Rice Noodle Cart

Only my first visit here, and I intend to return. Swayed by the dirt cheap prices, I requested a quart of mai fun (yep, a quart). Just know that unless a dish on the «menu» explicitly lists proteins, you’re just getting a big wad of noodles (which was actually just fine). They were fried with bits of egg and Chinese cabbage but about 95% noodle. Have the cart lady crank the sauces: Hoisin, soy, peanut, and hot sauce. Yum.
Definitely a great lunch value. I ate half my quart, saving the rest for tomorrow’s lunch. Also, looking forward to trying the fish balls and pork skin noodles.
Lady’s English was just fine. Probably varies based on whom you get.

The slippery cheong fun noodles are delicious even though the slightly sweet sauces that go with it aren’t my flavor profile (I’m a savory girl). However, the $ 1 noodle cart down the block at Mott in front of the Chase bank has better mai fun (a few sprinklings of frozen peas and carrots and fresh bean sprouts with a hint of garlic and white onion makes the difference). The mai fun here is a mix of rice vermicelli and clear (bean thread?) vermicelli but has very little accompaniment (just a flash of egg and a stray scallion). But all in, $ 4 for 2 large portions of noodles and fishballs? You really can’t be upset :)

The cleanest rice noodle cart in Chinatown. The lady is fast so you won’t need to wait for long even if there is a line.
Make sure you order extra sauce!!!

THE spot for curry fish balls! Love to get it w/​slippery cheong fun (rice noodle ROLLS).if only they were less plain & had more dried shrimp+scallion. For ~$ 5, this quick mix w/​sweet & savory soy, sesame, peanut, Sriracha + curry sauces is the quintessential HK-​Canto street cart food. Medium-​size fills me up (+ a tea egg, if hungrier)!
Don’t hold up the line. Know what you want before you get to the front & order in Cantonese: «kar-​le-​yiu-​dan-​cheong!» And ask for all sauces. Cart lady’s boy is sometimes there and speaks English.

I love this food cart and I absolutely adore the lady who runs it. I used to come here all the time when I worked in Chinatown — I was only a block away. That was 3 years ago and I haven’t been back since, barring a monthly meeting that requires me to travel to Chinatown. 3 years and the lady still remembers me, and would always say «long time no see» when I show up at the cart — once a month. She’s always so friendly and smiley. Service (with the help of another lady who’s been with her for years) is always fast especially if you can order in Chinese (Mandarin/​Cantonese), or else it may take a bit of time if you’re English-​speaking only, unless you can parse their not-​so-​fluent English.
You can easily get a meal here for under $ 5. I usually get the beef chang fen (or cheong fun in Cantonese) which is steamed rice noodle rolls. Sometimes I’d get fish balls to go with it. I also often get the tea eggs, which are now 4 for $ 2 (used to be 3 for $ 1, but I guess egg prices have hiked recently). I’ve also tried the chow mein (stir-​fried noodles) and congee — both palatable. The portions range from small, medium to large. As of June 2015, a small chang fen w/​fish balls is $ 2.25.
Cheap, delicious, fast. You can’t really ask for more from a food cart. Also, I believe she’s Grade A inspected — I remember seeing the sign on the cart (will take pic next time I go) — so you can rest assured the food is clean :)

It’s quick satisfying eats to a tee. It’s a well run cart right outside of the NQR subway station in chinatown. The 2 ladies running the cart are super nice and always have a smile. Items are made quick and ready to go. The go to item here is the rice noodles. Prepared fresh and are hot and tasty. I always like mine with the wonderfully made fish balls which have great flavor. Doused in a great sauce of soy, hoisin, sesame seed, and hot sauce if you like it’s a great meal or snack. Affordable price as well. I always get one if in the area.

I grew up eating from her cart every weekend when I had Chinese classes. As I grew up and have other things to do now, I still find myself stoping by here when I’m in CT. Her food is always great and never change. She packs up her cart for the day around 4pm everyday she works m-​sat though

I grew up eating this stuff so naturally I’m addicted. I’ve flown all over Asia, Canada and US. I tell you the rice rolls here don’t get much better! Simply put, I love this place with a passion.
Food:
Rice rolls — soft and smooth with peanut and/​or soy sauce.
Fish balls — MSG with some fish and starch. Who needs crack???
Service:
Ladies are especially nice when you tell them you’ve flown several thousand miles just to eat there.
Environment:
The streets of Chinatown is neither clean, beautiful or friendly. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Price:
Less than $ 1.50 per order? It was $ 1 when I was a kid… that was 25 years ago.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Environment: 5
Price: 5

