12 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 September 13–19, 2019
RETURNING TO CITI FIELD
THIS WINTER
theworldsfare.nyc
Nood Dishes Up Secret Super Premium
Thai Beef Noodles
A casual appraisal of the more than two
dozen offerings at Elmhurst’s HK Food
Court, which opened earlier this spring
in a former supermarket, reveals there
are four Thai stands, offering everything from
pork over rice to dessert. And then there’s Nood
with its happy cow logo munching on a bowl of
noodles. The first thing you might notice is the
prices, $11.99 seems to be a bit steep for a bowl of
noodles in a food court. The next thing you might
take note of is that the photo of that $11.99 bowl
of noodle soup contains a gigantic slice of premium
Black Angus brisket.
The very last thing, you might notice about
Nood, whose sign bears the legend “Asian Noodle
Bar by Mama Dee,” is that it is in fact, Thai. If
you’ve been around Thai restaurants long enough
the quartet of fish sauce, sugar, chilies in vinegar,
and red chili powder should tip you off.
The specialty at this family run operation—
named for the matriarch Bungon “Wondee”Sudchit—
is Thai style beef noodle soup. Elmhurst has
long been home to places to get pho, the Vietnamese
style beef noodle soup, as well as Taiwanese
beef noodle soup, but Nood is the hood’s first
spot for kuay teow neua, or Thai style beef noodle
soup. And what soup it is! Whole Black Angus
brisket is boiled for 10 hours along with a pantry’s
worth of aromatics and spices, including galangal,
star anise, five spice powder, white pepper,
and lemongrass, resulting in a super beefy broth.
Nood offers six varieties of meaty toppings for its
soups, including the aforementioned gigantic slab of
brisket and a mixed meat bowl, which features cubed
brisket, thinly sliced beef, chewy tendon, tripe, and
creamy liver. The brisket version is literally over the
top, the gigantic slab of meat—comprising both the
flat and point cuts as well as a generous bit of wobbly
fat— overlaps the edges of the bowl. Offal lovers
and the hungry alike will delight in the mixed meat
bowl. Whichever one you order, be sure to take some
fish sauce, sugar, chili powder, and chilies in vinegar
to adjust the flavor of your bowl. The eminently
slurpable noodles are of the springy fresh Japanese
variety. There’s also a bit of greenery, shredded lettuce
of all things, almost an afterthought, because let’s face
it the focus here is the beef.
Despite the matriarchal reference in the name,
Nood is actually the brainchild of Wondee’s son, Gai,
who spent six months in Thailand eating his through
some of his home country’s best spots for kuay teow
neua, or Thai beef noodle soup, including Bangkok’s
Wattana Panich. Gai grew up eating noodle soup at
home—typically pork or chicken—and his recipe is
also partly inspired by his Mom’s broth. “To be honest
my family doesn’t really eat beef, but I wanted to
sell beef,” he said, adding that he is partial to Korean
BBQ at Flushing’s Picnic Garden.
The young chef ’s personal favorite is the brisket,
but he’s quick to point that the No. 5, mixed
meat in broth with rice on the side is a very Thai
way to eat. Should you choose to exercise this
option, make a dipping sauce.
Only in Queens, in a neighborhood like Elmhurst,
can one find a super premium secret Thai
beef noodle stand.
Nood,
Asian Noodle Bar by Mamadee, No. 21,
HK Food Court, HK Food Court,
82-02 45th Ave.,
Elmhurst
BY JOE DISTEFANO
As the Culinary King of Queens, I’m so very
fortunate to live in the most diverse and delicious
destination in all of New York City. Really I’m
not royalty though, I’m an ambassador, and a
hungry one at that. Today, we visit Thailand via
Elmhurst at Nood in the neighborhood’s newest
culinary wonderland HK Food Court.
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