Hyderabadi Biryani & Chat

Decent Indian takeout near me. I've tried a few of their chicken dishes including their chicken vindaloo and I think their Pepper Chicken is the best.

Naan

The sucky thing about this place is that it is inconsistent. Sometimes, the pepper chicken is awesome, sometimes it is okay and sometimes it just plain sucks. I will say that it is usually good than bad.

This dish is spicy and has a good medium "thick" sauce. I hate watery curry as it just spills all over your plate and naan.

Hyderabadi Biryani & Chat
44-27 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 353-5577
biryaniandchat.com

Yeh's Bakery / Red Leaf Bakery

A friend told me that my favorite green tea cake bakery also makes good curry beef puffs. I love me a good curry beef puff so I decided to check it out one day.

I wanna say these were $1 each? They were good except that it had one major flaw. The meat to pastry was off. There was just not enough meat for the thickness of the puff. I felt like I was eating more of the outside than the filling which left my mouth feeling dry and wanting more. I guess Fay Da Bakery will still be my go to place for my curry beef puff cravings.

Yeh's Bakery / Red Leaf Bakery
5725 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355

Carnation Bakery

So I was checking this place on Yelp and read that they had delicious fried chicken buns. Being so near by, I decided to give it a try.

Fried Chicken Bun - $2

I don't get it. What were people thinking on Yelp? Was it great like they claimed? Heck no. Was it good? Maybe.

Honestly, the chicken just didn't look appetizing to me. There was something off about it. I guess the best way I can explain it is...ever looked at a chicken and thought "...Is this really chicken?". :) Well, it wasn't that bad. I think maybe they just didn't use a good piece of chicken.

I ate most of it because I was hungry but I had to throw away the parts that didn't look right to me.

Oh yea, the top part of the bun is a tad sweet. I wasn't a big fan of that either.

Fried Fish Bun - $1.75

Funny story about this one. A few weeks ago, I went into this bakery looking for the fried chicken bun. I saw the label that said fried chicken and picked up two. Kinda sad, but it took me half way finishing the bun to realized that it was actually fish, not chicken (I like to think it was because I wasn't pay attention to what I was eating...).

Anyway, this bun was good! The fish tasted fresh, flavorful and didn't taste too oily. That veggie you see is a slice of cucumber (which I did not eat) and inside, is a light spread of tarter sauce (?). It was good! I need to go back there and eat it again to confirm that it wasn't a one time thing.

Carnation Bakery
4605 Kissena Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 321-8168

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao

Found me a new Xiao Long Bao place!!!

Scallion Pancake

I gotta say...this was one of the best scallion pancakes I've had for awhile. It was flavorful, not too thick and was not drenched in oil.

Hot and Sour Soup

This was pretty darn good too. It was actually hot and sour! I hate hot and sour soup that is neither spicy or sour...

So they have your pork ones and crab ones...

This was delicious. The skin was thin. The meat was cooked right and the soup was flavorful. If you like Joe Shanghai and want to avoid the crowds, just come to this place.

Ma Po Tofu

I've very picky when it comes to Ma Po Tofu. I gotta say...this place makes it decent. I would say this would be my second choice after my old fav schezuan place.

Shanghai Pan Fried  Noodles

Blah - this was a disappointed. The noodles were tasteless and it was a bit oily.

Sliced Pepper Beef

Yummy.

I'm happy I found this place!

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao
59-16 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355

No. 1 East Restaurant

Wanted to try a new place one morning and found this on Yelp. I saw that they serve hot soy milk and Chinese crullers and I got excited right away.

Sweet Cold Soy Milk - $1.25

Sweet Hot Soy Milk - $1.25

We got one cold and one hot version. I enjoyed it. It had a good amount of sugar and wasn't bitter at all.

Chinese Cruller - $1.25

I didn't like this. It was too oily and too crispy. It was difficult to eat. I enjoy crullers that you can pull apart without it breaking into crumbs. I barely ate this.

Fried Dumplings (8 pcs.) - $4.95

I wasn't a big fan of the skin. It was very loosely wrapped and a tad oily. You can see the insides from the sides. The inside was not bad though . It was cooked thoroughly which is a must for me. I hate it when the inside of a dumpling is not properly cooked. I wouldn't order this again though. It's nothing special.

My buddy got this. I personally think it's a bit much for breakfast. His words were..."It's not bad."

I'm looking forward to enjoying the hot soy milk in the winter and trying their other items.

No. 1 East Restaurant
41-27 Main St
Flushing, NY 11369

(718) 460-8686

Lao Dong Bei Restaurant Inc

Update Below (7-24-13)

I went back to this place again a few weeks ago. Ordered two dishes. The fish with cumin and a new dish - Eggplant w. Hot Garlic Sauce.

Awesome food here. I love having a nice great restaurant near me.

The last time I got the cumin fish, it was a tad salty. This time, it was perfect. Crisp, flavorful and light.

