Arirang Home-made Noodle House

16. December 2009 Korean, Midtown 0

32 West 32nd Street, 3rd floor, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
212/967.5088
$10 for a large bowl of soup
♥ ♥

The key is the “home-made” part in the restaurant’s name. Don’t let the office space turn you off. I know it looks like a fire hazard in there but an hour of your life in danger is worth it for the kalguksu, or “knife noodles”, the wheat-flour noodles that are cut instead of extruded or spun. They’re soft and plump and they easily give without falling apart when swished in the hot broth.

Don’t miss out on any of Arirang’s kar-jeabe, a combination of kalguksu and sujebi, dumpling skin look-alikes that have been torn to smaller pieces. They simmer all the ingredients together for a very long time resulting into the most complicated broth you’ll ever taste. The gingery taste in the chicken broth is good if you’re feeling down this winter. They come in large bowls that could easily be split between two people unless you’re eating with a hungry Korean doctor.