Posted by Joe DiStefano, May 19, 2009 at 2:10 PM
"It was fiendishly hot. So much that Hell Chicken might be a better moniker."
It’s been far too long since I partook in the fiery fare at stall No. 31 in Flushing's Golden Shopping Mall. The last time I visited Cheng Du Tian Fu Xiao Shi, or "Chengdu Heavenly Plenty Snack Restaurant" there was no picture menu. One of these pictures drew me back to this temple of Sichuan cuisine. As I was leaving the food court with some out-of-town guests who I'd turned on to spicy lamb face salad and lamb burgers I noticed a dish labeled “Heaven Chicken.”
I insisted we try it, but my friends demurred. At that very moment I knew Heaven Chicken would be my next Golden Shopping mall meal, if only because the name sounded like an inversion of a fried chicken joint.
Continue reading »
Posted by Joe DiStefano, March 13, 2009 at 10:00 AM
In my never ending quest to spend every single waking minute of eating in Flushing, I tend to overlook its wonderful markets. So I decided to pay a visit to the sprawling New A&N Food Market, but not to buy groceries (though I did purchase a bag of sweet lady apples)—I was there to visit the satellite location of Xi’an Famous Foods. Even though his mothership lies only a couple of blocks away in the Golden Shopping Mall the enterprising gent known as Liang Pi set up shop here about a week ago. Guess he wanted to fill the void left by the loss of the street-front space he had at Shi Hong Mall.
Continue reading »
Posted by Joe DiStefano, November 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM
“Eating is fun, happy Every day!!” That statement rings so true that I’d get the Chinese characters tattooed down my arm, if only that is what the sign said. Zi bu yang rou hui mian means something to the effect of "delicious lamb braised soup noodle." And that’s also a statement that rings true. This handwritten sign is an ad for the lamb noodle soup place in the Golden Shopping Mall. When I saw it I almost made off with it since it was situated near some trash cans. Instead, I decided to just order a bowl.
Continue reading »
Posted by Joe DiStefano, October 10, 2008 at 1:30 PM
It’s only a five-minute walk from Flushing’s Chinatown, but College Point Boulevard has always been a wasteland when it comes to Chinese food, regional or otherwise. Now that is starting to change thanks to a new Chinese spot that sprang up seemingly overnight in a former check cashing store, next to a joint called El Palacio de las Empanadas. Gourmet Noodles and Delicacies, or Huang Jin Jiao Feng Wei Xiao Chi (which technically means “Golden Corner Local Delicacies”), isn’t exactly new though. It’s an outpost of a stall from the Golden Shopping Mall that serves cuisine from Wenzhou, a coastal Chinese city south of Shanghai. For whatever reason I’d never explored the food in the Wenzhou stall. Perhaps it’s because the food court has so many other distractions to dazzle the taste buds. Both locations are run by a charming couple. The husband hails from Taiwan, and the wife, who’s the chef, comes from Wenzhou. Photos of about 30 such delicacies line the wall, many of them cold dishes showcasing one form of offal or another. Right now most don’t have names or descriptions, but the folks behind the counter will be glad to help you order. In the past week I managed to work my way through six of these dishes.
Continue reading »
Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 15, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Long before the New York Times wrote about the wonderful regional Chinese fare available in the food court of Flushing’s Golden Shopping Mall serious eaters were abuzz about the fantastic lamb noodle soup available in a joint across from a hairdresser on the food court’s upper level. It was a wondrous concoction of hand-pulled noodles along with chunks of meat and other goodies. Sadly the place closed last summer. Every now and then I’d go back to see if it was reopening. Eventually I gave up and started focusing my eating on the food court’s lower level. The other day I decided to give it another shot. As I approached the hairdresser I noticed a day-glow orange sign, in Chinese. In between the two lines of characters was the English translation: lamb noodle soup.
Continue reading »
Posted by Zach Brooks, July 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing. Photos by Joe DiStefano
As much I wanted to get all snarky over today's New York Times piece about Flushing's Chinatown, its awesomeness has me holding back. The Times is habitually late with these kinds of articles, and often will add nothing new to the conversation (did you know there are a lot of trucks serving desserts in the city?) But this one breaks the mold, interspersing delicious sounding recommendations with personal stories from some of the best cooks hiding in Flushing's many makeshift food courts. The best part? An interactive map of 20 great things to eat in the area; or as I like to call it, my newest checklist.
Related:
Off the Beaten Path: Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing
Posted by Joe DiStefano, June 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
In January, when I first visited the food court of Flushing's Golden Shopping Mall, I had no idea that the mall's Mandarin name was Wong Jing Xian Chan. I don't speak or read Mandarin, although I am studying it. Most of the signage is in Chinese, but luckily I was armed with a cheat sheet from an industrious Chowhound. Unfortunately it covered only one stall, Cheng Du Tian Fu Xiao Shi, or "Chengdu Heavenly Plenty Snack Restaurant," which specializes in Sichuanese street food from the provincial capital Chengdu.
Next time I came better prepared. I brought a fluent Mandarin speaker, Fuchsia Dunlop. I toured the food court with the Chinese food expert and author of the recently published Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper for more than two hours. In that time we grazed our way through only a few stalls. Did I forget to mention that it's not a food court in the traditional sense, but rather a warrenlike collection of tiny restaurants?
Dunlop was amazed by the diversity of eats and gushed that it was "just like being in China." The folks at the food court were equally amazed by us—a British woman who behaves and speaks as if she's Chinese accompanied by an American shooting photos of every plate. What follows is a guide to what we ate combined with my subsequent experiences.
Continue reading »
