Uncle Zhou
“We got the spicy beef noodle soup, the spicy chicken knife shaved noodle, & the pork n' chive dumplings.”
“My husband and I shared a bowl of spicy beef hand-drawn noodles and a bowl of dial oil hand-drawn noodles so that we can try both.”
“Spicy crispy chicken, Lamb w/ cumin powder, Fried pancake with scallion, these three are the best!”
Uncle Zhou
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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Ah, I haven't been so happy eating a meal in such a long time. Uncle Zhou's truly left a big cheese smile on my face.
Uncle Zhou is rather unassuming, I've walked by this restaurant countless times without ever noticing it. Shame on me. Lucky for me, a few friends were raving about it the day before so that is the only reason I heard about it and subsequently looked it up. I decided I just had to come check it out since I love Northern Chinese cuisine.
I came here in a small group of four for dinner on New Year's Day. Kudos for them being open on a national holiday but then again that's the norm for Chinese-owned restaurants. It is well-lit and most importantly appears to be clean (as in no oil-slicked menus, tables, nor dining plates and utensils).
For appetizers and dishes to share, we ordered: pancake with beef, lamb dumplings, and cumin powder fried lamb. My husband and I shared a bowl of spicy beef hand-drawn noodles and a bowl of dial oil hand-drawn noodles so that we can try both. We chose hand-drawn noodles over knife-shaved simply because I like the idea of slurping up my noodles more.
– Pancake with beef: This was not what I was expecting at all. I had in mind a thin scallion pancake with beef but no. The "pancake" is a dense bread with a thinly sliced beef in the center and a bit of lettuce. While it wasn't actually bad, I saw it as a waste of stomach space. Pass.
– Lamb dumplings: These were boiled. They were slightly gamey but not overly so. They were not anything particularly special. I probably would not order these again.
– Cumin powder fried lamb: OH. MY. GOODNESS. SO. DANG. GOOD. These are to DIE for. If you like the spicy cumin lamb skewers from the street carts in Flushing, you'd LOVE these. Each little piece of lamb is packed with bold flavors with a nice kick. This is what life is all about. An absolute MUST order.
– Dial oil hand-drawn noodles: While I have no idea what "dial oil" is supposed to mean, what I do know is that this bowl of noodles is absolutely phenomenal. There is no meat. You will find some bok choy, lots of minced garlic, and some mystery sauce that tastes to be a wonderful concoction of Chinese vinegar, spice, and oil. It may not look like anything spectacular, but just mix it up and be prepare to hear the angels sing. If you like garlic, you'll love this. Highly recommended.
– Spicy beef hand-drawn noodles: While this is more similar to your typical Lanzhou hand pulled noodles soup base, it still is astounding. The noodles are perfectly bouncy with great consistency and the broth is very tasty with just the right amount of numbing spice. LOVE IT. I highly recommend this as well.
While I found the pancake with beef and lamb dumplings to be somewhat underwhelming, everything else that we had tried were absolutely INCREDIBLE. This is Northern Chinese cuisine at its best where its all about Szechuan peppercorns, dried red peppers, cumin, handmade noodles, lamb, and just big BOLD FLAVORS. Please, please, please don't come here expecting to order wonton noodles or pork lo mein.
The service was quick, friendly, and attentive. I also love how the staff understands and speaks English pretty well.
Just an all around A+. I am already planning my return. Can't wait.
P.S. Finding parking can be tough in this area but don't give up!.. Or just make it easier for yourself and take the train.
This is my favorite go to place if I'm craving for some hot beef noodle soup. Their dishes are good too but I always just end up ordering my beef noodle soup. Their soup base is very flavorful, smells so good, with hint of sesame oil and some other mysterious ingredients that makes it oh so delicious! I'm glad it's not loaded up with MSG like the others, because I don't feel thirsty after eating here. That's how I always tell if my food is loaded with MSG or not.
SO GOOD. Pretty much everything in Elmhurst is amazing, but I'm happy to report Uncle Zhou is one of my favorites here.
Lanzhou beef noodle soup $6.50 – I didn't get the spicy version because I wanted to taste the original beef broth (plus they have chili sauce on the side in those cups!) and boy was it delicious. It's relatively light but flavor was on point. The pieces of beef were tender but nothing special. If anything, they got annoyingly stuck in my teeth… but that's probably just me. Okay so the NOODLES were probably best I've had in awhile (that I can remember).. chewy texture, perfect medium thickness, taste was neither dough-like nor bland, it took on the flavor of the broth. I'm DEFINITELY coming back for this.
