Spicy & Tasty

[La Niña]

Last night Cabby, the Beau, some friends and I went to Spicy & Tasty in Flushing. I have been wanting to go for a long time. I don't have a lot of time now, and I"ll fill in more later, but I thought it was truly good. Well worth the shlep. I'm sure Cabby will remember much more detail than I do, anyway. I loved the tendon dish we had as an appetizer - sliced very thin, much thinner than I've seen elsewhere, and the lamb dish we had was a bit oily but the flavor was just wonderful - rich and satisfying, too. Tea-smoked pork was very good, as was crab cooked in beer in casserole. We had other dishes, too, which I hope Cabby will mention.

Some links on Spicy & Tasty:

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0242/sietsema.php

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/nytoday/rst.h...d=1022576009648

http://www.newsday.com/features/food/ny-fd...y-foodday-print

And Flushing is just miraculous.

Edited January 5, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[Steve Plotnicki]

Did you then go for dessert at Sweet n' Tart?

[La Niña]

Heheh.

Nope - we had to rush back to Manhattan to catch a movie.

Edited January 6, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[Suzanne F]

Did you then go for dessert at Sweet n' Tart?

[cabrales]

The tendon appetizer involved tendon that was cut in relatively thin, "large area" slices, accompanied by a hot chilli oil.

We also had seaweed in garlic sauce as an appetizer, along with some non-wonton dumplings in chilli oil. (The latter were rather pleasing, with some sweetness in the sauce.)

The crab in beer casserole had vermicelli incorporated, which conveyed some of the beer flavors. There were two small crabs in the casserole, with some opportunities to sample the roe and other parts of the "main body" of the crab. I had not been optimistic about this dish, having wondered whether the restaurant had fresh seafood tanks. However, the crab in the casserole was appropriate. This dish was reasonably priced at under $11, to my recollection.

There are two lamb casseroles on the menu; we ordered the Szechuan version because the other version was not available. The intrinsic flavor of the lamb was quite strong, and some pieces of the lamb were "bone in". The vegetables inside the lamb casserole were favorably mentioned by certain dining companions.

Like Nina, I liked the smoked pork with leeks fish. The pork was presented in slices roughly the size of bacon (but shorter slices), and had about that amount of fat. The smoking effects were relatively easy to detect. The tea utilized did not convey stronger bitter notes that I look for, but that is a subjective preference. I wondered about the tea smoked duck dish which the restaurant also offers.

Our dining party also ordered a dish described as involving cabbage, but that did not seem to us to be any type of cabbage. The dish was cabbage with Chinese black mushrooms. That dish was average. Nicer was a dish containing a special type of squash, which may be seasonal (?). It was available either pan-fried on its own, or with small dried shrimp. We chose the latter. I found the squash to be refreshing (yes, this type of squash is) and nice, although the cornstarch-based "sauce" accompanying it was slightly too thick for my tastes. Also ordered was a tongue dish, with spiciness, that was appropriate.

The restaurant offered hot pots, but we did not sample the items. We asked to be seated in the single-table, separate dining room at the back of the restaurant. The dining room team members, while capable of some level of English conversation, did not have particularly strong English skills. Beer is available; wine is BYO. We drank Pouilly Fume, Pascal Jolivet. The restaurant is close to the large, open area parking lot that is surrounded by restaurants -- in Flushing.

[Pan]

I had dinner tonight at Spicy & Tasty, which is now at:

39-07 Prince St., 1H (just north of Roosevelt Av.)

Flushing, NY 11354

Tel: (718) 359-1601

I ordered a cold dish of bamboo shoots with hot oil, which was terrific! The bamboo shoots were somewhat pickled.

I also had one of the "Chef's Specialties" (or whatever the precise wording of that category was): Chengdu Shrimp. There was one drawback: Some of the shrimp themselves tasted old enough to be the one thing that decreased the quality of the dish for me, and they could be a real problem for someone more sensitive to fishiness, etc. (oddly enough, other individual shrimp tasted fine). But otherwise, this dish was also excellent. It came with ground pork, red chilis, diced ginger (skin on), scallions, large pieces of garlic, and tree fungus in a delicious sauce.

