Category: chinese

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chinese

Hop Lee’s Crab Cantonese

I really wanted to eat blue crabs and went to Fish in the West Village where they have All You Can Eat Crabs for lunch. This time I had studied on YouTube, watching many videos on how to properly eat/pick a blue crab. The funny thing is they all say they are showing the proper way to do it …yet they all do it differently. Anyway, I showed up to Fish, sat down, ordered a beer, then asked for the All You Can Eat Crab deal. The waiter said they don’t have it. I told him that I was going to eat somewhere else then (I don’t think it a dickish way, but maybe it sounded like it). Then I asked if it was just today they don’t have it? He said they didn’t get the crabs this week, but …they might not have it again. When he said the last part, it felt like he was just saying that out of spite because he was mad I was leaving. It’s just weird, because I thought the main reason to go to this place was for the All You Can Eat Crabs. It’s painted on their window.

So I walked around and tried to figure out where I could get crabs. Oh yeah, Chinatown! So I went there, sat down at Hop Lee’s, ordered the Crab Cantonese, then realized, “Oh shit. Didn’t I get really sick the last time I had crabs in Chinatown?” Oh well.

The Crab Cantonese came out on a huge platter all sauced up. It was delicious. I could even just eat the sauce with white rice and be satisfied. The crabs were all cut cup, so I didn’t get to try any of those YouTube tips. But I do now know that if you really want to eat crabs, you have to use both your hands and get messy. I ate it all. And it’s been a couple of days since and I don’t feel sick.

The fortune cookie I got at the end of the meal said, “The thing one fears most is fear.” I guess that was relevant. Time to use the lottery numbers on the other side I guess.

Hop Lee – 16 Mott St (btwn Mosco St & Park Row) New York, NY 10013

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chinese

Food World Restaurant

I feel like there’s more restaurants on Eldridge Street, but they look like hole in the wall places that have been there for years. I walked into this one where everything was written in Chinese. I didn’t know it had a name, but it says “Food World Restaurant” on the menus. This is right next door to Young City Fish Balls.

06 Chrysanthemum Fish with Assorted Sauces - Food World Restaurant

I got the Chrysanthemum Fish with Assorted Sauces, which is basically a fried whole fish with sweet and sour sauce. It looks rather impressive. The fish was a little off tasting until I made sure each bite was covered in sauce, then all was well. Pretty good.

I’ve had Chrysanthemum Fish at another Chinese restaurant a long time ago. I remember that one was much more crispier to the point where it was hard to eat. This one was much more edible.

Food World Restaurant – 19 Eldridge Street #b. New York, NY 10002

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chinese

Jade Garden (Seattle)

My family and nieces had dim sum lunch at Jade Garden in Seattle’s Chinatown. Decent dim sum. I’m getting to the point where I can’t really tell the difference from one place and another. I just like dim sum. Dim sum good.

I do like how they had red vinegar on the table with the soy sauce. I don’t ever see that. It’s good with almost everything.

Jade Garden – 424 7th Ave S (between James St & Lane St) Seattle, WA 98104

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chinese

Kau Kau BBQ (Seattle)

I met up with my parents to see my new nieces in Seattle. We first picked up some BBQ Pork and Roasted Pig at Kau Kau. The slabs of meat were huge. It lasted several meals.

Kau Kau BBQ – 656 S King St (@ S Maynard Ave) Seattle, WA 98104

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chinese

Young City Fish Balls

I went to the Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival in Chinatown this weekend. It was such a beautiful day, I had to get out of the house. It was a good crowd of people. Kids painting Yamakas. Old people playing Mahjong. Teens selling Egg Rolls and Egg Creams for $5 (combo).

01 Young City Fish Balls

I passed by a place on the block called “Young City Fish Balls”. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but turned out to be a restaurant that sells Chinese soups, rice and noodles (Fuzhou cuisine). I had to go in since the name was so cool.

I ordered the Fish Balls for only $3. They offered it with pork inside or without. It was a good size bowl of about twelve balls. The soup had a bit of a vinegar taste. I thought the balls were pretty decent, especially for how cheap they were.

They had some interesting items on the menu, like Beef Paste and Cattle’s Visceral’s soup. It’s like funny Engrish translations. But my waiter spoke perfect English. I almost wonder if this restaurant’s name and menu was made to trick ironic foodie hipsters to come. It worked!

They also serve beer. I really like this place.

Young City Fish Balls (aka Yung City Corp.) – 21 Eldridge St. New York, NY 10002

Back at the festival, I witnessed one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen. A Chinese mask changing dance (called Bian Lian) performed by Cao Zhen Jian of the Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company. The guy would flash his fan in front of his face and his mask would instantly change …also later his clothes too. It was awesome. He showed his face at the end and looked like Martin Yan from Yan Can Cook. But I probably think every Chinese guy looks like Yan Can Cook.

