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Restaurant ReviewFood Sing 88 Corporation (New York City NY)
| (212) 219-8223
| 2 East Broadway,
New York City, NY 10028
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Reviewed by: Michael Gray
Summer Volume: 2012 Issue: 19(2) page: 28 - 29
 To this restaurant I accord most favored noodle status. It is open every day 9:30 am to 9:30 pm. It is not the first hand-pulled noodle restaurant, that was owned by immigrants from Fuzhou in New York's Chinatown in 2005. Today, there are at least six in Manhattan offering the essence of Chinese comfort food: Beef Noodle Soup.
Far Eastern Noodles was my favorite until the Gao family sold it a couple of years ago. Now 28 Forsyth Street is Kuai Le La Mian Hand-Pulled Noodles, their phone phone is (212) 941-7678. It is acceptable, but not the same without the genial Mr. Gao. I do cross the street to Super Taste of Sheng Wang at 27 Eldridge Street; phone: (212) 925-0805 when I want knife-cut noodles. However, I keep coming back to Food Sing 88 for several reasons including that it is clean and bright, the wait-staff is friendly, at least two of them speak English, and I consider their stock far superior to most as it is packed with the flavor of beef and chicken bones, onions, and star anise. Another reason, their noodles are uniformly soft with a good chew. Food Sing 88 has thirty-five menu items and six different kinds of noodles. Their most expensive dish, a House Special Hand-pulled Noodles, is seven dollars. A bowl of Noodle Soup with beef, tripe, or fish ball and beef starts at five and a half bucks. Shell out a buck-fifty more for their appetizing Seafood Hand-pulled Noodles. They come laden with clams, fish balls, shrimp and squid, and if you add a fried egg, the cost is only a nominal amount more, four bits to be exact.  Also at seven bucks, is their House Special Hand-pulled Noodles. I have not tried them yet, but looking at a portion nearby, they seem to contain pieces of beef brisket, offal, pork chop, and a fried egg.
Which ever dish you order, make sure to ask for their secret weapon. It is an add-on, their pickled vegetables. A waitress will bring you large bowl of them, and from it you can scoop a spoonful to top your dish; I do recommend you add some of this secret. Both the Peanut Sauce Noodles and the Fuzhou Wonton Soup, each two bucks and fifty, are simple and satisfying. There must have been twenty tiny wonton items in my cup; amazing!  The Fuzhou version of Zhajiangmian is assuredly not northern nor Beijing style. Called 'Eight Precious Noodles' on the menu, it has no fermented bean sauce. That makes it closer to a simple tomato-less spaghetti as a large pile of steaming noodles comes resting on a bed of iceberg lettuce. The dish is topped with fresh scallions and comes with a small cup of broth worth imbibing in.
The number 8 is lucky to the Chinese; double it and that will be lucky for you. Pictured are the Seafood Han-pulled Noodle Soup, Eight Precious Noodles, Hand-pulled Beef Noodle Soup, And Peanut Sauce Noodles with Pickled Vegetables. Go often, try many of their delightful soups and noodle dishes, take a business card and salivate while reading those on its back that you will want on a subsequent visit. And yes, do indulge in those secret weapons.
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