thinthukgirl's Profile
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
I should clarify - my friend got sick the night before and didn't come to the tour, that's why we trimmed the itinerary.
He did not get sick eating Queens food!!!
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
The Tour finally happened last Saturday, June 27. We lucked out and got a really beautiful day.
Here's what we did (and our ratings - system was a simple 5 star):
Churros cart,, Junction Blvd & Roosevelt Ave., Churros (5 stars)
Buenos Aires Bakery, 90th St. & Roosevelt Ave., Argentinian-style empanadas (4 stars)
Los Chuzos Y Algo Mas, 79-01 Roosevelt Ave., Strawberries & milk drink, carrot juice, arepas with cheese (3 stars)
Maharaja Sweets, 73rd St. and 37th Ave., , Samosa chat, masala dosa (4 stars)
Unidentified Flying Chickens, 72nd St. and Roosevelt Ave., Soy garlic Korean fried chicken, garden salad (5 stars)
Jollibee, 63rd St. and Roosevelt Ave., Halo-halo (4 stars)
V&V Italian Bakery, 62nd St. and Roosevelt Ave., Black & white cookie (4 stars)
Tamales lady, 62nd St. and Roosevelt Ave., Mole chicken tamale (5 stars)
Donovan's Pub, 58th St. and Roosevelt Ave., Cheeseburger, medium-well (5 stars)
Mangal, 46-20 Queens Blvd, Sunnyside, Lahmacun (5 stars)
We were going to take out from Sripraphai and Thakali Kitchen also, but a member of our party got sick. Was very full after and ate minimum amounts of food the rest of the day, but we did it!!
New, awesome tamale vendor in Elmhurst
how early in the morning is the churros cart out? i think i read somewhere else not until 11am?
IF YOU HAD 3 DAYS TO EAT ETHNIC IN QUEENS, --?
do you know approximate hours of the tamales place? truck or window/stall?
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
Polecat, I do not think YOU were being defeatist, I love the quote.
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
I must say, this is the most defeatist I've ever seen CHers be about eating! Maybe it is the economy.
I live at the halfway point, so doggie bags are definitely an option, as is taking out a lot and eating takeout in my apartment.
I think I'll cut Natural Tofu and Maharaja completely and downgrade La Flor to a see-how-we-feel, and reroute the tour through Corona.
I live two blocks from Sripraphai so I can be weirdly blase about it and treat it not unlike a corner takeout Chinese place sometimes. That being said, the point of a tour is to get the full variety and to do that you must have some Thai, and if you have Thai you must have Sripraphai, no?
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
Good suggestions... I might try this and just do Flushing/Corona/JH...
I live in Woodside, so the idea is to try to introduce some of my non-Queens friends to the places I go, but honestly I'm a little maxed out on my neighborhood places. And have never been to Corona other than to see a Mets game.
CI Zucchini Bread?
Can I make zucchini bread in a cast iron skillet? I tried once a few days ago, but subbing in brown rice syrup for sugar and that was a disaster - I'm assuming because of the syrup... but wanted to confirm there were no problems using the pan either. I know cornbread is frequently made in CI... why not zucchini bread?
Roosevelt Ave. Eating Tour
I'm planning an eating tour in Queens for April/May and came up with this preliminary itinerary:
Start in Flushing, meet in Flushing Library in the AM
1) Corner 28 - Peking Duck Sliders
2) Roosevelt Mall - Gua Bao
Take train to Jackson Heights
3) Buenos Aires Bakery - Dulce de Leche Donuts & Empanadas
4) Espresso 77 - Coffee!!
5) La Portena - Blood Sausage & this weird tongue appetizer I had one time
6) Maharaja Sweets - Dosa and Samosa Chat
7) UFC - Soy Garlic Fried Chicken Wings
8) Sripraphai - Roast Duck Green Curry, Crispy Watercress Salad, Chicken Curry Puffs, & Thai Iced Tea
9) V&V Bakery - Black & White Cookies
10) La Flor - Sliders and Shoestring Potatoes
11) Mangal - Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, and Turkish Bread
12) Natural Bean Curd - Soondubu
Take train to LIC
13) Hunters Point Wines
Take wine and Mangal takeout to the riverwalk for mini-picnic
I would like to work in Spicy Mina, Himalayan Yak, Tacos Coatzingo, De Mole, and Ihawan or that other Filipino restaurant (Evangeline's?) in the 50s somewhere, but not sure how... so would welcome ideas about that.
Sliders at La Flor seems out of place, delicious as they are - should I substitute an Irish pub, like burgers or shepherd's pie at Donovan's?
Also, I've never done this before, so I also have questions about logistics for those who have - when you go in with a group of 4 or 5 and order one or two small dishes at a sit down place like La Portena, does that get really awkward? I guess you just deal with it. But that's probably why Spicy Mina and the Yak are not on my list now.
And most importantly, can we eat this much food??????
Dessert spot and/or bakery in Woodside, near Sripraphai
V&V Italian Bakery has excellent b&w cookies, as well as fairly scrumptious other NY-y sweets. I love the tiny pine-nut covered cookies usually in the right hand glass case.
For ethnic goodies Maharaja Sweets in JH has excellent Indian sweets
But I agree with Jen Kalb - just have dessert at Srip
Thai Groceries In Outer Queens
Do you know the hours by any chance?
Is there any place with fresh kaffir lime leaves in Queens? (although I suppose I will end up freezing the leftover leaves anyway)
Spicy Mina Tomorrow - Unless..
