Coco

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When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. But because of Instagram’s character count limitations, it’s often necessary to break up a review into several parts. This one originally appeared across multiple posts published in December 2019.

Coco at 82-69 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens features reliable, people-pleasing, accessible Malaysian cuisine. I’ve enjoyed their fare on so many occasions that I thought it fitting to do another rogues’ gallery of some winners, so here are a few of my favorite dishes from their seemingly infinite menu compiled from a number of group dinners. They’re presented in no special order: everything was delicious and everyone was delighted.

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Stir Fried Pearl Noodle

Decades ago, one of my favorite dim sum parlors in Manhattan’s Chinatown was the beloved Hee Seung Fung, better known to its patrons as HSF. (Anybody here remember it?) It was there that I first encountered a dish called Silver Noodle. Served under an inverted small plastic bowl to keep it warm, it consisted of thick, chewy semi-translucent rice noodles with every imaginable protein and a variety of vegetables in a brown sauce. But the key ingredient, the one flavor that stood out above the rest for me, was its wok hei (aka wok qi), the breath of the wok, created by stir-frying over incendiary heat.

When HSF closed, I didn’t know where to track down this seductive dish; I’ve since learned that it can be found in restaurants featuring Malaysian, Singaporean, Hong Kong, and other cuisines that hail from regions near Guangdong. Silver noodles go by many handles, silver needle noodles and rat tail noodles (because of the tapered shape at one end) to name but two. Shown here is the rendition cooked up by Coco. They do my memories justice.

We usually score an order of this on my Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst ethnojunket by the way. (Hint: Click here! 😉)

Roti Canai

I’m told that if you don’t order the Roti Canai for an appetizer in a Malaysian restaurant it’s breaking some sort of rule (just kidding), so here is Coco’s version; it’s essentially a flaky, crispy, paratha-like flatbread with a spicy, sweet, chicken curry sauce on the side for dipping.

Roti Telur

Roti telur conceals an egg (telur means egg) and onions among the folds of the roti.

Coffee Sauce Pork

Sometimes restaurant dishes are fancifully named. Not this one. If you don’t like coffee, Coffee Sauce Pork isn’t for you. But if you do, this crispy curious combination is worth a shot. Be prepared for someone at the table to intone “Cawfee Sawce Pawk” and go all SNL on you.

Belacan Lady Fingers

Lady fingers, a more colorful name for okra, in the pervasive Malaysian fermented shrimp paste.

Curry Young Tofu Soup

Curry Young Tofu Soup can be found amid the Appetizers section of the menu, not the Soups. I suspect there are more names for this delightful soup than there are recipes for the dish itself, but Yong Tau Foo is not uncommon. With origins in Hakka Chinese cuisine, this Malaysian version was varied and satisfying.

Stingray wrapped in Banana Leaf

One of the house specialties at Coco. Only moderately spicy, served with a piquant sauce on the side, the texture and flavor of stingray (also known as skate wing) falls somewhere along the fish <-> shellfish continuum. No bones about it, but an ample cartilaginous skeleton that provides easy access to the flesh; look for the sweet meat on both sides of the structure. Good eats.

Grilled Pork Chops

Perfectly cooked, expertly seasoned, a plateful of tastiness.

Indian Mee Goreng

You might see Mie Goreng but it simply means fried noodles. Spice level adjustable to the taste of the diners, here served with vegetables due to peer pressure. 😉

Malaysian Marmite Chicken

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who’ve never tasted Marmite and those who loathe it. Just kidding. A gift from the Brits, used as an ingredient in cooking or simply spread on a hapless slice of bread, this dark brown, umami-rich, sticky yeast extract could easily serve as a dictionary definition’s example of “acquired taste”. All of which was enough for me to insist on getting an order of Malaysian Marmite Chicken for the group. The verdict? Crispy, sweet, and fantastic! The moral? Context is everything.

Four Varieties with Belacan

Okra, green beans, eggplant and peanuts in belacan, the ubiquitous Malaysian fermented shrimp paste. Tasty.

Chow Kueh Teow

Chow Kueh Teow (you might see Chow Kway Teow), one of Malaysia’s (many) national dishes. The literal translation is stir-fried rice cake, but this seafood version included shrimp, squid, noodles, bean sprouts and lots more. A classic.

Pork Belly with Basil Sauce

Lots of veggies to balance the fatty richness of the pork in a savory sauce. It’s one of the five basic food groups, I’m told. 😉

Malaysian Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng simply means fried rice; we chose shrimp from among many options.

