Posted by Joe DiStefano, October 10, 2008 at 1:30 PM
It’s only a five-minute walk from Flushing’s Chinatown, but College Point Boulevard has always been a wasteland when it comes to Chinese food, regional or otherwise. Now that is starting to change thanks to a new Chinese spot that sprang up seemingly overnight in a former check cashing store, next to a joint called El Palacio de las Empanadas. Gourmet Noodles and Delicacies, or Huang Jin Jiao Feng Wei Xiao Chi (which technically means “Golden Corner Local Delicacies”), isn’t exactly new though. It’s an outpost of a stall from the Golden Shopping Mall that serves cuisine from Wenzhou, a coastal Chinese city south of Shanghai. For whatever reason I’d never explored the food in the Wenzhou stall. Perhaps it’s because the food court has so many other distractions to dazzle the taste buds. Both locations are run by a charming couple. The husband hails from Taiwan, and the wife, who’s the chef, comes from Wenzhou. Photos of about 30 such delicacies line the wall, many of them cold dishes showcasing one form of offal or another. Right now most don’t have names or descriptions, but the folks behind the counter will be glad to help you order. In the past week I managed to work my way through six of these dishes.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, October 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Ask most well-rounded ethnic eaters about Tibetan food and the one item that usually comes up is momo, the beef dumplings that are the country's national dish. It's almost impossible to imagine entering a Tibetan restaurant and not ordering a plate of them, but that's exactly what I did the other night at the Himalayan Yak, a joint that serves Tibetan, Nepali, and Indian cuisine. The restaurant had its grand opening just a week ago, though grand reopening might be more accurate. The Yak, which is the oldest restaurant of its kind in the area, had been closed for renovations since late 2007. It's a safe bet that I'll never climb Mount Everest, but finding the Yak open for business after such a long absence filled my heart and taste buds with a sense of impending discovery.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, October 1, 2008 at 1:30 PM
When I saw the new Chung Fat Supermarket I could hardly believe my eyes. The sprawling grocery that just opened on Main Street in Flushing takes up more than three storefronts. Since I was unable to find someone to translate what the name means, I can only guess that it's Chinese for "gargantuan supermarket with tons of fresh meat, seafood and vegetables." That, or it’s a tribute to the Chinese film producer. Either way there’s quite the variety of seafood, including abalone. I’ve never been able to overcome the price barrier of ordering this mollusk in a Chinese restaurant. Nor do I know how to prepare it, so I had put it out of my mind until I entered the snack aisle. There amidst a myriad of dried fruit and chicken biscuits was a box of one dozen abalone pastries, for a mere $3.49. That’s quite the price break compared to a restaurant. Japanese abalone has been known to fetch $108 an order at Ping’s Seafood. And that was eight years ago!
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Posted by Robyn Lee, September 25, 2008 at 6:00 PM
When I told Serious Eats dessert maven Kathy YL Chan that I was going to the Flushing Mall, she said, "You have to get the Mango Special at the shaved ice counter!"
And special it was, consisting of a heaping mound of shaved ice—unfortunately on the crunchy, not fluffy side—topped with chopped ripe mango, sweet condensed milk, and a huge scoop of creamy mango ice cream. My two friends and I polished it all off despite the decreasing space in our stomachs. I don't understand how frozen yogurt could become a huge craze while something as awesome and simple and refreshing as as shaved ice topped with ice cream and mango bits is hard to find.
Flushing Mall
Food Court (basement level)
13333 39th Avenue, Flushing NY 11354 (b/n Lawrence Avenue and Prince Street; map)
718-358-1618
Posted by Barbara Hanson, September 25, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Walking the block or so from the 7 train in Sunnyside, Queens, I nearly passed right by the Butcher Block. I guess I was expecting something a little greener, something that shouted Irish. I should’ve known better: The Butcher Block is a genuine neighborhood grocery store, as well as a purveyor of Irish and English foods, and thus stocks Ragu spaghetti sauce and Ivory dish soap, in addition to such Irish cultural shibboleths as Tayto Smoky Bacon Crisps (potato chips), which also come in Prawn Cocktail and Roast Chicken and a ton of other flavors most New Yorkers don’t connect with potato chips. There is a refrigerator full of imported sandwich bread—Brennan’s Batch (“Today’s bread today”) and Pat’s Pan (“So fresh it's famous”)—wrapped in the crinkly, waxy paper that reminds me of the Silvercup Bread I ate growing up in Brooklyn. The bread’s got a good chew and wheaty flavor, definitely several steps up from most American packaged breads.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 19, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Even though I don’t shop there often Phil-Am Food Market fascinates me. Maybe it’s because I feel there’s much more to learn about Filipino cuisine. Then again, maybe it’s because I’ve been trying to work up the nerve and intestinal fortitude to purchase their balut, the infamous partially developed chicken fetus. Yesterday I browsed the aisles of this cozy store located on the stretch of Roosevelt Avenue known as Little Manila. I didn’t see any balut, but I wasn’t looking that hard either. I did, however, spy something almost as strange lurking amongst the frozen desserts: Selecta Quezo Real Mellorine.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 17, 2008 at 3:45 PM
New Jersey’s Mitsuwa is to Japanese food what Flushing's Assi Plaza is to Korean cuisine. Both are Wal-Mart sized megastores that sell all manner of dry goods, fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, condiments, and cooking equipment, and it even boasts a restaurant. The exterior of the sprawling Assi Plaza reads “Oriental Food Cash & Carry.” Last night I paid visit to a section of store that I like to call the banchan bonanza. There are literally dozens of types of the small side dishes you'll see served at every Korean restaurant, ranging from more common items to bizarre specialties. Which brings us to today’s subject: bahnggae jorim, or seasoned small crab.
