Brooklyn’s Best Cold Noodle Bowls
Summer–for all intents and purposes–is over, but you can still expect a series of 80 degree days until well into the fall. So before you revert to wintry rib-stickers like cheesy lasagna and spaghetti bolognese, cool off with Asian-style chilled noodles instead, from Burmese leth thoke son at Rangoon NoodleLab, to LaRina Pastificio & Vino’s Italian spin on ramen.
LaRina Pastificio & Vino
This new wine bar and pasta spot in Fort Greene focuses specifically on noodles, hand-crafting rustic shapes like chickpea tagliatelle–which can be purchased, by the pound, to go, or ordered as part of an Italian take on cold ramen, sauced with a cool tomato gazpacho and basil oil, and interspersed with stretchy coils of calamari.
387 Myrtle Ave., Fort Greene
Xi’ian Famous Foods
Cold noodles comprise an entire section of Xi’an’s Silk Road-inflected menu: choose from stir-fried or Liang Pi cold skin noodles, dressed with black vinegar, soy, and honeycombed cubes of gluten, or handmade, limited quantity Mi Pi Rice noodles, dyed radiantly red from their slick of proprietary spicy and tangy sauce.
648 Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint
Yun Nan Flavour Garden
While there’s no better rebuttal for inclement weather than a bowl of Yun Nan’s infamous “Crossing the Bridge” noodle soup, their cold rice noodles are optimal for summer (and plenty hearty enough for the approaching fall), featuring elastic Yunnanese rice noodles slippery with a slurry of chili oil, vinegar, sugar and soy, and finished with savory drifts of ground pork and shards of toasted peanuts.
5121 8th Ave., Sunset Park
Rangoon NoodleLab
Check out one of Brooklyn’s rarified Burmese restaurants during its Wednesday-only residency at The Bodega in Bushwick, for a pasta-centric menu that includes a cooling rendition of leth thoke son, a multi-carb composition of wheat noodles, mung bean noodles and rice vermicelli (plus lobes of potato and tofu) tossed with turmeric garlic oil and tamarind.
24 St Nicholas Ave., Bushwick
Hey Hey Canteen
A fast-casual reimagining of Duck Duck Goose, Hey Hey Canteen specializes in feel good, all-day fare like sesame peanut noodles and cold spicy matcha soba (gluten freers can swap in spiralized zucchini), piled with a greenmarket’s worth of cucumber, carrot and crisp green beans.
400 4th Ave., Park Slope
