Cold, Spicy Noodles Will Chill Everyone Out
Review: Spicy beef noodles at Noona's, porky tsukemen at Ivan Ramen, plus notes on the city's best liang pi and cold uni spaghetti
What I love about summers in New York
New York was hot this past week.
How hot?
It’s the type of weather that made me want to blog from inside a cold shower. With a waterproof MacBook and a plate of smashed cucumbers. Seems doable!
It was also the type of weather that recalled summertime visions of yesteryear.
Perhaps you remember the sweltering blackout of 1977, or maybe you experienced it vicariously through Spike Lee’s “Summer of Sam.” Perhaps you’ve lived in Hell’s Kitchen all your life. Or maybe, like me, you fell in love with the neighborhood after watching Alex Sichel’s “All Over Me,” a dreamy portrait of a punk rock, coming-of-age summer with a young Leisha Hailey.
And if you’ve spent any time reading The New Yorker, you surely know Arthur Miller’s remembrance of a pre-air conditioning era, when folks used to ride the elevated train just for the breeze.
I can’t compete with those authors and auteurs. So for now, let me just share 15 of my favorite things about the city during our sweaty summer months.
Watching folks bargain down the price of bottled water with street vendors.
Devouring slice of spicy shallot pizza inside Fini Barclays Center as thousands line up for a Liberty game.
Walking to a 9:00 p.m. dinner reservation while it’s still light out.
Always taking the subway, because the air conditioning there is better than in the fanciest restaurants. And because our subway, like our city, is safe — no matter what the politicians might say.
Ordering a tropical, non-alcoholic IPA from a Lower East Side restaurant. Because it’s too hot for real beer.
Hopping on any ferry, for no particular reason, and letting the wind run through your hair on the upper deck while the sun sets over the Manhattan skyline.
Drinking an N/A gin & tonic even though it tastes like microwaved plastic wrap. Like I said, it’s too hot for alcohol.
Seeing how excited folks are to hit up Tashkent Supermarket for plov and Uzbek pastries…before taking a dip in Brighton Beach. A lot more fun than dropping by a Whole Foods in Westchester, right?
Realizing that you can still cool off with a $2 coconut ice from one of the last piragua vendors on the Lower East Side.
Sipping a white cherry Icee at the Lincoln Square IMAX after the edible hits. Your whole body becomes a very chill tuning fork. And the screen is so big it’s as if the dinosaurs are going to literally eat you.
Buying an ice-filled plastic cup from any bodega. In case your (knockoff) can of La Colombe isn’t cold enough.
Complaining to my friends that an ice-filled cup from my bodega costs $1, lol.
Inhaling the sub-zero air in front of my bodega’s beverage case. Even though I’m not sure why my local corner store needs a larger selection of hallucinogenic drinks than my local dispensary. Like, 25 mg of THC is a lot for a single lemonade!
Realizing that you don’t need to go to The Hamptons or The Catskills, as lovely as those places are. Because the city is enough.
Seeing how many good New Yorkers braved the heat to vote. Because they believe in our city. Because they’re excited about change. And because even though they supported so many different candidates, enough of them were united in something truly important: Not ranking Cuomo.
Sorry, Andrew: A little dose of New York haterade keeps our souls hydrated all summer long :)
Your Summer Menu: 10 Amazing Cold Noodle Dishes!
It can be tough to work up an appetite when it’s this hot.
On Tuesday, when it felt like 102F in Hell’s Kitchen, my stomach was in knots just trying to finish a slice of tomato pizza.
I fared better with a bowl of cold noodles. During heatwaves, they’re some of the only things I crave besides good temaki. Here are a few of my favorites!
Behind the paywall, you’ll find the following:
Review: Ivan Ramen’s porky tsukemen and yuzu-shio ramen
Review: The “icy spicy” naengmyeon at Noona’s
The case for Massara’s cold uni and shrimp noodles
Why you need liang pi noodles from Xi’an to keep you cool
An amazing piragua ice on the Lower East Side