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Queens Restaurant Week is taking place this week from September 15 to 18 and next week from the 22 to 25. Select restaurants are offering three-course lunches for $25 and three-course dinners for $35. Check out Joey in Astoria for a list of recommendations.
Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 15, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Long before the New York Times wrote about the wonderful regional Chinese fare available in the food court of Flushing’s Golden Shopping Mall serious eaters were abuzz about the fantastic lamb noodle soup available in a joint across from a hairdresser on the food court’s upper level. It was a wondrous concoction of hand-pulled noodles along with chunks of meat and other goodies. Sadly the place closed last summer. Every now and then I’d go back to see if it was reopening. Eventually I gave up and started focusing my eating on the food court’s lower level. The other day I decided to give it another shot. As I approached the hairdresser I noticed a day-glow orange sign, in Chinese. In between the two lines of characters was the English translation: lamb noodle soup.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 12, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I’ve been to the Red Hook Ball Fields on more than one occasion and each time I’ve had a pupusa or two. While the stuffed disks of masa de maíz make for a tasty snack, I’ve never been all that impressed. That said, I’ve always been amazed to see two pupusa vendors in such close proximity to each other, since there’s only a handful of Salvadoran restaurants in New York City. And truth be told, I’ve never been all that jazzed by pupusas I’ve eaten in a restaurant. So when a Salvadoran acquaintance told me she’d found the best pupusas in the city at a humble spot called Viña del Mar II, I decided to give the cheesy corn cakes another whirl.
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, September 5, 2008 at 6:00 PM
The best thing about dim sum is that you needn't have dessert last. Nibbled at in the middle of a meal, between bites of marinated tripe, steamed sticky rice with lup cheong, or taro, there is no "right or wrong" as to when you indulge in dessert. Which is perfect because I love dessert at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a meal.
Dim sum desserts are found in all forms at Perfect Team Corporation. They are fried and steam— some take the shape of bright jellies, some are made from rice noodles. My favorite are the baked nai won baos. Served as a trio of warm, pillowy buns with crisp, egg topping (akin to pineapple buns), the topping all but crumbles away into sweet goodness on first bite. Inside, you'll find an eggy, sweet custard that, when served straight from the oven, oozes onto your tongue like molten lava. Try not to burn yourself. But the odds that you'll recall this warning while under the spell of hot baos are mighty slim!
Perfect Team Corporation
13659 37th Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing NY 11354 (bn. Union and Main Streets; map)
718-888-9996
Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Sakura-ya in Forest Hills is one of my favorite Japanese groceries in New York City. And not just because it’s closer to home than the East Village. The selection isn’t as vast as in Manhattan, but there’s still a good variety ranging from dry goods to premade sashimi and the occasional bento box. I’m particularly fond of their uni, which is reasonably priced and fresh. Last week I didn’t see any on the shelf, so I grabbed a small container of seasoned scallop instead.
I popped the top off the ornate plastic tray expecting to see something vaguely scallopy. My preconceived notions were shattered as I gawked at ribbons of flesh that resembled pan-fried noodles. The tangled heap was shot through with tiny sesame seeds, slices of red chili, shards of ginger, and just a touch of garlic. The crunchy strands had a decidedly more oceanic flavor than scallops. A slightly sweet sauce pulled it all together making for a delicious snack. As much as I enjoyed it those brown edges of flesh, along with the strong flavor, raised a nagging question: Had I just eaten seasoned scallops or a Japanese version of scungilli?
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, September 2, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Editor's note: We asked seafood expert and fluent Chinese speaker Trevor Corson to chat with cooks and restaurant owners in Flushing after they were lauded in a recent New York Times spread. Are they excited about the recent fame? Trevor found out.
Photograph by Trevor Corson
As Serious Eats noted recently, food-minded adventurers are suddenly descending on Flushing in search of authentic Chinese, clutching a copy of the big July 30 New York Times spread by Julia Moskin. They now know details about many of the hole-in-the-wall cooks in Flushing who specialize in mostly northern varieties of Chinese cuisine.
