Beyond the Flushing Food Courts

Published on Monday, December 13, 2010, by Alex Van Buren / Edit Post

A Chowhound reports an interesting situation: Her pals are averse to the food courts, malls, and stalls of Flushing, but not to the incredible variety of Asian cuisine in that neighborhood. They’re headed to dinner, looking to hang out in a soothing atmosphere over a few beers, and cost is not an issue. She’s “not married to Sichuan,” but is averse to Taiwanese, and she’s already been to Spicy & Tasty. Her top contenders are Imperial Palace and M&T. What’s the fanciest restaurant in Flushing?

Imperial Palace [Flushing]
136-13 37th Avenue, Queens
718-939-3501

M&T [Flushing]
44-09 Kissena Boulevard, Queens
718-539-4100

Discuss: Nicer place in Flushing

ALLNew York City Digest
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COMMENT

  • Try MuLan in Queens Crossing - fancier than M&T but can't guarantee that the food is as good. Imperial Palace is not fancy but that food will rock you

  • Probably nowhere near "fanciest," but at least _fancier_ than most, is the awkwardly named Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan on Main Street south of Franklin.

    The modern, non-kitschy decor and lighting are definitely a pleasant step up from the average in Flushing, and based on my recent first visit, the menu is definitely worth exploring, with sections devoted to Famous Hunan Dishes, Hunan...+READ

    Probably nowhere near "fanciest," but at least _fancier_ than most, is the awkwardly named Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan on Main Street south of Franklin.

    The modern, non-kitschy decor and lighting are definitely a pleasant step up from the average in Flushing, and based on my recent first visit, the menu is definitely worth exploring, with sections devoted to Famous Hunan Dishes, Hunan Country Style Dishes, Hunan Old Style, Dishes, and Hunan Steamed Dishes, among others. The service is friendly and attentive and they seem willing to serve authentically spicy food even to gwailo. Prices are somewhat higher than at some of its neighbors, but on the other hand, they're open until 2 AM seven days a week.

    We had a refreshing cucumber in scallion sauce cold appetizer, a non-spicy Hunan dish of string beans with eggplant (nice wok flavor and I liked the way the eggplant was cut into sticks to echo the shape of the beans), and white pepper smoked beef, which had a sharp cracked-pepper flavor and aroma with pieces of jerky-like, dry-textured smoked beef with no sauce. It was highly flavorful and my favorite. Since my companion wasn't big on the hot stuff, we also ordered one dish from the generic "Chinese Dishes" section of the menu. The sesame chicken we got was pretty, not too gloppy or overly sweet, and needed only a few more more broccoli florets for balance.

    There are a _lot_ of dishes on the menu with those little red pepper icons. Looking forward to future visits, I particularly want to try the BBQ Fish Hunan Style, which sounded great in a Yelp review I read. Another Yelp reviewer says the restaurant's Chinese name translates to Taste of Old Hunan, a claim I suspect it lives up to.-COLLAPSE