Cheap eats in Queens

Published Dec 9, 2013

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New York - Fancy lunch in Queens? How about 10 in a day? Here are some hidden gems for inexpensive Asian fare in unlikely locations, from a flower shop to a Hindu temple. While you don’t need a big wallet – prices start at $75 (R750) – you do need a huge appetite.

Taipei Hong: This counter at the back of a small food court on Roosevelt Avenue, in Flushing, serves salty nuggets of fried chicken. The meat is cooked to order and is soft beneath the crunchy coating. It’s $4. Other options include pig knuckles rice and fish fillet with sour cabbage soup.

Li’s Lanzhou Hand Stretched Noodles: This is tucked away in the basement of the New World Mall, where most signs and customers are Chinese. The guo tie pork and leek pot stickers ($5.85) are outstanding. They come topped with a wafer-thin sheet of batter. You break through with your chopsticks to reach them. This is a dish with visual appeal that tastes great. Two other shoppers stopped to take photographs of our food to discuss it. It was the second-best single dish of the day.

Soy Bean Chen Flower Shop: This Flushing establishment takes the prize for novelty. Tofu is served from a corner counter in a florist. It’s soft and fresh and comes with a spicy or sweet ginger sauce. You sit amid the flowers on a stool while the owner – who just identifies himself as Soy-Bean Chen – entertains you. While conversation may be limited if you don’t speak Chinese, the warmth of the welcome needs no translation.

White Bear: This simple restaurant is the place for wonton with hot sauce, not soup, $4.50. There’s a wide choice of dumplings and this is a place of pilgrimage for aficionados.

Corner 28: This tiny stall serves Peking duck wraps for $1. You might not think they could be very good for that price. They are. Standing on a crowded pavement eating duck for a buck is a treat.

Xi’an Famous Foods: This basement venue is a hidden gem. Other branches will soon include one on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.

Wherever you go, the spicy cumin lamb burger ($3.25) is superb. It was the best of about 15 dishes I tried in Queens. The tiger vegetable salad ($4.75) with coriander, green peppers, green onions, celery and jalapeno peppers, dressed in a sesame vinaigrette, came close. Information: xianfoods.com/

Ganesh Temple Canteen: The full name of this Hindu temple is Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam. It is quite a mouthful before you even get to the canteen, in a basement reached via steps at the side of the building. It’s like eating in a gymnasium, only the vegetarian food is probably better. The paper dosa ($3.50) – a crêpe that’s bigger than your head – is a must. https://nyganeshtemple.org/canteen

Phayul: Of all the establishments I visited, this small upstairs restaurant serving Tibetan food was the most charming. Block out the sounds and sights of Jackson Heights and you might be in Lhasa. (To be honest, the closest I’ve come is Kathmandu.) Momo dumplings are the house specialty and there are six varieties, including Ja Sha (chicken) at $4.99. Another speciality is Tsak Sha Chu Rul beef and Tibet cheese soup. It is spicy and tangy. Butter tea is served.

Baul Daada Jal Muri Shop: This is a Jackson Heights food cart whose owner combines an array of nuts and chickpeas and dressings by hand into a crunchy mix, squirting in mustard and other lubricants. It’s like watching a skilled barman creating a fine martini. Alas, the flavour isn’t that of a fine martini, but in terms of spectacle, it’s up there.

Tawa Food: Okay, I admit it. I wasn’t eating this much by this stage and I’m going to have to take it on trust that it was authentic Himalayan fare at the Dhaulagiri Kitchen, inside Tawa Food. My food-spattered notes mention goat offal, beans with anchovies in spicy sauce, cucumber and green pea pickle. Rock music played and a television showed Bollywood movies. Sorry, I am going to have to lie down now. – Bloomberg News

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