Bright lights, big city: a reprise

[Pan]

Flushing is good for dim sum, or Chinese food in general.

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There are some great Chinese places there of various descriptions, my favorite being Spicy & Tasty, a delicious Sichuan-style restaurant with a fairly long and very varied menu.

There is also great Korean food to be had. I'd recommend Woo Chon, which has a very long menu and is a good place for "barbecue" (galbi/bulbogi), among many other things.

For much lighter fare, I recommend the bing (Fuzhounese sesame buns) at Unique Pastry for breakfast, brunch, or lunch (by dinnertime, they will have run out of some varieties, and you might want a bigger sit-down meal). You can sit down in the restaurant, but most people get the bing for takeout.

Another good restaurant, which serves some spicy food and some that's not so spicy, but has nothing quite as hot as the hottest Sichuan-style food (I think it's fair to say), is Laifood, a popular Taiwanese restaurant on the corner of Prince St. (one block west of Main St.) and 39th Av. (one block north of Roosevelt Av.). Some offal is to be had there, among other things. Taiwanese customers often order pig intestine dishes.

These four places are all within a few blocks of the last stop of the 7 train at Main St. If you don't mind going further afield:

Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant

5650 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 463-2888

I haven't been to this place in years because it isn't convenient to the subway, but it's always been considered a great Cantonese banquet restaurant, and various folks like Jason can tell you about their branch in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which is known for its dim sum.

Note that if you map Silver Pond on superpages.com, the result is inaccurate, and shows the restaurant to be much closer to the subway stop than it really is! The New York City Map Portal (a great site you should bookmark), shows the location of the restaurant to be on the corner of Main St. and Booth Memorial Av., which is a long enough walk (approximately 1 mile) from the train station at the corner of Main and Roosevelt that you'd probably want to take a bus down Main St. You can take the 20A or 20B buses, and possibly also the 44, a limited-stop bus which charges an ordinary fare and runs every 9-10 minutes during the day. In any case, one or the other of those buses will get you there; just ask the driver whether s/he stops at Booth Memorial Av.

Here's a thread you should look at:

THE BEST: Flushing Dim Sum. So far, the best I've had was at Prince Seafood Restaurant, just a block or so further north than Laifood (ergo, about 3 1/2 blocks from the subway stop), but I've been hearing things about places closer to Northern Boulevard and still walkable from the Flushing - Main St. subway stop.

[Pan]

[...]What are ethnic strengths of the various areas? I did see a mention of an Italian place, Sapori d'Ischia, in Woodside in the "best of" Italian thread. Are any of these neighborhoods good for dim sum?

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Getting back to this:

The area to the west of 111 St. (closer to Manhattan), say, between Junction Blvd. and 77 St. or so, has a large concentration of Latinos. I'm not that familiar with anyplace beyond 90 St. or so, but between 90 and 77 St., you can find eateries representing most any Latin-American cuisine from genuine Mexican taquerias to Argentinian steakhouses. I'm not up on things enough to give you specific recommendations, but there's a lot of good food around there, so if you don't get specific recommendations, you could do a lot worse than to just walk around and pick a place that seems interesting.

If you get off at 74 St. on the 7 train and walk up 74 St., you will see a row of Indian restaurants and shops. Jackson Diner is the most famous. Astonishingly, there is no eGullet thread on it.

A bit closer to Manhattan is Woodside, and the most famous restaurant in Woodside is Sripraphai, considered by many the best Thai restaurant in New York. I haven't tried Sapori d'Ischia, but here are some threads on it.

[therese]

The New York City Map Portal

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Bookmarked as suggested. Cool site.

Great suggestions. Does Flushing actually have an identifiable Chinatown? How does it compare to Chinatown in Manhattan?

[Sneakeater]

1. It sort of is an identifiable Chinatown.

2. Better.

[H. du Bois]

Al di La sounds great.

Oooh! I think you'll like it ...

Sneakeater, I've never been able to find Al Di La with the search engine - didn't even know there was a thread.

Pan, that map portal is great!

Therese, I don't really know Queens very well, but the one restaurant I always thought was worth the trek was Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights. It had the best Indian food I've eaten in this town. Haven't been there in a few years, don't know if it's still great, but it certainly once was.

[therese]

Therese, I don't really know Queens very well, but the one restaurant I always thought was worth the trek was Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights.  It had the best Indian food I've eaten in this town.  Haven't been there in a few years, don't know if it's still great, but it certainly once was.

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Indian one of our favorites, so suggestions along those lines welcome

Two other destinations for which I need food:

1. Bronx Zoo

2. Staten Island

[Sneakeater]

Bronx Zoo

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...35888&hl=arthur

[Pan]

1.  It sort of is an identifiable Chinatown.

2.  Better.

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Agreed. Flushing's Chinese area is both bigger and more varied than Manhattan's Chinatown. You can get excellent Sichuan, Taiwanese, Fuzhounese, Cantonese, and Chao Zhou food, plus terrific Korean and good Shanghainese and Malaysian food. And that's only what I know about. I'm positive there's more stuff from other regions, and I'm leaving out the Indian food which is available about a mile south of Roosevelt Av. and to the east of Kissena Boulevard.

Edited June 19, 2006 by Pan (log)

[Pan]

[...]2. Staten Island

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Search results for "Staten" (Island)

Keep in mind that Staten Island is pretty large in area -- much smaller than Long Island but much bigger than Manhattan. It's also much less densely populated, so distances between one restaurant and another can be large, and those long bus routes can be very slow.

If you're going to Staten Island just to take the ferry, my recommendation would be not to get out and eat there, but to go take the next ferry back to Manhattan. If you're going somewhere on the island, that's a different story.

