JH Jill's Profile
Fresh fish in Jackson Heights?
I second Seatide Fish & Lobster on Roosevelt & Warren (I think this is the place you mean, a block from Junction). It's owned by a couple of Sicilian Brothers. They have another location in Brooklyn. They get fish every day and supply a lot of the local restaurants in Jackson Heights and Corona. I think they're open from 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. except Sundays when they're only there the early part of the day. They usually have an interesting selection. I'm allergic to shellfish so I haven't discussed those with them. They should be able to tell you where the fish come from. They've lately started making some marinated and ceviche preparations, as well.
Sunday Breakfast near R or F line in Queens (w/toddler)
I'm having some trouble deciding on the right place for breakfast this Sunday morning (somewhere that's open by 10:30 or earlier) that would be good for 3 adventurous adult women and one very young lady. I am in Jackson Heights and one of us is in Rego Park while the third comes from Brooklyn. I'd love to have your thoughts on anything Asian, Latino, American, European or anything very good. I'm looking for someplace without too much of a wait or too tiny so we can visit a bit.
Sam Wo closing... help!!!! Where...
Wow. I live in NYC now, but I just happened to see this post. I remember going there with a jealous Persian boyfriend during Chinese New Year around 1977. I wasn't aware of Edsel's reputation (being on a visit from San Diego), but I could see that he was kissing all the women. I didn't want to have trouble with Reza later, so when Edsel came toward me as we were leaving I put my hands together and gave a little bow as I said my best 'gung hai fat choi' and I got away without the kiss - and any Persian outrage. I can't say that I remember the food there, just the narrow space, rickety stairs, and Edsel. (Though I must say that the space in the original Hunnan was weirder with all the little rooms you could barely stand up in than the narrow three stories of Sam Wo's.)
Almond croissant at Cannelle is.............
In my experience, anything with croissant-like pastry in it is outstanding there. The problem is eating just one.
Valantine's Day Meson Asturias (Jackson Heights) report
A taco place has taken over the old Meson Asturias. I doubt that it will pop up anywhere else. I was acquainted with Pepe the owner, and he owned the whole building and lived on one of the upper floors. He may have simply retired. Meson Asturias' heyday was long past. The guy who used to organize the flamenco, dance and make the costumes died over 10 years ago and, in my opinion, it never recovered from losing the show.
Brunch in Jackson Heights?
Traditional brunch doesn't exist in public spaces in JH as far as I know. People in my neck of the woods go to have late breakfast in the diners (Jahn's pecan and chocolate chip pancakes are good, or Jackson House's waffles with fixings omelets). Also around here (in the 80s), many Colombian restaurants have hearty breakfasts including calentado (rice / beans mixture), hot chocolate, huevos pericos (eggs scrambled with tomato and onions), arepas with grated cheese. Mexican restaurants serve chilaquiles with various meats and sauces that makes a nice big late breakfast. Menudo (the tripe soup/stew) is also a traditional Mexican weekend breakfast item.
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Jahn's
81-04 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Jackson House
82-14 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Visiting from Chicago, looking for cheap eats in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan.
I live in Jackson Heights (near Woodside) and I'm not able to walk as much as I used to. I take the car to places in the outer boros all the time and rarely have much trouble finding parking. Occasionally it's a challenge in parts of Astoria, Brighton Beach, or downtown Flushing. Actually, I wouldn't take a car to downtown Brooklyn, the 74th Street Indo-Pak Bangla area of Jackson Heights, or central Flushing, near the 7 train, but I always manage to find parking not far away wherever I go. Since I often end up transporting dining companions from different boros, I occasionally even take the car to Harlem or the Lower East Side (generally only evenings or weekends). Midtown and the Village are general hell for parkers though.
Help for Sunday Supper, Cold Day, Sunset Park Vicinity
Thanks so much, Bob. This sounds like what I was originally looking for, but I didn't go back to posts that old. Since we have a car, we can check them out. I had mentioned Vietnamese cuisine to a couple of the people, and they liked the idea. I'll give feedback later.
Help for Sunday Supper, Cold Day, Sunset Park Vicinity
Quite true about Mexican. My So Cal comfort Mexican is not the same as I find here, nor the same as in Dallas or Chicago.
Does anyone have an opinion about Top Taste, the Guilinese place next to the Fei Long shopping center on 8th?
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Fei Long Market
6301 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220
Help for Sunday Supper, Cold Day, Sunset Park Vicinity
Thanks, I have some idea about most of them so I will check them out. My friend who lives in Texas lived in NYC for a long time, but she's outside of Dallas now. I think the Vietnamese are more along the Gulf coast. I grew up in Orange County, CA but it's amazing the number of people even there who are unfamiliar with Vietnamese food.