I may hold off on getting more shrimp for a while, but I will come back very soon.

The meal cost I think $14.10 plus tip.

[Pan]

I went back tonight. I got cold dishes of eggplant in garlic sauce and stomach (cow stomach, I think?) with very thin yellow mushrooms, and an order of dumplings (6) in hot oil. The eggplant was a knockout! Long, fairly thin and moderately deep slices of eggplant in a wonderful red sauce that included lots of minced garlic, hot oil, and some other ingredients I couldn't identify (some tomato puree, I think). The dumplings were pork dumplings and were quite good, but the order was small enough (just a small bowl) for me to get the other cold dish. The stomach - really a kind of tripe - was very chewy and not for everybody, but I liked the taste and combination of textures. I also took home an order of the cold dish of seaweed with garlic and couldn't wait until tomorrow's lunch but had it as a late 3rd meal (lunch, dinner, seaweed takeout). It was nice.

This place is packed at peak hours, but not too many people were there at 5 P.M., so a word to the wise is show up off-peak or get reservations.

I'd really like to meet a bunch of people for a banquet there one of these days, so I can sample a bunch of cold and hot dishes. Perhaps some of you would like to meet me there on a Thursday night around 7:30ish in late April or early May? If so, let me know.

[Pan]

Takeout today, for me and my parents (a taste of Flushing on the Upper West Side!).

When I arrived, a photographer was there. I struck up a conversation with him, and it turns out he works the Queens/Brooklyn/sometimes Manhattan beat for New York Newsday, and was photographing food and the chef for an upcoming positive review next Friday. (He said that when reviews are negative, they don't bother taking photos.) I gave him some other recommendations of places to eat in the neighborhood and mentioned eGullet to him. He wasn't familiar with this site.

Anyway, I ordered three cold dishes and two hot ones.

Cold dishes: Cucumber in Minced Garlic (excellent), Chinese Eggplant w. Garlic Sauce (reviewed above), Bamboo in Hot Spicy Sauce (reviewed above - all of these cold dishes $3.95 apiece).

Hot dishes: Diced Chicken & Peanuts in Hot Pepper (also included green mildly hot peppers, some ginger, Sichuan pepper, and some other things I forget - tasty but a bit sweet and buttery - $7.95), Shrimp w. Yellow Leek (mild, with excellent leeks and no problem with the shrimps this time - $10.95).

Total bill: $30.75. My parents and I enjoyed all the dishes. My father chomped on a dark dried red pepper in the chicken dish and my mother found the bamboo tasty but too hot, but my parents appreciated that I had ordered a mix of spicy and mild dishes.

Did I mention that I'd like to organize a banquet here?

I said half-jokingly to the proprietress that after the review comes out, it'll be too crowded for me to eat there.

Anyone free on a Thursday night around 7:30 P.M.? Let me know. We'd need reservations for sure at that hour.

[SobaAddict70]

But living dangerously is rewarded in classic dishes like double-cooked pork...., slices of pork that are poached then sautéed and served with pungent greens, a savory, salty, spicy combination that strikes all the Sichuan chords. Cured pork with garlic shoots....is an uncannily close cousin, differing only in the paper-thin slices of pork that are a little more on the bacon side.

Spicy And Tasty (Eric Asimov) (from the NYTimes DIGEST update for 21 April 2004. Scroll down for the appropriate link.)

Soba

[Pan]

So now I know that the photos were for a review in the Times, rather than Newsday! I wondered what had happened to the promised review in Newsday.

Great review, and they deserve it.

[slkinsey]

Sounds great. Can anyonie share some thoughts comparing Spicy & Tasty to GSIM?

[Pan]

I think it's better, and has more variety of offerings, especially in terms of cold dishes. I also think that Sichuan Dynasty, about 2 1/2 blocks from Spicy & Tasty, is probably better than Grand Sichuan, though it's been a few months since I've gone to Sichuan Dynasty.

