Spring rolls in your beef noodle soup because why not!

For at least a year my go-to order at Elmhurst’s Asian Taste 86 has been a steaming hot bowl of soto ayam, a bracing yellow chicken soup topped with garlic powder and extra sambal. On a recent visit I broke out of my Indonesian chicken soup habit to try something different: soto mie.

I’d picked the $9.50 soup off the specials board. “It’s like soto ayam with beef and a slightly different broth, and instead of rice there’s noodles.” Sold! In addition to two kinds of noodles—vermicelli and spring yellow noodles—the rich broth had plenty of beef, crunchy cabbage, and about five spring rolls. Yes, spring rolls, because why not.

Per usual I doctored up my bowl with a squeeze of lime and some sambal. A few slurps in I added some of Indonesia’s famous sticky sweet soy sauce, kecap manis. Next time I’m going to ask for a small plate and fish out a few of the golden spring rolls while they are still crunchy, and create a dipping sauce. In any case soto mie is one of the better beef noodle soups I’ve come across in Queens. Better yet, even though it was listed on the specials board this unique soup is available daily.

Asian Taste 86, 86-10 Whitney Ave, Elmhurst, 718-779-8686