Having lived in northern China for a couple of years, where I survived on extremely tasty but occasionally sketchy food from hole-in-the-wall shops and street stands, I've long wished more Americans would warm to this wonderful stuff. But it was kinda funny to actually go to Flushing again now and do some eating with a couple of friends, after the highfalutin Times hoopla. Some spots are just a counter in a basement with a few folding chairs, now proudly posting copies of the Times spread on the wall with their eatery's mention circled in red ink.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 29, 2008 at 12:30 PM
During the summer, the stretch of Roosevelt Avenue running through Jackson Heights is lined with vendors selling slices of mango and papaya. Tropical fruits spiked with hot sauce and salt help me cool off, but when it gets real hot I crave something much colder: a paleta. These Mexican popsicles come in much the same flavors as the fruit sold on the street: tamarind, mango, pineapple, cherry, guava, watermelon, etc. In my hood I most often find the Sley brand, which are made in Brooklyn. Until recently my faves were mango and chili, tamarind and chili, and, you guessed it, pineapple and chili. There’s nothing quite like sucking on a pepper-spiked popsicle on a sweltering summer day. I didn’t think it could get any more delicious or weird until yesterday.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 27, 2008 at 4:15 PM
Who better to teach us where to buy Greek food in Astoria than Michael Psilakis, executive chef of Greek restaurants Anthos and Kefi? New York magazine followed Psilakis with a video camera as he visited Greek food purveyors, including Titan Foods ("the Greek Zabar's"), a butcher, and Artopolis Bakery and Patisserie.
Titan: 25-56 31st Street, Astoria NY 11102; 718-626-7771
Artopolis: Agora Plaza, 23-18 31st Street, Astoria NY 11105; 718-728-8484
Previously
In Videos: Michael Psilakis on 'Nightline'
Posted by Ed Levine, August 25, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Photograph of Donovan's Pub from wallyg on Flickr; photograph of El Sitio's pork chops from wEnDaLicious on Flickr; photograph of Sripraphai from roboppy on Flickr; photograph of Leo's Latticini (Mama's) from Kathy Chan
If you're going to the U.S. Open this week, it's best not to arrive at the stadium hungry. If you're a serious eater, you know that most of the food is going to be overpriced and underdelicious.
Now if you insist on arriving empty-handed with an empty stomach, your two best bets are Tony Mantuano's tapas bar, new this year, and Curry & Curry. Mantuano will be cooking food from his book Wine Bar Food, which we featured on Serious Eats a few months ago. Mantuano is a fine cook (I have eaten his food many times), and I'm assuming they're giving him what he needs to prepare his tapas-style dishes well. But even if his food is up to snuff, it ain't going to be cheap. The people running the concessions at the Open, like at every other sports stadium and event I can think of, definitely subscribe to what I call desert-island or we've-got-you-by-the-balls pricing.
A cheaper, real food alternative might be the aforementioned Curry & Curry, a midtown mostly take-out spot that has somehow made it out to the Open as a sanctioned vendor. Serious Eats' Alaina Browne is going out to the Open tonight, so she will give us a full report.
But let's face it. If you want to eat some seriously delicious and cheap food, you've gotta eat before they take your ticket. There are a couple of solid choices within walking distance, and a number of others a subway stop or short drive away.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 21, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Phở Bắc, my go-to Vietnamese spot in Queens, is located in Elmhurst’s most unusual strip mall. In addition to another Vietnamese restaurant there’s Singa’s Pizza; Nusara, a newish Thai eatery; and Sri Penang, a Malaysian joint. And, for good measure a huge Asian supermarket. Every store has something to do with food. Whenever I hit up Phở Bắc, I get their signature dish—rich, beefy broth and noodles. I guess you can say I’m highly suggestible. This time around I was determined to get something different. I considered a raw shrimp dish that a friend told me about, but we couldn’t find it on the menu and the owner Bắc said he never served it in the first place. So we shifted gears, and in doing so discovered two simple yet extremely delicious dishes.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 19, 2008 at 12:30 PM
When the New York Times told me that there were spinach dumplings in Flushing, I knew I had to go there. Unlike pork dumplings, spinach dumplings seem hard to find. Lin's Dumpling House used to make one, but since the restaurant closed a few years ago I hadn't been able to find a vegetable dumpling I liked as much as theirs.
Available on the breakfast menu (served until 3 p.m.) at No. 1 East Restaurant, the plump spinach dumplings were stuffed with finely chopped spinach in such a way that resulted in a moist, fluffy texture. No pockets of air here, just lots of spinach goodness held within a thin, slightly chewy, homemade dumpling skin. Compared to my other favorite kind of dumpling—fried pork dumplings—theses seemed downright light and healthy.
In addition to the spinach dumplings, No. 1 East Restaurant also had another of my favorite dishes that I hadn't eaten in years: chive box.
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Seth Grundberg of the New York Post and his wife roam Jackson Heights with $15 each, eating at four tasty spots in the process. Hop on the 7 train to feast on tacos, kebabs, corn cakes, and more, all within a few blocks of each other.
Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 13, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Despite my seriously adventurous tastes, there’s one area I haven’t explored much: raw meat. Until very recently the only uncooked animal flesh I’ve ever partaken in has been liver sashimi and Ethiopian kitfo. The liver was sort of slimy though not so bad when doctored up with salt, grated ginger and sesame oil. The chunks of beefy kitfo were very tasty, but their chewy texture left much to be desired; I took the remainder home and cooked it up in a cast iron skillet. Recently a friend raved about the Korean raw beef dish known as yuk hwe, and I was ashamed to admit that I’d never tried it. I immediately atoned for this sin of omnivorous omission and made a solo trip to San Soo Kap San to expand my raw meat horizons.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
When I heard about Happy Beef Noodle House from the New York Times' feature on the food of Flushing's Chinatown, I put it at the top of my "to eat" list. Beef noodle soup is my favorite Chinese noodle dish and, for $6.25, Happy Beef Noodle House delivers a bowl large enough for two. This double serving of soup comes full of extra long, thick wheat noodles swimming in a star-anise flavored broth studded with thick chunks of stewed, chopstick-tender beef that almost melted in my mouth. Each table comes with a seemingly neverending bowl of chopped pickled mustard greens to garnish your soup with. I probably added more to my soup than what's proper, but I loved the added crunch and tang of the pickles. Besides, it's not like they were going to stop me.
Happy Beef Noodle House
38-10 Prince Street, Flushing, NY 11354 (at 39th Avenue; map)
718-661-3969
Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 6, 2008 at 2:30 PM
While strolling through Jackson Heights about a month ago I noticed that the original location of Kababish, a ramshackle kebab joint, was getting a decidedly upscale redo. With curiosity and appetite piqued, I checked back every so often to see this spot’s next incarnation. Yesterday I passed by and saw the final product: Delhi Heights. A slick-looking restaurant with a menu that goes well beyond vindaloo and korma, the new restaurant offers hundreds of items ranging from such South Indian vegetarian victuals like dosaand uthappam to fiery Indian Chinese specialties.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 4, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Photograph by Dave Cook
A few weeks ago while I was feasting on huaraches and pupusas, at the Red Hook ball fields Serious Eats meet-up I ran into Dave Cook, the man behind Eating in Translation. It’s always good to see him, because we’re kindred spirits when it comes to adventurous ethnic eats. When he told me that El Globo Restaurante in Corona was selling chapulines, or dried Oaxacan grasshoppers, my mouth fell open (almost causing me to lose a bite of precious huarache.) I’d only eaten the crunchy critters in a restaurant once before, at the upscale theater district taqueria Toloache where the tacos fetch a whopping $9 apiece. Since then I’ve been trying to track down Oaxacan grasshoppers all over the city, without any luck.
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As part of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival yesterday at the Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, men and women shoved as many dumplings in their mouths as they could for two minutes on stage. Both champs of the 5th Annual Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest won last year: for the male division, Joe Menchetti with 66 dumplings (breaking his record of 60) and Floria Lee with 38 dumplings (who couldn't top her last year's record of 43).
Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 1, 2008 at 12:00 PM
When the New York Times article about the wealth of regional fare on offer in Flushing came out earlier this week, I was glad to see the old gray lady give a fresh look at a scene myself and others have been covering for some time. Due to journalistic pride I was also glad no mention was made of Tian Jin Restaurant, particularly since it's right next to the White Bear, a spot where Julia Moskin ate. I’ve poked my head into Tian Jin a few times to ogle trays of glistening zhu ti, or pig's feet, but hadn’t tried any until yesterday. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm not the world's biggest fan of pig's feet unless they're done up crispy.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 1, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Within hours of the publication of Julia Moskin’s guide to the wonders of Flushing’s Chinatown I was at the Golden Shopping Mall to congratulate Liang Pi, the man behind Xi'an Famous Snacks, home of the lamb burger and cold skin. He’d been telling me for weeks about the upcoming article. I also wanted to see how many ravenous Times readers had descended upon my second home. For all the ink it got the mall was pretty calm although I did notice a few wide-eyed non-Asians. I headed down the street to Liang Pi’s second location at the Shi Hong Mall, where I was told that they’d been quite busy all day.
Sadly this was not the case when I returned last night, and found the door to Shi Hong open, but the space completely darkened. A table out front was covered with bags of fish balls and other delicacies plus a clipping of the newspaper article proudly displayed. The people manning the table were from Shi Hong’s Fujianese stall. Apparently the landlord hadn’t paid the electric bill. Let’s hope the power gets turned back on soon. And I’m not just saying that because I haven’t had a chance to try the Fujian soup with wontons that Moskin raved about. 41-42 Main Street, Flushing NY 11355 (map)
Posted by Zach Brooks, July 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing. Photos by Joe DiStefano
As much I wanted to get all snarky over today's New York Times piece about Flushing's Chinatown, its awesomeness has me holding back. The Times is habitually late with these kinds of articles, and often will add nothing new to the conversation (did you know there are a lot of trucks serving desserts in the city?) But this one breaks the mold, interspersing delicious sounding recommendations with personal stories from some of the best cooks hiding in Flushing's many makeshift food courts. The best part? An interactive map of 20 great things to eat in the area; or as I like to call it, my newest checklist.
