Category Archives: Restaurants & Food Courts

Nuan Xin Fan Tuan

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It seems like lately whenever I write about Flushing, I’ve been focusing on food courts – and even then, only the big six: Golden Mall, New World Mall Food Court, New York Food Court, The Food Hall at Queens Crossing, Tangram Food Hall, and now Eat Up! Food Court.

But recently, on my way to one of them (because I would have been too full to even think about food afterwards), I stopped by Nuan Xin Fan Tuan where the namesake rice roll is the specialty. The menu lists at least 36 of them, with fillings running the gamut of meats (bacon, chicken, duck, ham, beef, sausage, pork floss), seafood (eel, shrimp, crab), salted egg yolk, cheese, fried dough sticks, and veggies. The ingredient that might make you sit up and take notice is the purple rice that that makes the roll truly special. In this case, the slightly chewy rice enclosed salted egg yolk, pork floss, shredded lettuce, and dried radish, dressed with spicy mayo.

Nuan Xin has three locations: Manhattan, Brooklyn and Flushing; their Flushing outpost is in YF Square at 136-55 Roosevelt Ave along with The Pancake (which I wrote about a year ago) and four other stalls. It’s a mini mall but certainly not minimal because everything I’ve tried is unique and a cut above. Bears a return visit.

(Note to self: Resist the temptation to do a Purple Rice/Purple Rain song parody.)
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

A Study in Contrasts

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(Or, Food Court Press, Part 3)

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On a recent trip to Eat Up! the new food court in Flushing, I visited vendors located at booth #16 (“Bao Boom”) and booth #2 (don’t look for any English but my iPhone thinks it saw “Tasty Taiwan”) that presented a study in unlikely contrasts on both the micro and macro levels. Allow me to explain.

Bao Boom highlights sang ji bao, a featured component in many of their menu choices. Sang ji bao (you may be familiar with sheng jian bao – it’s just a difference of dialect) are remarkable buns, crispy on the bottom but implausibly yielding on top (a contrast in texture). Sang ji/sheng jian translates literally to “raw-fried”: they’re pan-fried and steamed simultaneously to achieve that golden bottom and pillowy top (a contrast in technique). The filling consists of a dense ball of tasty seasoned pork swimming in abundant, surprisingly rich broth (a contrast in state). After the dough is filled and sealed, it’s turned upside-down for cooking so the bottom is actually the top and vice versa (a contrast in orientation) and served with a packet of Chinese balsamic vinegar (a sweet-sour contrast in flavors).


They’re so juicy you might want to heed the instructions offered in their conveniently posted how-to video (along with a history of the delicacy itself) before consuming lest the bao bursts unexpectedly. (Note to self: edit out the “baos bursting in air” pun.) Maybe that’s the Boom reference in the name. But seriously, they may be the best I’ve ever experienced in terms of flavor, composition and technique.


At Tasty Taiwan, I ordered the smoked chicken, an exercise in textbook simplicity. It was chicken. It was smoked. It was tender. It was perfect.

The only non-contrast in this tale of complex bao and simple chicken? The two dishes were equally exceptional.

Obviously, they’re on my food court centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket. Let me know if you want to come along!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Food Court Press, Part 2

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More from Eat Up! the new food court in Flushing.

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The Chinese characters below the English “Noodle Time” at booth #20 translate to “Chongqing Noodles” and its menu lists a dozen tempting choices in the “Chongqing Snacks” section – precisely what I was after since tids and bits were the order of the day. Deferring once again to my OCD to make the choice for me, I ordered the first item on the list, “Spiced Meat Roll” in English but the Chinese characters provided more of a clue about what flavor profile to expect: “五香卷”, 5-Spice Roll.


Not only was the seasoning distinctive, but treating the exposed sides of the cut roll to extra time on the grill definitely added to the experience. A cut above, as it were.


From Chongqing in southwest China we travel to the Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest. (It’s really not far – only three booths away 😉.) I’ve written extensively about the oppressed Uyghur people who reside in the Xinjiang region and their cuisine. Booth #17, “Uyghur Tandoor Samsa” offers several native dishes and almost all are accompanied by samsa, succulent meat pies filled with lamb, onions and cumin among other spices that are typically baked in a clay oven. Shown here in the wild…


…and domesticated (plated at home).

Let me know if you’d like to see more goodies from the new Eat Up!…or if you’d like to visit it with me first hand on my food court-centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Food Court Press

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I’m Baaa-ack!

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Flushing is the epicenter of Asian food courts in New York City and there’s nothing more compelling than the launch of a new rival to coax this food writer out of his recent hiatus.

Food courts come and food courts go and I’m old enough to remember the OG food court in Flushing that closed at least a dozen years ago. The latest contender is called Eat Up! located on the lower level of the newish 99 Ranch Market at 37-11 Main St, a formidable addition to the neighborhood in its own right. It’s home to 28 booths featuring a variety of Asian cuisines (primarily Taiwanese and Chinese but sushi, pho and Uyghur samsa round out the assortment) from snacks to complete meals.

