#61 – SPICY BEEF WITH KNIFE SHAVED NOODLES SOUP at UNCLE ZHOU

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

SADLY, UNCLE ZHOU IS NOW CLOSED.

I’ve had my fair share of food adventures in Queens, ranging from Chinese excursions in Flushing, Greek dinners in Astoria, and Indian and Latin American snacks along Roosevelt Avenue. But I haven’t spent nearly enough time in Elmhurst exploring the vastly growing Chinatown along Broadway. My first (and only) Chinese experience in Elmhurst was at a little dumpling shop called Lao Bei Fang.

As I made my way to a storefront called Uncle Zhou, I felt the excitement I felt many years ago when I had my first Szechuan experience by walking in to the foreign (and ultimately delicious) world of Spicy & Tasty in Flushing. Uncle Zhou is a few steps off from the street and you’ve really got to be searching for it. Good thing I was.

The menu is quite large, but I honed in on their Henanese specialty of noodles. There are the hand drawn noodles and the knife shaved noodles in spicy and non-spicy options. I read Time Out’s description very carefully so I knew exactly what to order.

A big steaming bowl of clear broth dotted with red specks of oil and peppers arrived at the table. It was very aromatic with hints of the spice sensations about to come.

The soup itself had a lot of deep meaty flavors with a good dose of freshness from cilantro, scallions, and bok choy. The tongue-numbing Sichuan heat snuck up on me, but after a few spoonfuls, my mouth was alive and happy.

Not to be outdone by the spice, the shards of beef were flavorful and tender. The most unique thing in the bowl was certainly the thick, irregularly shaped noodles. I’d never seen anything like these before and their soft chewiness was most pleasant. The thickness of the noodles seemed to help cool down the fire.

It was a very unique dish (for NYC) and I may now be completely obsessed with these strange-looking, but addicting noodles. Queens, you’ve done it once again!

Would Uncle Zhou’s Spicy Beef with Knife Shaved Noodles make my Top 100 of the year? The noodles themselves are most memorable and I’d like to try them in a different broth, but the flavors here were spot-on enough for an 8 out of 10.