Related:
Off the Beaten Path: Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing
Posted by Emily Koh, July 23, 2008 at 4:00 PM
After having conquered—maybe "endured" is a better word—Brick Lane Curry House's phaal curry challenge, I'm beginning to suspect everyone at the Serious Eats HQ are not-so-secretly using me as a guinea pig to see how much spiciness one can take before their tastebuds become obliterated. Although slightly concerned about potential ulcers and the future of my digestive capabilities, I am not one to back down from a challenge (what did I say about spice seekers and their egos?), which is why my ears perked up when it was mentioned that Sripraphai not only served some of the best Thai food in New York, but also some of the truly spiciest. So off I went to Queens, expecting to taste some of the spiciest Thai dishes in a milder redux of my earlier Indian curry adventure.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, July 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Those 600 stores that Starbucks is closing? Ten are in New York City. So sayeth the Times.
Is your Starbucks closing? Here's the list.
Manhattan
All in Midtown:
- 340 Madison Avenue (at 44th Street)
- 400 Madison Avenue (near 48th Street)
- 1600 Broadway (near 48th Street)
- 1675 Broadway (near 52nd Street)
- 565 Fifth Avenue (near 46th Street)
- The one on the fifth floor of Macy’s in Herald Square
Queens
All in Glendale:
- Atlas Park shopping center location
- 8989 Union Turnpike
Brooklyn
Bay Ridge, 8414 Third Avenue (at 84th Street)
Additionally, one Starbucks in Newark is closing, 744 Broad Street.
Metromix's Joshua Bernstein has been quietly amassing a whole list of tasty looking $1 grub guides to New York City. He's already tackled Jackson Heights, Sunset Park, Nostrand Avenue, Flushing and Spanish Harlem. Not everything he eats looks tasty, but lucky for us, he acts as guinea pig. The latest is his tour of Brighton Beach, where Josh samples some pretty delicious looking blintzes, pickles, and chocolate covered cheesecake all for under a buck.
Posted by Joe DiStefano, July 16, 2008 at 2:00 PM
When I encountered Kababish on a sultry night around 1 a.m. I already had a bellyful of tacos. Yet there was no way I could resist this place. Dozens of South Asian specialties were advertised on handwritten orange signs plastered in the front window. Although it offers several curries and other fare, this Jackson Heights spot is aptly named; the specialty of the house is kebabs. The skewers are cooked over lump charcoal inside a tandoor, making the restaurant so hot you feel like you're in the oven alongside the meat. But I hardly noticed; too busy checking out the menu of seemingly endless choices.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, July 14, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Whether you spell it ceviche, cebiche, or seviche, one thing is certain: the Peruvian specialty of fish “cooked" via marination in lime juice is one of the best things to eat during the dog days of summer. Unfortunately there are very few places in Manhattan to get good ceviche. Given my love for this refreshing dish, I was devastated when La Pollada de Laura, an excellent Peruvian restaurant closed a few years ago. It had been my go-to spot in Queens for ceviche. Recently I was tipped off to a new destination for this refreshing dish: El Anzuelo Fino in Jackson Heights.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, July 10, 2008 at 6:30 PM
7-Eleven is giving out free Slurpees tomorrow in honor of it being "7-11 Day"—July 11. (Find a location near you, but call ahead, as not all are participating.)
People outside New York can stop reading this post now. You all are not Slurpee-challenged. You see, one thing I've noticed is that New Yorkers don't know how to pull a proper Slurpee.
I'm a child of the Kansas City suburbs, where 7-Elevens are at every intersection, so this stuff is second nature to me. But as I went to the 7-Eleven today to make a training video for my clueless New York friends out there, I watched as the guy ahead of me did everything wrong. First, he didn't cap his cup prepour. Then he pulled the dispenser lever slowly, guaranteeing an anemic dribble of syrup instead of a full-on rush of ice-cold Slurpness. No, no, no. I'm sure this comes from the lack of 7-Elevens in the area, but this is no excuse. After the jump, I'll teach you all how to pull a Slurpee, in pictures and video. With a (small) list of participating 7-Elevens in New York.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, July 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Stepping out of the Roosevelt Avenue subway stop in Jackson Heights for the first time is similar to what I imagine those kids must have felt like stepping into the giant candy room of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Walk in one direction and the street is packed with Indian food and grocery stores, another direction and you'll be surrounded by Latin food, yet another there is Korean and Chinese food, and of course, there are great looking street carts everywhere you look. On a recent trip, we headed west on Roosevelt into Woodside to hit up Renee's Kitchenette, a Filipino restaurant recommended by a friend for its Filipino style BBQ.