Surrendering to my OCD proclivities, I started with Booth #1, Pop Mao, which features Sichuan Maocai, an individual hot pot where ingredients you select are pre-cooked and served in a spicy broth. But faced with 27 additional booths to investigate across the two days I had allocated for the maiden voyage, I thought it best to stick with a snack so I opted for the Pumpkin Pancakes since I hadn’t seen them elsewhere. Crispy outside and a little chewy inside with two layers of flavor, they were a sweet surprise (but not too sweet 😉) – so much so that I opted to bring the rest home and order a couple of other items to go: spicy Wolf’s Tooth potatoes and Sichuan Crispy Pork. Like the Pumpkin Pancakes, both were unique and excellent.

The lesson I took home from that visit is that Eat Up! is not only a top-notch addition to the food court team but the players are significantly different from other venues in the neighborhood – so stay tuned: more to come.

And yes, of course it’s already on my food court centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket! Hope to see you soon!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen

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For the longest while, whenever I did one of my Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst ethnojunkets, we’d pass by the vacant storefront at 81-04 Broadway and pause wistfully at the tantalizing promise of a new Burmese restaurant opening soon. And now, Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen has fulfilled that promise. Outstandingly.

When I entered, all of the tables were occupied – which was just as well because I wanted to try more than one dish (Burmese cuisine is one of my all-time favorites) – so I ordered three to go:


Laphet Tote (you might see “thoke”) – Pickled Tea Leaves Salad. In Myanmar, tea is not only drunk, but also consumed as food. Laphet is the Burmese word for pickled or fermented tea leaves; tote means salad. In addition to the tea leaves, traditional additions are cabbage and tomatoes plus add-ins like tiny dried shrimp; the dressing, often garlic oil, lime juice and fish sauce; and the all-important “crunchies” – expect fried garlic and fried onion, fried broad beans and toasted soybeans plus peanuts and sesame seeds – all mixed together and garnished with green bird’s eye chilies and slices of fresh raw garlic. Sophie’s rendition was everything I hoped it would be.


Nann Gyii Tote – Curry Noodle Salad. Chicken curry over rice noodles (mix well) plus hard-boiled egg and fish cake, garnished with a lime wedge and cilantro; medium spice level. Simple and superb.

Kyay Oh Sichat – Garlic Vermicelli Meatball. It’s offered with either chicken or pork meatballs and as a soup or dry (shown here); if you choose pork (as shown), it also comes with a few slices of pork liver. Savory garlicky vermicelli with fish paste, fish ball, quail eggs and a perfectly cooked hard-boiled chicken egg, along with Chinese broccoli, it’s served with bone broth and a dipping sauce that’s simultaneously sweet and spicy. (The photo at the top of this post was my attempt at plating the takeout order for the sake of detail.) Do not miss this one!

Every bite represented authentic Burmese home cooking at its finest. In all the years I’ve been writing about ethnic food, I have visited only a handful of restaurants that I intend to keep returning to until I’ve tasted everything on the menu.

Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen is one of those restaurants.
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Al-Sham from the Inside

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“The Levant” is a term that refers to the region in the Middle East encompassing Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. “Little Levant” is a term I use to describe the region in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn that encompasses numerous first-rate restaurants, markets, and shops featuring the wares of the Levant with the addition of a nod to those of Greece. (Did you know that Beirut and Bay Ridge are cognates? Just kidding.)

One of the stops on my “Flavors of Little Levant” ethnojunket is Al-Sham restaurant, always rated at the top of every relevant list I’ve seen, where we pick up a shawarma sandwich to go. The Arabic word “shawarma” has its roots in the Turkish word “çevirme,” turning, which describes the pirouetting conically-stacked slabs of marinated meat as they inch past the searing glow of the vertical rotisserie.

Al-Sham boasts two of those rotating devices, one for chicken and the other for beef & lamb; the extremely helpful and absolutely delightful woman behind the counter advised me that the beef & lamb always sells out first.

I replied, “Okay! One beef & lamb shawarma, please.”

“To go or to stay?”

I thought I could use a break so I responded, “To stay,” and we took seats at a nearby booth.

BUT. I had neglected to utter one important word: “sandwich.” A fortuitous gaffe if ever there was one because they presented the photo-worthy shawarma entrée you see here.

Needless to say, the Little Levant itinerary has been permanently modified!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 
 

Fok Noodles Express

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A couple of posts ago I did a shout-out to Pinklady Cheese Tart at 11 Mott St in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Literally across the street (and I mean “literally” literally) at 12 Mott, you’ll find Fok Noodles Express, the newest incarnation of the E Noodle group.

They take the word Express seriously; my order was ready practically before I had a chance to sit down at the counter. They offer a wide assortment of Cantonese handmade dumplings, dim sum and noodles and given the environment, the dish I tried was definitely beyond my expectations.

