Super Taste: La Mian (Hand Pulled Noodle) vs Dao Xiao Mian (Knife Shaved Noodle)

Dear Food Diary:
Seems like I’ve limited myself to above Bowery over the year, so when Sketchy Grub mentioned Super Taste, I was all in, the problem was I didn’t know how to get there. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that I had to print out a Hop Stop Map for chinatown, but I did… shame on me.
First thing I noticed about Super Taste was no bathroom, desperate I went a couple doors down to try my luck. Inside the innocent looking Bubble Tea shop, a teenage boy’s dream unfolded before my eyes. Row after row of neatly placed black leather lounge sofas with multiple cup holders, and a computer screen at eye level. I was totally out of place, but hey, everyone has needs.

Ok, back to Super Taste. They serve Lan Zhou style La Mian (Hand Pulled Noodle) and Dao Xiao Mian (Knife Shaved Noodle).
Basic dining room with giant green menu on the wall (don’t worry they also have english menus by the counter). We shared the House Special Hand Pulled Noodle and the Spicy Beef Knife Cut Noodle.

To document our entire experience, I approached the Noodle Master/Owner himself to show us his techniques. This is real old school traditional Chinese noodle making, no joke.

First off the Hand Pulled Noodle. It took him one full year to learn. 2 kinds of flour mixed to the right consistency (secret recipe).

HAND PULLED NOODLE

And voila! While pulling, he was nice enough to answer all my dumb Chinese geography questions (Yeah, another thing I’m not too proud of)

Here’s our House Special Hand Pulled Noodle, a big bowl of noodle soup with tender beef, tripe, ox tail, veggies and an egg. Very homey tasting. We splurged with this, $6.50, the most expensive item on the menu.
The soy braised beef slices were tender and flavorful but the oxtail on the other hand needed some salt, I didn’t care for it.
The noodle was so even and perfect, Sketchy Grub and I had our doubts, but his is all hand pulled, just check the video. I’ve had better in China, but this was pretty good, just lacked some bounce to it.


KNIFE SHAVED NOODLE
This only took him 3-4 month to learn. I guess getting the dough right and using special knife is key.

Here we have the Spicy Beef Knife Shaved Noodle, a bowl of comforting and spicy goodness. Tender beef and veggie with just the right amount of heat. My lips were tingling, an addicting sensation, kept me wanting more.
Between the 2, I much preferred the Knife Shaved. I liked the texture a lot better. It has a really nice bounce and slight bite and chew, all signs of good “mian”.

It’s such a cheap eat that you can go and decide for yourself, I mean with a Benjamin you could basically order the whole menu, though the Spicy Beef was a clear winner.
P.S. Chubby’s RATING: chubby rating 3.5(closer to 4)

26 Eldridge St
212.625.1198

Super Taste Restaurant on Urbanspoon

6 Responses to Super Taste: La Mian (Hand Pulled Noodle) vs Dao Xiao Mian (Knife Shaved Noodle)

  1. Anonymous says:

    this is a great post! I love Lan zhao la mien! The only one in melbourne is miles away in the suburbs 🙁

  2. Anonymous says:

    I am drooling, the noodles look so good! Both looks equally delicious.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I'm so so so jealous you get to PICK between the two, and they are both so cheap! The one hand-pulled noodle place in Boston (that I know of) closed years ago, and we might have like one place that has dao xiao mian. Sometimes I wished I lived in New York. 🙂

  4. Anonymous says:

    i do love supertaste, but you should try sheng wang across the street. it's down a few steps and kind of scary inside, but the Fujianese dumpling soup there is out of this world. and while you sometimes have to wait for a table at supertaste, it's usually not a problem at sheng wang. the foodies don't hang out at sheng wang, at least not yet.

    http://justcooknyc.blogspot.com/2009/02/flight-of-fujianese-dumplings.html

  5. Anonymous says:

    Justin,
    yeah! i did see it the other day… it's on my list of places to try for sure =) so many places…. so lil tummy and time

  6. Anonymous says:

    3 hungry tummies and jen,
    you guys should come to NY =)

    Jeannie,
    yeah there were both quite good

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