Sunday Chinese (Part 2 of 3)

Last Sunday, the Bully discussed the Grand Szechuan restaurants for Sunday Chinese. Before getting to Frank Bruni’s newly anointed 2 star Szechuan Gourmet over the next couple of weeks (need to do a “post” review visit), thought we’d head out to Flushing for this week’s installment.

A trip to Flushing is clearly not on everyone’s radar screen. There are two typical reasons that folks head that way:

1. Trip to LaGuardia Airport.

2. Visit to Shea Stadium to see NYC’s second best baseball team (yes, I’m one of those hated Yankee fans—but please bear in mind that I had to suffer through the 60’s and most of the 70’s.)

If you like Chinese food, a good third reason to go to Flushing is to visit the Chinatown there. (Note: there’s a 4^th potential reason if you’re looking for miscellaneous car parts. There’s a Flushing area knows as the “Iron Triangle” or Willets Point, where there are many “chop shops” in a fence enclosed, third world type area with highly eclectic and bizarre group of vendors. We mistakenly visited this area when I made a wrong turn one Sunday afternoon, and I wouldn’t recommend this area for most. My kids are still thankful that I did not leave them here as threatened, and I’d recommend you use Google Maps to avoid a similar side trip).

Flushing Chinatown is very similar to the downtown New York area, with many restaurants, Chinese markets and fish stores, local bakeries, and tea shops (including my daughter’s favorite bubble tea). It’s a busy, bustling place, and makes for a fun half-day of browsing and shopping.

While you’re in the area, you should be sure and check out the “Flushing “Mall.” This unusual “Mall” (think flea market), has unique oriental stores including a toy store with all the most popular far eastern toys, specialty Chinese candy and spice / herbalist stores, florists and plant stores, and my favorite, the comb store. The comb store sells an unbelievable variety of wooden handmade combs and brushes that are tailored to your scalp and hair, and each one seems to have its’ own special story. While I haven’t purchased one yet, I may find myself a cool comb on my next trip.

As you’d expect, there are also places that sell a variety of food products, including dumplings that you can eat on the spot, or take home frozen. There’s also a downstairs food court that offers a wide variety of regional Chinese foods, and includes noodle shops, soup shops, and “fast food” restaurants. Many of them look really good, although the court itself could use a bit of a makeover.

The primary reason we head to Flushing is to eat at Spicy and Tasty Restaurant on 39-07 Prince Street. While we’ve eaten in several other places, including Little Pepper which offered the world’s hottest French Fries (cold potatoes smothered in cumin and szechuan hot peppers), Spicy and Tasty is our favorite.

When you walk into the restaurant, your eyes are immediately drawn to the glass cabinet with piled-high plates of appetizers. It will be difficult to discern exactly what these dishes are (even after asking the person behind the counter who’s knowledge of English is usually rather limited), but they typically include an unusual variety of dishes with beef tendon, duck feet, and other ingredients common to Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Food’s show. Don’t be scared!

After you are seated, you’ll receive a long menu to review (no doubt the American version), but there’s lots to choose from. As this is a Sichuan restaurant, I’d recommend you stick with the szechuan dishes. You will also want to tell the server how spicy you like your food, as on a couple of occasions where we didn’t say anything the dishes were not spicy enough for our taste.

We typically start with the dan dan noodles which are mixed with minced pork and hot chili oil. The wonton in hot chili sauce is also a “hot” starter. I’d probably skip the soup as the hot and sour soup is only mediocre here, and there are better dishes to feast on. (BTW- the cold cucumber appetizer is a good way to find a bit of relief from the spice, and a cool beer helps as well).

For main courses, you should have one of the special Ma La dishes which include the szechuan peppercorns that will give your mouth a bit of a tingle. Both the pork and chicken in fresh hot pepper are excellent, and you get both Chinese hot red peppers and the peppercorns in the dish.

I’d also recommend the shrimp with hot green peppers in black bean sauce, the diced chicken with hot peanuts and hot pepper, and the spicy double cooked pork. We also enjoy the dried sauteed string beans, which are the best we’ve had anywhere, although we’ve found this a bit tricky to order here as there’s a “sour” string bean dish that we don’t care for as much that sometimes seems to reach our table.

After completing the feast (there will likely be leftovers), you’ll probably want to take a stroll around the neighborhood and stop at one of the bakeries for something sweet!

Bon Appetite!