This is Dan Dan Noods (their spelling) with a nod to Sichuan cuisine: just the right amount of heat in the sauce with skillfully balanced toppings over perfectly cooked noodles. After I try a few (yeah, right!) more items, I might need to add this spot to my “Not Your Ordinary Chinatown Tour” – I’ll keep you posted!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Chinatown’s Worst-Kept Best-Kept Secret

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Shhh!!!

Its name is Fu Zhou Wei Zhong Wei Jia Xiang Feng Wei which essentially means “tasty Fuzhou hometown flavor.” Or WZW for short. Until about five years ago, this unique restaurant featured an extensive menu but COVID did what pandemics do and they reinvented themselves as a wholesale operation. Since then, they’ve re-reinvented themselves and currently offer a scaled-down selection of first-rate Fujianese soups, dumplings and buns.

There are two ways you can experience this stalwart Chinatown treasure for yourself:

Go to 88 East Broadway, walk down a few steps toward the row of plate glass doors, open the leftmost door (the only one that isn’t locked), enter and go left, then around, then downstairs, then straight. You’ll pass mostly vacant and abandoned offices, shop fronts, and the precious few businesses that remain. Keep going until you come to WZW.

Or…

Use the side entrance on Forsyth St and go directly downstairs.

But tell me, where’s the fun in that?

WZW wasn’t well known to casual tourists but so many foodie cognoscenti and tour guides shared their best-kept secret that before long a critical mass of Chinatown devotees discovered this treasure. And now you’re in on the secret too. If you weren’t already.

From our last visit: Meat Paste Soup

 
 
Fried Dumplings


 
 
Small Steamed Buns


 
 
Steamed Dumplings


 
 
Fuzhou Dumplings with Soup

 
 
Bamboo Shoot Cake. I know they look like the sesame balls you’ve seen so many times before, but these are filled with bamboo shoots and pork. One of a kind.

And yes, of course we always visit WZW on my “Not Your Ordinary Chinatown Tour.” Check it out here. These resolute folks deserve our loyalty and support!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

TADA

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One of my (ostensibly innumerable) guilty pleasures is KFC – Korean Fried Chicken, that is, and not something else bearing the same initialism. Hey, IYKYK. I’ve visited K-Town (roughly centered on 32nd St between Madison Ave and Broadway) countless times, primarily because I crave the cuisine but also because I worked near there a lifetime ago so I’m certainly familiar with the fare.

But on a recent afternoon, I was in Manhattan’s Chinatown getting my ducks in a row in anticipation of the opening of ethnojunket season. It was lunchtime (always a calorific activity there) and I spotted TADA – “Korean Fried Chicken and More” on Bayard Street so I felt compelled to check it out.

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They offer bulgogi, bibimbap, fried spare ribs, japchae, tteokboki and the like but it was the fried chicken that was clucking loudest to me so I chose the Original Ginger Crispy Boneless Chicken that you see here; it came with parmesan fries, a salad, and a unique presentation.


Dark meat inner workings close-up.


White meat inner workings close-up.

Just curious: have any of you tried TADA? Any fanfares?
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

PNK Surinamese Cuisine

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Occupying a tiny corner of northeast South America, Suriname was settled by the British but taken over by the Dutch (it’s the official language) in the 17th century. Demographically diverse, its cuisine embraces influences from indigenous peoples, East Indians, West Africans, Javanese, Chinese, Brazilians, Portuguese, and Jews, not to mention the Dutch; and since for all intents and purposes it is culturally Caribbean, you can expect a serious geographical culinary contribution as well.

I know of only one Surinamese restaurant in NYC and that’s PNK Surinamese Cuisine located at 128-12 Liberty Ave in South Richmond Hill. Here’s what we ordered on a weekday visit; more options are available on weekends.

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For starters, six appetizers – clockwise from upper left:
• Bitterbal: Crispy outside with a yielding center.
• Kippen Worst: Chicken sausage. Kip is Dutch for chicken, the most common meat found here.
• Bakabana: Baked ripe plantain – short for Baka Babana. Sate (grilled kabob) sharing the spotlight.
• Loempia: Fried chicken and vegetable roll.
• Kroket: Chicken & potato croquette.


Saoto (soup) with add ins: bean sprouts, shredded chicken, crispy fried vermicelli, boiled egg.


Teloh (fried cassava) and Bakkeljaw (salt cod – think bacalao) – called Teloh met Bakk.


Packed up and ready to travel, from left to right: Bakkeljaw, Indonesian fried rice, Sweet Soy Chicken.


Bakkeljaw, Bami (Indonesian wheat noodles, typically yellow in color), Sweet Soy Chicken.

The only other location I’m aware of in which you can find the real deal is at the Suriname Day festival (Sranan Dey) held annually in Roy Wilkins park in St. Albans, Queens. I’ve seen it celebrated on the first Sunday in July or August, so you may need to do a little sleuthing to determine when this year’s festivities will take place – unless one of you knows for certain: please comment! But if this year is like those in the past, it’s worth the trip!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