Cheong Fun $ 2 for a small and their small is huge. About 11oz worth of rice noodles. I was curious so I measured: P
Best part of coming here was I was able to introduce my friend from Shanghai to Cheong Fun. Initially he was afraid to eat it because he said it looked so strange. But one bite and he was hooked.
There is a language barrier if you don’t understand Cantonese, and I find it hard to understand their very heavily accented Mandarin. I said I wanted to buy one box in Mandarin, but then she asked me about wanting 3 of something. I thought she was talking about their bottles of sauces. Somehow it was misconstrued that I wanted 3 boxes. Seeing their pissed off faces at the confusion, I just took the 3 boxes, which they were grateful for. No harm done, as they are only $ 2 each. Just a lot of noodles to eat.
The noodles are slightly harder than the ones at the cart on the corner of Elizabeth and Hester, with less pieces of dried shrimp. Here they use a thicker soy sauce paste verses the other cart which uses straight up soy sauce. In terms of quality and tastiness, I find both the same. Although the best Cheong Fun in my opinion comes from Sun Hing Lung Co on Henry Street.
They have a tripe one which I want to try next time.

I love the congee here now also. $ 1.50 for a small or $ 3.00 for a large. She offers a chicken one with dried bean curd in it. It’s so comforting on a rainy, dreary day.

No matter how full I am, walking by this truck always makes my mouth water. I love chong fun and love this food truck.
Don’t think there’s much size difference between small and medium, probably paying more for more portable the plastic container. Noodles are still good even after sitting for a few hours because they get more marinated, so don’t worry if you can’t eat it right away!

I can never seem to take any pictures of this food, because it always gets devoured immediately! In my opinion, this is by far the best street food cart in Chinatown for cheung fun (rice noodles) in this style – with peanut sauce, soy sauce, fish balls, etc. I have a sentimental connection with this dish though, because there used to be a cart just like this outside my elementary school as a kid. All the kids would have it as an after school snack… and this is the kind of thing you can only say if you grew up in Chinatown.
This place is hands-​down the best at what it does. My only gripe is I never know if they’re going to be there or not. I’ve heard the hours are 10 – 4, but there have been a few times I’ve passed this corner during those hours and it just wasn’t there.
COMPETITION: There is another cart on the northwest corner of Hester and Elizabeth that sells the same thing, but it’s totally inferior (noodles are sometimes cold, fish balls not cooked through, not enough sauce, etc). All of the ingredients are there, I just think they don’t care about how it all comes together. Then there is ANOTHER cart right across the street on the northeast corner, which is better, and some people really like. I don’t prefer it because it’s actually a totally different kind if cheung fun dish. It has beef and/​or vegetables in it, no peanut sauce, and no fish balls. Just a personal preference for me, but I hope the cart on Centre and Canal never shuts down!

Dear Unilocalers,
Let’s keep this place to ourselves. Because the rest of Chinatown already knows that this place is the bomb diggity. That’s why there are only 10 reviews for a cart that has been around forever.
FYI: Back in some other decade, the small styrofoam containers would only cost $ 1.25. I KNOW. $ 1.25. And the congee in the plastic pint was only $ 1. $ 1.
But anyways, I love their congee (rice porridge) and rice noodles because their consistency hasn’t changed in over a decade. The congee’s consistency is great. It isn’t too thick like paste and not too thin like soup. It’s just plain congee done right. The rice noodles aren’t #OMG #BESTFOODEVER but definitely above average.
If you still don’t believe me, the fact that this place is still going strong after at least a decade should at least speak to some level of assurance about this cart’s foods.
Most places in Manhattan come and go but this rice noodle cart is here to stay.

This is the best rice noodle cart in Chinatown… The cart and the lady have been around for many years serving hot breakfast rice noodles. Ditto

There’s always a line at this cart. The rice noodles are the thing!
Cheap and good, I swing by this cart before work to pick up my breakfast. I like mine with curry fishballs but I’ve been paying attention to other customers and you can ask for any customization. I once heard a man ask for the curry sauce with his rice noodles and that sounded delicious! YUM!

