ferdia's Profile
At last great Indian Food in JH
I've been there twice recently, once for dinner and once for breakfast buffet.
The dinner was our first time there so we were cautious and order what we thought were their specialties - tandoori. We ordered a mushroom tandoori appetizer, Mahi mahi tandoori, okra masala and some nan.
Before the Mushroom appetizer was served, we received a complimentary appetizer of idlis. These were exceptionally fresh. Better than the ones I've had from Delhi Palace. It was served with coconut chutney but no sambar.
The dinner was well prepared and good but I was not blown away - maybe I'm not a big fan of mahi mahi afterall. However the decor was gorgeous and the idlis yummy, so worth a return visit. The menu seems indian chinese so maybe next time I'll try something other than tandoori - despite the name of the place.
I was very interested in what the breakfast buffet would be like since I've been looking for different breakfast options in the neighborhood.
The breakfast buffet is 6.95 per person and comes with choice of bread and masala chai. We had aloo paratha which was very good. Thin and crispy on the outside and flavorful potatoes inside. The buffet items included a chickpea dish, a lentil dish, a potato curry-type dish, some sort of grits, some cold dishes that I avoided like iceberg salad and canned bean and mushroom salad, and dessert items such as kheer.
I really enjoyed the breakfast, especially the grits, channa and the bread. I recommend the breakfast.
Interesting breakfast options in Sunnyside, Woodside, JH or Elmhurst?
I'm looking for some interesting non-diner type breakfast options.
I know Ihawan serves Filipino breakfast.
Other suggestions?
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Ihawan
4006 70th St, Woodside, NY 11377
Easy, quick Asian food for backyard party?
California rolls are easy to make and pretty inexpensive . The crabstick is precooked so will not spoil easily and is served room temp. Don't refrigerate or the rice will get hard.
Serve with soy sauce, store bought wasabi paste and pickled ginger.
Great empanadas at La Boina Roja Butcher Shop in JH
Crispy crust, filled with shredded meat and mashed potato. Very good. They didn't provide hot sauce though. I was told they usually only have them in the mornings (and I have only ever bought them on the weekends).
Also had a tamale which was just filled with masa and sweet corn but some how very satisfying.
A buck each.
The butcher shop is next door to the linked restaurant listing.
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La Boina Roja
80-22 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372
How to make Tomoe's Squid with Kimchee sauce?
That's just it, I am not sure if it is marinated and then stir fried or the squid is poached and then mixed with the sauce. Or perhaps the squid is boiled in the sauce? The sauce is spicy and tart with a taste of dashi. The squid is not at all browned so that is why I think it may be poached.
I found a bottled sauce that is somewhat similar to the taste but not exactly.
http://www.amazon.com/Momoya-Kimchee-Base-6-7-Ounce-Units/dp/B001AY4EIE
I just can't get it to taste like Tomoe's version.
Where to find really good Greek-style grilled octopus?
I prefer queens but all recs accepted.
Ecuadorian in Elmhurst/Jackson Heights?
El Pequeno Coffee Shop on 86 and Roos. Their fried corvina is very tasty. Also they have roasted Guinea Pig which I have not tried yet.
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El Pequeno Coffee Shop
86-10 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Packaged foods made in Bronx or Queens??
Queens:
Pasta and raviolis: http://www.dursos.com
Sripraphai - Your Favorite Dish(es)
Other faves that have not been mentioned here:
Kanon jean nam miao (not sure how to spell it phonetically but I think it is N-11) - rice noodles served with a bowl of pork rib stew made with roselle flower, pickled mustard greens, bean sprouts, chopped onion, and lime. I mix it all up like spaghetti.
Eggplant with ground pork and chili basil sauce - homey yummy dish
Sa-tor bean with shrimp - sa-tor bean (stink bean, "petai" in Malaysian restaurant menus) is an acquired taste but if your palate wants something new and tasty this could be it. This is a pretty spicy dish.
Sripraphai - Your Favorite Dish(es)
Ayada, on Woodside, imho makes the best papaya salad in the nabe. Their green mango salad has salted crab in it and it is delicious. The salted crab there was the cleanest freshest looking salted crabs I have ever seen. It is salted blue crabs and vibrant looking. I am not sure that is very authentic since I remember seeing a pile of salted crabs in Bangkok that looked distinctly grayish, but that could be down to the type of crab used.
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Ayada
77-08 Woodside Ave, Queens, NY 11373
Near Broadway/Roosevelt Subway, Open for Lunch
Have you tried Lali Guras? I liked them much better than Shangri-La. Try their Chicken Momos for 5 bucks or a thali with mutton curry (with thalis you get free refills of each item except the meat) for about $8.
I have liked just about everything I've tried there.
About 5 minute walk from the Roos/74 station.
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Lali Guras
37-63 76th St, Queens, NY 11372
Best 5 restaurants in Jackson Heights?
I like the kale in curry sauce (don't know the Indonesian name), the gado gado, the lamb curry, and a curry nut dish. I think the nut is candlenut and called jengkol. I like the tempe goreng as well - sometimes it just hits the spot for me. The fried chicken is called asam goreng.
Best 5 restaurants in Jackson Heights?
I'm not sure where the borders of JH are technically, so I'll go by walking distance from Roosevelt/74 train station.
Within short walking distance:
Ayada (thai)
Coatzingo (mexican)
Lali Guras (nepalese/tibetan)
Urumbamba (peruvian)
Upi Jaya (indonesian)
Best 5 restaurants in Jackson Heights?
I find them consistently pretty good. I tend to stick with the typical dishes: Pho, Summer rolls, Spring Rolls, Rice noodle salads, grilled Chicken/Pork/Beef over rice.
Sometimes I'll order Steak Cubes salad (#86 or 89?), an order of sauteed water spinach and a bowl of rice. The steak cubes are really tasty.
The sauce that comes with the Summer rolls is also very good. Stir in a squirt of hot sauce if you like it spicy.
Best West Indian restaurants in Queens?
I am not particular about a specific country. I just want some options to explore.
I have tried The Door, Sybils, and Singhs Roti Shop.
Any other gems? Also what dishes do you recommend?
Thanks!
Recent Jackson Heights meals #3
I like Chao Thai's Pork Nam Tok noodle soup. You can get it with beef or pork and light or dark (dark is cooked with some blood). At Zabb, I used to like their Tom Yum noodle soup but they have since change the brand of fishballs they use and it is not as good. I don't usually go for noodle soups at Sri but I remember it being not bad.
Yes, Ayada's Larb is bit saucier than say at Zaab, but I don't mind it, works well with some rice.
I think I've had the Tom Zap. Is it the cornish hen soup?
Good soups in Queens?
It's been a while so not sure if you are still looking for soup but cold whether is coming again.
A few suggestions:
Bah Ku Teh (I may be spelling this wrong) at Taste Good in Elmhust
This is a restorative soup made with herbs, pork ribs, pork stomach, and fried tofu. I think the herbs include goji berries and angelica root. I like to have this with white rice. Taste Good also has a menu full of different noodle soups if you are looking for that type of soup.
Pozole at Coatzingo
A hearty soup made with pork and big white corn (hominy). The broth is rich, porky, and savory to which you can add lime juice, cilantro, onion and cumin. It is served here with 2 tostadas topped with beans, lettuce, tomato, and mexican cheese.
Chilate de Pollo also at Coatzingo
This spicy bright red soup is flavored with some sort of Mexican herb. The flavor is elusive to me but I like it. The chunks of chicken in it are falling off the bone tender and can be eaten wrapped in a tortilla dunked in the soup.
Each of these is a meal in itself.