Help for Sunday Supper, Cold Day, Sunset Park Vicinity
We'll be a group of 4 people, one visiting from Texas, eating in Sunset Park around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. It's going to be cold and we want a place where we won't be rushed and we can hear each other talk. Some would enjoy beer. Also, due to cold and handicaps, we don't want to be walking around between courses.
My first inclination was to go for Vietnamese since Texas is full of Mexican food. However, I see that Ba Xuyen closes at 6:30 p.m. and I can't decide whether any others would be appropriate. From the posts I've read, I'm almost wondering if Tacos Matamoros would be best.
We are open to any cuisine, would like reasonable prices, and a little beyond Sunset Park is fine. I'm Queens-based and have not eaten in Sunset Park. Thanks for your help.
What is the ultimate nighttime Queens walking food adventure?
As usual, Eric, great stuff. But what closed supermarket are you talking about? The Bravo, or whatever it was, between 85th & 86th has been converted into a much-more-inviting Mi Tierra with a great selection of Latin American produce and even a fish counter.
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Mi Tierra Supermarket
85-15 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Beautiful Memory Dessert (Formerly Called Manji Dessert) – Hong Kong Style Desserts in Flushing’s New World Mall Food Court
Thanks for the tip about this place. I went with two friends after a meal at Sol Hyang Gee, and we were all delighted with every dish we ordered. Granted, we are not familiar with the Hong Kong original, and only one of us is even Chinese, so we didn't have as much to compare it to. We wanted to get the black rice with mango in vanilla ice, but it was the end of the day and they were out of black rice. We didn't have any complaints about the mango pomelo soup. We also had the fresh mango balls in glutinous rice, although I don't remember any coconut. It was chewy and delicate at the same time. The server explained to us that they make them fresh because they couldn't pre-make them with fresh mango or they would get mushy. Our third dish was something he called Snow White. It was like partially frozen ice milk with banana, longan, palm seeds, and pine seeds. I wasn't sure I'd like it when I saw it. Pine seeds make me think of frog eggs, and I hadn't enjoyed them in a Vietnamese drink, which was the only time I'd had them before. However, this dessert was quite wonderful. The server called palm seeds 'nature's gummy bears'. I would highly recommend it. We're going back soon.
Flushing walking food tour + restaurant recommendations please (researched)!!
Though the fried taro cakes may not be a dessert, we ordered the sweet potato cakes last time we were at M&T at the end of the meal and the waitress suggested we take half taro cakes. We ended up liking the taro cakes better, and they worked fine as a dessert for us.
Flushing walking food tour + restaurant recommendations please (researched)!!
On my first visit to M&T, we found ourselves with a lot of fried stuff and asked for a vegetable dish. They brought us baby bok choy with black mushrooms that had a garlic sauce, if I remember correctly. That was my favorite dish of the night, so refreshing.
Decent Bagels in Jackson Heights?
My go-to bagel place in Jackson Heights is Bagel House on Northern Blvd and 90th Street. It's a bit out of the way, but they are definitely the best this side of Ditmars Blvd. Not Russ & Daughters by a long shot, but they have different kinds of cream cheese and a good selection of bagels. I usually have one with walnut-raisin cream cheese (way too much cream cheese) if I'm home to move my car on Wednesdays, and I take a couple home for later since they freeze well.
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Bagel House
89-18 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11372
A pseudo hipster moving to Jackson Heights
It's hard to believe that I've been in JH for over 20 years now. When I moved from SoCal to NYC, I naturally felt that Manhattan was the only place to be, but after 2-3 years in gentrifying Yorkville, literally watching the tenements come down and be replaced by high rises as I sat at the counter of the old Ideal German restaurant on 86th and every interesting shop and café turning into a dry cleaners or yuppie bar, I gladly fled to Little Colombia. Since I'm a Spanish translator, it's perfect for me, but even if you're not a Spanish speaker, I would recommend La Nueva bakery on 37th Ave between 86th and 87th Aves. It has a great selection of breads, pastries, sandwiches, empanadas and other Uruguayan and Argentinian products as well as enough space on weekdays that you can hang out as long as you like.
My only caveats are that the tables are very small and round, and the coffee tends to be weak. Ask for it strong and they'll put less milk. Though it's owned by Uruguayans, it caters to Colombians as well. It's bizarre that all of the Colombian restaurants serve awful weak coffee, mostly milk and water. I've been told it's because Colombians drink it all day long. A shot of espresso at La Nueva is still espresso though.
