2 Noodle Lover New Menus ： Bastard & Qieve by Diner

By Sophie Steiner

Bastard 

Modern-day food rebels without a cause, Bastard owners and DongXi cofounders – chef Michael Janczewski (Juke) and his business (and life) partner Jiro H – aim to be the antithesis to everyday Chinese street food.

READ MORE: Bastard: Trendy Permutations of Chinese Street Eats

Image by Sophie Steiner/That's

After winning over the Shanghai masses with their experimental, contemporary Chinese concept, the pair have broadened their daytime horizons into the wonderful world of lunch offerings, with four 'bastardized' – hence the venue name – noodle bowls, plus some sharing plates. 

Naturally, we sampled all four, doing the leg (and stomach) work on your behalf, dear readers. 

Image by Sophie Steiner/That's

Off the bat, all four of the carb-laden plates orbit the same Sapporo-style alkaline ramen noodle base, cold-imported straight from the source (Japan, duh).

A chewier, thicker noodle than its Shanghainese counterpart, its crinkly irregularity makes it all the easier to soak up whatever sauce or broth it's served in.

"Focusing mainly on the Shanghainese and Guangdong pulled noodle flavors that influenced Japanese ramen the most, our aim with the newly launched lunch noodles is to bastardize something that has already been bastardized," explains Chef Michael, slurping a slippery chili oil noodle.