Crispy Fried Duck

Yet another crowd-pleaser. It’s crispy. It’s fried. It’s duck. What more could you possibly need? (Other than an additional order, perhaps.)

Chicken and Beef Satay

From the Appetizers section of the menu. With roots in Indonesia, it’s possibly the first dish that comes to mind at the mention of Southeast Asian street food. (The Indonesian spelling is Sate.) Nicely seasoned and happily not overdone, these were comped at one of our banquets.

Steamed Fish Fillet in Malaysian Hot Bean Sauce

Thai Tom Yum Fried Rice

Tom Yum is a type of hot and sour Thai soup seasoned with lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed red chili peppers. Here, those ingredients are used to create a unique version of fried rice.

Salted Egg with Chicken

If you’ve never experienced this dish and you spot it somewhere, I urge you to try it; be on the lookout for it in regional Chinese restaurants around the city as well. Mashed cooked salted duck egg yolks are fried to a frazzle and are then stir fried with just about anything from poultry or seafood to vegetables (an egregious oversimplification) which serves to coat the chief ingredient. The word “addictive” is overused in food writing, but it does convey its potential. Coco’s version has a teeny kick, a welcome attribute.

Grilled Beef Short Ribs

Tender, meaty, well-seasoned, and met with appreciative sighs of yumlike murmurs from the assemblage.

Rainbow Ice

Shave ice is a popular dessert across many cultures, particularly those of warmer climes. Here’s Coco’s contribution.
 
 
Coco is located at 82-69 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens.
 
 

Upi Jaya

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Instagram Post 12/2/2019

Outside of the (approximately) monthly Indonesian Food Festivals I’ve written about, Elmhurst, Queens also plays host to a number of Indonesian restaurants. Upi Jaya at 76-04 Woodside Ave has been doing an admirable job of dishing up the cuisine for locals as well as visitors (they’re a stop along my Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst Ethnojunket) for 15 years. Here are four items from the Appetizers section of the menu, each a tasty starter or a snack in its own right and all with universal appeal.

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Risoles (you might see rissoles) – a snack assembled from a crepe rolled around seasoned chicken and diced vegetables (not unlike a Chinese egg roll in structure), covered with breadcrumbs and deep fried.


Lemper Ayam. Lemper is a snack made from coconut sticky rice compressed with any number of fillings, in this case ayam (chicken) that’s been lightly seasoned, rolled into a banana leaf and steamed.


Batagor: a portmanteau of bakso (a meat or fish paste), tahu (tofu), and goreng (fried), a specialty of West Java. Fried fish cake with peanut sauce; the crispy topping provides the contrast to the soft, chewy fishcake.


Arguably the best known Indonesian dish outside of Indonesia and a popular street food there, satay (or sate) is seasoned meat, skewered and grilled, often served with peanut sauce. An international favorite.

Main dishes in a future post.
 
 

Yin Ji Chang Fen

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Instagram Post 11/13/2019

It is not often that I have the opportunity to write about a restaurant so special that I am compelled to recommend it enthusiastically; Yin Ji Chang Fen, a well-known rice noodle roll chain from Guangzhou, China, made the cut. Recently opened at 91 Bayard St in Manhattan’s Chinatown, you can expect long lines so grab a take-out menu and hone your decisions while you’re waiting.

Cheung fan (Chinese rice rolls), amid alternate spellings, are enjoying a moment in the spotlight here in New York City. You’ve probably savored them at specialty venues, food trucks, and dim sum parlors; in essence they’re a thin roll of steamed rice noodle filled with seafood, meat, or vegetables or wrapped around youtiao (Chinese cruller). Now if you’ve been eating them forever, you’ll immediately recognize that these are a little different from what you’re accustomed to in at least three aspects: the noodle is thinner, they arrive doused with a bespoke soy sauce based mixture, and the proportion of filling to noodle is off the charts.

In addition to 16 kinds of chang fen, Yin Ji Chang Fen offers 14 varieties of congee (aka Chinese rice porridge), both with ample customizations available, and a few Asian snacks.

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Marinated Pork and Shrimp with Chives rice noodle roll; absolutely delicious. (Incidentally, portions are about twice as large as is customary around these parts.)


Inner workings: huge chunks of pork and whole shrimp.


Sliced Fish with Chives rice noodle roll. I thought I’d try an add-on so I asked for extra egg in this one. I was expecting to find the egg within, but what arrived was the rice roll as specified further enveloped in a thin omelet, a pleasant surprise.


