[Photos: Robyn Lee]

When I lived in Beijing I ate hand-pulled noodles every week and soon noticed that everyone around me was eating more quickly than I was. At first I chalked it up to Chinese mannerisms but before long I was slurping just as rapidly as everyone else. Hand-pulled noodles have just a fifteen-minute time frame before they loose their al dente texture, which is why it's important to find a hand-pulled noodle shop that won't overcook its noodles.

Hand-pulled noodles are dramatic to watch being made. Starting with one cylindrical rope of dough, a noodle maker pulls and tug on that rope and folds it over his fingers, weaving his hands back and forth as if playing an accordion, each time stretching out the dough so that before long all ten of his fingers hold up progressively thinner strands of one singular, unbroken string of dough. The chewy texture and slightly irregular shape of a hand-pulled noodles keeps each strand interesting and fun to eat.

So we checked out five hand-pulled noodle joints in Manhattan's Chinatown, looking for the best the neighborhood had to offer.

The Contenders

1. Food Sing Corp 88
2. Lam Zhou
3. Sheng Wang
4. Super Taste
5. Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles

View Hand-Pulled Noodles In Chinatown in a larger map

The Criteria

We were looking for bouncy, chewy noodles, a flavorful and not-too-salty broth, and well-prepared toppings. Bonus points would go to places offering good accoutrements and seasonings, such as pickles or a house-made spicy sauce to put on top of the noodles.

The Results

Both Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles and Sheng Wang offer you the option of getting thick or thin noodles cooked "firm"; Tasty Hand Pulled Noodle's dough is eggier with an akaline flavor, making it the superior noodle. Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles also does a stellar rendition of knife-cut noodles. Both versions trumped those at every other restaurant.

However, if we had choose one restaurant, we might well go to Sheng Wang because the restaurant also offers excellent wontons and meat-filled potato balls.

Here's a look at what we slurped:

#1: Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles

The thickest setting of noodles at Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles ($4-6, depending on toppings) are chewy but not at all doughy. A toothsome pleasure. The toppings are nicely prepared: tender meats and tendons, runny fried eggs, and fresh-tasting seafood. And the stir-fried noodles at Tasty Hand-Pulled are just as successful texture-wise, but the seafood noodle dish we tried was bland and under-salted.

Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles: 1 Doyers Street, New York, NY 10038 (map); 212-791-1817

#2: Sheng Wang

The thin noodles at Sheng Wang ($5.50) are chewy and bouncy; the stir-fried knife-cut noodles are even better, with their chili and Sichuan peppercorn-infused oil. Pickles and a oily, spicy sauce are provided at the table at Sheng Wang. Pickled mustard greens are a common Chinese noodle topping. Having them tableside is a nice touch.

Sheng Wang: 27 Eldridge Street, New York NY 10002 (map); 212-925-0805

#3: Lam Zhou

Lam Zhou noodles ($3.75-6) came with a surprisingly nuanced soup broth: beefy, with notes of cinnamon and star-anise. The noodles were on the soft side. A hole-in-the-wall joint with just a few tables, the restaurant's noodle-pulling station is right by the cash register, making your dinner an entertaining experience.

Lam Zhou: 144 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002 (map); 212-566-6933

#4: Super Taste

Across the street from Sheng Wang, Super Taste cooks their noodles ($3.75-6) al dente. The eel topping we ordered was perfectly cooked: a little charred on top, with tender flesh. And the noodles at Super Taste were pleasantly chewy. Unfortunately, their house broth tasted soap-y: either from an unrinsed bowl or soup ladle. Whatever the reason, the soapy broth was so off-putting that we were unable to finish our meal.

Super Taste: 26 Eldridge Street, New York NY 10002 (map); 212-625-1198

#5: Food Sing Corp 88

Food Sing Corp 88 ($4-6.50) had the blandest soup broths and soggiest noodles of the 5 restaurants we visited. Regardless of what toppings you ordered, the broths were the same. But it's a shame that the noodles and broth were sub-par, because their toppings were all uniformly good: tender beef tendon, well-cooked duck, and fresh-tasting seafood.

Food Sing Corp 88: 2 East Broadway, New York NY 10038 (map); 212-219-8223

Read more about each restaurant in the slideshow above »