Hwa Yuan

You have to return to a cuisine’s birthplace—like Lombardi’s, the first pizzeria, or Delmonico’s, birthplace of Baked Alaksa—to taste Eden-level purity of origins. Add Hwa Yuan, which brought sesame noodles to New York in 1968, to that esteemed company. Closed in 1992 but rebooted by the owner’s son in October, the Tang dynasty (the family behind the legend) has come roaring home to their original block. The menu is equal parts tutorial and valentine, giving Mandarin tones a fully American voice: Whōa! Whóa! Whŏa! Whòa! Dry sautéed beef that appears gnarled and withered reveals itself as tender and succulent. The Amazing Spicy Wine Chicken has such savory complexity that it tastes like duck. Kung po chicken is so yes-please, melt-in-your-mouth tender that it could easily be mistaken for a French kiss or perfect scallops. Too bad Hwa Yuan’s scallops are flavorless puddles of meh. And the steamed sticky rice with short rib or the range of desserts (red bean spring roll? pumpkin latke? really?) are more like the try-hard monstrosities you might see at P.F. Chang’s or Panda Express. But that chicken! For a flightless bird, Hwa Yuan sure makes it soar.