Hand Pulled noodle party in my mouth

Good noodles seem to taste better in a decrepit environment, which is why we love Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle at 144 East Broadway in Chinatown. With just a couple of tables, and the incessant sound of the "noodle puller" smashing a thick string of dough on a metal table 10 feet from you, it can be a tough place to go with a group. Don't be dismayed by the plastic spoons on the table or the fact that the servers speak little to no English, consider yourself lucky to be in one of the best Fujianese style noodle joints in the city! Most of the Fujianese, relatively recent immigrants to the US, are concentrated around the Eldridge street area just South of Canal Street, with Supertaste being the most notable Fujianese restaurant. We've eaten at Supertaste and a few others, but Lam Zhou is by far our favorite.

View from the street of Lam Zhou at 144 E. Broadway

We always start of the meal with an order of boiled dumplings. Normally anywhere else we usually order them fried, but the boiled dumplings here are so perfect and tasty we go for the marginally healthier choice. The dumplings are made fresh, and usually you will see one or two people in that back folding them. The filling of pork and scallions is a flavor bomb, and the skins are nice and light.  Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of them, but trust me, they are good!

We all have our go to dishes and at Lam Zhou, Ian always orders his noodles dry with a minced pork sauce.

Dry noodle with meat sauce

Those are good, but I usually prefer a good soup. I always order the vegetarian option, which includes a fried egg and some Bok Choy. I don't order vegetarian here because I'm enlightened- but rather because  Lam Zhou is the proud honor of a "C" rating for cleanliness, so it's actually more about self preservation. Just kidding- but honestly the meat in the soup here seems unremarkable- the true star of the bowl is the noodles.  To tell the truth, the soup isn't truly vegetarian because they use a beef stock, Like all good noodle joints in Chinatown, the price of this massive soup bowl hovers at around $5.

Delicious vegetarian hand pulled noodles

The noodles are fresh- you can entertain yourself by watching the expert noodle puller in the background. At any rate, he can't be ignored, the sound of the dough impacting with the metal table is ear thumpingly loud, so loud in fact that it actually hurts your ears, which is a good part of the fun. Back to the noodles- they are fresh, softer than an al dente noodle but not mushy, and full of fresh, fresh,  flavor. Don't forget to add some of the pickled greens that they have on every table- they are great, especially with a heaping portion of hot sauce straight from the jar. I enjoyed every spoonful of my soup!

Good to the last drop

Save some room for desert- for $3 or $4 bucks you can have some desert dumplings, filled with sweet rice and peanuts and served floating in a bowl of cool water.

Mmm, sweet desert dumplings.

Check out Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle- you won't regret it!