Lai Wan Style Assorted Congee, topped with shredded egg, ginger, greens, peanuts and cilantro.


Inner workings revealed fish fillet, squid, pork skin, and more. Note that their congee may be a little thinner than what you’re used to. Although not canonical, you could unabashedly add some Spicy Chili Crisp, provided tableside, if you’re so inclined.


From the Asian Snacks side of the menu, Deep Fried Fish Skin; best I’ve ever had, ruined me for others.

Go here now. That is all.
 
 

La Flor de Izucar

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Instagram Post 11/26/2019

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I did a post a couple of weeks ago in time for the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos, and picked up a pan de muerto at La Flor de Izucar, 4021 5th Avenue, in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. I didn’t mention the other goodies I was incapable of resisting at the time though; since they were delicious, I am compelled to share.

On the left is their corn bread. It’s somewhere along the corn bread <-> corn pudding continuum: sweet, moist, dense and heavy. There’s nothing subtle about it – and that suits me just fine. I’m sure light, fluffy cornbread has its place, but this manifestation of corn masquerading as a baked good totally won me over.

On the right is their bread pudding – even sweeter and denser than the perfect cornbread, laden with raisins, the two inspire a return visit to see what other goodies await.
 
 

The Chinese Taffy Man

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Instagram Post 11/24/2019

Ah, the serendipity of meandering through any Chinatown, spotting a modest peddler hovering over his wares, and purchasing a taste knowing you may never see him again because timing, after all, is everything. The dragon’s beard candy vendor in Manhattan’s Chinatown is like that. In this case it was the Chinese Taffy Man on Main Street (well, that’s where I saw him) in Flushing.

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This piece was about seven inches long before I stretched it to the point of rupture so you could both take note of the slightly salty peanuts encased within and perhaps get an inkling as to the chewy texture of their sweet sheath.


It reminded me a little of White Rabbit, one of the first Chinese candies I ever tasted decades ago.

[PSA: Taffy is made from sugar, toffee adds dairy like butter or milk, nougat blends in egg whites and/or nuts or other good stuff. Oversimplification, but that’s it. In a nutshell.]
 
 

Kringle vs Kringle

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Instagram Post 11/23/2019

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After my 11/16 post about Holtermann’s kringle on Staten Island, a number of folks spoke up about their experience with the same Danish pastry from Trader Joe’s. So of course I had no choice but to purchase TJ’s version for one of my typically OCD A/B tests.

Trader Joe’s product comes to us from the O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, Wisconsin, a family business that’s been making kringler and sharing hygge since 1949, so their Danish culinary bona fides are well established; their website, ohdanishbakery.com, touts some 23 tempting flavors but I suspect TJ’s offers only almond.

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TJ’s is filled with a rich, dense almond paste and adorned with a lemony glaze. It was slightly smaller and featured a filling, glaze and dough that were a bit sweeter, perhaps, than…


Holtermann’s, shown here from the previous post, that boasted a nut filled nut paste filling, a sweet sugar glaze and a slightly more sophisticated, handmade tasting dough that seemed to have more of a from-scratch, small-batch taste.


TJ’s in its entirety, complete with a quarter for size comparison, as I did for…


Holtermann’s – photo from my last post for the sake of completeness. I told you I was OCD.

The verdict. They were different, and both were certainly good in their own fashion as described above. Then again, Holtermann’s cost $22 and involved a subway ride, a ferry crossing, and no small amount of time getting there and back again, but at $7.99 for a similar confection, I can walk to TJ’s in about half an hour and probably burn off some of those kringle kalories while I’m at it! 😉
 
 

Pandan Durian Crepes

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Instagram Post 11/21/2019

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Durian, as you may know, is that much maligned fruit whose reputation is “Smells like hell, tastes like heaven!” But if you’ve never actually tried it, you should, and you might discover that you actually like it; a number of folks I’ve introduced it to on ethnojunkets have experienced that epiphany. Sweet and creamy, you could think of it as the fruit that makes its own custard.

These plush pillows are pandan crepes, filled with durian and cream and might well be another gateway drug to durian devotion: no unpleasant aroma, just a delicious tropical fruit flavor. (IMHO, pandan and durian have an affinity for each other.) I found these at last Sunday’s Elmhurst bazaar presented by the Indonesian Gastronomy Association.

IGA-USA is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to introduce Indonesian culture to people in the US, particularly in New York City. They stage this event which is as much about the culture as it is about the cuisine approximately monthly, so follow them on Facebook or on Instagram @iga_newyork to stay apprised of their schedule. Maybe you’ll get to try these emerald treats too.