[Pan]

Today's post could be subtitled "How a meal cheered me up."

I had a tough day at work, but as usual on my short day at Queensborough, I got to Flushing around 4ish, and decided to go back to Spicy & Tasty again. By now, I'm a regular and got a friendly reception as such by the staff. The effect of the Asimov review was somewhat evident, as the restaurant was less empty than usual at such a time, and for the first time, I saw non-Chinese people other than me eating there - one table of 3 elderly ladies (2 white and one black) and one two top of a young white couple (I overheard him say to the waitress that he liked spicy food and she didn't), and there was also a black lady getting food for takeout, I think. Other than that, there was a large and animated party of Chinese teenagers hanging out after school. I spoke briefly with the group of elderly ladies, and they confirmed that they had been prompted to try the place because of the New York Times review, and also that they got dishes that Asimov recommended and liked them.

Anyway, I got Spicy Sliced Pork Kidneys, a cold dish, and Dry Sauteed Bitter Melon. The pork kidney dish was interesting. The sliced kidneys have a subtle taste in that context and are almost a texture among the hot oil, Sichuan pepper, et al. It was a good effect. The bitter melon, though, was outstanding, probably the best bitter melon dish I've had so far. The amount of oil used for frying was substantial, which I think cut the bitterness of the melon. (Still, when I first bit into it, it was a little bit of a shock to the system; however, I got used to it pretty quickly.) It was accompanied by a lot of little bits of chopped pork, a few slices of moderately hot long green chilis (the thin ones, not the shorter, thicker jalapenos), scallions, and some other stuff. And maybe the best part was the refreshing bittersweet aftertaste it left in my mouth when I was done.

I walked over to the corner of 39th Av. to get a large sized iced taro green milk tea, and all was well once again.

[Pan]

enrevanche, you were missed. To everyone else, I'm really glad you came. It was nice to meet some new faces and say hello to people I knew from before. The 10 of us had a wonderful time!

We had the following cold dishes:

Shredded Chicken w. Spicy Sauce

Beef Tendon in Red Chili Sauce

Chinese Eggplant w. Garlic Sauce

Jelly Fish w. Sesame Oil Sauce

Cold Noodles w. Red Chili Sauce

The eggplant is a favorite of mine and was great, as usual. I'm also a big fan of the flavorful jellyfish dish, though some of the crowd seemed not to like it as much as I do. We were unable to identify the green herb in the green sauce. The beef tendon is another cold dish I get regularly. It has more than just hot oil; it includes a blend of spices (5-spice powder, perhaps?) and cilantro, making it superior to Grand Sichuan's rendition, in my opinion. I had forgotten how great the cold noodles were, just fabulous! The chicken was also nice. The size of the cold dishes was smaller than I remember, but you'll see later that that's hardly cause for complaint.

For hot dishes, we ordered:

Diced Chicken & Peanuts in Hot Pepper

Bean Curd w. Spicy Minced Pork

Minced Pork w. Cellophane Noodle

Lamb Home Style

Dried Sauteed String Bean

Fresh Tilapia w. Hot Pepper and Black Bean

Shrimp w. Sizzling Rice

Smoked Tea Duck

The last 3 dishes were ordered because our waitress advised us that the cold dishes were small and there wouldn't be enough food. She was right. We finished virtually everything except for a bit of the pork dishes, which one of the party took home.

The lamb was delicious: Sour and spicy. The tilapia was the only dish that was a little too spicy for me - the little pieces of small hot pepper were really potent. It was a really tasty dish, though, and I'd gladly order it again. The shrimp with sizzling rice (which was really rice cakes) also included slices of bamboo shoot and mushroom and was unpeppery and soothing. The bean curd with spicy minced pork was another standout, partly because of some sourness in the sauce. The cellophane noodles were pretty hot-peppery. The tea duck was a little salty, had a robust smoky taste, and came with some good sauce. Really, all the dishes were tasty. I thought the least interesting was the diced chicken and peanuts in hot pepper, which wasn't the dish I thought I had had before.

