Like many other New Yorkers, I read Pete Wells Top New York Restaurants of 2016 and quickly made reservations..
From his list, my sister, brother-in-law and I opted for Hao Noodle and Tea on Sixth Avenue. We decided to try Madam Zhu’s Spicy Fish Stew ($25) that Peter raved about. It’s a dish that truly gives a new meaning to hot. With so many varieties of peppers floating in the soup, my B-I-L who’s been known to casually eat raw habañero peppers found this melange almost too much. I must add that he did say he’d go back for it again.
In addition, we tried the sweetly smoked sole ($12) — five small pieces of fried fish in a hoisin based sauce with two long slivers of cucumbers. Tasty but tiny portion.
We found the spicy beef with orange sauce ($16) — a dish that the waiter highly recommended — inedible; it contained very little beef but plenty of black Sichuan pepper skins. We left all but a bite or two of the beef on the plate. Yup, that bad.
What I’d recommend for those who don’t like spicy dishes are both the tender roasted Cantonese chicken ($18) with veggies in a mild sauce, and a Taiwanese dish of minced pork and shiitake mushroom noodles ($15).
I have to add that we asked for some white rice to soak up some the chicken’s sauce — and counter-act the heat of the peppers in the other dishes — and were quite surprised that they charged $2 for each bowlful.
– bonnie
Hao Noodle and Tea by y Madame Zhu’s Kitchen
West Village
401 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
212-633-8900
madamzhu.com
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