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La Nueva Bakery
86-10 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Woodside tamal vendor
Hot rice and cinnamon should be atole. Champurrado is chocolate atole. Although atole in many areas is made with corn masa, in areas like Mexico City and Oaxaca it is often made with rice.
Central and South American food Jackon Heights
As a long-time resident of Jackson Heights, I must say that I really don't know of any Central American restaurants here. There may be some street vendors from El Salvador among those under the 82nd St #7 station. Most carts in JH are Mexican, and we do have some recommendable indoor Mexican on Roosevelt — Taquería Coatzingo and Tacos Mexico around 90th Street. What we do have are many South American restaurants. I like El Chivito d'Oro (37th at 84th) for Argentine/Uruguayan grilled meats and pasta. For my taste, the best thing about Colombian food is the not-so-sweet buñuelos and pan de bono/almohabanas that are sold in many Colombian bakeries in the area, including Cositas Ricas, which has a counter where you can eat. In warmer weather, there's nothing like a cholado, and the Palacio de los Cholados on Northern Blvd (83rd/84th) is probably our best. There are a lot of new Peruvian places I haven't tried, many on Northern Blvd. including Pio Pio (good but just chicken), but Inti Raimi on 37th Ave between 86th/87th is pretty good, and I've heard good things about Urubamba at 87th. La Nueva Bakery on that same block has a great Uruguayan/Argentine empanada selection along with lots of their sweet pastries and breads as well as Colombian ones. The Casa del Pollo Peruano (several on Roosevelt) is an informal place where you could stop for salchipapas - French fries mixed with hot dog bits, though I like their spareribs with the green hot sauce. There's also lots of Ecuadorian food. I haven't been blown away by any of it, so perhaps others can help; I know some people like the food trucks parked on Warren Street just off Roosevelt near Junction Blvd. At present, I'm not sure if you can find Bolivian or Paraguayan food here. There was a Venezuelan place that sold stuffed arepas on 37th Ave in the low 90s, but I'm not sure if it's still there. I don't recall seeing any Brazilian places here lately either. Hope this helps. My recent experiences have not been terribly positive (Avoid Meson Colombiano and Mi Tenampa), although I did have some pretty good Colombian fare at La Pequeña Colombia.
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El Chivito D'Oro
84-02 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Taqueria Coatzingo
76-05 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Pio Pio
84-02 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11372
La Pequena Colombia
83-27 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Inti Raymi
86-14 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Urubamba
86-20 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
La Nueva Bakery
86-10 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Cositas Ricas
79-19 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
La Casa del Pollo Peruano
87-07 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
El Palacio de Los Cholados
83-18 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11372
Tacos Mexico
88-12 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
El Meson Colombiano
82-11 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Tenampa
96-14 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11368
New in Flushing: M&T Restaurant - A Taste of Qingdao
Went to M&T last night with Chinese and Argentine friends. We tried quite a number of things, but the hits were the Fei Hong Fish, the Wood Ears with Mustard cold appetizer (the first bite was amazing), and the Fried Taro Pancakes. We ordered the much-recommended pumpkin pancakes and they brought us three of each. I think we all agreed that we liked the taro better (I'm not sure if it's on the menu).
The Squid with Scallions or garlic chives or whatever was just OK, in my opinion. I found the pork meatballs quite good, but there were definitely less popular than the fish and wood ear. We tried the Qingdao Pasta, which were those gelatinous think rice noodles (#35 on the menu) and, while we agreed that they must be healthy, they were our least favorite. All in all, still a great experience.
On my first visit, we had the fried ginseng and something else that was fried, and when I asked for vegetables, they brought out a refreshing plate of blanched baby bok choi and black mushrooms that was my favorite of the night. This time we ordered a better variety, but there's so much to try there.
With a Tsingtao apiece and tip, it came also to about $25/person.
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SN New Restaurant
44-09 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY 11355
What is the best Mexican restaurant in Jackson Heights?
Actually, we have some more restaurants that are a lot more upscale than Coatzingo, but they don't tend to be Mexican. They are far from perfect, but places like La Pequeña Colombia on Roosevelt & 84th just had a major renovation. La Porteña (atmosphere, but possible downhill alert) and El Chivito d'Oro (great food but a bit noisy) for meat and Argentine/Uruguayan pasta. There are also Indian places like Delhi Heights and Delhi Palace that are more upscale. Obviously, these are not Manhattan upscale, but on a Queens scale, I think they qualify. The thing is that the Mexican population in NY and in this area is still relatively new and near the bottom rung of the economic scale thus not able to support more expensive places.
