BCD Tofu House Restaurant, In Murray Hill, New York City, And Asian Noodles

BCD Tofu House, the international Korean chain with an outpost on 32nd St., is famous for its soon sundubu: a hellfire-hot stone pot of soft tofu that bubbles away in a spicy, meaty broth. It's the perfect deep-winter dish.

But there's another, less-heralded dish on the menu, a cold soup perfect for summer's last heat wave: naeng myun. And BCD makes the best rendition in Koreatown.

The dish arrives in a wide stainless steel bowl, so cold it's sweating even in the nicely air-conditioned dining room. Inside, there's a heap of chilled buckwheat noodles that seem impossibly long until the waitress, who understands just how overheated and hungry you are, comes by to snip them into manageable lengths.

You then stir the noodles into the cold broth, which is not so much a broth as a meat slushie, with a texture like a semi-melted granita (you'll like it).

Slices of Asian pears, chilled brisket, raw cucumber and paper-thin daikon add crunch and intrigue. And there are cruets of vinegar, hot sauce and other condiments at hand to tweak the flavoring of the soup as you slurp your way down to the bottom of the bowl, refreshed and full, and ready to again face the blast furnace of Manhattan with spirits renewed.

BCD Tofu House, 5 W. 32nd St.; 212-967-1900 or bcdtofu.com