As summer nears a burning close, celebrate the end of starving yourself into a bathing suit with a big bowl of carbohydrates. Noodles are so beloved that every country has a few variations, whether it’s the angel hair of Italy, spaetzle of Germany or rice vermicelli of Vietnam. With apologies to our Italian ancestors, we think the nations of Asia do noodles best. Here’s where to fill up as the summer cools down.

Malaysia | Mee Siam | Banana Leaf
You’ve gotta' love Banana Leaf, for sheer kookiness alone. Visit around midnight and the scene is a crazy mix of Malaysian club kids, Center City types and immigrant families feasting on fragrant fish-head curries, treated duck web in the tropically decorated (bamboo, fake flora) space. Stir-fried in chili sauce, peanut and tamarind, the golden mee Siam (Siamese noodles) are thin as thread. Shrimp, snow peas, peppers and bean sprouts boost the bowl’s goodness, along with the most outstanding tofu ever. The edges of each cube are fried golden and caramelized, the interiors spongy and soft. Banana Leaf has made us believers in this faux-tein.

Korea | Yook Gae Jang | Meju
This Korean-style pho from Old City’s Meju is a fiery four-quart affair rife with flank steak, vermicelli and cold-weather comfort. File this one away 'till November or until your sinuses are stuffed up with a cold. The chili spice will clear them out like a bottle of Vic’s Vapor Rub, leaving you hovering over the bowl--chopsticks in one hand, spoon in the other--sniffling like one of those balloon-headed, red-nosed tots from the Puffs tissues commercials.

Vietnam | Bun Muc Nuong | Vietnam Café
Com tam (broken rice) and bun (rice vermicelli) are the building blocks of the Vietnamese diet. At Vietnam Café, the Lai family’s casual West Philly offshoot of their Chinatown legend, the delicate white noodles are perfumed with lemongrass and topped with an array of proteins. We like the muc nuong (squid), chargrilled and tender, with a faint trace of the ocean mingling with the citrusy notes of the lemongrass.

China | Oxtail Soup | Nan Zhou
August might be hot for soup, but steaming beef broth is the vehicle for Philly’s best—yes, the absolute best—noodles, so suck it up, literally and metaphorically. Under fluorescent lights in the back kitchen of Chinatown’s Nan Zhou, noodle artisans heft bolt dough that is then smacked, stretched and spun into springy, chewy wires right before your eyes. Flavored with bunches of cilantro, the oxtail soup reverts us to our most primal urges. The meat is tender for sure, but the noodles are clearly the stars of this dish. Long, wavy and honey blonde, you can taste the freshness bouncing back in each strand, reminding that in Chinatown ancient tradition is often alive and well. 927 Race St., 215.923.1550