Noodies

This weekend we went out for lunch at a new-ish Thai place in Hell's Kitchen called Noodies.  We had seen them building out the space but didn't have time to try it before leaving for Barcelona.  We knew they had some items on the menu that were different from other Thai places in the neighborhood and were excited to try them.

Love the wall of bowls!

To start, A ordered a Thai iced tea. It was a good Thai iced tea, and A was not considering getting one until he saw just how large the glass was on the table next to us. It's one of the bigger glasses of Thai iced tea you'll find on 9th Ave.

We both got the lunch special, which is offered from noon to 3:30 pm every day.  As part of the special, all entrees come with a complimentary salad and starter (choice of 4 of the appetizers).

The salad was their standard green market salad, which consisted of mixed green vegetables, tomatoes, radishes, and alfalfa sprouts with a ginger-honey-soy vinaigrette.

The salad was very light and a good start to the meal.  All the vegetables were fresh and crisp, and it was nice having a salad that didn't only consist of lettuce and a tomato.

We decided to get two different starters and split them to try more.  On the left is the mushroom dumplings (dumpling of pan-seared trio of mushrooms and cabbage fried and then sprinkled with truffle salt and served with light soy sauce) and on the right is the steamed dumplings (dumpling of ground pork and shrimp, shallots, water chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms served with tangy soy sauce and topped with fried garlic).

The mushroom dumplings were really good. The truffle salt gave them a nice scent and mild flavoring. Even though they were fried, the dumplings felt rather clean and fresh. The "light soy" that came with it tasted more like the water used to reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms, and it added a nice flavor.  The steamed dumplings were more similar to the kanom jeeb that you get at other Thai restaurants, but they were still tasty. The texture was just right and the fried garlic was a nice addition.

For the entrees, we concentrated on the noodles & bowls section of the menu where they had some of the "non-standard" items.

M got the kwaytiew neur sub, which consisted of broad noodles, ground beef, onions, sundried tomatoes and green leaves in thick curry powder gravy ($10).

This bowl was a bit like a stew with how thick it was.  The gravy was filled with robust flavor and the dish felt simultaneously hearty (with the noodles and meat) and light (all the crispy lettuce and spice).  One of the accompaniments on the table was a red jar which we were told was sriracha blended with sugar and vinegar to make it smoother.  They told us this would work well with this bowl and they were absolutely right.  All mixed together, it was fantastic.

A got the yien ta four, which consisted of broad noodles, shrimp, white mushrooms, tofu, spinach and floating shrimp balls in spicy tomato broth ($11).

You could really taste the tomato in the broth, and it had a nice heat to it as advertised. The homemade shrimp balls were like a meaty shrimp toast without the breading. The shrimp were fresh, and the spinach was a nice touch. The white wood-ear mushrooms added an additional texture to the dish as well. The only mildly disappointing part of the dish were the actual noodles. They were a bit clumped, and it was hard to break them apart to actually eat with the rest of the dish.

We really enjoyed our lunch at Noodies and the lunch special is a good deal.  We will definitely go back!

Noodies is located in Hell's Kitchen on 9th Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets.