Pookipichu's Profile
Flushing - Last Minute Planning
Have you had the Peking duck at Mulan to compare? I have. The Peking duck at Deyi is far inferior and for you to proclaim it best without experience would be uncalled for. In fact, I would NOT recommend the duck at Deyi, as the skin, preparation and taste are so far below what you would get in China.
Mulan is inconsistent but strangely ill-received. It is slightly more expensive than most Flushing restaurants and the ambiance more than slightly the best in Flushing. There are always those who think that Chinese food should be inexpensive and the decor should be shabby or tacky to be authentic and good which I find preposterous. The food at Mulan has been good to excellent but never bad based on what I've ordered. The quality of food goes down when there are parties as the kitchen duties are shared with the catering hall.
That you would recommend Grand restaurant which has a more inconsistent kitchen than Mulan and tackier decor well we don't see eye to eye. Not that Grand is a bad restaurant but your aversion to Mulan in my mind becomes a matter of prejudice rather than food.
Flushing - Last Minute Planning
Peking Duck - Mulan has the best Peking duck in Flushing, it is better than Peking Duck Restaurant on Prince and Deyi on Main.
Dim sum - Jade Asian has great variety, the carts come by frequently and the food is excellent
Sichuan - Spicy Tasty will satisfy your craving for tongue tingling, make sure to request they "jia ma la".
Cantonese - The best Cantonese restaurant in Flushing is now a restaurant that is not walking distance from the train, Lake Pavilion is STELLAR.
Korean BBQ - San Soo Kap San has excellent special kalbi.
argentinian asado/ parrilla, esp. wood fired
La Fusta is the best in NYC much better than La Portena.
Eats for bike tour of brooklyn/queens
I wouldn't say that the soft shell crab sandwich is better or worse than the chicken, BUT soft shell crab is in season and do you really need a better reason to order delicious fried crab than that?? The crab is crispy outside, tender succulent inside.
Eats for bike tour of brooklyn/queens
Ok, John Brown is a great choice, since you'll be heading south from John Brown, burnt ends! Their pastrami is pretty knockout, smoked prime rib is delicious and their smoked foie gras is decadent.
From John Brown you can bike down to LIC and hit Lounge 47, the stinging nettle ravioli is delicious as is the skirt steak.
From Lounge 47 go to Alobar for some very tender and sweet baby back ribs.
From Alobar go to Manducatis Rustica for cannolis filled to order, I tell them not to powder mine as it doesn't need the extra sugar.
From Manducatis Rustica, bike over the bridge to Karczma for potato pancakes and kielbasa.
From Karczma bike to Blue Stove for cherry pie, totally yum.
From Blue Stove, bike to Fette Sau for smoked lamb ribs (crazy good)
From Fette Sau bike to Pies n Thighs for soft shell crab sandwich (yum)
From Pies n Thighs waddle over the bridge.
Eats for bike tour of brooklyn/queens
Where are you starting off from? Meaning, where are you coming from to go to John Brown.
Eats for bike tour of brooklyn/queens
Where's your start-off point? After you hit John Brown, are you heading north or south?
Park Slope lunch with Dad
If you like fish and chips, Chip Shop is awesome. It's not fancy but it is super super delicious and they will batter and fry almost ANYTHING you bring them.
Dish recommendations at Tanoreen!!
The chicken with sumac on flatbread is an appetizer but it has a generous amount of chicken. It's delicious with the toasted almonds although it might not be as good as JungMann's version :)
You'd be best off by ordering their best appetizers and the lamb fetti and you will leave Tanoreen thinking the restaurant is awesome. The other entrees will leave you wondering what the fuss is all about.
Irish & clueless! Need help to choose a restaurant for post wedding - party of 5!!
I think the perfect restaurant would be Union Square Cafe, granted it is not near Central Park, but Union Square is a destination in itself and one of the areas of NYC that you shouldn't miss.
Union Square Cafe is elegant but casual, upscale without being stuffy. It would be a place where you would feel warm and welcome and a place to celebrate without feeling overly formal. The menu is American with and Italian influence and Asian touches. The portions are generous and the total bill will be within budget (barring expensive wines or alcohol). There is something for everyone. Their desserts are classic Americana and I favor a good slice of pie over a liquid nitrogen frozen bar of milk mush and foam any day of the week.
For Brazilian food, I would recommend Churrascaria Plataforma. While it is not a fancy restaurant, the ambiance is festive and the food is excellent and plentiful (AYCE).
Talde...is it worth it?
Zisu is used in Chinese cuisine and you can also find it in herbal shops/Chinese medicine, the herb was popularized by Japanese because of the ubiquitous inclusion with sushi/sashimi.
Irish & clueless! Need help to choose a restaurant for post wedding - party of 5!!
First off, congratulations and welcome to New York! Secondly, what do you like to eat? Are there any dietary restrictions any cuisines that you don't care for? When will you be coming?
Where can I find the best soup dumplings in Manhattan???
$1.99 for six pork xlb. I used to gorge myself, no limit on orders in Queens :)
Where can I find the best soup dumplings in Manhattan???
