Pete Wells Finds Skillfully-Prepared Chinese Fare at Hao Noodle and Tea

According to Pete Wells, Hao Noodle and Tea is a strong addition to the local Chinese food scene. In his first New York restaurant review in nearly one month, the critic awards two stars to Zhu Rong's Sixth Avenue restaurant. Wells notes that Zhu assembled a team of highly skilled chefs to open the first US outpost of the Chinese restaurant. The critic writes: "The chefs are virtuosic fryers, able to express many nuances in the simple language of crust. The coating on the fish fritters is almost as soft as cake crumbs, a pale gold tinted green by seaweed powder. It’s a subtle partner for the delicate fish inside." Here’s Wells on some of his other favorite dishes:

Everything on the menu’s many pages gets a color photo, and it all looks good. Mostly, it is. Lunch or dinner might start with chilled appetizers like the fresh and tender clams in a stack of quietly seasoned Chinese chives; or the juicy smoked sole, marinated in sweet soy sauce. Both were exceptional. So was the chilled salad of poached grape tomatoes. Fizzy on the inside and infused with plum syrup, they were a quick respite from the weather on a muggy summer day.

On some nights, safe bets like dan dan noodles and Taiwanese pork noodles fall flat, and plate of quinoa and salad reminds him of a salad bar. Still, Wells ends each visit with wonderful tea and impressive desserts. He gives the restaurant two stars, which is the same rating that Eater critic Robert Sietsema gave Hao Noodle last month.