Ramen, Fried Rice, and Noodles
694 Manhattan Ave
This place is strange. From its list for a name, its garish yet empty feeling interior, to its diverse but bare menu, I get the feeling that this restaurant is not long for this world. Which is a shame, because what I ate today was great!
Let's start with the food today. I ordered the black pepper beef pasta ($15), which might turn some heads that have never heard the words cha chaan teng before. You see, this place's menu sort of has Hong Kong cha chaan teng vibes. Cha chaan tengs are Cantonese-Western fusion restaurants reminiscent of American diners with a century-long history. The menu of Ramen, Fried Rice, and Noodles contains such Canto-Western dishes as curry fishballs, crispy sausage with salad, and the aforementioned spaghetti. They also have more Chinese leaning stuff like their rice noodles and dim sum. On top of that, for some reason, they also sell Japanese-style ramen. The other thing that's weird about the menu is that about a third of the things are consistently sold out. Not because they're too popular -- it just seems that they don't stock up. Plus, they don't even sell fried rice! I bet they regret putting that on the signage... hold on it just says "Rice" on the signage.
......the Google Maps listing definitely says "Fried Rice".
Anyways, the black pepper beef pasta. I'd never tried this before and I was blown away by how well the combination of a Chinese black pepper sauce and actual spaghetti worked. Here's my photo:
It was deeply peppery, bringing to mind a nice oily cacio e pepe, and the tender beef was cut thinly, making it easy to get both meat and noodle in one bite. The pasta itself was softer than al dente, which worked for this dish; this isn't Italy after all. All of the veggies were a nice textural addition: soft bell pepper, thin mushrooms, and small brocolli florets. All of that was great, but the sauce is what held it together -- rich, tingly, yet light enough for me to enjoy the fragrance of the pasta itself, something I've literally never thought about before. The spaghetti stood out, having been removed from its natural habitat, but it wasn't out of place at all.
Despite the restaurant giving off the feeling of a floundering business -- the place is not trendy, nor is it a spot for locals -- that dish was super delicious and something I'd absolutely eat again. So what's going on with Ramen, Rice, and Noodles? To the local news!
This place opened as Asia Rice Noodles (亞洲粉閣) in 2023. The owner, Jason Jiangnan Zheng, a former dancer and businessman, also owns a restaurant called Sing Choi Kee in Flushing, which sells... cha chaan teng stuff. Ohhhh.... This website, once you're past the menu, seems to be more about selling the restaurant concept to be franchised than selling the food itself. It's kind of intense, actually... Maybe this is the guy's real business venture.
Then, in 2024, due to "customer feedback" he decided to start selling ramen and dim sum and rebrand to Ramen, Rice and Noodles... which explains the sign!
The guy just erased the Chinese text, wrote "Ramen" in its place, and then put up an ampersand in between "Rice" and "Noodles"! Clever! Though now he's got an even worse name. It's funny that this place started selling Japanese food in order to get more business, when Chiko, just up the road, stopped selling Japanese food to get more business. It doesn't seem like the rebrand's going particularly well for Ramen, Rice and Noodles, though. It's always empty when I walk by there, and the fact that much of their menu is consistently out of stock is not a great sign either. The pasta was damn good though! Looking at the menu of Sing Choi Kee, almost everything from both iterations of Ramen, Rice, and Noodles (minus the Ramen) is on there, plus a lot of cha chaan teng classics that I would totally get: Hong Kong deep-fried french toast, char siu, pineapple buns...
One last thought about this place -- before it opened in 2023, 694 Manhattan Ave was a seemingly beloved Polish restaurant called Królewskie Jadło, that honestly looks like it was cool as fuck:
Unfortunately, it closed in 2021, with the owner posting a pretty wild rant on Instagram referencing various conspiracy theories, anti-vaccination sentiment, and suicide. Pretty dark way to go. Here's the Greenpointers article on it. By the way, that makes four out of seven restaurants that replaced Polish businesses.
Well, where does this restaurant, whatever the hell it's called, rank on the Greenpoint Chinese Lunch leaderboards? Well, the food was delicious. I suppose $15 could be a fair price, but it's not one I want to make a habit of, you know? Is it better than Xi'an Famous Foods? ...probably not. Let's put it 4th, then.
Greenpoint Chinese Lunch Current Standings:
- Chiko
- Four Season Joyful
- Xi'an Famous Foods
- Ramen, Rice and Noodles
- Peking Express
- Breeze
- Mala Project