If being Chinese has taught me anything, it has taught me good eating habits.
And, I don’t mean mannerisms. I mean eat anything that walks, crawls, flies and jiggles. Being Chinese has its perks, and it literally “pays” off this time of the year with Chinese New Year. Not the monetary ties but the array of food that it has to offer.
With the Year of the Rabbit bestowed upon us, what better way to pay tribute to the holiday than to eat as much Asian food as possible? Although, I don’t condone excessive bingeing, we will make it an exception this time for a far out trip to Flushing, Queens in New York City. Flushing is an out-of-reach place for the average New Yorker. So, to make the most out of it, we had to get our fill in.
Flushing Mall Food Court, are you ready for this and seven other stomachs?
The group took to the 7 train to seek out the holy (and incredibly affordable) treats that have surfaced on the NYTimes, blogs, review sites, and hidden ancient scribes. The Flushing Mall food court has been the talk of the town ever since every chef and their mother’s started taking the subway deep into Queen’s to dine like a queen on a peasant’s budget.
Armed and ready for a full intake of carbs, there was nothing stopping us now. Sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s time for the Asian Food Tour, Flushing style.
Peking duck bun for $1? Hell yes!
Flushing Mall, we have arrived. We made it to the mecca.
No better way to tackle the Flushing food tour than with our handy, dandy Serious Eats interactive map. If it wasn’t for this printout, we probably would have ended up at the karoake bar next door singing our appetite, hungry hearts out. Fortunate enough, we were a wise food team.
Our first stop, Xi’an Famous Foods, an establishment known for its cold noodles and lamb burger. If the raving review and picture of Anthony Bourdain wasn’t enough for us to try this stand, it must have been the hoards of people coming back and forth with no second guessing or menu pondering. These people were here for the noodles and, we wanted to partake in this noodle action.
Leave it to the professionals to do their thing. There is no way I can mimic this at home. I just don’t have the correct ladle posture and form.
The Liang Pi Cold Noodles were on all our radars. This chewy noodle went down like slip and slide. Splashed with chili oil, the blocks of gluten absorbed the heat and took on a new flavor. The entire dish was delicious down to the last slurp. It was spicy, but it possessed the qualities of an addictive dish that if the noodle dish and I were left in a room alone, there would be some trouble in the air.
Next up, the infamous lamb burger.
Not reminiscent of any burger I have eaten, the lamb struck more Middle Eastern notes than anything Chinese or Taiwanese. Delicious, nonetheless. This burger was bold, cheese-less (cheese; a feature I usually argue more for) and hearty. Spot on and only two Washingtons.
A little (in this case, I mean a lot) apperitivo to cleanse our palate. Technicolor desserts anyone, anyone?
Taiwanese shaved ice is as much as a treat for the eyes as it is for the stomach. Shaved ice is topped with a glorious number of toppings. Anything from taro, jelly, green beans, red beans, condensed syrup, ice cream, fresh fruit tops the base. This one looked like Machu Pichhu on a good day.
Thirty minutes into the shaved ice journey, we felt like we conquered a dessert mountain.
Nothing stopping us now. Off to the next destination; Golden Mall, a place for our dumpling and bun fix.
While we had no say in really picking out the contents of our dumplings, the staff seem to have a pretty good idea of what dumpling we should eat. It was pretty much “You want dumplings? Okay, dumplings. *Lady starts cooking dumplings*” kind of ordeal. Bottom line, it didn’t matter. They all were plump, chewy and juicy. How a dumpling should be.
Shout out to the ladies and gents; Jourdan, Arya, Marina, Michael, Lindsay, Irene and the boyfriend. You’re a wonderful group to dine with. Let’s date again.
And, no it didn’t stop there.
We topped it all off with some meat scallion pancakes. A little bite for all of us was enough to tip our carb levels. Pork, cabbage, soft bread, what more can you ask for?
Tender, succulent and well seasoned, this thing was so easy to take down. Chinese New Years resolution: Eat more lamb.
One very successful Flushing trip later, we haven’t gone back to the neighborhood just yet. But now, this New Yorker is less skeptical about riding an hour long subway for her good eats.
Gong hei fat choi! It’s going to be a good year.
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