Flushing's Chinese supermarkets are the real deal

When it comes to Chinese food there’s different levels of authenticity.  There’s Chinese takeout – those white paper cartons of greasy fried rice. There’s dim sum and Sichuan places that are packed on Sunday with Chinese families ordering from the secret Chinese menus. And then there’s Flushing, Queens, a place that so eerily resembles Beijing, it inspired flashbacks.

Given this blog’s history of Anthony Bourdain stalking (see here and here), I want to say that I came up with the idea of visiting Flushing, Queens, all on my own. Not true. Although, I’ve heard of the place, it was “No Reservations” that pushed me over the edge.

I spent 3.5 years after college living in Beijing. Since I’ve returned to the US, I’ve been on a continuous hunt for the most authentic Chinese food – especially the noodle dishes common in Northern China. I’ve looked nearly everywhere in DC. But like most places in the US, its Chinese population and cuisine hails from Sichuan (the central western province known for its spicy food) and Hong Kong/Fujian/Guangdong, the southern region famous for dim sum.

Finding the dishes common to northern cities such as Beijing and Xian, home of the famous terracotta warriors, is another matter.  I do, however, love this noodle place in DC. Authentic and cheap!

Flushing is amazing. Not just because it has excellent Chinese food, but because its northern and western Chinese food. Think lots of lamb, lots of cumin (taco spice) and lots of cilantro. Its hearty food made for cold, dry winters. And its streets look eerily like Beijing. The shop fronts are piled on top of each other, creating a mess of overlapping neon signs. There’s even people standing on the street forcing flyers into passersby’s hands – another ubiquitous feature of Beijing.

Golden Shopping Mall

Check out the Golden Shopping Mall (Link to Serious Eats’ great overview) at 41-28 Main Street, Flushing NY 11355. It’s a mind boggling collection of food stands and their bewildering Chinese menus. Inside the mall is:

Xi’an Famous Foods: This is the place that Bourdain visited in the show. Find it by looking for the photo of him. The proprietor is an interesting man – prepare for him to try and sell you everything his restaurant. He does however, speak some English. I love the hamburger-ish dish – a chewy roll stuffed with lamb or pork. I also recommended the “liang pi,” a rice noodle tossed with chili sauce, cucumbers and spongy tofu. It’s an excellent dish for hot weather.

Lanzhou Handmade Noodle:  Lanzhou, like Xian, has a big Muslim population, and is famous for its … well… handmade noodles. We didn’t visit the stand in Golden Shopping Mall. I was stuffed from my encounter with Xi’an Famous Foods.  But wanted to order “chow pian,” one of my favorite foods in China. It’s flat, square noodles fried with lamb, tomatoes and variety of other veggies.

Grocery shopping

Chang Jiang Supermarket:  Outside the shopping mall near the intersection of Kissena and Main St, is this amazing grocery store. There’s an entire aisle of instant noodles and a seafood selection so extensive I couldn’t even name the critters. We picked up some amazing fresh ramen. Imported from Japan, it comes with pickled ginger and noodles that need to be refrigerated.  

For more photos of this trip, check out our Facebook page.

I’ve eaten my way through many of the restaurants at Eden Center, Washington DC’s suburban Vietnamese strip center. I’ve braved jellyfish salads, avocado smoothies and spicy crawfish — and lived to tell about it. Here are my restaurant recommendations and map.

The Eden Center is a baffling bit of Asia in the middle of Falls Church. It’s as overwhelming as a foreign country, albeit one in a compact strip mall and five minutes from the beltway. The signs are in Vietnamese, the waitstaff barely speak English and it’s easy to accidentally order a strange animal (or animal part). However, the excellent food and reasonable prices make it worth tolerating a dose of culture shock. These are my four favorite restaurants in the shopping mall (and how to find them):

Song Que: Anthony Bourdain visited here on his trip to DC for No Reservations. The sandwich shop/grocery/smoothie stand is in the far corner of the mall (the far left, if you stand on Wilson Blvd. and face Eden Center). I love the BBQ pork sandwich and the smoothies. The pineapple, strawberry and mango are all excellent. And nothing beats the prices: $3.25 for a sandwich (they raised it!) and $3 for the smoothies.

