Headed out to Flushing to finally try the Golden Mall everyone always blogs about. The last time I tried to find it, I didn’t have an iPhone to tell me where to go and what I should eat. I still don’t have an iPhone, so it’s smart to go with Brian and Jimmy, who can speak Chinese really well and even read what’s on the menu. Although they now have a lot of English writing everywhere, probably because of all the blogging folks, so don’t be too scared.
First off, the place is amazing. Nothing I’ve really seen before. A bunch of tiny food stalls down in a basement all cramped together, making regional dishes that look exotic. This here is the food blogger’s wet dream.
We started off with Liang Pi Cold Skin Noodles ($4) and Savory Cumin Lamb Burger ($2.50) at Xi’an Famous Foods. The lamb burger is just as tasty as the newer Manhattan location. The Lian Pi Cold Skin Noodles have a great flavor, but why is it cold? I can imagine it tasting better hot.
Then we walked around and into the first stall, Cheng Du Tian Fu, specializing in Sichuan. Brian asked the lady what their best dishes were. She recommended the Beef Tripe with Hot Pepper Sauce and the Dumplings with Chili Sauce. Then she told us to go ahead and sit over at the Lanzhou Handmade Noodle stall where we were going to get some noodles and she’ll bring it over to us. We noticed a lot of people doing that –taking things from different stalls and enjoying them at any table.
I’m not a huge fan of beef tripe, but this was the best tripe ever. Thinly slice and so tender. I’d order this again. Then the dumplings came over and that was the most awesome dumplings in the world. There was some garlic butter on top, like the stuff they put on garlic knots at pizzerias. So good. I want to eat that now.
We also got a bowl of Mutton Handpulled Noodles from Lanzhou and some veggies from a neighboring stall. They were decent. As I was watching the guy hand pull our noodle, I realized that the way he was doing it is just making one super long noodle in our bowl. That’s interesting. You could really go to town with a giant slurp. Jimmy and I almost did Lady and the Tramp.
The plum drink was hardcore. Really strong. Couldn’t drink more than a few sips, but interesting enough to try.
Funny enough, we ran into Todd and Sirin there. But I guess it makes sense. New York is a big city, small world. So I guess that makes Flushing, Big Trouble in Little China.
Golden Mall – 41-28 Main St. Flushing, NY 11355
[…] Tomorrow (Sat. July 3rd) is the Grand Opening of the 2nd Manhattan Xi’an Famous Foods. According to Hideki K. on Yelp, the 1st 400 customers get a free burger. Â (UPDATE: You had to RSVP and it’s been filled to capacity. You can still buy food tomorrow though). I looked through the window just now and the menu prices seem about the same as the other locations ($2.50 for a Savory Cumin Lamb Burger). Now that these lamb burgers and cold noodles are so accessible, I wonder if people will still venture out to Flushing to the rad Golden Mall food stalls. […]