Looking for a big bowl of noodle soup

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As dinner time drew near Monday evening, I felt like driving over to Wondee's in Hackensack and ordering its biggest bowl of noodle soup. Of course, when we got there, we remembered our favorite Thai restaurant is closed on Mondays.

So we just turned toward the shopping center near Route 4 and the best Chinese restaurant in North Jersey -- Lotus Cafe, which is open seven days a week.

And there it was on the menu: seafood soup noodles ($11.95). In truth, the bowl isn't that big, but there is enough broth, homemade noodles, shrimp, scallop, squid, fish cake and spinach for two to three people as an appetizer.

The fat, toothsome noodles appear in other dishes, notably zar jiang mein, the Chinese version of spaghetti Bolognese, with a hearty meat sauce that will have you coming back for more.

Following the soup, we really enjoyed the house special, pan-fried tofu ($9.95) with white rice. The soft, eggy tofu is dipped in a light batter before stir frying with meaty black mushrooms and vegetables. Another nice dinner.


Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack; 201-488-7070.
Open seven days, BYO, free delivery within 3 miles ($12 minimum).