Renee's BBQ chicken was good, as were some of the other dishes we had, like the char grilled pork belly, or the Lumpiang Sariwa, two large crepes filled with veggies and meat, then smothered in peanut sauce. But my favorite dish was hands down the Filipino sausage. While some are sour or heavy on the garlic depending on the region they come from, the version at Renee's were sweet-- a characteristic of the sausages from Pampanga. Similar to chinese sausage, but in a thicker chorizo-like form, the homemade longanisa, as they're known in the Phillipines, were cheap, incredibly tasty, and easily stole the show from the BBQ chicken that brought us out there. If this is what Filipino home cooking tastes like, I may need to find a family in the Phillipines to adopt me.
Renee's Kitchenette
6914 Roosevelt Ave, Woodside NY 11377 (nr. 69th Street; map)
718-476-9002
Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 30, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Ever since T.J.’s Pizzeria in Flushing closed I’ve mourned the loss of kimchi pizza. So when I heard that My Favorite CheoGaJip Chicken was slinging several kinds of Korean pizza, including one topped with bulgogi, I had to try it. Korean barbeque and pizza both rank high on my list, so even though CheoGaJip didn’t have kimchi pizza, I was pretty excited. Since T.J.’s pizza was more of a standard-issue New York City slice topped with fiery preserved cabbage, I never really thought of it as Korean. I envisioned CheoGaJip’s pizza as a tastier, more Korean pie; living halfway between paejun and a standard New York ’za. Sadly all my hopes for mouthwatering Korean pizza were in vain. The only good thing about CheoGaJip was the fried chicken, and while we don't normally like to write about things on Serious Eats New York unless they are delicious– some things just have to be shared.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 26, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The timeless rivalry between D and L?
Unless you count competitive barbecuing I’m not much for sports. But if I had to declare a baseball allegiance, it would be to the Mets, mainly for geographical reasons. I was born in Queens, grew up on Long Island and now live within walking distance of Shea. Hell, I’m so clueless about baseball I didn’t even know that there was a Subway Series happening this weekend. Now thanks to the tabloids, I also know that Yankees slugger Jason Giambi likes to don a golden thong to break hitting slumps. Frankly I’m more interested in the oddity known as "Subway Series Bread" than in watching the Mets and Yanks battle it out.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 24, 2008 at 11:30 AM
When I passed Taste of Europe II last week I was instantly drawn by the all-caps come-on for “Polish Pizza (You have to taste one)” and “lalidog (hmm…delicious).” Unfortunately meatier matters brought me to Ridgewood that day, so I had to save my appetite. This weekend I returned to see what TOE 2 was all about. I hope my colleagues over at Slice forgive me for skipping Polish pizza; the exotically named zapiekanki turned out to be a Polish spin on French-bread pizza, and didn't look all that special. Instead, I decided to concentrate on the more overtly Polish dishes.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 20, 2008 at 10:00 AM
As I approached the Ridgewood Pork Store I detected the heady smell of smoked pork from across the street. I floated across the intersection like a cartoon character drawn toward a mouthwatering aroma. Once inside I was like a kid in a candy store. Romanian charcuterie was packed into almost every square inch.
I had hoped to find the owner, Jonel Picioane, there since I’d read a while back that he’d teamed up with a Frenchman to give his products a Gallic twist. Picioane wasn’t around and none of the products I tasted were particularly French save for some French-style mortadella. But that doesn’t matter because everything that Bosco, a Serbian gentleman working the counter let me try was absolutely delectable. Join me for some Romanian meat porn. Don't be jealous, just think of my cholesterol level.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, June 19, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Tempted by last month's post about merguez frites, the Moroccan-inspired French street food, my dad and I decided to celebrate Father's Day by trying the authentic item. We followed a glowing review from the New York Times to Little Morocco, a café in Astoria, Queens, where we shared a sandwich merguez au harissa.
This was a Casablanca-style sandwich, as opposed to the french-fry laden version apparently sold in Paris. The soft, crusty petit pain (aka Italian roll) was spread with garlicky harissa and stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and a few pieces of sausages. It completely lived up to our expectations—though I'm curious to compare it to merguez frites when I'm in Paris next month.
Little Morocco
2439 Steinway Street, Astoria, NY 11103; (map)
(718) 204-8118
Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 18, 2008 at 1:00 PM
I don’t usually jump up and down about fried fish sandwiches. I can’t even remember the last time I had one, but the other day I was taken to new heights by the flying fish cutter at The Catch, a cozy spot in St. Albans, Queens that specializes in Bajan cuisine, the food of Barbados. At the borough’s only Bajan eatery, the Cutting family (no relation to the name of the sandwich) has proudly done the dining room up in the blue and white colors of their home country’s flag.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 16, 2008 at 3:30 PM
When I saw this package of dehydrated sandorica amidst more conventional tropical fruit items like dehydrated baby bananas at Thai grocery Sugar Club I had no idea what it was, but such ignorance has never stopped me before. The round orange fruit on the label led me to believe sandorica was in the citrus family, but beyond that, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 13, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Named for the highest peak in the Andes, Panaderia Aconcagua isn’t as scenic as its namesake, but that doesn’t matter since there are plenty of tasty treats to be at this bakery/cafe. The display case is filled with all manner of sweets and breads from Argentina and Uruguay but I was most intrigued by the sandwiches, which are clearly influenced by the Italian population from the region. When asked about the sandwich de miga, the girl behind the counter pointed out a boring premade ham and cheese on crustless white bread. They also serve a pretty standard Italian combo with mortadella, salami, etc. Then I peered into the cold cut case where I saw a rectangular rolled product that stopped me in my tracks.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The area radiating outward from the 74 Street/Broadway subway station teems with carts offering all kinds of fare ranging from tacos and tortas to the chicken and rice from Sammy’s Halal of Vendy award fame. The most interesting cart in the nabe, however, is Shangrila Express. As far as I know, it’s the only street food vendor of its kind in New York City because proprietor Woeser Dorjee specializes in Tibetan food.