And here's the kicker: With a generous tip, the meal cost only $14/person (I owe you $6, =Mark!)!

[Laksa]

I got pictures, lots of pictures...

Tendon:

Clockwise from top, chicken, noodle, jellyfish

Eggplant:

Lamb:

Chicken with peanuts:

Shrimp:

Duck on the left, cellophane noodles

Ma Po Tofu (Bean Curd)

Tilapia:

String beans:

=Mark, megc, ankomochi, Banh Cuon + 1.

marscapone + 1, Pan, my +1

Doreen and I had a fantastic time and a wonderful meal. Thank you Pan for organizing this get-together, and for showing us around Flushing!

I hope you guys have no objections about my posting your pictures. If you do, let me know and I'll take them out.

[Laksa]

Actually, my favourite dish was the tilapia. I thought it was really fresh. The flesh was sweet and delicate, and the sauce wasn't overpowering. I avoided the chilies in this dish entirely so didn't have the same problem as Pan.

I loved the duck too. Nice smokey flavour, and very succulent. Let me share a secret with you guys... when the waitress was recommending the three additional dishes, she remarked, in Chinese, that "foreign folks" really like the smoked tea leaves duck. I think she's forgetting she's in Flushing, NY, and not Sichuan, China!!

Well, thinking about it a little more, maybe the non-Asians are the foreigners in Flushing!

Doreen's fav. was the jellyfish. Incidentally, I believe the waiter told us that the green flavouring was scallion oil.

Edited July 4, 2004 by wongste (log)

[Pan]

David, I was right: I did blink when the photo of me was taken. I look peacefully asleep.

Your photos came out great!

And it was great meeting you and Doreen. Some time, if you're coming into Manhattan, we should meet up in someplace in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Edited July 4, 2004 by Pan (log)

[enrevanche]

Wow, wongste, those are beautiful pictures. I can almost taste those wonderful dishes.

Pan (et al) I really wish I coulda been there. Unfortunately, my early-morning trip to the Greenmarket pretty much wiped me and my wife out for the day. We found some beautiful ripe cherries (among other things) and came home and wolfed down maybe a pound and a half of cherries, between us, for breakfast.

We've spent the rest of the day with wretched stomachaches. Stupid us. I've been drinking diluted iced tea all day and cursing the gods. We washed the cherries very thoroughly and everything - I have no idea what went wrong, as I've eaten far more fruit than this at one sitting with no trouble before.

Anyway, delighted that everyone had a good time.

[Laksa]

Michael, sorry about the picture. Here's one taken at Relax Tea Room, and you look to be wide awake!

me, Pan, ankomochi, megc, Doreen (she's going to sign up for her own egullet user id)

We go down to Manhattan pretty often. Would love to meet up with you next time we're down there!

[Pan]

I didn't mind the picture of me with my eyes closed. It's kind of funny!

Thanks again for taking charge of the photography and also for speaking with the waitress in Chinese. It wasn't essential for someone in our party to speak and read Chinese, but it certainly helped. Incidentally, when I called to get and confirm reservations, I was immediately greeted with a "Wei - Ni hao" and probably something else I didn't understand, and the small amount of Mandarin I know helped. ("Ni hao. Ni hue shuo Yingwen ma?" )

[=Mark]

I got pictures, lots of pictures...

Tendon:

You know I was kidding about having these posted before I got home, right?

Edited July 4, 2004 by =Mark (log)

[Suzanne F]

Boy, Chinese food in Flushing sure has improved since I grew up going to Joy Wah. That all looks soooooooooooo good.

Pan, how did the tendon compare to the version at Yeah?

[Pan]

I don't know if it's better, but it's at least as good and different.

[Laksa]

You know I was kidding about having these posted before I got home, right?

I knew you were kidding. The reason I was posting pictures at 1am is because I am now a slave to eGullet. It's all I live for!

[Jason Perlow]

I didn't mind the picture of me with my eyes closed. It's kind of funny!

Well, it does help you fit in with the crowd.