Category Archives: Restaurants & Food Courts

He Ji Noodle

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Instagram Post 5/22/2018

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So many dishes looked tempting at He Ji Noodle House, stall #25 in the New York Food Court at 133-35 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, but when the prominently placed first item [Lamb Stewed Noodles] in the first section of the menu [Signature Stewed Noodles] looks so good, you just know ya gotta. (Not to mention the huge glowing sign grabbing your attention just daring you to taste anything else!)
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With a soup base that was richer than I was anticipating, this bowl of delicious noodles (two kinds) with plenty of lamb, wood ears, greens and other tasty bits (bean curd skin, dried lily buds) was the ideal invitation to come back and try more!
 
 

Dominique Ansel Kitchen – Kouign Amann

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Instagram Post 5/21/2018

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Dominique Ansel’s novel spin on his recipe for kouign-amann (“queen-ah-mahn”, easier to say than it is to spell), is the Brown Sugar even-easier-to-say DKA (the initials of “Dominque’s Kouign-Amann”). Native to the French 🇫🇷 region of Brittany, in the Breton language kouign = cake and amann = butter and it is as impossibly rich as it is challenging to make well. It’s a cousin to the croissant 🥐 – puffy, layered, buttery, and most important, sporting a sweet, crackly exterior of caramelized sugar. It’s the contrast between that crisp crust and the pillowy, yielding interior that makes it fit for a queen, if you will.

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As if to gild an already perfect lily, this adaptation delivers a chewy, gooey sweetness bomb at its heart.

Photo 3:
Kouign-amann can appear in two forms, that of a large cake to be sliced into individual servings, and this version, with a ring formed base – sometimes a muffin tin or cupcake pan is used – that barely supports the fluffy cloud above. This rendition is gets its color and deep flavor from the untraditional addition of brown sugar to the dough. Not to be consumed hastily, I suggest that you do what I did: relax with a cup of your favorite coffee, and focus on each gossamer bite.

Dominique Ansel Kitchen is located at 137 Seventh Avenue South, New York, NY 10014
 
 

Miss Li Henan Cuisine

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Instagram Post 5/20/2018

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I’ve always been a fan of Henan Chinese cuisine. No, not Hunan, I love that too, but Henan food is harder to come by in our fair city and since the disappearance of Elmhurst’s Uncle Zhou, the pickings have grown even slimmer.
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Miss Li Henan Cuisine at 133-49 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, Queens, has a number of dishes I need to try, but this visit would be a quick one, a stop on one of our eat-our-way-through-Flushing jaunts, so we only had time (and belly real estate) for one dish – case in point: Handmade Cold Noodles (gan mianpi). 🍜 Dotted with bean sprouts, slivers of cucumber and a few other touches, the spicy, saucy, chewy wheat flour noodles hit the spot on a dreary, rainy day.
 
 

Shanghai King

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Instagram Post 5/17/2018

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Elmhurst, Queens has a mini mini food court (like three stalls or so) at 86-22 Broadway. We went to Shanghai King (first stall as you enter) and chose the Dry Pot with Sliced Fish from among a field of six and Shanghai Pork Soup Dumplings. The dry pot was tasty but could have used a lot more spice 辣 (remember to stir up the yummy juices from the bottom of the wok – that helps a bit) and since they’re pretty new, we didn’t see a DIY condiment assortment.
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The dumplings weren’t bad – very thick skins, even for soup dumplings, but a solid mouthful, especially considering there were no spoons to be found! More to try….
 
 

Express Tea Shop

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Instagram Post 5/15/2018

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Jianbing (煎餅), literally fried pancake, is one of the more popular street foods in China and I’m pleased to report that it’s caught on in New York City, even outside of our five or so Chinatowns. Half the fun is watching your jianbing being made: a wooden crepe spreader is used to swirl the thin batter around a large, circular griddle; after a few seconds of cooking, an egg is added along with scallions, cilantro and various sweet and savory sauces plus other fillings, some vegetarian, some not. One important addition is the crisp cracker (baocui) placed atop the other ingredients just before flipping and folding into layers – think crisp fried wonton skins and you’ll get the idea. (Some versions use soft Chinese crullers (youtiao) but I greatly prefer the crispy texture contrast.)
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As with dumplings, the quality varies widely from purveyor to purveyor. Shown here in its authentic wax paper bag is Express Tea Shop’s version (41-28 Main St, Flushing, booth #26 in Golden Mall with a direct entrance on 41st Road) which in my opinion is one of the very best.
 