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Taqueria Coatzingo
76-05 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372
Taste Good
82-18 45th Ave, Queens, NY 11373
Recent Jackson Heights meals #3
There's been some talk on this board about Ayada in comparison to Zaab, Sri, and Chao Thai. I like all of these places but my all time favorite papaya salad is at Ayada. It is a big mound of shredded green papaya studded with chili peppers, plenty of crushed dried shrimp, grape tomato halves, and string beans. No other place is so generous with the proportions and dried shrimp. The dried shrimp along with the fish sauce give it that special savory taste that I can't get enough of. This dish is the compelling reason why I end up at Ayada more often than at the other Thai places in the neighborhood.
Another excellent salad they serve is salted crab and mango salad. The salted crabs in this salad are IMMACULATE! I have never had a salted crab salad with the crab so clean. I was hard pressed to find even a speck of brown on these crabs. The version at Zaab is good but there is a slight bit of off taste in the crab (which are not nearly as clean) and they usually only serve it with 1/2 a crab. Ayada's version comes with a whole crab I believe, and if not then at least enough crab that me and my companion can both sample some.
Along with a salad we may order the Larb (chicken or pork) and bowls of rice and call it a meal. Their larbs are entree sized and more citrusy than at other places.
Some other favorites are:
Shrimp Paste fried rice (as good as Sri's version)
Beef tendon soup
Eggplant sauteed with Chili and Basil
Tom Yum soup (not red but very spicy - as good as Zaab's version)
Shrimp with Petai (petai is known as stink bean and may be an acquired taste)
What I wish they improve on is their noodle soups. The others outpace Ayada in this category.
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Ayada
77-08 Woodside Ave, Queens, NY 11373
Liberian restaurants in NY
I have to agreed, I went after reading this and it was Yummy!
Here is my report: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/655248
Recent Jackson Heights meals #2
I've eaten at Lali Guras several times now and have been meaning to write it up here.
I have tried Shangri-La, Himalayan Yak and Mustang Thakali, and Lali Guras's food is as good as Mustang Thakali or Himalayan Yak. I didn't particularly like Shangri-la. Lali is not good for a crowds nor for folks who want much atmosphere, for that you'll have to go to Himalayan Yak or Mustang Thakali.
Of the bunch I prefer Lali's momos (steamed chicken or beef dumplings) and thukpa/thenthuk (noodle soups). The sauces that go with their momos are particularly good and the skin of the momo is just a bit chewy . The soup base of the thukpa or thenthuk is better than the ones from the cometition which I find a bit bland. I have a fond memory of a thukpa from Tibetan Yak (now Himalayan Yak) years ago that was full flavored and brimming with spinach and daikon. Lali's is like that. Another favorite is the Dhido & mutton combination plate. This is served in a large round plate containing several small dishes and dhido in the center. Dhido is similar to African fu-fu or even polenta. The small dishes include:
- anchovy hot sauce that is so good I can eat alone with dhido
- mildly spicy sauteed mustard greens
- dal - exceptionally tasty
- misc spicy pickles, sometimes daikon
- a potato curry type dish
- and the meat of your choice, I often get mutton curry
I was informed by some friendly table mates that all the items in the platter are intended to be refillable except for the meat dish.
I don't remember the exact prices but it is inexpensive. I think the Dhido combination is $8, order of 8 momos is about $5, and thukpa is about $5.
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Lali Guras
37-63 76th St, Queens, NY 11372
Recent Jackson Heights/Woodside meals #1
I've been meaning to report on a few places in Jackson Heights. Perhaps I might edge into Woodside but it's all walking distance from the subway at 74th Street.
Friend's House Restaurant (Korean)
64-16 Roosevelt Ave.
718-334-0070
Cute little Korean restaurant that is a notch above the ones near the 74 Street train station in my opinion. The decoration is simple and the walls are decorated with their very own food porn. It all looks scrumptious! Their menu has a few different offerings that I haven't seen at other places in the area. For example they have Kim Bap (like a sushi roll but with vegs, fish cake and pickled daikon), and Jjam Ppong (seafood) Ramen .
