J/M/Z Rice Noodle Cart
November 12, 2009 by Feisty Foodie
Filed under Around NYC, Asia, Cheap Eats, Chinatown, Chinese, Cuisine, Downtown Lunch, Manhattan, Restaurants, Trucks/Carts
On a recent run to Chinatown during my lunch break, I noticed this cart outside the J/M/Z train station (on Centre between Canal and Walker), serving what I’ve always considered breakfast cart food (Chinese) – rice noodles with dried shrimp, fish balls, tripe, congee, ooh they have curry squid… wow, that’s making me drool a little looking at the menu. I got so excited – my favorite-ever dried-shrimp-rice-noodle-roll cart (I grew up eating from there; my parents took us almost every weekend) is really, really far from the train station and where I can get to from work easily. This is total comfort food that I crave every once in a while, so I stopped and quickly ordered in Chinese. Thankfully, she just smiled at me and filled the order but didn’t ask me any questions back… unlike the Flushing Fun Run… grrr. 
(Speaking of the cart with which I grew up – anyone know what happened to the rice noodle cart that was outside Hong Kong Supermarket on East Broadway and Pike? Since that HKS burned down, I presume there’s less foot traffic down that far; also the few times I’ve passed by since that fire in May, I haven’t seen the cart outside. She had the BESTest dried shrimp noodles – tons of stuff in ‘em - and her sauces were on-key for everything. Anyone know where she moved, if she retired – I mean, she was pretty old when I was 10, so I imagine nearly 20 years later, well… yeah. What happened to her???)
Trying to round it all out, I ordered the dried shrimp rice noodles with some fish balls ($1.75 – when I was a kid, this was like $1!!!). I had to run back to work afterwards – there’s no place to eat there, anyway, it’s a street cart – so the sauce was a bit more absorbed into the noodles than it might normally be. Mmm, look at that…
Scrumptious. So there wasn’t that much dried shrimp in the rice noodles, and the fish balls were a bit bland tasting (not cooked in anything besides water, it appeared, and it didn’t taste like anything). But it sure satisfied that craving for me, and being so close to the train, I will definitely be back to try some of the other stuff!
I named this cart…
J/M/Z Rice Noodle Cart
on Centre Street between Walker and Canal Street
(there is a hot dog cart that is flanked by two carts; to the left is the rice noodle cart and to the right is the fried stuff cart – I will be posting about the fried stuff cart eventually)
I would eat this if you told me to. I trust you. : )
there’s a really good on in front of the HK Supermarket as well. It’s made fresh.
Now that you mention it.
It brings back memories of how I use to go to that churn fun cart by HK Market. Though sadly over the years I never went back to try it if it still taste the same. I wonder too, where it went?
I love the tripe from that cart. They also have curry fish balls, but the curry flavor is kinda weak.
i like the one on hester and elizabeth… =) never tried this one, maybe it’s time
this is the second time i leave a msg here! (the first time was the give away)
i started to work in chinatown like 3 weeks ago, and where i work is like half a block away from this cart. it’s good for breakfast.. however, the ladies seems very cranky with the long line in the morning….
the one on hester and elizabeth is much better!!!! if you like this one, you’ll def. like them too.
Thats the cart where I get my congee from. Its like 2 blocks from my office. In the afternoons there is a fried chicken cart right next to them and when i go home i cant breath trhough my nose cuz i might attack and eat all the chicken on the cart! LOL
I need some education on the noodles though- they look chewy and delicious!
I know exactly what cart you’re reminiscing about, i miss it too!! It was the freshest ever
nice girl! do they make them all fresh on the tray, Corner 28 style?
Do you know what kind of sauce they put on those noodles and where I can buy it? I think they usually use three different kind of sauces (not including the hot sauce) but I really don’t know where to buy them.