Too late for aacharya but if anyone else has the same Q - I live in Woodside and like the big Korean bodega (Jin's Big Apple) on Roosevelt Ave. bt. 61st and 60th. They have organic beer, Brooklyn Lager, and Mike's. They have most of these in the grocery store next door too. Not sure which place is cheaper.
Went to Spicy Mina for the first time in a long time last Saturday for dinner. Got the dal fry, the okra dish (last item in veggie part of the menu) a chicken dish, and the pakoras.
Everything was very tasty - the okra dish had little bits of sweet potato or pumpkin in them which sounds weird but was really surprising and good. Wish they had more business!
Indian buffet in Jackson Heights?
Try Maharaja Sweets on 37th Ave. It's vegetarian, I'm not, but I never miss the meat. The only catch is that it's lunch only.
JH Farmer's Market
Results of my JH Greenmarket trip:
I got there at 2:30, so there was slim pickings. I got 1 large beautiful red onion, four potatoes, and a stalk (?) of fresh basil. I ended up making a version of Rachael Ray's pesto smashed potatoes, except I used butter instead of stock and made my own pesto.
For my protein, I bought Ceriello sweet Italian sausages with fennel, potato hot dog rolls, and decided to try to make kim chee relish a la the infamous PDT Chang dog (and ended up using my greenmarket onion in it). I used Han Ah Reum kim chee and the results really hit the spot. I posted the recipe here: http://www.chow.com/recipes/12274 .
So pesto potatoes and kim chee sausage are a kind of random combination, but I used everything I bought, and have a new recipe out of it. I'll try to go earlier next time.
JH Farmer's Market
I'mna try to go to the JH Greenmarket for the first time tomorrow - any tips/suggestions? There's a meat place that's supposed to be good, right?
Authentic Mexican Food in NYC?
There's a taco truck on Roosevelt Ave. and 91st in Queens (take the 7 train to 90th St. or the 7 express to Junction Blvd.) that's pretty amazing if you're brave enough for street food. Best tacos I've ever had in NY.
For dessert, go to the Buenos Aires bakery one block down Roosevelt on 90th St. and get dulce de leche-filled donuts.
Tacos Mexicana Truck - 91st? & Roosevelt
Went back and it was the same location, on 91st St. just north of Roosevelt.
Had tacos de lengua and tacos de carnitas and both were very very very good. Fresh meat, seasoned just right, tortillas grilled just so, and topped with a little cilantro, onion, lime, and hot sauce. I can't possibly be the only one on Chowhound that knows about this place.
Tacos were $2 each.
Life-changing Indian food
I'm not sure there is any other restaurant with quite the range and dominance on one type of cuisine in this city as Sripraphai... for Indian food, I've been trained well by my Indian friends:
Maharaja Sweets on 37th Ave at 73rd St. in Jackson Heights has an amazing weekend vegetarian lunch buffet that's cheaper than Indian Taj and Jackson Diner
Saravanaa's in Curry Hill has beautiful and delicious dosas, also quite cheap
I went to Amma's during RW2008 on Tuesday, and wasn't super impressed. The meat (tried both seabass and lamb entrees) was cooked perfectly in terms of tenderness, but the sauces were like your average Indo-Chinese place... which have their place - sometimes you just want sweet and spicy and red, but I was expecting something more refined from Amma's
Papusas [Split from Manhattan Board]
Izalco just put up a big House of Pupusas sign...
Alpha Donuts - Change in...something???
I went in as a newbie yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed my glazed yeast and toasted coconut glazed donuts. But can't compare to their quality in months prior.
When's Himalayan Yak coming back?
Ok, the new exterior is snazzy, and I'm sure the interior will be too... but when's my yak coming back????
Help my brother find healthy, cheap chow in Sunnyside
Mmm... now I want a falafel... am mentally reporgramming my commute home to include falafel...
Good Scone in Queens
Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights probably has the best scones in Queens now - I think they buy from a catering company, but that catering company is really really good. Good scones, good cookies, good sandwiches, and the best coffee in NY. Cute atmosphere and scene. They are a little anal about wifi, but I guess they are trying to be fair.
Vietnamese in Queens?
The waitstaff is really nice at Thai Son and I used to go there all the time... however I must take issue with the guy at the front... he's kind of evil and scary. The food is pretty good, if sometimes overly sweet. I myself am hoping for another good Vietnamese option in the area soon.
Tacos Mexicana Truck - 91st? & Roosevelt
Hi,
Walked by a small truck called "Tacos Mexicana" around 91st St. just off Roosevelt on the North side, after a 7 train turned express on me and I got off at Junction Blvd. A lot of people were waiting around so I checked it out. I ordered a torta de pollos but waiting around the tacos looked and smelled goooood, just like at the little place I went to in Cabo. Just a little tortilla, meat, a little lime and cilantro. Very cute little woman manning the grill, very attentive to the tortillas and meat.
The torta was very satisfying as well.
Has anyone else had experience with this place? They had tortas and tacos - maybe eight or nine kinds of tacos and six or seven tortas. Torta was $5.
Tacos de lingua and tacos de enchilada were popular.
What's So Good About Red Velvet Cake (Split from L.A. board]
Ha! My sister and I were just having the same philosophical discussion after I suggested we serve Red Velvet Cake with our Christmas tea this year. She's the baker in the family though, so I guess she gets final say in our discussion. (But how many of you anti-RVC chowhounds drink bubble tea and eat asian desserts and other foods that make ample use of artifical flavoring and ingredients?)
Getting treated... Chinese in Elmhurst?
I think we need a new topic... prose poems for offals!
I think I'll go for Lin's or Little Pepper