Cumin spiced lamb $16 – generous portions and the BOMB.COM. Must get dish!!! Next time I come here I'll get this with the beef noodle soup but then take the unfinished lamb to go 😀
Filet of fish in spicy sauce $14 – this was very good as well, cooked in lots of oil and spicy sauce, Chinese bean sprouts and bok choy. Could've used more fish in here, but not a huge deal.
Friend got intestines.. he liked it… I didn't dare touch it though
Rice is $1.25 extra per small bowl…
Cash only.
CLOSED ON TUESDAYS (so random I know.. I made the mistake of not checking)
Tried different noodle dishes like the tomato and egg over noodles and Zha Jiang Mian, some boiled and fried dumplings, some of the big tray of chicken, scallion pancake with beef, shredded potato with sour sauce, couldn't stand the cumin spiced lamb because it was too pungent for me.
The fried dumplings was the best item we tried at Uncle Zhou. I didn't much like the boiled dumplings. I felt the skin on the boiled dumplings were too thick for my liking. The fillings for all the dumplings are adequate. I would order the fried dumplings in a heartbeat.
As for the rest of the food, it was only okay for me. I saw a video made by my favorite You Tube personality and had to try to place since I live close. But was disappointed by the food a bit. The noodle dishes were bland, even the Zha Jiang Mian, which I never had it bland before! All I tasted was noodles. I could barely taste the sauce. Which I thought is not possible because bean paste is pungent! The tomato with egg over noodles, no taste. At least the noodles were cooked to the right texture.
The scallion pancake is fluffy but I didn't taste scallion. It was not flaky at all like the best scallion pancakes out there. It tasted just like fluffy bread, that's it. Would never order it again I hardly taste the thin slice of beef.
If I were near the area again, and I were hungry, bottom line, I would try another place because the food here is just mediocre, for me. Still on the look out for good Zha Jiang Mian near my apartment.
But if I had a hankering for fried dumplings, I would stop by Uncle Zhou for some.
YES YES YES!!! I love their knife sliced noodles with lamb. Their dumplings are so tasty. CASH ONLY so don't forget that. Tables are a short wait during their busy time. I came Sunday around 1 and only had to wait like 5 mins for a table for two. I really enjoyed eating here and I will be back to try those lamb dumplings. Love this spot!
I LOVE this place. I remember first stumbling upon it after a long bus ride back to NYC from DC. For some reason, I really wanted some noodles. A quick Yelp search yielded me this place. I got an order of their hand shaved egg and tomato noodles to go, along with some of their cold fried tofu strips.
Once at home, I opened up my food containers and was incredibly impressed with the portion sizes of the dishes. The noodle dish is massive. I ended up not being able to finish my entire meal. But man, those noodles are other worldly. So tasty. There's this sesame sauce that's combined with the egg and tomato and gah, it's just so tasty! The cold tofu was fine. The noodles were truly the highlight of my meal.
Since that first visit, I've gone back numerous times. I've almost always ordered the hand shaved egg and tomato noodle dish, though I've tried the dial oil noodles once, which were fine, just not as mind blowingly delicious as the aforementioned dish. All of my friends that I've taken here also have high praise for that same aforementioned dish.
This place may quite possibly be my favorite restaurant in Elmhurst. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: this place is pretty cheap! Go, go, go and try it out for yourself!
IMO one of the best Chinese restaurants in NYC.
First, skip the rice dishes.
All the noodles dishes are excellent, personally prefer the ones with out broth. Like the noodles tossed in spicy oil. Noodles are hand pulled here and the texture and consistency reflect that.
Favorite dish here is the lamb casserole. Spicy and flavorful broth with whole garlics, not chopped, cabbage, chili peppers, tofu skin and lamb, all topped with about half centimeter of oil (meat's natural oil and chili oil) on top. A must order each and every time I'm here.
The appetizers are simply the best. Veggie dishes are fresh and crisp, and totally infused with garlic. The meat dishes are spicy when required and perfectly spiced with soy sauce in others. Combine two different orders on one plate to sample as many as possible. Usually 6-8 different appetizers are on display.
Dumplings are great as well. Dough is chewy, filings are flavorful and just the right balance of dense to airy-ness. Lamb dumplings are a go to (boiled only). Pan fried dumplings with pork and not overly charred, integrity of dough chewy-ness is not compromised.
Cash only, BYOB, yeah
On return visits we love this place even more. The knife shaved noodles are the way to go. Such a great texture and easier to eat. The spice broth is really great as are the pork and chive dumplings. There's a reason this place gets a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. After two disappointing and *expensive* bougie meals early in the week, our meal here was by far the best and most satisfying and it cost $18 for two.