Noodle Bar

Last night upon leaving the IFC, after a screening of Blindsight - a doc about blind Tibetan children who climb a mountain (yes, I cried all over myself) - I declared I wanted noodles. Then magically Noodle Bar appeared on Carmine Street, looking about as third-worldly as you can in West Village. Perfecto. We walked in and took one of the three tables-for-two (counter space is king) and ordered some vitals. We started with the excellent chicken roti ($3.5), and crab rangoon ($5), before moving on to five-spiced fish and chip ($9.5) and roast duck broth noodles ($10). In short: everything was great and as it should be except for the fish 'n chips. Ugg. Five-spices? They were soggy, tasteless over-fried lumps of veiny fish. But the roast duck noodles saved me. Spicy, salty, duck-fatty, egg-noodley, enough-veg-to-not-feel-guilty.  The place is great, and what the nabe needed (and I like to think a eff-off to over-hyped Momofuku schlop over on the east side of town.) My only complaint is that it closed promptly at 11 p.m. and IMHO, noodles are great late-night food. Stay open later Noodle Bar!

Where: 26 Carmine Street, West Village, 212-524-6800

ED NOTE: This photo is shamelessly stolen from the ChowHound web site.