 

Ops

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Instagram Post 5/14/2018

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Ops, 346 Himrod St, Brooklyn, opened about two years ago and brought their own spin on Neapolitan style pizza to Bushwick. Rather than traditionally leavened dough, they go for natural leavening based on a sourdough starter – think “wild yeast”. Lighter and fluffier than standard issue pizza dough yet still providing a serious chew, it brings a lovely, unique flavor to the fresh toppings it supports.
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1) Here’s the “Cicero”, described on the menu as “many onions” (they weren’t kidding) along with preserved tomatoes, sharp provolone, mozzarella and oregano – absolutely delicious – and
2) “Pops” with tomatoes, mozzarella, and pecorino. Instead of the guanciale that’s a regular part of that one (vegetarian night!), we swapped it out and topped the Pops with greener crops at Ops.

Menu variations seem to change frequently, but you can always go for the add-ons and customize your toppings for their ethereal dough as we did; Ops’ pizzas are sure to get a rise out of you!
 
 

Sweets Bakery

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Instagram Post 4/9/2018

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It Came From Chinatown!

No, that’s not the title of some 1950s monster chiller horror B-movie. Given its provenance and appearance one might assume that this is a Chinese egg custard tart. Appearances notwithstanding, this Dan Tat doppelganger is actually a Cheese Tart, designated as such by Sweets Bakery at 125 Walker St, Manhattan. Denser and a bit grainier than custard and not tasting particularly cheesy, it was nonetheless a satisfying sweet snack, conquered on the run by (photo 2) the Attack of a Colossal Chomp!

#iSaidChompNotChump
 
 

Mama Fina’s House of Filipino Sisig

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Instagram Post 4/5/2018

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To paraphrase Clara Peller, “Where’s the squid?” I mean, I liked the dish – after all, anything that’s that crispy and crunchy gets extra stars in my book – but it was difficult to tease out much squiddy flavor lurking within. We considered sending our Pusit Sisig back for one of the five other varieties they offer, sort of a squid pro quo if you will, but we were assured that our order was right and that’s how they did it there. My theory is that they use deep fried squid tentacles (yum) and chop them so fine as to be beyond recognition. So it was tasty, just not what we were anticipating. A side of garlic rice could have used more garlic, but that’s true of almost anything. We also got an order of Laing, taro leaves cooked in coconut milk with shrimp, which I liked but my dining buddy thought was too sweet.

So went our brief adventure at Mama Fina’s House of Filipino Sisig, 167 Avenue A, Manhattan. Being a major booster and fan of 🇵🇭 Filipino food, I wanted to love it; perhaps I was misled by my expectations, perhaps it’s a slightly different style of Filipino cooking than I’m accustomed to. And if I were walking past, yes, I’d give it another chance.

#clarapeller #goAheadLookHerUp #iCanWait #iKnowImDatingMyself
 
 

Rosario’s Pizza

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Instagram Post 4/4/2018

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Some years ago, in an animated conversation with Arthur Schwartz, illustrious author of “New York City Food” and former WOR radio talk show host, I asked whose pizza he liked best in Manhattan. I fully expected him to name any one of a number of highly hyped pizzerias with which I was already overly familiar. Without missing a beat, he replied, “Rosario’s on the Lower East Side.” I fell silent. I had never heard of it. The next day, I hightailed it to 173 Orchard St to taste for myself. The pizza (a slice of sausage and a slice of white, please) was a standout and absolutely delicious. It was no-gimmick Ur-pizza at its finest, a little like the pizza I grew up with: not puffy Neapolitan, not Chicago deep dish or Detroit style or St. Louis style, just the embodiment of archetypal, old school New York Style Pizza – and the real deal as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it’s just me, but is this New York City’s best kept secret, arguably the best pizza in Manhattan? See for yourself – and for best results, make sure your 🍕 is 🔥.
 
 

Alley 41

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My Instagram posts are usually brief takes on restaurants accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed, updated almost daily, here in the “Instagram” category – no signup required.) But folks sometimes ask for fuller reviews and more photos, so in response, here’s a more comprehensive report on one of my favorites.

It is my distinct pleasure to turn you on to Alley 41 in Flushing, one of the new breed of contemporary Sichuan restaurants, and not to be missed. Alley 41 describes itself as “authentic Szechuan cuisine with a touch of creativity”. I describe it as amazing, awesome, and astounding. And that’s just the As. Award-winning Master Chef Jiang has composed a menu of dishes that could make even the most stoic diner gush with delight; everything we ordered had a unique, personal spin and was wonderful. There are only so many synonyms for delicious, and toothsome fell out of favor half a century ago, so I’ll abandon verbal descriptions and let you ogle the photos. With a seemingly infinite menu, this is one restaurant I’ll never tire of.

