Athena Chang , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

This review is strictly for late night food. I wouldn't particularly recommend here since there are other better noodle shops in Chinatown. Nevertheless, this place opens till 4AM and serves some really delicious dishes late at night.

Each noodle soup is about $5 and it is super filling. No need to worry about spending big bucks here. The only thing is this place is a bit out of the way from your usual hangout spots.

* Pros:Cheap and yummy noodle soup

* Cons:poor interior decor

  • Pros: Cheap and yummy noodle soup
  • Cons: Loud and far away
4 Star Rating: Recommended

09/03/08

Real Chinese in Chinatown

by chitoryu12 at Citysearch

When I first saw this place, I was hesitant to walk in. The restaurant had freshly-cooked pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, and all other animals hanging on racks by the window. Also, I'm 6'4. When I went in for breakfast, I started to worry if I would be able to fit. It's a very tiny, one-room dining area with a few chairs by the door. I couldn't even sit in the chairs to wait, lest I kick the cashier in the head with my long legs.

When I finally got the menu, I was confused. There was an endless variety of dishes, from standard beef and brocolli with rice to jellyfish and suckling pig. Except for the more unusual dishes, each category had over a dozen offers. One thing that caught my eye: the price. Everything was so cheap you wondered if there was anyone on Earth who couldn't afford this place.

The food was brought extraordinarily quickly and I dug in. It was real, authentic Chinese. Everything tasted absolutely perfect, and I knew that they didn't buy just cheap, low-quality ingredients. My mother and I had full meals, so big we had to box them both up, for just over $18. It's also open until 3:00 A.M., so if you ever make the mistake of wandering down Chinatown at three in the morning, pop in for a bite.

  • Pros: Tasty, authentic Chinese, very cheap, ultra-fast service.
  • Cons: Anyone over five feet tall will be cramped, no ambience whatsoever.
1 Star Rating: Poor

04/21/08

Chinatown Resident speaking out

by mengNYC at Citysearch

I really dont know why people come here. Although its location is prime for its owners, the food and (lack) of service is definately not in favor of the patrons.

Food: Its pretty good, but is it better or even slightly better than its one-block away counterparts? No. In fact, the only thing that ir rates number one in is the price. (thanks to its corner location)

Service: Ah, theres the rub. Never in my life I have seen such awful service, AWFUL in every way. The waiters were fine but as soon as you reach the cashier, they will literally dump and throw your change at you. There was this one lady, watch out for the heavier set lady...she even searched through $5 bills for change, keeping nice crisp ones for herself while giving me the old ones.

I know this is a popular place thanks to bribed newspaper and magazine articles but if you dont believe me, Be my guest and try it out and enjoy getting your change back.

  • Pros: Average Food
  • Cons: Service, AWEFUL despicable cashier
1 Star Rating: Poor

09/30/07

I wish there were a zero stars rating

by smallish at Citysearch

This place is mind blowingly disgusting. Two friends and I wandered in after a recommendation from a friend and then from a woman walking into the place who noticed we were lingering outside trying to make a decision. She told us we couldn't go wrong and that this was the greatest and cheapest meal to be had in NY. We were seated soon enough, however at a communal table with some people who really seemed to be mentally ill and or homeless. One middle aged white man across from us greedily dug into a plate of meat covered in milky yellow goop and watching him unknowingly get that yellow gel on his face while he ate made me lose my appetite before the food had even arrived. The wonton soup was good enough though not fantastic enough to warrant stepping into this place,. God only knows where they source the shrimp from. The lo mein was unbearably salty and disgusting. The soy sauce chicken on rice was cold, undercooked, and hideously pink and raw looking. We each ate a bit and then got out of the place as soon as we could. Thankfully the tab was only $18 for 3 people and drinks. We left feeling as though our senses has been assaulted and the MSG after effects that followed only made things worse. Our thirst later that night was insatiable and today, the day after our ill fated meal, my entire face is swollen. While my biggest problem is retaining about 3 gallons of water, one of my friends is actually suffering from a bad MSG reaction; her face, lips, and tongue have been tingling all day and I certainly am not feeling normal. Seriously, this is THE MOST DISGUSTING PLACE TO EAT and I'm not one to avoid grungy ethnic food joints. Sickening food, horrible staff, gross interior, weird patrons, MSG, etc. etc. etc. THE WORST. EWWWWWW. As we were walking out we caught sight of a couple by the door mounging on 'porridge' and I was truly overcome by the feeling of wanting to die.

  • Pros: nothing
  • Cons: food, patrons, decor, MSG
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

03/04/07

Great Cantonese, especially roast meat

by chetlemon at Citysearch

Outstanding Cantonese food. Don't be fooled by the name of the place, the noodles are defintiely not the highlight, the roast meat is. I've eaten here perhaps a dozen times; in my estimation, Roast Baby Pig seems to be the best thing they have ... great chunks of meat with crispy skin and a little bit of flavorful fat. The Roast Duck is great too, but I actually like it even better as part of a dish (i.e. served with flowering chives or pea shoots). "Salt-baked" soft-shell crab, shrimp or squid are all great though I think the title is a misnomer, it seemed like they were fried ... just get one of those three, don't bother with the scallops. Some previous posts praise the noodles and soups, and while they're pretty good, they just aren't at the same level as the baby pig, duck or salt-baked shrimp. Sometimes overly crowded, sometimes not, and as others have said, no ambience at all, just great food.

  • Pros: Great, great food
  • Cons: No ambience, but that's not why you go here

The Details on New York Noodle Town

Place Categories:

  • great food
  • great roast duck
  • cold soy sauce chicken
  • love place
  • good noodles
  • good noodle dishes
  • awful service
  • delicious beef chow mein
  • love dumplings
  • huge line
  • order bowl
  • best entrees
  • praise previous posts
  • flavorful fat
  • horrible staff
  • best wonton soup
  • big bucks
  • great shrimp wonton
  • authentic cheap
  • amazing noodledumpling soups
  • great sui gao
  • all great shrimp
  • heavenly roast meats
  • gross interior
  • full meals