The eggplant? Yummy too. It's not your typical eggplant with garlic sauce. It's on the sweeter side and I think the eggplant is deep fried so it has a tad of a crunch. This is the second place that I know of that makes eggplant this way. The first place I discovered this dish was at Golden Palace Gourmet, which I have banned (I do have a post on them from the first time I visited). Their service was horrible the last time I went. I can deal with the typical Chinese waitress service. What I can't stand is stuck up waitresses and owners. And you know what made it worst? When I got home, I realized that they gave me the wrong order! I think that they knew that too! I think someone didn't pick up their order and they decided to give me that one. Argh!

Anyway, enough about Golden POS Gourmet. This post is about the wonderful Lao Dong Bei Restaurant Inc.

I can't wait to go back and try their other dishes.

Eggplant w. Hot Garlic Sauce - $8.50

UPDATE (7-23-13)

Went back again and ordered two dishes that I've had before and one new one. I ordered the fish with cumin and Fried Pork in Orange Sauce. Both dishes were excellent. I found that the pork dish this time was better than the first time I had it.

Green Bean Sheet Jelly - $9.50

This was our new dish. I found this unexpectedly good. It was cooked with good flavor and I think it went well with the other dishes. It was a nice light appetizer that went well with the fish and pork. Just be careful when picking these noodles up because they are very slippery!

Lao Dong Bei Restaurant Inc
44-09 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 539-4100
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lao-dong-bei-restaurant-flushing

Lao Dong Bei Restaurant Inc

My dinner tonight.

Small restaurant with about 5-6 tables? Your typical family owned business type of restaurant.

Winter melon with Seaweed and Egg - $4.95

A good flavorful soup. Great soup to start off with especially if you have a decent size party. Looking at the pic, I realized that I ate the soup without eating any winter melon. Doh.

Crispy Sliced Fish with Cumin - $12.99

Crispy, light and well seasoned. The cumin and red pepper flakes made this delicious. It was a tad salty but it wasn't a problem.

Fried Pork in Orange Sauce - $9.99

This was good but not great. What I liked about this was how thinly sliced the pork were. Usually these fried meat dishes come in good size pieces which I personally don't prefer. Someone said the sauce is similar to the peking pork chop sauce but that is not true. This one is sweet but not the type of sweetness you would taste with the peking style pork chops. This one also had a hint of ginger which was different.

Overall a really good restaurant. I can't wait to go back and try their other dishes.

Oh and the lady there was really nice.

Oh oh, they also didn't charge for rice which I think is awesome. I hate it when chinese restaurants charge for rice even if you order multiple entrees.

Lao Dong Bei Restaurant Inc
44-09 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 539-4100
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lao-dong-bei-restaurant-flushing

AA Plaza

I woke up one Saturday morning and I was in the mood for those rice noodles I used eat when I was a kid. I'm talking about those $1 rice noodles that you would get in those karts in Chinatown. Fresh noodles is the foundation of this dish but that sesame & soy/hoisin sauce is what makes you want it over and over again.

...my usual place is the kart by the Elmhurst library in queens however. I didn't feel like driving so far that day so I decided to try a new place in flushing...

Note: The one in Elmhurst isn't the best but it is the best I've found so far in queens...

Pic courtesy of Yelp ;)

This place is super busy all the time. If you ever go there, be prepared to get cut because there isn't a clear line. But hey, this is Flushing so it's somewhat expected.

I got an order of rice noodles and one spicy fish balls stick. I made my own milk tea.

The rice noodles were decent. I found some of noodles a bit firm which to me indicates that it isn't that fresh. Usually, fresh noodles are soft and "flexible". The sauce combination was okay too. The sesame/peanut sauce was good but the soy/hoisin sauce was not right. It was a bit liquidity. Usually, there is some level of thickness to it so that it sticks to the noodles.

In the end, I haven't decided on how I feel about this place. I'm going to give it a few more times and then decide. Hopefully, I learn how to make that sesame/hoisin sauce and also find a good shop that sells fresh rice noodles with little shrimp (I don't remember these noodles having and shrimp...which sucks).

Ahh, fish balls. I love these. It's basically "fried fish balls" simmering in a spicy base. It's really great if you are looking for a snack.


AA Plaza (Right next to the Flushing LIRR)
40-66 Main St
Flushing, NY 11369

Satay

I've tried this place once or twice and was not that impressed. I need to go back a few more times to give my final opinion though.

Here are the pics.

Roti Canai

Not bad

Chow Kueh Teow

Eh

Sarang Burong

Beef Rendang (At least I think it was)

Satay
4601 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355

(718) 888-1868

Happy Family Little Lamb Restaurant

Went to this place sometime last year.

Good hot pot place from what I remember. I think I will avoid the soup base that I got above though...I believe it was some kind of herbal soup base? Not sure.

Happy Family Little Lamb Restaurant
36-35 Main St
Flushing, NY 11354

(718) 358-6667
www.thebesthotpot.com