We ordered the Kim Bap, Seafood Ramen, and Ja jang Myun. It came with banchan (side dishes) of 3 items: miso marinated daikon cubes, seasoned bean sprouts, and I think watercress. These were all impressively fresh and tasty, but the miso daikon was especially good. The seafood Ramen was probably made with packaged Korean instant noodles (with I guiltily really enjoy) but the seafood was all fresh and not the frozen "seafood mix" you often get at other Korean places. The Kim Bap was made to order and the rice was just still slightly warm. It was as good as my friend's mother's. The Ja Jang Myun, noodles with a dark brown inky sauce (what is in this sauce?), is slightly on the sweet side but the noodles were satisfyingly al dente and toothsome. All told, about 20 bucks.
Other menu items that look interesting to me:
LA Kal Bi (BBQ beef ribs - 14.99)
Jjol Myun (glutinous noodle with spicy sauce - 6.99)
Mo Mil So Ba (brown noodles with spicy cold soup) - 7.99)
Gob Chang Chige ( Beef innards tofu stew - 10.99)
They also advertised different variations of Bi Bim Bap.
Good Liberian dinner at Maima's in Jamaica (review)
Came across this thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/638239
on the "What's my craving" board last week and have been wanting to go since. I finally tried it last night and it was very good!
We took the E train out to Jamaica Center/Archer Ave and walked for about 10 mins. to the restaurant. It is on a quiet section of the street just past York College. There was no one there when we arrived around 8:30pm and the owner told us most of the dishes had sold out earlier.
I was pretty disappointed since the menu had some very interesting items that I wanted to try, such as Home made Ginger Beer, Jollof Rice, Cassava Leaf, and Pepper Crab. She listed a few items that were still available and we ordered Plava Sauce served with FuFu and Fish with Gravy served with Rice. I was not expecting much thinking we are getting the leftovers of the day. But I was wrong.
The Plava Sauce was excellent! It is a stew made with okra leaves and an assortment of meats (I looked this up after I got home). I think there was smoked turkey, chicken and ham hock in there. A small dish of potent home made crushed hot pepper sauce accompanied it. I am still salivating thinking about this dish today.
The Fish with Gravy was also very good. It was two small fried fish (beware on bones) in a yummy red sauce which I think was made of peppers, onions and tomatoes. I could not really tell what was in the sauce but it was not very tomato-y though it was red, perhaps red peppers? In any case I really enjoyed it.
The portions were big and we were too full to have anything else so I can't say anything about their desserts. The total for the two dishes above, 20 bucks.
After our meal we chatted with the owner's daughter who runs the salon next door. She told us Liberian stews are typically made with an assortment of meats and are generally very spicy. They tone it down for those who are not Liberian, but serve the hot sauce on the side.
I highly recommend this place and will definitely go back. It is not an entirely smoothly run operation but the place is clean and comfortable, the prices very reasonable and the food was very good.
A few other things I noticed on the menu:
Toborge
Palm Butter
Kalla
Chickey Gravy
Rice Bread
Fried Okra
Careless Green
Kiliwila
Maima's Liberian Bistro and Bar
106-47 Guy R Brewer Blvd
718-206-3538
Sunday Supper in JH or Environs
Here are a couple suggestions:
Hunan House on Northern in Flushing (there's been a spat of write ups on it here)
Engeline's in Woodside (Roosevelt at 57?) - Philipino food
JH Restaurants to Impress?
I think the key here is that the food in JH is authentic, tasty, and prices are good. Hard to beat combination.
Zabb & Sripraphai - they are both better than any Thai restaurant I've been to in Manhattan and Sri has a very pretty garden for alfresco dining.
Upi Jaya - Indonesian restaurant with spotty service, but the food makes up for all that.
Taste Good - technically Elmhurst but it is near the Elmhurst Ave stop on the R train. The decor is not at all impressive - but the Malaysian food is. Their belacan, I think, is homemade which I've never had in Manhattan.
These have all been reviewed in other posts or newspapers.
