[REVIEW] Sifu Chio, Little Neck, NY

The Noodle Restaurant

There are lots of new authentic Chinese Noodle Houses opening up across Long Island.  This is not one of them.  If you want to go for handmade noodles, you’re going to have to go further east out to Stony Brook, where two new Chinese restaurants recently opened.  We will have to go there soon.  Handmade noodles at Sifu Chio?  NO.

It was a cold and blustery Monday night when we went to Sifu Chio.  Whether it was the weather, or that it was a Monday, we were the only patrons in the restaurant the entire evening.  They say the restaurant is packed on the weekends.  We aren’t going to refute that.  Nor will we be verifying it either.  If someone would like to, be our guest.

Speaking of guests, we were honored this evening to have the pleasure of the company of one Mee Ah Lan.  He brought with him some serious credentials as a Chinese food and Wine expert.  Pity we weren’t allowed to open the wine and Champagne.  That might have altered our opinion of the food, or at least raised our spirits.

Weather.  Did I mention it was friggin cold?  Soup is what we needed.  And soup is what we ordered as soon as we got over the language barrier.  I must say, the Soup would have, should have, and could have been a meal in and of itself.

Mee Yong Joo decided to be different and ordered the Cuttlefish Ball Noodle Soup.  I always thought that cuttlefish was poisonous.  Mee Yong Joo, when you read this, please confirm that you’re still with us.

The remaining Mee’s opted for the Dumpling Trio Noodle Soup.  Nine dumplings in the soup.  Three each of the Shrimp Dumplings, Shrimp Wonton Dumplings, and Shrimp Watercress Dumplings.  Also in the soup are lots of Ramen Noodles and some Broccoli Rabe (we think).  The soup could have fed two or three people.  But, the waiter said it was small and for one.  It filled me up.

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Next we had an order of Fried Sweet Buns – This was a dessert item, as if we didn’t know.  We didn’t know.  They would have gone great with some Espresso.  Or wine.  They were yummy.

Lastly, we ordered Braised Beef Brisket.  LOTS of fat in this dish.  I didn’t care for it.  And it brought back some bad memories.  The brisket was served with Choy Sum.  A green vegetable I don’t recall ever eating before.

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We kind of had our fill by then, so we asked for the check as we plotted our next move.

But first we completed our rating:

What happened next might make you think we lost our heads.  But, we weren’t the only ones.  

We lost our heads!

You see, directly across the street from Sifu Chio is Northern Manor… just to the west of Northern Manor is LN 1380 and the Grain House… and one block to the east is Little Dumpling.  A plethora of Chinese restaurants to choose from.

While we were sort of full, we were still carrying all these bottles of unopened wine and Champagne, and also a hunger for some Spareribs!  So what did we do?  We went to the closest Chinese restaurant, Northern Manor, and had a second dinner!

This isn’t an article, nor a review, of Northern Manor.  We already reviewed them and you can read our review here.

Just as an FYI, we had: 

• Spareribs.  LOVED them!!  
• Green Beans with Minced Pork.  Excellent, though a little salty.

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• Crispy Whole Chicken.  We just HAD to nickname him “Elijah”.  Elijah was one thirsty Chicken.  In fact he seemed to have an insatiable thirst.  He really liked his wine too!

As you can see below, and as I said before, we weren’t the only one who lost their head this evening.

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They gave us half a pineapple and fortune cookies for dessert.  Sweet!

Elijah’s Cup

Oh, lest I forget, we did finally get to enjoy the wine and champagne.  It was a nice end of year celebration after all!

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum  (“Chop!  Chop!”)

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