The crescent-shaped beef dumplings known as momos, are the most famous Tibetan specialty and Shangrila’s juicy specimens are excellent, as evidenced by the Tibetan and Nepalese folks who line up at all hours of the day for them. Be sure to ask for some spicy sepen sauce. But recently Shangrila has upped the ante by adding even more items to their already popular cart.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
In January, when I first visited the food court of Flushing's Golden Shopping Mall, I had no idea that the mall's Mandarin name was Wong Jing Xian Chan. I don't speak or read Mandarin, although I am studying it. Most of the signage is in Chinese, but luckily I was armed with a cheat sheet from an industrious Chowhound. Unfortunately it covered only one stall, Cheng Du Tian Fu Xiao Shi, or "Chengdu Heavenly Plenty Snack Restaurant," which specializes in Sichuanese street food from the provincial capital Chengdu.
Next time I came better prepared. I brought a fluent Mandarin speaker, Fuchsia Dunlop. I toured the food court with the Chinese food expert and author of the recently published Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper for more than two hours. In that time we grazed our way through only a few stalls. Did I forget to mention that it's not a food court in the traditional sense, but rather a warrenlike collection of tiny restaurants?
Dunlop was amazed by the diversity of eats and gushed that it was "just like being in China." The folks at the food court were equally amazed by us—a British woman who behaves and speaks as if she's Chinese accompanied by an American shooting photos of every plate. What follows is a guide to what we ate combined with my subsequent experiences.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, June 6, 2008 at 9:45 AM
"I'm going Uyguring" isn't something I get to say very often, but I wish it were. As far as I know, there are only three restaurants in New York City that specialize in Uyghur cuisine, the food of Central Asia's Turkic people—and I don't foresee that number growing.
Accompanied by five hungry friends, I visited one of these restaurants, Cafe Arzu in Rego Park, Queens, with a few specific dishes on my mind: giant dumplings, giant rounds of bread, and giant bowls of hand-pulled noodles. All these dishes were consumed, and then some.
Lepeshka, the homemade bread, resembled like a hubcap-sized donut, although where there would've been a hole, a small flower design had been cut out of the dough. The bread had a thin crispy crust on the outside encasing soft, chewy innards. It was addictive eaten plain, and even more so when dipped in the soup we would get next.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 5, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Whenever I visit friends near Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, I make sure to take a side trip to Lupita Grocery, an otherwise nondescript little bodega on 21st Avenue. For less than $4, you can grab a small midday snack or a light lunch in the form of a taco or tamale and a bottle of Mexican Coke.
Lupita offers chicken or pork tacos and chicken, cheese, and pork tamales. The pork here is often a little too fatty for me, but I know that for many of you out there, there's no such thing as pork too fatty, so they might be right up your alley. I generally opt for a chicken taco, which comes loaded with hunks of moist white and (mostly) dark meat and a generous helping of pico de gallo. The taco may look small, but it's a filling snack. Double your order and you'd have a satisfying lunch.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 3, 2008 at 12:30 PM
It's like the Israeli Kozy Shack.
When most eaters think of Main Street in Queens, the first thing that comes to mind is the wealth of incredible Chinese food that’s available in Flushing. But if you travel Southeast along Main Street, you’ll eventually find decidedly non-Chinese ethnic food and shopping in Kew Gardens Hills, an enclave of Orthodox Jews that is home to several excellent falafel and shwarma spots. There are also plenty of markets with all sorts of Israeli groceries, like one of my all-time favorite finds, the chocolate pudding known as Milky. The good folks at Israel’s Strauss have managed to make a product whose creaminess rivals Kozy Shack’s (making the stuff aptly named). Each cup contains a dairy-rich chocolate pudding topped with airy whipped cream.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, May 29, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Bone handle makes meat pie eating easy!
As a resident of the Queens nabe known as Rego Park-istan, due to its high concentration of Uzbekis and other Central Asian immigrants, I’m no stranger to the savory pies known as samcy (or samsa). Usually these pies come stuffed with fatty bits of lamb, and occasionally you'll find versions packed with pumpkin, but the other night I happened upon a strange and wondrous samcy, at an Uzbeki spot called Cheburechnaya.