Seaside Crab House: 6799 Wilson Blvd., #5: This Vietnamese take on a Chesapeake crab shack is recognizable by its porch, which extends into the parking lot. If you want to fit in with the Vietnamese patrons, order a bucket of crayfish (by the pound) and a pitcher of Heineken. But I recommend the fried soft shell crab. I’ve also heard good things about the grilled clams.

Huong Viet, 6785 Wilson Blvd: A low-key restaurant with an overwhelming menu. The waitress enthusiatically recommended the pork and jellyfish salad. I couldn’t find a way to refuse without hurting her feelings.  I’m glad I didn’t. The salad was excellent.  The jellyfish tasted like hard, salty jello — in a good way.   Just hit the ATM beforehand. This place is cash only.

Viet Bistro 6799 Wilson Boulevard #11: This restruant is excellent for Eden Center novices. It was the first place I went. The staff speak English and, with a location at the front of the plaza, you don’t even have to forge past the hair salons and travel agencies. The clay pot dishes, baby clams, the caramel fish, the frogs’ legs, the eel, anything with lemongrass and the shaking beef are all recommended.

Interested in Asian food in the DC area?  Take a look at this previous post on  Annandale’s Koreatown.

I’ve heard it called Peruvian chicken, roasted chicken or chicken ala brasa. However you name it, it’s delicious. That spit-roasted chicken with spiced, crispy skin is served with standard potato or yucca fries. And maybe a salad of iceburg lettuce too, if you are lucky. Cooked chickens are hacked into quarters — as you watch — by a man with a meat cleaver and served on a Styrofoam plate.

I always took Peruvian chicken for granted (it is both the cheapest and closest carry out to my house ). That was until celeb chef Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, made a particular point of visiting Arlington chicken joint Pollo Rico on its DC episode.

Anyhow, with winter dragging on and too much time on my hands, I’ve sampled several different pollo places. They are nearly identical in price — a 1/4 chicken plate costs about $6 and a 1/2 chick about $8. But, to the attentive taste buds, there are substantial differences. Here’s how they measure up:

Crisp and Juicy: (4540 Lee Hwy. Arlington, VA) With this carry out a two minute walk from my house, this is where I head when my fridge is empty. While some on Yelp whine that it’s sauce is non-authentic, it’s my highlight of this chicken place.

Pros: The sauce. It’s creamy with a nice bite of spice.

Cons: The fries are soggy. One Yelper suggested Crisp and Juicy learn something from Five Guys. I think that is sage advice. Also, there is no indoor seating. During the winter, carryout is mandatory.

Super Pollo: The McDoland’s of the Peruvian chicken chains, Super Pollos are everywhere in NoVa. This chicken place stands out for actually having side dishes. For a dollar extra, you don’t have to settle for the tradition potato/yucca fries. You can choose from (chicken, of course!) friend rice, that beats any Chinese carry out, plantains and several others.

Pros: Choices!

Cons: The chicken is mediocre, and only yuppies like myself seem to eat here. No authentic South Americans in site.

El Pollo Rico: In contrast to the flashy — realitively speaking of course — Super Pollo, El Pollo Rico is just the basics. This place is just chickens and tables, but it’s popular. On a recent Sunday evening, the line extended out the door, and the place ran out of chickens about 5 mins after I grabbed mine.

Pros: Excellent chicken, colorful crowd.

Cons: They charge for extra sauce, need I say more.

The Chicken Place: With everyone, even Anthony Bourdain, hoping on the El Pollo Rico bandwagon, I feel I need a Peruvian chicken place of my own. At the recommendation of one of my Peruvian students, I hit up The Chicken Place. This is my new favorite.

Pros: The chicken’s skin was deliciously crunchy, and the fries were actually good. The sauce vies with Crisp and Juicy’s for top spot. This place has it all.

Cons: It’s on Columbia Pike. Brace yourself for the traffic.

My friends who are paying high rent to live in the DC-proper were dismayed by Bourdain’s decision to feature so many places in Northern Virginia.  But to us on the other side of the river, this was official recognition of what we already knew: the suburbs have some great food.  Our ethnic restaurants may have plastic table clothes, folding chairs and chipped plates, but the food is damn good.

And, if you don’t have a cable subscription, the episode is up (for now, at least) on YouTube. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X6X-6EG2wg]