In theory, summer is a time of rest and relaxation. But in practice? Not so much. It’s verified fact, however, that summer is a time of cold noodles, the colder, the better.
I’m talking tangles of matcha udon, slippery buckwheat noodles, and slushy broths dispensed from frozen cocktail machines. (Yes, really.) Cold noodles — like hot ones — can be enjoyed any time of the year, but there’s something about eating them on a blistering hot day that borders on an out-of-body experience. Once you make them a part of your summer, you’ll wonder how you ever made it to fall without them.
Ole Ole Ole Olle
Each summer, Korean chefs fiercely compete to see who can produce the coldest bowl of mul naengmyeon — a knot of buckwheat noodles in a slushy broth made with beef and pickled radish water. Some restaurants dispense their naengmyeon from frozen cocktail machines or carve bowls out of frozen ice. But the coldest bowl of naengmyeon I’ve found is at Olle in Midtown. There are no gimmicks here — just barely-thawed beef broth with frozen flakes still clinging to the surface. (I love the soup so much, I often slurp the whole thing down before they can melt.)
Temperature isn’t the only reason this naengmyeon stands out. The fresh buckwheat noodles are also excellent: cut, boiled, rinsed and chilled to order, so they arrive at your table in a bouncy, chewy tangle. (My friend Eric Kim called Olle’s naengmyeon the finest in the city for this very reason.) The best part, though, is the broth: a slightly sweet slush puddle of beef, pear and radish slices that you can doctor as you please with mini bottles of vinegar and mustard.
11 East 30th Street (Madison Avenue), Midtown
Have noodles, will travel
There’s no easy way to get to Little Pepper, unless, of course, you live in College Point, Queens. The restaurant is about a 20-minute bus ride from the nearest subway station, and the traffic on the way there is … memorable. But the reason I beg my friend Mike to dine with me there at least once a month is because I think Little Pepper is one of the best Sichuan restaurants in town. And part of the reason I think that, is because of its cold noodles.
The spicy cold noodles are linguine-thick and pleasantly firm, run through with scallions and bean sprouts until they resemble the grass-type Pokémon Tangela. I don’t find them to be very spicy, but that’s fine when the rest of your meal involves Sichuan specialties like cumin lamb and whole fish in a fiery ground pork sauce. Everything is prepared by the owners, Cheng Ying Wu and her husband, Gui Ping Huang, with Mr. Huang handling the cooking, while Ms. Wu takes orders, runs food and sells Little Pepper T-shirts. For years, they have been hinting at retirement — they’ve certainly earned it — although I hope they pass down their noodle recipe before they do.
18-24 College Point Boulevard (18th Avenue), College Point
Whose udon house? Okiboru’s udon house.
OK, you can come out now: The crowds at Okiboru House of Udon are gone. When this East Village noodle shop opened last year, New Yorkers waited for hours to taste its Himokawa udon — broad, lasagna-like noodles designed to be dunked in a salty yuzu broth. Now you can walk right in.
That’s great news for us cold noodle lovers: The aforementioned Himokawa udon is actually served lukewarm, but the Athletic Greens-colored matcha noodles are freezing cold. Plated on a bed of ice, they’re firm and chewy, with a subtle nutty flavor thanks to the matcha. I love how the dipping sauce clings to the slippery noodles, and how you can dress it to your liking with wasabi, grated radish or a quail egg yolk. The $23 set meal, which also includes bacon tempura, looks pristine right up until your first bite, when the unending strands of udon send sauce flying everywhere. Maybe don’t wear white.
124 Second Avenue (St. Marks Place), East Village
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