[therese]

If you're going to Staten Island just to take the ferry, my recommendation would be not to get out and eat there, but to go take the next ferry back to Manhattan. If you're going somewhere on the island, that's a different story.

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Ah, so no concentration of commercial enterprises there at the ferry terminal that merits attention. Good information.

We're also considering walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Anywhere close to the Brooklyn end that's worth a visit?

[therese]

Bronx Zoo

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...35888&hl=arthur

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So that's where Arthur Ave is. Sounds, um, heavy.

[Pan]

[...]We're also considering walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Anywhere close to the Brooklyn end that's worth a visit?

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Yes. Grimaldi's Pizzeria, but try to arrive before opening time (noon, I believe) so that you're there when the pizza oven is at its hottest. Go to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory or Jacques Torres Chocolates for dessert.

The River Cafe is also very worthwhile, but it's a (relatively, not Alain Ducasse prices) high-end restaurant and one of the few that requires men to wear jackets, so not really conducive to an August visit.

[therese]

The River Cafe is also very worthwhile, but it's a (relatively, not Alain Ducasse prices) high-end restaurant and one of the few that requires men to wear jackets, so not really conducive to an August visit.

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Certainly not if one's walked across the bridge wearing a jacket.

In any case the music on the River Cafe web site was driving me a wee bit crazy.

[Sneakeater]

I don't know why these good people would have to choose between Jacques Torres and the Ice Cream Factory. (If I were on vacation, I know that I'd do both.)

[therese]

I don't know why these good people would have to choose between Jacques Torres and the Ice Cream Factory.  (If I were on vacation, I know that I'd do both.)

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I'm inclined to offer ice cream rather than chocolate (or, god forbid, both), as it seems like the appropriate thing to follow pizza.

[rich]

Therese, I don't really know Queens very well, but the one restaurant I always thought was worth the trek was Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights.  It had the best Indian food I've eaten in this town.  Haven't been there in a few years, don't know if it's still great, but it certainly once was.

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Indian one of our favorites, so suggestions along those lines welcome

Two other destinations for which I need food:

1. Bronx Zoo

2. Staten Island

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Having lived on Staten Island for 27 years, I can safely say it's a gastronomic wasteland with few exceptions. Forget Indian food, non-existant except for some very ordinary buffet-style restaurants. I live a block from the zoo and there are two restaurants that will be okay. American Grill on the corner of Clove Road and Victory Blvd. is a good American-style semi-white cloth restaurant. Try the oysters and other simple preps and you'll be fine.

If you're a little more adventurous, travel about two miles to Lafayette Street and you'll find Adobe Blues. This is a funky Tex-Mex that serves very good pub grub. Excellent beer selection and very good buffalo burgers. Aside from that, have a hot dog at the zoo or come visit me.

There's no question I serve the best food on the Island, but that's not much of a compliment.

[Sneakeater]

I disgust myself.

(I don't, really.)

[therese]

Well, we're back, and everybody (including the kids) had a really terrific time. Lots and lots of meals, so it will take me a while to post on all of them, but in the interim wanted to thank everybody for their suggestions.

[H. du Bois]

Can't wait to hear where you ended up!

[Sneakeater]

Ditto!

[FabulousFoodBabe]

One place she ended up, with her Movie Star husband, is at The Modern (Dining Room) with the Foodbabes.

therese can tell you the details, but I will say that the room was gorgeous, especially in the heavy rainstorms that came through.

The food was terrific, though a bit salty.

Last, The Modern has revived my joie de desserts.

[therese]

One place she ended up, with her Movie Star husband, is at The Modern (Dining Room) with the Foodbabes.

therese can tell you the details, but I will say that the room was gorgeous, especially in the heavy rainstorms that came through. 

The food was terrific, though a bit salty. 

Last, The Modern has revived my joie de desserts.

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Fabulous and I both happen to have Movie Star husbands. But I'm going to wait to discuss the particulars of dinner the The Modern, as it was later in the week and I'm going to go chronologically so as not to miss a single meal.

[rich]

Fabulous and I both happen to have Movie Star husbands.

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I had a movie star husband once, but then I had the operation.

[H. du Bois]

That would explain the cape.

[therese]

Day 1:

Children (Boy, 16, and Girl, 13), Husband, and I fly Delta from Atlanta to LGA without incident. Flight is a few minutes earlier than its expected 11:00 AM arrival. Girl and I both choose Sun Chips from the extensive range of in-flight snacks offered by Delta. I don't know what the guys ate.

We cab to our hotel, Morgans Hotel, a hotel so chic that there's no sign in front, you just have to know the address (Madison Ave, just north of E. 37th). Disoriented cab drivers wander into the lobby on a regular basis. Those of you who've been to Asia de Cuba can use that as a reference point, as it's the hotel's restaurant. The room rate includes a buffet breakfast that's served at Asia de Cuba, so although we didn't dine there we did get to take advantage of the swank decor every morning. Breakfast included hot beverages, fresh grapefruit and orange juice, pastries, bagels, cold cereal, fruit salad (melon), and fresh fruit (oranges and bananas). So a very nice and relaxing start to the day, and not so much food that you were too full to do justice to lunch.

The rooms are on the small side, but very efficiently designed, such that we felt very comfortable. And if you want some time away from your fellow travelers you can visit the Living Room, a common lounge area upstairs that offers coffee and tea all day long.

Staff very friendly and accomodating. I booked it "blind" on Priceline at a rate of $165 per night per room. We actually arrived before the Sunday breakfast buffet had shut down (noon on weekends, 11:00 AM on weekdays) and were invited to have a snack, but instead we struck out for more exotic fare.