The menu has absolutely no English, which means you should eat there, for it is catering to people wanting authentic Fuzhou cuisine.
Lao San 老三风味小吃 (laosan fengwei xiaochi) 东百老汇 26 号 (dongbailaohui 26 hao) 212-966-8822. (常常回家看看 )
Location 26 East Broadway, Chinatown ( 华埠 huabu) Located just East of the corner of East Broadway and Catherine Street.
English Translation：The Third， Local Style Foods but best to call it Lao San： 老三
Lao San is located on the North side of East Broadway, and is a cozy narrow but long establishment with a wide TV screen all the way in the back with Chinese TV on view and plenty of seating towards the front for those who do not want to watch TV or hear it, though the volume is down so low I did not hear it.
This is as Fuzhou as you get, and offers some great noodle dishes with a variety of noodles, similar in fashion to two other spots further down on east braodway (闽江 Min Jiang 93 E. Broadway, and one directly across the street).
A NOTE ABOUT THE NOODLES:
They have a variety of noodles and I apologize for not being that much of an investigator when I was there, but I do recommend the fresh noodles that I ordered that are found fresh (not stiff) at many shops from Chrystie to Canal…East Broadway and Division. They are yellow in color, fresh, and not so wide but flat and thin. Most shops call them Qie Mian: 切面, but they are not the cut (qie:切) noodles one might think of from the Hand Pulled Noodle Shops such as Sheng Wang (东方 Dong Fang) or Lao Di Fang (老地方) and Super Taste (Bie Wei 百味). According to the menu they have Mi Fen 米粉 He Fen 河粉; Lao Mian 捞面 which is spaghetti like thinkness and texture. They are made fresh from a factory and sent out to shops. Very delicious, and I do mean fresh, just not in house made.
I was told that the noodles, those above, can all be done up any way one wants. They were very clear to make this point to me, and that includes fried. If fried there is added vegetable 菜 ‘cai’ , such as green onion 葱 ‘cong’ and a bit of cabbage 白菜 ‘baicai’.
The noodles are done up in soup 汤的 tangde, or fried 炒的 ‘chaode’, or done dry ( 干的 gande).
The selection of items for the noodles are in the front case, separated from you by glass, and with many square trays of the raw items that you can select. Typically, one can have three or four of these items done up in a Tang Mian (汤面) or Noodles with Soup, and options for stir fry (炒面: chao mian )or dry (干面：gan mian) .
The square trays have it all. All in the raw, to be cooked when you order:
Squid: youyu 鱿鱼
Pig Liver: zhugan 猪肝
Pig Kidney: zhuyao 猪腰
Pig Intestine: zhuchang 猪肠 da chang 大肠
clam： bang 蚌 or ge 蛤
and the rest：
Beef: nuirou 牛肉
Pork: zhurou 猪肉
fish: yu 鱼
and other things I did not look at because I was too busy ordering and then eating, and visiting with the staff.
Just go and point when you order。 They are very friendly， and I did not enquire as to their English, but they stated they had non-Chinese eat there at times, so they are happy to serve.
Print this and match what you see on the menu:
豆腐 Tofu dishes ‘doufu’ 豆腐
鱼 Fish dishes ‘yu’ 鱼
猪 Pork dishes ‘zhurou’ 猪肉
牛 beef dishes ‘niurou’ 牛肉
鸡 Chicken dishes ‘jirou’ 鸡肉
鱿鱼 Squid ‘youyu’ 鱿鱼
蚌 Clam bang 蚌 or ge 蛤
SEAFOOD: HAI XIAN 海鲜
SOUP: TANG 汤
Those are simplified Chinese characters though have close relation, and the animals or meats above all are about the same for both simplified and complex
The menu has absolutely no English, which means you should eat there, for it is catering to people wanting authentic Fuzhou cuisine.
The fist section of the menu is the noodles and small eats such as dumpling (shuijiao: 水饺)mainly, and range from 2.50 for the dumpling (水饺) to noodle dishes such as Chao Min Fen (炒米粉at 4.25.
The dumpling on the menu is actually wanton called Bianrou 扁肉 2.50.
They have many dishes that are prepared in the basement, and more at plates of chinese food. From Ma Po Tofu （麻婆豆腐）at 7.95 to 扬州炒饭 Yang Zhou Fried Rice at 5.75.
Tell them what you want, and they will do it up or find its similar to same on the menu and the exchange should be a culture joy.
They have beer too.
Nice and clean establishement, and staff are always friendly and busy with all the guests.
I did not ask, but due to their localized dialect （地方上的语言：difang shang de yuyan)spoken between themselves, I could tell that they were all Fuzhou （福州）or there abouts.
