Noodle Village 02-08-2011

Location: 13 Mott St.
Time: 7:30pm
People: 20 Rabbity Ramen and Friends: ALev, MLev, MGru from Dessert Landscape, JLam from MeSoHungry, LauraE, TrishP, MGill, Jill, Sekita from KikaEats, Rich, JRath from Rath & Co., Mike, SaSha from Tea Happiness, MerryL, Yasmin, StevenC, PMont, BLee, Caylin and myself

Feelings: The festive Ramen and Friends crew celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit at Noodle Village in Chinatown. As an organizer, hosting a monthly outing could be overwhelming and tedious (Lotus of Siam was a nightmare.), but this was the easiest transaction of Ramen and Friends history. They were superbly accommodating to 20 of us, and they even called me to see what sort of table arrangement we wanted.

Many of us thought the service was attentive, and both SaSha and Jill mentioned that the servers kept filling their cups of hot tea. "Service was better than expected," MerryL added. "They were very nice and accommodating, especially since a group like ours is probably their biggest nightmare."

The fried pork dumplings and scallion pancakes were a big hit of the appetizers. They should really call the scallion pancakes "scallion donut" due to its interesting shape. The dough had a good chewy texture, and the filling was flavorful. I also enjoyed their homemade rice crepes that came with creamy sesame sauce. They were the Chinese equivalent of peanut butter sandwiches with delicious carb and filling nuttiness.

As MerryL pointed out, their non noodle dishes were ironically better than most noodle dishes. "Bland, bland, bland," MGru referred to her noodle dishes, but her curry and rice hot pot had more flavor. MGill also enjoyed the rice hot pot with pork and salted fish and eloquently explained,"The rice was just right- sticky, chewy, and on the edge of pot, crunchy without being dried out. The bits of salted fish were a smack of flavor, even more so than other places I've had." This guy should have his own food blog.

Sekita thought her curry dish, oxtail with curry sauce lo mein was "rich, slightly spicy and really flavorful." While everyone enjoyed their more bold flavored curry or meat based dishes, BLee's and my shrimp dumpling noodles were more sensible and mild. It is difficult to find gingerly flavored Chinese food in the U.S., so this was a welcoming surprise. The portion was small, and MGill agreed that overall, portions at this joint "were intended for solo orders, rather than family style."

As SaSha said, the food here was not as greasy or heavy, which I particularly enjoyed. No wonder this is one of RB's favorite lunch spots. This is the kind of Chinese food I could have everyday without feeling sick, but at the same time, it is a bit unmemorable. $13.50 per person for sharing quite a lot of dishes was such a great deal, and Noodle Village will definitely considered to be one of the better Ramen and Friends outings of this coming year.