(And perhaps this post will satisfy those of you who complain that I don’t post enough greens! 😉)
 
 

Milkcow

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Instagram Post 11/20/2019

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If you’re a habitué of soft serve emporiums, you’ve probably heard about Milkcow, the burgeoning Asian ice cream chain that launched in South Korea a few years ago. Its target is the youth market – which you’ll immediately appreciate from watching the “making-of-the-ad” video on their website, milkcowcafe.ca, or checking out their menu firsthand at 69a Bayard St in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

They have two flavors, ube and, um, the white one. No, not vanilla. It’s milk flavor. Organic milk to be precise. But Milkcow is all about their over-the-top toppings in 16 combinations: macarons, Oreo crumbles, jelly beans, caramel popcorn, chocolate rocks, assorted syrups including brown sugar boba, or the Instaworthy signature cloud of cotton candy or hunk of honey cube.

In my opinion, you should opt for one of two strategies for your visit to Milkcow: taste appeal or eye appeal. My advice for the former goes like this: Savor a sample of milk flavor. Notice that it’s very dairy with nary a hint of ’nilla and rather subtle. Then repeat with ube. My sample today had bits of, well, something, in it – actual ube perhaps? – that didn’t bother me, just surprised me. Both flavors were quite good. Then enjoy the unadorned version (they call it the Milky Way) of your choice.

The surrender-to-excess approach is as follows: Make sure your camera lens is clean. Check out the menu. Choose whichever option you think will fetch you the most Instagram likes. Take the perfect picture from the perfect angle with the perfect background. (Unlike this one.)

Notice I didn’t say anything about consuming it. Here’s the rub: the delicate nature of the milk flavor is immediately overwhelmed by the addition of anything, including even the drizzle of chocolate sauce you see in this photo – the mistake I made and am here to caution you about.

Therefore, my counsel: Choose your path, cleave to it, and you will succeed in your mission. Don’t be cowed by compromise.
 
 

Rendang Telur

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Instagram Post 11/19/2019

One of Indonesia’s national dishes is rendang, and if you’ve ever sampled the cuisine, you’ve probably enjoyed it with beef as the main ingredient, although there are numerous variations including jackfruit, chicken, and egg. In my experience, egg rendang looks a little like a hard-boiled egg curry so I was surprised to see a package labeled Rendang Telur (telur means egg) at Sunday’s Elmhurst bazaar sponsored by the Indonesian Gastronomy Association looking exactly like a bag of well-seasoned chips.

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Crispy, crunchy, spicy, and tasting of eggs and coconut milk, they’re nearly impossible to stop eating. Trust me. I tracked down a recipe which, greatly simplified, involves making a flour and egg crepe, cutting it into chips, frying/baking the pieces to dry them out, then combining coconut milk, herbs, and spices, cooking that mixture down and adding it to the chips followed by more long cooking to achieve maximum crispitude.


Close-up shot.


The aforementioned package.

IGA-USA is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to introduce Indonesian culture to people in the US, particularly in New York City. They stage this event which is as much about the culture as it is about the cuisine approximately monthly, so follow them on Facebook or on Instagram @iga_newyork to stay apprised of their schedule.
 
 

EazyLife Restaurant & Lounge

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Instagram Post 11/18/2019

If you like West African cuisine but can’t decide between Nigerian and Ghanaian food, you might consider EazyLife Restaurant & Lounge, 1300 East 222nd St. in Eastchester, Bronx, where two chefs are in residence, one from each nation. (Incidentally, the dual arrangement insinuates a round of dueling jollofs since the two rice recipes are markedly distinctive.)

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Our appetizer was Nigerian Isi Ewu, goat head sautéed in “native sauce” as the menu described it. Of course, the texture and flavor of goat head are unlike goat meat from further down the carcass; more like goat skin, these nubs are chewy and benefit from the spicy sauce and spears of red onion that accompany them.


Keeping with the Nigerian theme, this entrée is Bitter Leaf Black Soup. Bitter, yes, but in a good way, with a satisfying spicy kick. Croaker was the fish of choice in the starring role.


Afang Soup was less a soup or sauce and more along the dry stew <-> chopped leafy vegetable continuum. Made from afang (aka okazi) leaves, sometimes with the addition of spinach, cooked down with palm oil and dried fish, it had a medium spice level. More croaker alongside. Our starchy fufus (aka swallows) that day, not pictured, were amala and the more neutral pounded yam.