Named for the crescent-shaped pastry called chebureki, Cheburechnaya clearly wants you to know what they specialize in. But after seeing "samcy with ribs" on the menu, I almost fell out of my chair with interest. When the pies arrived, I discovered the name "ribs" is misleading, since there was only one rib bone sticking out of each triangular pastry- but considering how tasty and bizarre the meat pies were, it was forgiveable.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, May 23, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Editor's note: Nobody knows the outer boroughs like our man Joe DiStefano, who takes great joy in walking the gustatory road less traveled. Last week it was guinea pig in Jackson Heights, this week it's cemitas in, well- Jackson Heights (what can we say, there is a lot of good eating in Queens). —Zach
I have frequented the taquerias along the stretch of Roosevelt Avenue that runs from Woodside in the high sixties all the way the to the low hundreds just shy of Shea for years, but I'm ashamed to admit I have a dirty little secret. I have yet to find something that I don't like nestled between two corn tortillas, but until very recently I had never tried a cemita. I'm not proud of it, but based on looking at the pictures on the menu at Taqueria Coatzingo in Jackson Heights, I've always regarded them as little more than tortas served on a slightly different looking roll. And seeing as how a torta is like a taco on steroids (thanks to a a schmear of refried beans, sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato, queso blanco and pickled jalapenos), how could one possibly improve upon such a creation?
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, May 19, 2008 at 1:00 PM
"Like so much else about Thai cuisine, making the perfect miang kum is all about balance."
When I picked up the above package of miang kum at Sugar Club, a wonderful Thai grocery store in Elmhurst, Queens, I asked the fellow behind the counter if it was a kit for a salad (or yum, as Thai cold dishes are known). He enthusiastically nodded yes. In addition to offering Thai videos, the Sugar Club stocks a lot of delicious prepared dishes, like papaya salad, so I was excited to try this make-your-own one, since I’d never seen it anywhere else before.
When I got home and opened the foil container, I had no idea what to do with the contents. There was a baggie of about 20 cabbage leaves cut into triangles; a Ziplock packed with toasted, shredded coconut; a tub of what tasted like sweet tamarind paste spiked with fish sauce; a bipartite zippie, half filled with tiny dried shrimp and half with peanuts; another bipartite baggie with small cubes of ginger and teeny wedges of lime; and another two-compartment affair with chopped shallots and about five or six red Thai chilies.
A quick web search provided me with all the info I needed to get started. Miang kum is a Thai snack that involves wrapping a variety of savory items in a green leaf, whether it be lettuce, spinach leaf or in the case of my kit, cabbage. Even though this one didn't include it, sometimes you'll add garlic. My research indicated that it’s often eaten with beer, so I popped open a can of Sapporo and got to work.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, May 14, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Is there a better Mother's Day treat?
Everyone and their mother packed El Pequeño Coffee Shop in Jackson Heights, Queens, this past Sunday afternoon. I was there on a mission that my dear departed mother would have found shocking: to eat cuy asado, or roast Ecuadorean guinea pig. Mom would have put a positive spin on it, though, and voiced pride in my eclectic palate and cast-iron stomach.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 29, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Or, 'Where to Eat in Liberty City'
After much anticipation from millions of gamers, Grand Theft Auto 4 debuted worldwide today. This being Serious Eats, we did some digging around on the game's website for any food- or restaurant-related material inside the game, which takes place in "Liberty City," a metropolis loosely modeled on New York City. Here's what we found.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 6, 2007 at 12:30 PM
David Sax is a young food writer in Toronto who has dedicated himself to saving the Jewish deli.
He's very passionate and zealous on this subject, so I wasn't surprised that yesterday he sent me a splendid link to his post about a story I somehow missed.
The New York Daily News reported that the New York City Department of Health temporarily shut down Ben's Best, one of the best remaining Jewish delis in the city, for health-related crimes related to hanging salamis and combination sandwiches. You really should click through to David's post, but in case you don't, here's Mr. Sax in mid-season missionary form.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 25, 2007 at 9:15 AM
Conspicuously absent from Peter Meehan's perceptive, thoughtful review of the Kabab Cafe was any mention of one of the original chowhounds, Jim Leff, who championed the restaurant's cause to anyone who would listen even before Chowhound existed.
Many years ago, when I was reviewing restaurants for the New York Daily News and Leff was writing for Newsday, I got a call from Jim, who implored me to review Kabab Cafe ASAP because he was worried about its survival. So he and I ended up eating a decent, not great, meal there while he explained to me in great detail why each dish succeeded or failed.
I did end up reviewing the restaurant. Alas, I can't find the clip of my review, and I don't think you can find it online. Reading Meehan's review, all I could think about was this: Does Jim Leff think it's gone downhill? Because it sounds to me that the Kabab Cafe is the same bastion of inconsistency and idiosyncracy it's always been. And in spite of all that, after reading some, not all, of the 400-plus messages on Chowhound about the Kabab Cafe, I have to conclude the restaurant remains a Chowhound favorite to this day.
Kabab Cafe
Address: 25-12 Steinway Street, Astoria NY 11103
Phone: 718-728-9858
Photograph by flooznyc
