Send Noods: Five cold noodle spots to cool off at this summer
From sesame noodles to Korean cold noodle soup, Brooklyn has a variety of Asian-style cold noodle dishes if you know where to look
For some Brooklynites, summer is a tragic hiatus from one of the best times of the year — soup season. Ramen, pho, beef noodle soup and the like offer the perfect mouth-hug on a cold winter’s night but, alas, can make you uncomfortably hot during summer.
For noodle lovers craving something similar but more refreshing to beat the heat, we have good news: Cold noods can scratch that itch without giving you the soup sweats. Here are five of our favorite spots to cop a cup.
Yun Nan Flavour Garden
5121 Eighth Avenue, Sunset Park
Yun Nan Flavour Garden is known for serving up the Yunnan specialty Crossing the Bridge Noodles — if you’ve never heard of it, now you have — but they also serve up some mean cold noodles. Their version features a bed of springy rice noodles coated in black vinegar, sugar, soy and chili oil, topped with ground pork, roasted peanuts, cilantro and chili peppers. The noodles absorb the flavor from the meat and chili oil well, while the crunch from the cilantro and peanuts deepens the dish’s texture. And it’s all tied together perfectly with just the right amount of heat.
Birds of a Feather
191 Grand Street, Williamsburg
The menu at Sichuan eatery Birds of a Feather offers an extensive selection of cold appetizers, two of which happen to be excellent cold noodle dishes. The first, Sichuan cold noodles, features chili oil, peppercorn, peanut paste and sesame. It’s a simple but delicious dish, and the perfect place to start if you’re a cold noodle skeptic. The second, northern-style mung bean noodles, is a bit more adventurous. The translucent mung bean noodles are long, thick and gelatinous — perfect for slurping. Even though the dish packs a bit of heat, it’s extremely refreshing, and a fun food to try that’ll expand your palate. Best of all, both dishes are only $10, making them low-risk items to tack on to your order.
Samurai Mama
205 Grand Street, Williamsburg
Cold udon noodles are popular in Japan, where they come with a simple premise: Grab some noodles, dip them in mentsuyu — a savory sauce made from dashi broth, mirin and soy sauce — and slurp them up. Samurai Mama has a dedicated menu section featuring seven different varieties. The traditional chilled (don’t laugh) bukkake udon is a great place to start. It’s simply cold udon noodles topped with daikon, green onion and seaweed, served with a poached egg. The shrimp tempura and salmon ikura variants are better if you’re looking for a filling meal, but arguably the best option for summer is the udon salad. Cold udon noodles paired with crisp greens and veggies make for the ultimate combination to help you cool off.
LuAnne’s Wild Ginger
676 Franklin Avenue, Crown Heights; 235 Dekalb Street, Fort Greene
Anyone looking for a solid vegan option is in luck — two of LuAnne’s Wild Ginger’s Brooklyn locations offer Japanese- and Vietnamese-style cold noodle dishes. The bò bun Viet noodle salad features satay-marinated seitan over a base of rice vermicelli and lettuce, and topped with bean sprouts and crushed peanuts. The vermicelli and lettuce help keep the dish light, while the seitan ensures you satiate your appetite. The nuoc cham sauce the dish is served with is sweet with a hint of heat; it’s the perfect touch to bring the whole dish together. The spicy soba and kale bowl sees cold soba tossed in a sesame peanut sauce paired with silken tofu atop a bed of kale, all topped with a kimchi dressing. What makes this dish stand out is the juxtaposition between the savory sesame peanut sauce and the acidic kimchi dressing. Together they produce a wonderful umami flavor and mouthfeel.
Atti
294 Livingston Street, Boreum Hill
Good Korean restaurants in Brooklyn are far and few between. Finding a Korean restaurant that serves naeng myeon in the borough is even rarer. Atti, downtown Brooklyn’s self- proclaimed “fine Korean BBQ” spot, might be the only place to do so. The dish, which translates to cold noodle, originated as a North Korean winter specialty, but it’s the perfect treat for a hot summer day. The noodles, typically made of buckwheat, are served in an icy broth topped with razor-thin slices of pear and cucumber, strips of beef, and an egg. Atti’s version is insanely refreshing and the perfect addition to an indulgent night of barbeque.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2023 issue of Brooklyn Magazine. Want it delivered to your door for a nominal fee (plus a free hat)? Click here to subscribe.
