Your first choice is your most important choice: Which noodle? Chong Qing Xiao Mian offers two varieties, the wispy sort also served by a similarly named but unaffiliated Flushing stall and the "peeled" style shown here. True, these have unaccountably smooth edges and regular proportions for noodles that, traditionally, are brusquely hand-sliced directly into boiling water. (As for actuality, the small dining room offers no view of what must be an even smaller kitchen.)
To my taste, when the weather is colder, heft and chewiness tip the balance in favor of these ribbons, whatever their manufacture and whichever of the dozen or so bowls you ultimately summon to table. Shown: cowpea noodles ($9.75), which also feature bok choy and a raft of minced pork; special streaky pork noodles ($11.25).
Chong Qing Xiao Mian
796 Ninth Ave. (52nd-53rd Sts.), Manhattan
212-582-8866
www.ChongQingNoodleNY.com
