Chinese Rice Noodle Shop Takes Over Former Biang Space

The noodle legacy will live on in the now-shuttered Biang! space at 157 Second Avenue, with Yuan Noodle set to take its place. Former financier Jacob Ding is using family recipes to open a Guilin boiled rice noodle and dim sum parlor, after his wife told him she wished that type of restaurant existed.

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Ding grew up in Guilin, China, where rice noodles reign. They’re thick and come with various topping such as roasted peanuts, scallions, chiles, and assorted pickles. Ding will serve his dry, as opposed to with soup, alongside a condensed gravy-like sauce and with options like roast pork and braised beef.

Yuan Noodle will also offer classic dim sum dishes, such as shumai, har gow, and vegetable dumplings. Ding will be overseeing some Cantonese chefs who execute his family recipes. Cocktails on the menu will have a Chinese bent as well, with options featuring Chinese hard liquor.

The 1,500-square-foot space will cram in 70 seats in an industrial setting with Chinese elements. When Yuan Noodle opens in about two months, hours will be 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.

The addition of Guilin noodles to the East Village adds to the increasingly diverse mix of Asian noodle options in the neighborhood. Little Tong’s mixian noodles, also made with rice but from a neighboring province, are the latest addition, and ramen is already rampant in the area.

Though these aren’t the first Guilin noodle options in the city — they can already at least be found at Taste of Guilin in Brooklyn — one of the most popular places to try them, Gui Lin Mi Fen in Queens, shuttered last year.

• Xi’an Famous Foods Closes Biang After 15 Months [ENY]
• Yuan Noodle in the works for the former Biang! space on 2nd Avenue [EV Grieve]