Taiwan Noodle (Albany, NY)

Is it just me, or is Central Avenue trying to Asia-fy itself?

It seems like it, with yet another Chinese restaurant opening up on the same stretch that houses Shining Rainbow, CCK, Van’s, Ichiban. Not that I’m complaining, but come on… spread the love (especially to Troy where it is much needed but will be poorly received)!

Anyways, there’s a new noodle shop in town where Saso’s used to be. I’m not sure how long it’s been open, but I found out about it from Albany Jane. Checked out their menu online and there were things I was interested in trying. Their prices looked more than reasonable, another plus.

There about a dozen items to choose from in each category – appetizers, dim sum, noodle soup, and entrees with rice. Prices range from a dollar for a five spiced egg to $5.95 for mixed mushrooms with noodles or rice. On the day we visited, they were serving homemade soy milk, which isn’t listed on the menu. You can order it either hot or cold. I’ve had soy milk before and hated it, but this was good. It was slightly sweet and faintly tasted of soaked beans. If they make their own soy milk, I wonder if they make their own tofu?

M and I split a double order of scallion pancakes ($1.95).They must have just come right off the stove because they were HOT. Unlike other restaurants, these are thin and crispy. Not oily. Tasty. I ended up only having two pieces of this because I had a lot more to go. M happily finished this off.

 

After the pancakes, the food pretty much came out all at once, so I tried to dim sum first before I tackled my soup.These are the pan fried pork buns ($2.95), which is just the steamed version that’s been thrown into a frying pan for a quick second. I don’t remember if the bottoms were browned up, but there is that sheen to these, which would make you think it spent some time in a frying pan, no? Sprinkled with some scallions and sesame seeds. Good, although pork buns in general have more bread than stuffing in my opinions. GIVE ME MOAR MEAT.

There aren’t a lot of options for vegetarian, so I ended up ordering M the veggie dumpling ($2.95). Good sized portion, filled with a mix of veggies (cabbage and mushroom I can clearly identify) and glass noodles. There was something in the mix that M didn’t particularly like (I’m thinking it was the mushrooms) but otherwise he thought they were good. I wonder if they make these in house or if they buy them frozen?

That picture of the beef noodle soup on the front of the menu was taunting me, so I decided to order the stewed beef chuck ($4.95). Okay, so not exactly what the menu picture looks like, but holymolyfreakingoodness, the taste exceeded my expectations. Crazy for a simple bowl of noodles with some bok choy, some meat, and broth. Oh, that broth! I slurped half of it down before I remembered there were other things in that bowl. Over on Albany Jane’s post, she mentions how the broth for all the noodle dishes are vegetable based. That’s awesome, and means that M can get something… meat free, of course. While eating, I had this crazy thought that I would order something else and take it home for the football games. This never happened because after finishing that soup, there was no way I could eat anymore that day… and perhaps part of the next day.

I may have been full, but I still ordered some almond cookies. Had to… there was still some soy milk to finish. Pretty sure these were store bought, but if they make them in house, nice. As you can see, our lunch came out to just under twenty bucks, which is not bad, considering how much food we got.

I think the man who took our order and served/cleaned up the table was the owner. Very nice, and kept asking how we were doing and how the food was. Very nice, attentive. And he also let us know that next time we visit, we should park in their parking lot (I was wondering about those spots… now I know).

Yesterday I wanted to go back and grab some food to go, but alas! They’re closed on Tuesdays. Weird, considering the area likes to shut down on Mondays.

Taiwan Noodle
218 Central Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
(518) 436-1328
http://taiwannoodle.net
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Accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover

Hours:     Monday – Friday  11:00 – 10:00
                Saturday              11:00 – 10:30
                Sunday                10:30 – 9:00
                Closed Tuesdays