Here are a few of the extraordinary dishes we tried. (Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)


Our first visit to Alley 41 occurred when Chinese Lunar New Year was just around the corner, and I recalled that enjoying long noodles portends a long life. These Sweet and Spicy Noodles are the longest and thickest I’ve ever encountered, so I gather I’m headed for a long (and chubby) lifetime! If memory serves, each was about a yard long (no hyperbole in this hyperbowl) with an awesome chew, napped with a sauce made of sheer happiness. I say that because their name, tiánshui miàn (甜水麵) taken literally character by character, means sweet water noodle, but the first two characters together can mean “happiness” and I’m sticking with that translation. It’s a Sichuan restaurant, but I’m told that these noodles hail from Dongbei.


Three of the appetizer/snack items we tried: Chinese Beef Burritos, Thousand Layer Pancake, and Chinese Leek Turnovers.

Seafood and Pumpkin Congee. Deceptively light, the unique blend of ingredients – savory seafood, crispy youtiao (Chinese cruller) for texture, scallion for a little punch, and that surprising pumpkin jook made for a delightful combination.

Pork Belly in Garlic Sauce was beautifully presented. Rolled up with cucumber, scallion and cold noodles, not to mention the perfect accompanying sauce, they were irresistible.

They may look simple, but the Smoky Wok Tossed Spicy Asian Green Chilies brought a touch of heat and a ton of flavor to what only seemed like a modest dish.

Spare Ribs with Salted Duck Egg. (Along with a few others, this one doesn’t appear on the current menu. If you’ve got some kind of portable internet access device and you’re eager to try these dishes, bring it along and pull up my photos; a picture is worth a thousand words!)

Sautéed Cauliflower with Soy Sauce. With this cauldron of cauliflower, folks at the table who cry “more veggies” were more than satisfied. The structure of Chinese cauliflower is less compact than the dense Northern European version you might be accustomed to and that makes for a more tender texture after cooking and allows it to soak up more sauce.

Lamb with Hot Pepper Sauce. Delicious and delicate, I wouldn’t have minded a little more heat, but I’m not complaining.

Sautéed Diced Chicken with Basil and Yib Veggie Buns (or so the menu read). I believe the name refers to Yibin, the city in Sichuan province. To me, the little buns looked like mini wotou, hollow, conical, steamed cornbread (and yes, you can buy those in food courts in Flushing if you know where to look).

Braised Tender Beef with Veggies. You’ll want some rice with this one to counterbalance the savory sauce. Good eats!

Frog with Dry Pepper. Green pepper, lotus root, leeks, bean curd skin and more combine with bits of frog in this tasty stir fry.

I admit it; I’m a sucker for dishes like this one. Steamed Fatty Meat (pork belly) with Sticky Rice – to me it tastes like the most unimaginably rich comfort food!

Flounder in Garlic Sauce. Crispy and light with just enough spice to complement but not overpower the delicately fried fish.

Stir-Fried Smoky Pork with Green Leek. With the one-two punch of smoky pork belly and zesty leeks, this dish makes its presence felt in no uncertain terms.

Spicy Lamb with Cumin Flavor. Sizzling, spicy, succulent, scrumptious! Seems to be a universal favorite.

Braised Pork with Chinese Chestnuts. Pork belly and chestnuts in a savory sauce turned out to be a wonderful combination.

Sautéed Prawns with Spicy Chili Minced Pork. Delicious head-on (is there any other way?) prawns with bits of pork in a gently spicy sauce with scallions and red pepper. Straightforward and elegant at the same time.

Sizzling Minced Beef with Black Pepper. Got this one because I wanted to see what the geniuses at Alley 41 would do with black pepper – not that I’m tired of red chilies or Sichuan peppercorns or any other form of kicked up goodness, of course – and I wasn’t disappointed. The flavor was surprisingly complex, not at all one-note which can happen with black pepper, the beef perfectly tender, and the onions were just the right accompaniment. The dish came to our table steaming and sizzling with bonito flakes dancing atop as if in celebration of our get-together. Naturally, the platter was extremely hot – not a bull you’d want to grab by the horns!

My highest praise for Alley 41, 136-45 41st Ave, Flushing. I guess I’m not going to be satisfied until I’ve tried everything on their 46 page menu. If you haven’t been there yet, I strongly recommend it. And if you have, isn’t it time to go back? 😉