Sheng Wang, New York's Foremost Purveyor of Peel Noodles, Closes, Then Reopens, (Eek!) Renovated

I got a panicky call from Scooter a couple of weeks ago: "Hey, have your heard anything about Sheng Wang closing? It looks all closed up."

I dismissed the closing of Sheng Wang as next to impossible, so I shrugged off his query for a week. But yesterday, I jumped on my bike and pedaled down there fast, filled with trepidation.

Luckily the place is still open. Not only is it still open, but completely renovated. You won't recognize the place--and I'm already slightly missing its dark, serpentine, subterranean layout, where laborers just back from their day gigs bent over steaming bowls of handmade noodles.

There are now twice the number of tables, and the tables are new tables. The kitchen is now in the back, where Yung City Fish Balls once was, and the window has been reopened so you can see what's going on in there--your guarantee that your noodles are being made to order. (This is true only with the Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles and, my favorite, the peel noodles, $4).

So, order the stir-fried peel noodles, which come with bok choi and egg, the Lanzhou noodles in hot spicy beef soup (#2), or the wonderful steamed dumplings (a dozen for $3), which contain equal proportions of pork and greens. 27 Eldridge Street, 212-925-0805

Next: Examine Sheng Wang's excellent noodles