Beef Tendon Noodle Soup at Hing Huang – NYC

Incomprehensibly, Hing Huang (formerly Wing Wong, Wing Huang, and variations thereof with “New” in the name) was a favorite of my coworker’s for a long time. Yes, their congee is excellent, but it’s rare, unless I’m sick, I ever crave congee. Sure, it’s also conveniently close to the N/Q/R, and the food is cheap and fast, but when most of the food is mediocre at best, I rather go elsewhere. Recently, though, I’ve had a change of heart about Hing Huang. Most of their food still remains average, but I discovered their beef tendon noodle soup, which is by far the best I’ve ever had in Chinatown.

The beef tendon noodle soup ($5) at Hing Huang is chock full of soft, squishy beef tendons, and no chewy, leathery connective membranes, which is a problem at other Chinatown restaurants. Also, the soup is well-seasoned and wonderfully fragrant of star anise. In the picture above, I ordered it with ho fun, but I prefer wonton or egg noodles at Hing Huang. The ho fun always ends up too clumped together. Egg noodles, on the other hand, are most often chewy and bouncy. If a bowl of tendons seems like way too much tendons to you, the other option is beef stew noodle soup, listed on the menu as Beef Nom ($5), which comes with tender chunks of beef and a few pieces of tendon.

Those who need chili oil with their tendons and/or beef will not be disappointed. Some restaurants in Chinatown have stopped offering chili oil altogether in favor of store-bought chili garlic sauce which annoys me to no end, but not so at Hing Huang. At Hing Huang, they still do it right, and the chili oil is thick and intense.

If beef doesn’t do it for you, there’s also the roast pork noodle soup ($5) which is sweet and moist some days and dry others. It’s a hit-or-miss. It’s best to stick to the beef stew, tendon noodle soup, or congee. If you want anything else, hundreds of other restaurants in Chinatown await.

Hing Huang
111 Lafayette St (b/n Canal and Walker St; map)
New York, NY 10013
212-274-0690