Midtown Lunch

Good Vietnamese food is hard to come by in Midtown, and as we’ve mentioned before, Boi Noodles is about what you’d expect from Vietnamese food in the area. That said, I’ve been curious about the very inexpensive congee on the menu for a few weeks now, and yesterday I finally stopped in to see what it’s all about.

Right off the bat, this was not authentic congee. The rice was clearly scooped into the bowl with some broth, as opposed to cooking the rice in the broth to make that lovely porridge-like consistency. If you just let go of the idea of authenticity altogether, this is still a tasty bowl of food. It was basically a small bowl of kicked up chicken soup with rice (which reminds me of this!), topped with shredded white meat chicken, sweet crispy shallots (which, incidentally, turn not-crispy in the soup) and chopped green scallions. The broth was very flavorful, though perhaps a little too heavy-handed with the msg. But, at just $3.44 for a 16 oz portion, you can’t really go wrong. You can, however, order more food for that price! Next time I’d definitely add a couple of summer rolls to my order ($2.76 each) or try the steamed buns ($3.44).

Boi Noodles, 240 W 40th St (btwn 7th and 8th ave), (212) 575-0088