First of all, the fact that this place only has 3.5 stars boggles my mind! This little cart here is the most popular cart in like a 10 block radius! The line is all the way down the block every single morning! The customers range from the regulars to tourists to Asians and even non-​Asians.
So if you scroll down and read mr. Unilocal elite’s review who gave it 1 star, you’ll understand why this place is so underrated! Because as another reviewer pointed out, there is no such thing as a chicken skewer from the rice noodle cart! It’s just not on the menu.
There’s rice noodle, curry fish balls, beef tripe, tea eggs, but no chicken skewers and this has been the case for more years than I can remember. This was my go-​to place for breakfast when I worked in the area during my high school years, college years, and grad school years. You’re crazy if you don’t give this cart a try! Their food is just fresh, delicious, fast, and so cheap! I’ve never had a stomachache or any so-​called bone found in the food and I’ve been going back for years.
Their rice noodle is to die for! I personally don’t like the rice noodle as much as just getting 16 curry fish balls which is only $ 3! The curry fish balls are always so tasty and full of curry flavor! And it’s not spicy at all if you’re worried (Although I’m not sure I’m a good marker of what’s spicy or not. I love spicy food.) That’s just a personal preference because I don’t really eat the little dried shrimps that she has in her rice noodles but everyone loves them and it adds flavor. I also really like her tea eggs! They’re really yummy and have been soaked in so many spices and yummy tea!
So line up with the rest of the crowd right in front of the JZNRQ station on Centre street. Her rice noodles go fast so don’t wait! They’re usually gone before early afternoon! High in demand and low in supply! Hurry! :D

This is my spot. If you have less than $ 5 in cash in your pocket, this is where you need to be eating. Curry fish balls, beef tripe and the best rice noodle rolls ever. Everytime I’m in Chinatown and I see this little lady in her cart, I make a beeline to get me some rice rolls. Tell her to make it spicy and just keep nodding when she asks you if you want different sauces.
I made the mistake of trying another rice noodle cart and let me say, it was terrible. Basically overcooked to the point where it was like porridge.

This rice noodle cart is the best one in chinatown. You cannot beat the quality and the price. The rice noodles are steamed to perfection, they are not soogy or hard but has that chewy texture to it. There are small pieces of dried shrimp and scallions which give it a richer flavor. Add in 25 cents and you get 5 nicely sized fishballs. Ask her to put in more sauce because it makes all the difference! The lady here is super nice and really quick. No need to stick with the menu because you can customize your rice noodles any way you want.
The review by Tony C. is inaccurate considering this cart doesn’t even sell skewers!
Definitely pay a visit to this cart, it is cheap and the quality of the food is really good!

This is one of the few rice noodle carts in Chinatown which I find myself coming back to each time. They’re not open on Sundays so don’t try to trek out and then be disappointed.
The rice noodles here are a lot different than other locations. It’s not too soft or soggy but has a nice chewy bite to it. The lady at the cart works über fast so be ready to tell her what you want when it’s your turn. Sure, the price had gone up but the quality is still the same and you it’s practically a bargain for the amount of food you get with the price you pay.
Do try the tripe with rice noodles for $ 3, it comes in a pint and will fill you up. Also a great hangover Asian breakfast.

The devil is in the details. Good old Unilocaler «snaggle toof» Tony C. with the big dental bill is talking about the fried chicken cart right next to the ladies who run the rice noodle cart which is what Martha is referring to in her starter review. You can’t confuse the rice noodle ladies with the fried chicken people.
You can combine the two in one meal as I have done on one occasion in some form of retarded fusion cart eating assignment. But its a big mistake. One just can’t fuse greasy lomein noodles and fried chicken from one cart with rice noodle crepes and fish balls and tripe from the other. One might want to forumlate a yin and yang hypothesis but damn, if I do say say there is neither any yinging or yanging going on as the two don’t mix!
That said sheesh. $ 5 gets you a quart of tasty rice crêpe noodles aka chang fun in Cantonese and you can add fish balls, boiled chicharrones or tripe. Its pretty tasty, and make sure when they start asking you if you want sauces keep nodding your head! you will get some sweet oysterish type concotion maybe a little bit of peanut sauce and some hot sauce! Yummy!
I do avoid the place in the afternoon or on sweltering days as I’m not sure how all that stuff keeps. Then again on most afternoons where I have visited the cart for a fixing, they have always sold out by then.
Who can blame them, just don’t go yinging and yanging a rice noodle crêpe combo that don’t need no combo-​ing! So no fried chicken on the side and you’ll be all right in the immortal words of Tom Petty.