We had a fun opportunity to join a virtual event in April, where the owner of Native Noodles showed us how to cook one of their most popular dishes, Laksa Noodles. Even though I haven’t actually cooked the dish (yet), I was very curious to go and try it ourselves. Native Noodles offers Singaporean dishes, which we don’t have many of here in NYC. They opened about a couple of months ago, and still no real signage outside of the building nor on the door. You can easily miss it if you are not paying attention… I am sure they will get some kind of real signage soon (?).
The inside is not too small, but not that big. I took the photos with wide-angle lens, so it looks much bigger than it actually is. They had some table seating, with the center part open for people to line up for order and pick-up. They seems to get more pick up and delivery orders than eat-ins. Very clean interior, cozy and homey.
They also had a couple of counter seats by the window. I am not sure if they are going add more seating after this pandemic is over. Right behind the ordering counter is their large kitchen, where you can peak in and see all the tasty magic happening.
They had a couple of cool Singapore posters on the wall, across from the golden letters spelling out Singapore in Chinese characters. They had complimentary water with cups, which is always a great thing to have!
We were planning to eat in, so we walked up to the ordering counter and placed our order. The staff was not very friendly, but rather cold… Anyways, we ordered Pork & Shrimp Wontons ($7), Shrimp Fritters Crispy Shrimp ($7.50), Laksa ($12.50), and Satay Peanut ($12).
The noodle dishes come with a choice of chicken, tofu, honey roasted pork (+$1), or shrimp (+$1.5). You can also add soft-boiled egg for $1, if your order does not include it already. Some dishes come with recommendation on protein, which is helpful.
Pork & Shrimp Wontons ($7) come with a choice of deep fried or boiled dumplings. We went with boiled dumpling. Six dumplings came with the order, with homemade dipping sauce. The dumplings were super plump! Small but meaty and satisfying. The dipping sauce was good too, it had a little acidity to it, maybe from vinegar? It made it refreshing.
Laksa ($12.50) is their signature dish. It is made with slow cooked coconut shrimp-based curry, thick rice noodles, bean sprouts, cucumbers, and crispy onions. The recommended protein was Shrimp (+$1.50). We also added Soft-boiled egg (+$1). These additions made this dish to be total of $15, which seemed a bit high for the portion.
Laksa had very vibrant with color from turmeric that you can taste. It had a fire picture next to the dish on the menu, and it certainly had a nice kick to it! Plump noodle, very clean flavor. Eggs are cooked perfect and very tasty! Shrimp had great seasoning to it, super delicious! Again, the price point is a bit high, but you do get great quality dish. Also, even though the portion was smaller than expected, it was filling and satisfying.
Shrimp Fritters Crispy Shrimp ($7.50) is coated in their homemade batter, and served with sweet chili dipping sauce. Five shrimp fritters came with the order.
Each shrimp was huge and plump! Lightly fried, so they were not greasy. I liked the dipping sauce, it had a nice kick to it.
Satay Peanut ($12) comes with creamy peanut sauce, thick egg noodles, soft-boiled egg, cucumbers, and crispy onions. We chose tofu for the protein. As it already came with soft-boiled egg, we didn’t need to add anything else.
The tofu pieces were large and flat, pretty good amount of them. Seasoned and cooked well, better than I expected! The flat noodle was nice, cooked just right. The peanut flavor was great, very peanut-y, without it being overwhelming. It had a hint of sweetness from it from the peanuts. I recommend using all the peanut sauce that comes with it.
We had a nice lunch here, everything was high quality and delicious. The portion is a bit small, but again, they are filling and satisfying. I still think the price point is high, but you are paying for the quality for sure. Native Noodles certainly is a wonderful addition to NYC. We need more eateries like this everywhere! Interested in Singaporean food? Give Native Noodles a try!
Native Noodles – 2129 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032