A video about one of the masters of Chinese mask changing.

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asian chinese

New World Mall Flushing Food Court

We left the Mets game early and went a couple of stops East to Flushing to get some food. I had already eaten the Pat LaFrieda Steak Sandwich and had dinner plans soon. So I didn’t get anything, but luckily still got to taste everyone’s food.

We went to the New World Mall food court. So many choices of Asian food. I noticed this time, there were a lot more plastic and styrofoam containers versus real bowls and plates. I couldn’t wait to see what everyone got.

Todd and Daniel split a big bowl at LaoMa MaLaTang. It ended up costing $28 at $8/lb. I asked why they got so much food? He said because the Chinese lady was an asshole and just grabbed a bunch of meat and put in the bowl. Now he thinks all Chinese people are mean assholes.

It was really good though. Beef, Chicken and vegetables (mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy) cooked with mouth numbing spices. Really good. Just too much food. I saw two small girls sharing an even bigger bowl next to us. They were taking phone pics of it, obviously.

Sam and Dave got food at Conway BBQ. A BBQ Noodle Soup and a $5 Teriyaki Chicken with Rice. Much more affordable per person and pretty decent.

And the Matcha Green Tea was really tasty from Kung Fu Tea. Man, I would love to come back when I’m ready to eat a full meal.

New World Mall – 136-20 Roosevelt Ave, Ste 16. Flushing, NY 11354

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chinese

Mission Chinese Food NYC

I was meeting with Sam and Todd at Mission Chinese Food in the Lower East Side. Sam was shooting the owner for an Australian magazine outside the restaurant. I took a photo of a guy taking a photo of Sam taking a photo of the owner. So I started a blog called “Hipsters Taking Photos of Hipsters Taking Photos of Hipsters Taking Photos of Hipsters.”

The restaurant looks kind of like a small Chinese take-out place in the front, but in the back it’s a cool small indoor artsy garden. The menu is like a hipster take on Chinese food –i.e. Kung Pao Pastrami, Char Sui Pig Ear Terrine, Catfish a la Sichuan. Sounds interesting.

Started off with some drinks. The beers come in plastic tumblers. I was surprised when I picked it up. It was so light. I was thinking yes, this is how beer should come, so I don’t feel like I’m going to drop it all the time. But it does taste different. It’s not as cold. We also had some kind of boozy Horchata drink.

Dang, the food was awesome. I didn’t really expect to like it this much. Bold flavors.

The Chongquing Chicken Wings I think were made with Sichuan Peppercorns. They were strong and completely numbed my tongue. It also had small bits of Fried Beef Tripe. Todd didn’t know what those were. I wonder if he would have eaten it if he did.

Kung Pao Pastrami was good. What you think –Pastrami cooked Kung Pao style with peanuts and all.

Thrice Cooked Bacon amazing with the Shanghainese Rice Cakes. I feel like the rice cakes were the star with the chili oil. Bacons doesn’t hurt though.

Broccoli Beef Brisket with Smoked Oyster Sauce was the least flavorful. It was good and tender, but it wasn’t so crazy in my mouth. I guess it was a good palate cleanser.

That was a really good meal.

Mission Chinese Food – 154 Orchard St (btwn Stanton & Rivington) New York, NY 10002

Categories
chinese

Yi Lan Halal Restaurant

Sam has a car and decided we needed to drive to Flushing to eat Chinese food. Cool with me. We looked at the Village Voice 10 Best Chinese Restaurants in NYC (…which coincidentally, Sam had just shot the cover for the Voice). We picked #1 Yi Lan Halal Restaurant. Why not? Go for the best on the list.

We picked the Lamb Dumplings (20 for $6), Beef Tongue and Tail with Brown Sauce ($16.95) and Sea Cucumber with Scallions ($17.95). The Lamb Dumplings were amazing and a good deal. The other two dishes, I don’t know. Maybe overpriced for what I thought it would be looking at the restaurant. The tongue and tail meat were tender. I just didn’t like the thick browns sauce too much. And the Sea Cucumbers were so difficult to pick up with chopsticks. So slippery, gelatinous and swirmy.

If I go back, I’d stick with the cheaper options like the dumplings and noodles. I just didn’t realize Sea Cucumbers would cost that much. But when we went to the Chinese supermarket across the street, they were expensive. So were the bullfrogs surprisingly.

Yi Lan Halal Restaurant - 42-79A Main St. Flushing, NY 11355

Sam had also shot my headshot this weekend. I’m available for private events.