Joe's Steam Rice Roll, NYC

When one is in New York, there are obviously countless options for dining, from high end to hot dogs from a cart, and everything in-between.  While I certainly have sought out well known higher end and mid-range restaurants, sometimes I just want something simple, tasty, and convenient, so when I was traveling, and worn out my first night in town, I consulted my handy list and Joe's Steam Rice Roll jumped out at me.  Ok, perhaps because it was literally right around the corner from my hotel, but, my notes promised me that people adore the place.

Don't expect to learn much about Joe's Steam Rice Roll though - they have no website, no phone number even.

Tasty Meal.

Joe's Steam Rice Roll is known mostly for one item: the namesake rice noodle rolls, Cantonese-style cheong fun, which, uh, I didn't get.  I like rice noodle rolls, usually something I get at dim sum, but the crepe-like jianbing is what drew me in, even though it was a new item to me.

I enjoyed the entire experience, and was pleased with my pick.

Setting

Joe's Rice Noodle Rolls has two locations, one in Queens, and then the one I visited, located inside the Canal Street Market.

Simplicity.

I appreciated the simplicity of the signage for Canal Street Market. 

Joe's Stand.

Inside is a food court basically, with multiple vendors around the edges of the area.

Standing Table.

There are some standing tables, for quick consumption, but most people seemed to grab their items to-go.

Menu

Menu.

The Joe's menu isn't large, but it had more items than I expected, obviously the rice rolls in several varieties, but also things like curry fish balls.

Crepe Menu.

And then of course, what I got, the Chinese crepe-like pancakes - jianbing.

Crepe Making.

Every item is made to order, and although each one doesn't take that long to prepare, the constant flow of people did result in a bit of a wait, since the crepe making space only fits one at a time.  I enjoyed watching all the action.

Food

As I mentioned, the jianbing was an entirely new food item for me.  Which, was quite exciting.  It also meant I had no idea what to expect.

The wait was agonizing.  Partially because I was starving, but also, because it took far longer than I expected.  Crepes were made one by one, so, well, it took a while, as there were many orders ahead of me (I wasn't the only one not getting the signature rice noodle rolls, although, those were certainly more common).  Most people seemed to be in groups, sharing some of each.

My order came handed over with a set of ... plastic gloves.  Huh?  And, unlike the people I saw picking up rice noodle rolls, I wasn't given containers for sauces.  Utensils only consisted of forks and spoons (or chopsticks), so, clearly I wasn't supposed to coat this in sauce and cut it up with a knife.  Was I supposed to go sauceless?  Should I dunk it?  Why did I need gloves? I had no idea what I was doing, clearly.

Sauce Station: Peanut butter and sesame sauce, chili oil, hoisin, soy, siracha.

I had read so much about Joe's sauces though, particularly the spicy chili oil (in the plastic bucket in back) and the peanut sesame sauce.  I really wanted to try them, so I asked for containers anyway, and filled them with the spicy chile, the hoisin, and the peanut sauce.  Just in case.

The spicy chile oil was indeed spicy, and I loved the heat it added, although it was oily (it is oil after all ...).

The peanut sauce was thick and rich, nutty, and something I'd certainly love in some context, but it didn't go great with my crepe.

The hoisin was fairly standard hoisin.

Joe's Crepe (crab stick and pork floss). Spicy mayo version. $7. 

"Lettuce, egg, scallion, cilantro, spicy sauce."

For my crepe, I had the choice of crab stick, pork floss, or sausage.  I couldn't decide between the two, as I love crab stick (yes, really) but pork floss also has its place.  I asked the server which he recommended, and he said that the pork floss was definitely the most popular.  I asked if I could do a combo of both, and he said that was no problem.  I was not charged extra.

The next decision I had to make was spicy or not.  I said spicy.  And then I had to decide between a spicy mayo, or sriracha.  Duh.  Of course I wanted spicy mayo.

The crepe shell was fascinating to me, very unlike anything I've had before.  It was much thinner than it looked, and softer.  For some reason, I thought it would be thicker and crispier.  It was quite pliable, and had a nice flavor from the sesame seeds sprinkled in.  It was rather oily, which, if I was picking it up as street food, which I think I was supposed to be doing, it would have been messy.  Hence the gloves?

Some bites tasted more eggy than I liked, but that is just me not really liking eggs.

Oh, it was also quite large.  I expected something half this size.  No wonder most people were splitting them.

Joe's Crepe: Side View.

The inside though was even more fascinating, here you can see a cross section, with the crepe folds on the outside.

I knew it would have crab stick, pork floss, and mayo, since I selected those.  I knew from the description that all crepes have lettuce, scallion, and parsley.  But ... when I bit in, something crunchy came falling out.

Crunch?!  This turns out to be normal in Chinese style crepes, it was a baocui, a fried cracker.  Super thin, crispy, and I loved the crunch.

Joe's Crepe: Inside.

I pulled back the crepe to get a glimpse of the rest of the fillings.  I had no idea what other surprises lie inside.  Spoiler: no other surprises.

The lettuce was juicy and slightly wilty, and something I do like.  Cooked lettuce has its place.  I would have even liked more, to cut the oil a bit.  The crab stick was pretty average, and didn't have much flavor.  It was nice with the spicy mayo, but there was barely any of that.  I was sad by how little spicy mayo I found.  The pork floss was salty and tasty, and I'm glad I selected it too.

Overall, this took a little getting used to.  I couldn't decide how I felt about it at first, picking it up as a sandwich, then tasting components individually.  But in teh end, I did cut it up, and I did add tons of hoisin and chile oil, and really enjoyed it.  It grew on me, quickly.  But I think I wasn't supposed to add sauces, and certainly wasn't supposed to be cutting it up (I had to get a knife from another vendor).

I enjoyed this, but I'm not sure I'd get another.  It was unique to me, and fun, but maybe I should go for the signature item next time?