I just wanted to call everyone's attention to these neighbors over on the eastern portion of Austin St., near Ascan and across from the church: Violet's Vietnamese Shoppe and Xin Taste Lan Zhou Hand Pull Noodle. The two shops, which are right next to each other (photo below was taken from inside La Boulangerie), are both excellent additions to the growing number of quality restaurants that have been opening in the past few years in Forest Hills.
Violet's specializes in Vietnamese cuisine. When it first opened it served mostly pastries. But, its owners rightly summed up the situation here in Forest Hills (way too many pastry and dessert places!! Way too few places for excellent takeout food!!) and righted that wrong pretty quickly. Today, Violet's offers a spectacular variety of Banh Mi sandwiches, from pork to chicken to flounder and vegetarian, along with noodle soups, and noodle bowls and rice bowls. It also offers a variety of specialty drinks and bubble teas.
Right next door is the new Xin Taste, which just opened in December. Given how cold it's been, I immediately dived into their noodle soups, but that is just a small part of their menu. They offer a variety of hand-pulled and hand-peeled noodle dishes (see the link for what I believe is an explanation of the difference. Though, if I am wrong about that, please let me know in the comment section below. I have yet to talk with the owners about the difference and get the low-down firsthand.)
In any case, I'm happy to report that the soups I've had at Xin Taste have been just great. When it comes to soups like these - big, filling bowls of noodles, broth and meat - the standard against which I always judged has been Ollie's in Manhattan. Well, the roast pork noodle soup I've had a few times from Xin Taste comes damn close to that! The pork is tender, sweet and delicious, the broth tasty, the noodles really good, and the portion size just right.
By the way, Xin Taste offers a decent amount of tables so you can also eat in. Violet's also does, but if I recall, not as many tables.
I'm looking forward to delving further into the menus of both of these excellent additions to the Forest Hills food scene.
Violet's specializes in Vietnamese cuisine. When it first opened it served mostly pastries. But, its owners rightly summed up the situation here in Forest Hills (way too many pastry and dessert places!! Way too few places for excellent takeout food!!) and righted that wrong pretty quickly. Today, Violet's offers a spectacular variety of Banh Mi sandwiches, from pork to chicken to flounder and vegetarian, along with noodle soups, and noodle bowls and rice bowls. It also offers a variety of specialty drinks and bubble teas.
Right next door is the new Xin Taste, which just opened in December. Given how cold it's been, I immediately dived into their noodle soups, but that is just a small part of their menu. They offer a variety of hand-pulled and hand-peeled noodle dishes (see the link for what I believe is an explanation of the difference. Though, if I am wrong about that, please let me know in the comment section below. I have yet to talk with the owners about the difference and get the low-down firsthand.)
In any case, I'm happy to report that the soups I've had at Xin Taste have been just great. When it comes to soups like these - big, filling bowls of noodles, broth and meat - the standard against which I always judged has been Ollie's in Manhattan. Well, the roast pork noodle soup I've had a few times from Xin Taste comes damn close to that! The pork is tender, sweet and delicious, the broth tasty, the noodles really good, and the portion size just right.
By the way, Xin Taste offers a decent amount of tables so you can also eat in. Violet's also does, but if I recall, not as many tables.
I'm looking forward to delving further into the menus of both of these excellent additions to the Forest Hills food scene.
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| Xin Taste's menu |
I second your positive reviews. I like both places very much. Violet’s has even been featured in NYT back in 2016: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/dining/violets-bake-shoppe-review-queens.html?_r=0&referer=https://www.google.com/
ReplyDeleteBoth excellent places. As for hand pulled vs hand peeled, you can see them making it right in front of you. When they repeatedly peel the dough with a knife and it flies into the water to cook, people who haven't seen it before stare in awe. If soup isn't your thing, the hand pulled stir fry chicken noodle is also great!
ReplyDeleteXin was previously i-ramen (same owners I think). I'm so glad they refocused.
ReplyDeleteRe: Violet's tofu banh mi: I didn't know tofu could taste that good. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteViolet's is simply great. The food is delicious; the price is reasonable; and the service is wonderful. Very happy they're here on Austin.
ReplyDeleteHey, ya'll if you can go to the Church first for some spiritual nourishment! Our Lady Queen of Martyrs is a wonderful place. Then after, on to Violets for the best lemongrass chicken bahn mi in NYC...believe me I always feel blessed as will you!
ReplyDeleteI'm not religious, but even I have to admit, it really is a beautiful church.
DeleteNice Post. Enjoy the food.
ReplyDelete