Maxi's Noodle 3: Is Bigger Better?

Delicious wontons in Chinatown by way of Flushing

March 27, 2025

The interior of Maxi’s Noodle 3

Rating: 8.0/10

Overview: The originator of the saying “Good things come in small packages” must’ve never visited Maxi’s Noodle 3. Maxi Lau, the restaurant’s namesake proprietor, owns two Flushing stores specializing in HK style wonton noodle soup, with a recent location opening up in Manhattan.

Review: I recently found myself on the streets of Chinatown. Among the throngs of tourists, I shuffled my way across Canal Street like a penguin marching towards a pack of leopard seals. All of this to say, don’t go to Chinatown on weekends unless you welcome groups of loitering tourists and if you like being elbowed in the ribs by fiesty Chinese aunties passing by (respect). Why would I seek out a crowded area despite my solitude-inclined self? The first was to window shop with my partner. The second was to indulge in post-shopping libations. On the list for the reward was wonton soup at a new outpost of Maxi’s Noodle.

The space at Maxi’s Noodle 3 is long and narrow. It’s fitting the dining room is set up this way, as if to foreshadow a narrowly focused menu, which comes as a single double-sided page as opposed to the tome-sized menus one can expect in Chinatown. The menu format is a choose your own soup adventure of noodles and toppings. If you’d like, you can select egg noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli, or udon, as well as wontons, dumplings and fishballs. Additionally, an enticing list of add-ons is available like beef stew, beef tendon, and fried fish skin. For my first time at Maxi’s I opted for plain wonton and dumpling soup. I hope this doesn’t hurt my street cred, but I am not a noodle guy. While I do enjoy noodles, if forced to choose an everyday staple, I choose rice. I think I am in the minority here. Conversely, my partner has noodles running through her veins. She could eat noodles every day and twice on Sunday. So her excitement was barely contained as she shouted out her order of wonton noodle soup with beef tendon.

The first thing we noticed when the server plopped the bowls of soup on the table was the sheer size of the wontons. These orbs floated in the broth like little icebergs, ready to take down anything in their path. At first slurp, the broth elicited a nice clean chicken flavor, and slightly salty finish. On deck was the wonton, although I was unsure of the proper approach. Do I just try and shove the whole thing in my mouth? Absolutely not. I awkwardly sat for a moment, knowing there were potential consequences to my actions. Luckily I didn’t have to make that decision.

Wonton and dumpling soup

Wonton noodle with beef tendon

“These are legit!” I heard from across the table. In the split seconds I’d sheepishly sat self-concious of my eating approach, my partner had expertly bit a wonton clean in half, then sprinkled an ever so slight amount of white pepper and red vinegar into the remaining wonton half. This isn’t her first rodeo huh? I followed suit, taking the wonton and partitioning off half in my mouth. As I bit down I noticed a nice bouncy sensation. The wonton was plump, almost entirely made of shrimp, with a pleasant mouth feel, and delicately flavored.

Next up was the Dumpling. Truthfully, I don’t remember much about the dumpling other than pork and mushroom flavor, but at the time I think my mind was still processing the size and taste of the shrimp wonton. In between slurps, I stole a pice of beef tendon from my partner. The gelatinous tendon melted in my mouth, as if mocking my dry skin with promises of future moisture. Pro tip, the beef tendon gave her broth a nice rich complexity, and if I had to do it over again I would stick to soup with wontons and beef tendon or beef stew add on.

We worked our way through our bowls bite by bite, intermittently reaching across the table for the Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, which did nothing other than provide the illusion of health. I started the bowl believing I could easily finish, but due to sheer wonton size, I had to parcel one off in exchange for some more beef tendon. As if I needed one last data point confirming our enjoyment of Maxi’s Noodle 3, my partner playfully blurted out “I am going to come back here without you.” It’s only been a couple of weeks but she has already made good on her promise.

Website: https://maxisnoodle.com/ | Address: 68 Mott St, New York, NY 10013