New Noodle Shop Xin Taste Brings
Authentic Asian to Austin Street
LEFRAK CITY COURIER | WWW.QNS.COM | APRIL 2018 23
» BY JOE DISTEFANO
Even though it’s New York City’s
most ethnically—and by extension
culinarily—diverse
borough there was a time in Queens
when to slurp a bowl of authentic
hand-pulled Chinese noodle soup
one had to go to either Elmhurst or
Flushing. Th anks to Xin Taste Lan
Zhou Hand Pull Noodle that time is
past. Xin Taste opened in December
on a stretch of Austin Street that until
quite recently was better known for
boutiques than for authentic Asian
cuisine.
Open the door and you’ll be greeted
by clouds of star anise-scented
steam billowing from the open kitchen
and a scene more common in
Queens’ two Chinatowns than tony
Forest Hills. As the name implies
the specialty of the house is handpulled
noodles, or la mian, which are
stretched before your very eyes.
Sit at the counter to get the best
view of the action, and watch the
noodle man ply his craft . He starts
with a thick braid of dough that he
tosses into the air with arms spread
wide. In a matter of second he doubles
and quadruples the braid until
there are dozens of noodles between
his outstretched arms.
At $9.50 a bowl the prices are
slightly higher than in the food
courts of Flushing. Among the protein
choices find beef, duck, lamb,
ribs, seafood and chicken; Adventurous
eaters can up the ante by adding
slippery chewy bits of beef tendon
to their bowl. Beef, tender chunks of
meat fl oating beside bok choy and
other greenery, is the best of the lot.
Unlike its cousins in Flushing, Xin
Taste includes a half hardboiled egg
in its broth. Surely this is a nod to the
neighborhood’s non-Chinese diners,
who are more familiar with Japanese
ramen than Chinese hand pulled
noodle soup. Authenticity issues
aside, tucking into a bowl of steaming
niu rou la mian scented with star
anise is most restorative.
In addition to noodles of the hand
pulled variety there are dao xiao
mian. Sometimes called peel noodles,
these little knife-shaved noodles—
rarely seen outside of downtown
Flushing’s bustling Chinatown—are
made by shaving a block of dough
with a blade. Th e result is a chewier,
thicker noodle with a ridge down the
center that presents a nice change of
pace to the slippery la mian.
Pork and chive dumplings ($4.95
for eight) and Taiwanese style salt
and pepper fried chicken, or yen su ji,
round out the menu. Th e dumplings,
juicy little packages, are quite good.
As for the fried chicken, it’s tasty but
could use a bit more pepper in the
batter. Like the hard-boiled egg in the
soup, the sidecar of mayo seems out of
place, though it was quite nice when
kicked up with a bit of chili paste.
Xin’s Chinese zodiac placemats are
straight out of the corner takeout but
thankfully its noodles aren’t. Incidentally
the Chinese name “Xin Wei”,
means “rich taste.” While the food
here might not have quite as rich a
taste as it does in Flushing’s Chinatown,
it’s plenty rich for Austin Street.
Tip: Be sure to doctor up your
noodle soup with some of the black
vinegar and chili paste that sits on every
table.
Xin Taste Lan Zhou Hand Pull Noodle
72-38 Austin St., Forest Hills, (718)
520-5199.
DINING OUT