It was kind of an unsaid acknowledgement they were from Fuzhou, when they spoke a bit of Fuzhou language 福州话 at me, after I stated I had spent time in southern Taiwan, in an effort to see if I spoke or could understand Min Nan Hua （闽南话). There are shared similarities as both are Min region language. Min Nan Hua is spoken in Taiwan by Taiwanese： Taiwan Ren 台湾人 as opposed to Wai Sheng Ren 外省人: Out Side Province People meaning those who fled or grandparents fled to Taiwan with Chang Kai Shek (jiangjieshi: 蔣介石) after 1950 civil war。 Taiwanren are those who’s ancenstors came from mostly the southern Fujain. Today many people, even those of 外省人 （outside provence people) speak Taiwanese, or Min Dialect minnanhua 闽南话。
Fujian snake。。。snack shop? do not know that, but I saw fried food cart today on Division, just no chicken butt: jipigu: 鸡屁股。 （trans：我看到盐酥鸡的卖人在司街但是没有鸡屁股）
Here are some added menu items for the above Lao San:
A noodle second page is:
-Rabbit Meat Noodle ‘turou mian’: 兔肉面 6.50
-Beef Tail Noodle (real just the rear portion of cut meat, not literally tail) ‘niuwie fengan 牛尾粉干 5.50
Generally：fun gan: 粉干 is thin noodle dry or without soup
-FRIED BEEF NOODLE (HE FEN) Chaoniu he: 炒牛河 6.50：
Fried He Fen with Beef: chaoniu hen: 炒牛河 chao (fry) niu (beef/cow) he (thick soft noodle: He Fen 河粉) 6.50
-GOAT MEAT NOODLE Yangrou mian 羊肉面 5.50 ：
I recommend the follow：
-2nd page bottom：
蚝油牛肉 / 蠔油牛肉 Beef with Oyster Sauce：haoyou niurou 蚝油牛肉 / 蠔油牛肉 9.95
Oyster Sauce is Hao You 蠔油 ‘you’ 油 literally means ‘oil’ . Soy Sauce is Jiang You： 酱油
-2nd page bottom ：
姜蔥牛肉 Ginger and Scallion Beef ：’’jiangcong niurou’ 姜蔥牛肉 9.95
-3rd page 红烧豆腐 7.95：
Braised Tofu on the menus as “hong shao doufu” 红烧豆腐 7.95
Last back page:
-Hot Sour Soup： 酸辣汤 （suanla tang） 5.95
Last back page
-Hot Sour Squid Soup: 鱿鱼酸辣汤 （youyusuanlatang） 7.95
Last back page
-Soft Tofu with Clam Soup： 豆腐花蛤汤 （doufuhuahetang）10.95
SOME HELPFUL TERMS OF FOOD IN CHINESE; simple chinese / complex chinese (complex is mostly often used on Chinatown menus)
FRIED: CHAO 炒
DEEP FRIED: ZHA 炸
BRAISED SHAO 烧、
BARBACUE SHAOKAO 烧烤
BOILED ZHU 煮
RAW SHENG DE 生的
Shrimp is ‘XIA’ 虾 / 蝦
Lobster is ‘LONG XIA’ 龙虾 / 龍蝦
Oyster Sauce ‘HAO YOU’ 蚝油 / 蠔油
Oyster ‘HAO’ 蚝 / 蠔
Geography and food are big in transmigration of words in China. Such as 汉包 hanbao, or hamberger.
Thus stated, all items on the menu of Lao San do not fall into this catagory.
It must be stated though, that Tofu, in English, migrated from China, and comes from ’dou‘ 豆 bean in the genreal sense, and ‘fu’ 腐, which means fermented or spoiled, such as the Chinese word for corrupt(ion), which is ‘fubai’ 腐败.
Tofu features widely on Lao San’s menu, and if you are desirous of such dishes prepared with tofu, I recommend the following:
TOFU AND OYSTER SOUP: 豆腐海蛎(蠣)汤 (doufu/haili/tang) $7.95 (on back page of menu in 汤类 tang lei : soup section)
Oyster is also called hao 蠔, and in Taiwan ‘e’蚵, such as the simple oyster soup 蚵汤 e’tang, found in simple shops in Taiwan. There is also ‘ezijian’ 蚵仔煎, the famous oyster and egg omlette found especially in 安平 Anping, but other places too.
Another Tofu dish at LAO SAN is Tofu and Vegitable Soup 菜豆腐汤 cai doufu tang, for 4.95.
cai 菜 is vegetable.
The soups on offer at Lao San I imagine are family style, so order with friends and pile up a few dishes.
Lydia Liu, a scholar and researcher, has an excellent publication on translingual migration, a topic any Chinese Food enthusiast, and Chinatown visitor might be interested in.
The publication is called ‘Translingual Practice, Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity in China 1900 to 1937′ (1995 stanford university press). Can find at the bigger area bookstores.
That might be a good read for those who’s interest in Chinese food and eating in Chinatown inspires a further look into history and culture.
Liu teachers at Columbia: search faculty Columbia.
Turns out that this bread, like a bagel but without a hole, is named after Bialystok Poland, and it is a local bread of NYC made by Jewish people from Bialystok. Unfortuantely, Bialystok has no more Jewish people, at least not a community. Nazi German killed off so many Polish Jews that today, that culture, life and community is virtually non-existent.