In NYC, Nanxiang, it's very consistent. Chinatown Brasserie does a great rendition and I love eating dim sum there but can't afford to eat there too often. My favorite was Goody's in Rego Park before the chef moved to China, they were thin skinned, flavorful, better than Joe's Shanghai and absurdly inexpensive.
Where can I find the best soup dumplings in Manhattan???
No saffron in the Chinatown Brasserie XLB, and the saffron in the XLB at Red Farm is presently the case. When Red Farm first opened, there was no saffron in the XLB. As much as I like saffron, it does not work in XLB. The two times I've ordered XLB at Red Farm, once without saffron and once with saffron, both times they were not equal to the XLB at Chinatown Brasserie which has my favorite XLB in Manhattan (but not NYC).
Lotus Blue
They do grow coffee in Yunnan, but the quantity of coffee grown has only in recent history been on a large commercial scale. Yunnan is much more famous for tea, Pu'er cha. Coffee, only within the past decade or so has had any popularity in China. The coffee that is sold is very different from the coffee sold in the US. Very little coffee and much more sugar and cream or milk to eliminate any bitterness. In China, from my experience, many people don't even like the flavor of coffee and only drink it to have a Western feeling.
Yunnan shares flavors with Sichuan, Vietnam and Burma, fried fish with spices is very common in Yunnan.
Where do you eat in Jackson Heights?
LA FUSTA, cannot recommend it more. So much better than La Portena.
daniel - jean georges or...???? for me heeeeeeeeelp.
The porcini flan is beyond words delicious.
daniel - jean georges or...???? for me heeeeeeeeelp.
That looks gorgeous, but it wasn't on the menu during my visit, in its place was a strawberry parfait bar with marinated raspberries.
daniel - jean georges or...???? for me heeeeeeeeelp.
Bouley is very expensive but I would suggest it over Daniel. The space is comfortable, charming, intimate, the service attentive.
There is an a la carte option in addition to 6 course tasting menu. The 6 course tasting menu is $175.
There are many seafood options and the flavors as is de rigeur have Asian touches. Particularly good is the porcini flan with black truffle dashi, it has generous, succulent chunks of fresh dungeness crab in an earthy and savory broth. The braised kobe beef cheeks are stellar and lacking some of the mustiness you can sometimes find in cheek meat. It's served on a bed of tiny pillowy gnocchi. Dayboat lobster is perfectly cooked and the honshemiji mushrooms are punchy with flavor. I could do with out the floral acid of passionfruit, but it works regardless. Lamb is perfectly cooked medium rare, without a trace of gaminess, also without a trace of sear. It seems to be cooked sous vide, there is an absolute eveness, but I prefer some char on my lamb. It is accompanied by beautiful sauces, a particularly savory olive sauce that coats tongue pleasantly. Wood smoked sardines are lovely and pungent with fish oils, not for everyone's taste. The uni with osetra caviar is all about the caviar as I've had better uni, but the caviar is sparkling in taste and pleasantly briny. Dessert is not particularly memorable, but I haven't been impressed by desserts at any number of 1-3 Michelin star restaurants. I would rather have a slice of high quality cake than the assortment of bars and parfaits that seem so popular of the moment.
Bouley has one of the largest selections of bread of any restaurant, you will be offered 8-10 different breads. You will not leave hungry.
Good eats in Bayside
If you go, the banana leaf steamed fish special at BKNY is crazy good, the dipping sauce is addictive as well. Seriously an undiscovered dish, probably because BKNY is a little out of the way, no subways, the exterior is not really confidence inspiring and the name is confusing to people who automatically assume BK means Brooklyn. I haven't been back in a while but my last meal there was wonderful. The steamed fish, short rib special, crab fried rice were all really excellent. Curries are much stronger at Sripraphai but BKNY offers some dishes that Sri doesn't have.
Good eats in Bayside
Erawan for Thai
Il Toscano for Italian
Mickey's Place for Japanese
Avli for Greek
These three, I would sooner travel elsewhere even if inconvenient:
Pizza......
Chinese......
Mexican...
Fresh turmeric root
The problem is your oil is too hot, you can test it with a piece of some bread, if you drop in a cube of bread and it browns too quickly, it's too hot, it should take about a 45-60 seconds for the bread to brown. Also, after letting your chicken dry in the fridge, take it out when you are getting ready to cook it. By the time you've heated up the oil and are ready to batter the chicken, the chicken will have come to room temp. Make sure that your pot is the right size as well, if you have a large pot and few pieces of chicken, it will burn. You want to have a decent amount of chicken in your pot without crowding them. Too many pieces and the batter doesn't crisp as well, too few pieces and they are more likely to burn.
If all else fails, put the chicken in a large freezer bag, don't seal it. Get a large stockpot, fill it with your hottest tap water. Put the bag of chicken in the water until the air is pushed out all the way and seal the bag. Leave it in the hot water for about half an hour. Now that you've preheated your chicken and you should have no problems with it being raw inside after frying it.
Best Greek restaurant in ASTORIA and bakery too(Greek) for dessert!
I had the exact opposite experience, the food at Stamatis was excellently prepared, the fried calamari was tender, crisp and was not greasy as opposed to sub par calamari at Kyclades. I haven't had anything at Stamatis that I've felt was greasy.