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El Chivito D'Oro
84-02 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
La Pequena Colombia
83-27 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
La Portena
74-25 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Delhi Palace
37-33 74th St, Queens, NY 11372
Delhi Heights
37-66 74th St, Queens, NY 11372
Mama Soup College Point
Haven't tried it yet, but I meant to post about possible other food opportunities in the Little Pepper area. While circling around to park, I have observed a big Italian/pizza place with seating out back, a Dominican place that looks interesting and the aforementioned Mama Soup, which has sometimes been closed. I think we're missing info on the College Point dining scene in general.
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Little Pepper
18-24 College Point Blvd, Queens, NY 11356
Mama Soup
122-18 18th Ave, Queens, NY 11356
Mexican Pizza?
As for Fresco Tortilla's Mexican Pizza, Fresco Tortilla is a Chinese Tex-Mex place. I've ordered from the one that was in Jackson Heights, and I occasionally got the Mexican Pizza, but it was definitely a guilty pleasure that must have reminded me of fast food refried beans from my So Cal childhood. It is about the fattiest thing one could get. It's a cross between a tostada without veggies to speak of and a quesadilla (refried beans and melted cheese between two fried tortillas).
I have on occasion had pretty good Mexican pizza from Broadway Bakery on 82nd and Roosevelt. It has ground beef, tomatoes, and jalapeños. There are many branches, but I don't know if they have Mexican pizza.
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Broadway Bakery
82-01 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Best Bronx Cheap secrets
Unless it's changed hands again, El Nuevo Bohio is Puerto Rican. There's not much difference in the menu, but the style may be slightly different. It's great either way.
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El Nuevo Bohio
1155 Webster Ave, Bronx, NY 10456
LITTLE PEPPER College Point is OPEN!!
I went for lunch this week and just had some appetizer bamboo shoots and a Beef Noodle Soup. It wasn't their specialties, but it was good. I also had quite a talk with Nora, the English-speaking waitress (and showed them their pictures on the internet). She says that the owners have bought the College Point building and are not going to reopen the Roosevelt Ave location. This one is clean and roomy. I may go back with a Chinese friend for some fish. They told me that reservations are required on weekends, although I went around 3:00 on Sunday, and by the time I finished I was the only one there.
Jackson Heights Colombian - need recommendations
I have been to La Boina a number of times. I even translated their menu once, but the manager left, and they went back to the humorous old version. They have a lot of fancier offerings, which I haven't tried. Actually, I usually get the combination plates (bandejas), which are fine, no better or worse than most places, in my opinion. In general, Colombian places aren't where a non-Colombian would go to get really great meat dishes (Uruguayan or Argentine are better for that around here), but their combos are kind of fun. I haven't tried many of La Boina's soups, but I'm sure they are also good deals. It's a fairly pleasant space. One of my favorite features is the fresh squeezed orange, carrot, and beet juice.
Jackson Heights Colombian - need recommendations
By the way, Picanteria El Austro is Ecuadorian, which is a fairly different cuisine.
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Picanteria El Austro
37-08 83rd St, Queens, NY 11372
Jackson Heights Colombian - need recommendations
If you're headed farther into the 80's, La Pequeña Colombia on Roosevelt and 84th is also good. I haven't been lately, though they recently renovated and it's attractive. All of the restaurants have fairly similar combination platters (bandejas), and they are mostly filling and you'll find something on the plate that you like. The daily soups are also good and extremely reasonable at lunch. Lately I've eaten the lentil soup at Meson Colombiano which has a nice beet and carrot salad along with the meat and rice that accompany the $5-6 soup. (Their arroz con pollo can be good too, but I'm often disappointed in their non-soup items. At Cositas Ricas, you also have the bakery there and can get a buñuelo or other baked good at any time of the day. If you want a rotisserie chicken platter, I highly recommend Pollos a la Brasa Mario where it comes with the outstanding chicken heart consomme (sopa de menudencias).
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La Pequena Colombia
83-27 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Cositas Ricas
79-19 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
El Meson Colombiano
82-11 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Pollos a la Brasa Mario
83-02 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
LITTLE PEPPER College Point is OPEN!!
I have never been to Little Pepper, and I just got my transmission rebuilt so I want to take the car out for a spin with a Chinese-speaking houseguest. I see all sorts of recommendations for dishes, but I'd like to know if there are any dishes to avoid. Thanks.
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Little Pepper
18-24 College Point Blvd, Queens, NY 11356
Peruvian Chili Paste
As Jen mentioned, the word here is not 'ajo' but rather 'ají', which is a word used in some parts of Latin America (such as Peru) in place of 'chile'.
