An Under-the-Radar Taiwanese Restaurant with 3 NYC locations
An Under-the-Radar Taiwanese Restaurant with 3 NYC locations
Four Four South Village started in Toronto and has expanded across New York
Four Four South Village (11 E. 7th St.) serves a super savory Taiwanese beef noodle soup: Having opened in the spring, it’s the third Four Four South Village, with a sibling on 46th (368 W. 46th) and the original in Flushing (38-06 Prince St.) that opened in 2019. Even with multiple locations, the restaurant still maintains its hidden gem status.
Named for one of the districts in Taiwan where Republic of China military families resided starting in the late 1940s, the name Four Four South Village cites an area where Taiwanese beef noodle soup is said to have originated. Today, it’s often referenced as Taiwan’s national dish. “There is no noodle soup quite like it,” says Cathy Erway in her book, The Food of Taiwan, “although the dish has conspicuous influences from Sichuan province — chili bean sauce and Sichuan peppercorns.”
Four Four South Village is part of the boomlet of Taiwanese restaurants around the city, which includes Ho Foods, 886, The Braised Shop, Taiwan Pork Shop House, Win Son and more.
In addition to variations on that glorious beef noodle soup ($12-$16), the restaurant serves dan dan noodles, beef noodles and spicy sauce, sesame oil chicken soup, braised pork rice. There’s also a lu wei portion of the menu listing braised egg, tendon, pork knuckles, pig ear, rib finger meat, braised tofu, and tripe ($2 to $7).
The East Village location where I had most recently visited had been Le Sia, which closed during the pandemic. Before that, it was the location of Surma Books & Music for 98 years until June 2016, EVGrieve reported, when the building sold for well over $5 million to Icon Realty.
The restaurant is a sibling to the Four Four South Village restaurants in Toronto, an employee confirmed. It’s on track for North American expansion and its ambition is on the menu: “We aim to become the No. 1 beef noodles in the hearts of overseas Chinese people around the world.”