Kyclades probably evokes strong feelings because if you're going to wait 1-2 hours for a restaurant and you have bad experiences, you're going to vehemently recommend against it so that others don't get burned. If there was no wait or short waits, I'd be more lenient towards Kyclades as a neighborhood restaurant with OK but not great food. As a hyped destination restaurant, I find it appalling.
Fresh turmeric root
Tumeric is one of my favorite spices.
Fried Chicken:
Peel the tumeric, if you have a food processor or coffee grinder, grind a .5 inch of tumeric with 1-2 inches peeled ginger and generous black pepper. Take a few cloves of garlic, run it through a press or crush it and chop it. Mix the spices together and place in a large plastic freezer bag, add a spoon of toasted sesame oil and enough soy sauce to surround the chicken and shake it until it's evenly dispersed. Marinate about 1-1.5 pounds of chicken pieces in this mixture (dilute the soy sauce with a little water depending on how salty your soy sauce is) Press the air out so the marinade is bathing all the pieces and flip the bag halfway through marinating to make sure. Let it marinate overnight. Take out the pieces, brushing off any pieces of marinade mixture, put the chicken on a wire rack with a pan underneath and let it sit in the fridge for about 2 hours. Have a pot of oil ready for frying, hot but not smoking. Take the chicken out, lightly dredge them in corn starch. Really shake off any excess corn starch. You don't want a thick coating. Beat some cornstarch, a pinch of salt with water into a smooth, thin batter. Dip the pieces in the batter and fry them until they are crisp and cooked through, transfer to another wire rack in your oven to keep them warm. Take equal parts soy and water, some honey or sugar, a sploosh of rice vinegar, Hunan chili paste or any chili paste of your preference, simmer it in a pot. Bring to room temp, throw in some chopped Chinese parsley and chopped scallions to complete the dipping sauce. You can make the sauce ahead of time.
NYC this weekend Thai or Szechuan in East (or West) 40s - need my spice fix.
Szechuan Gourmet for sure, but if you want Indian, Nirvana is close by you and the food is excellent, just tell them you can eat spicy food. In most ways, I find Nirvana superior to Chola and those other 58th street Indian places (Dawat, Yuva, etc.) which set the standard for so many years.
Best Greek restaurant in ASTORIA and bakery too(Greek) for dessert!
People wait on long lines at Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang's, Olive Garden, or even to see Justin Bieber... it's not an indication of excellence to have a long wait. Waited for over an hour in Providence, RI to eat at a Cheesecake Factory because my nieces like it.
I asked you seriously what you like about Taverna because I honestly have no idea what people like about it. There are restaurants that have been panned by other Chowhounders that I've had good meals at so I'm not doubting, perhaps I am ordering incorrectly.
Best Greek restaurant in ASTORIA and bakery too(Greek) for dessert!
What do you order at Kyclades because for the life of me I have yet to have a good experience there.
The horta is overcooked to a grey-green mush, the lemon potatoes aggressively acidic, the fried squid was chewy, the Greek salad nondescript and lacking flavor, various fishes have been overcooked, scallops large and plump but a little overcooked and lacking a hard sear. The portions are generous, and dessert is included if they still have any, beyond that I don't have anything positive to say about Kyclades and I've given it more trips/chances than it deserves. The waiters inexplicably rude and unfriendly. The wait times are extravagant. What do you like about Kyclades?
Agnanti on the other hand has been wonderful, as has Stamatis without 1-2 hour waits. Service at both has been friendly, especially at Agnanti.
Lake Pavilion, new Chinese in Flushing
Went to Lake Pavilion on Mother's Day. The parking lot was full and the restaurant as well (they do take reservations though). We arrived before 6:30PM and waited over an hour to be seated.
The restaurant is spacious, clean and bright with windows all along the side. Service is quick and efficient, our tea was checked throughout the meal and replenished accordingly.
We ordered the mixed mushroom dish, lobster with shrimp, sauteed dao miao, lamb chops with onion and peppers, sweet and sour pork. corn soup.
All dishes were handled with a deft hand, we requested that the dishes be prepared "less salt, sugar, oil" and they complied with excellently prepared food that was indeed light and respectful of our request.
The mixed mushroom dish was flavorful and the sauce light and full of wonderful aroma, the lobster was tender, perfectly cooked and generously portioned. The shrimp was likewise cooked with delicacy. The lamb chops were caramelized and juicy. The dao miao was a tad overcooked but light, and fresh. The corn soup was competent but not meriting mention. The least popular dish was the sweet and sour pork which was well prepared but had a milk flavor that was not well received.
This is a first, I called the waiter over and ordered Peking duck. The waiter looked at our dishes and said that Peking duck doesn't do well as take out. I said that we wouldn't be doing take out, we were going to eat it there. He paused, looked at us and said, "No, you wouldn't be able to finish it" and walked away. We looked at each other shocked but we all had a laugh.
All in all my favorite Cantonese restaurant in Flushing and well worth many a return trip. A great recommendation by CHers and many more dishes to try. The braised duck tongues, lobster salad and crispy skin chicken look particularly delicious.
