54-46, that's my number: the Queens thread

I don't know if it's the timing but the times I've been to Tangram the mall and the food court have been extremely lively.

But yeah, Zaab Zaab is great, we've only eaten at the one on woodside ave, twice.

A lot of people also swearing by Hug Esan but haven't tried. It's on the same little thailand stretch.

If you want something different than Thai or Chinese there's a million Nepalese places in Jackson Heights/Woodside, this one is near Sripraphai (and my house), we ordered once and wasn't even sure what we got but it was incredibly spicy and incredibly delicious. May be good for a nepalese meal aways from the heart of Jackson Heights: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kathmandu-fusion-kitchen-woodside

mixed reviews on. yelp for what that's worth.

soranrom thai on broadway and 81st st is fantastic, get the crispy catfish salad.

zaab zaab is good but idk i think they lean kinda heavy on everything being crazy spicy

saranrom my bad

xp

Never had Nepalese. Maybe we need to do that.

I think we went to Hug Esan maybe 5-6 years ago. It had some very "artisanal" (i.e. funky homemade) fish sauces iirc. It's tiny.

PBKR you should check the link Gui posted recently in the 'Chinese and Jews get along great' thread or w/e it's called

sounds like your Queens food game was on point pre-Covid tho!

I agree with dan selzer, Nepali food is the way to go in Woodside/Jackson Heights, Mustang Thakali Kitchen used to be my go-to but last time i ate there it SUCKED.

nepali bhancha ghar on roosevelt by the station is lively and the food is good

Also I'm a fan of Tarim Uyghur Food @ New World Mall if you are going the mall food court route

Also Also had dinner at Chongqing Lao Zao on my 40th Bday, not blown away by the food but HOLY SHIT @ the decor

Also also also the supermarket on College Pt Blvd where the Western Beef used to be has the cheapest and freshest produce i have ever seen in NYC

yeah I had one of the meat patty things from Tarim last time I was in New World, it was great.

Mustang Thakali was our go-to at first, sad if it's downhill.

Then it was Phayul, the upstairs location, I loved the vibe up there.

The Roosevelt Ave location of Om Wok was great, they keep winning the momo crawls.

Yes to. Chongqing Lao Zao decor! Not the biggest fan of hot pot in general but for the experience and vibe alone, totally great time.

I used to hit a lot of the various nepalese places in jackson heights and can't even remember which ones I liked best or which is which, other than the first two I mentioned.

My favorite spot was Woodside Cafe which is on broadway over in woodside (not the sean oggs cafe on woodside ave), they have Chatamuri which I loved. Online reviews seem to suggest that maybe they've dropped off too.

And we're big fans of Dawas in sunnyside, which is half sorta upscale tibetan and half hipster new american and all pretty good. That's more of a local for us. though their chatamari wasn't nearly as good as Woodside Cafe. Their Shabaley is great and the pork chili. And my daughter likes the pancakes. She is no longer in her "queens kid who eats anything phase" sadly. Though she does like momos sometimes and chicken lollipops sometimes.

Awesome recommendations everyone. I want to go everywhere.

Lol (and cringe) at the Chinese Quest website on the Chinese/Jews thread.

Oh i thought it was cute!
But the point being how the Bayside-Little Neck-Great Neck corridor has itself become a destination for different regional varieties of Chinese food

I also wanna check out all the recs i haven't already tried lol

honestly you'll find better korean food in the bayside-little neck-great neck corridor than chinese food

Makes sense, there are way more Korean spots for sure.

龜, is there a Korean place you particularly like on that stretch (especially closer to the Great Neck end)?

my wife really wants to go here (still flushing though)

https://witchtopokki.com/

an embarrassment of riches when it comes to places to try, some out that way:

https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-new-queens-restaurants-heatmap

actually just one and it's thai, forget I said that.

the whole list is pretty exciting though.

Great neck used to have an amazing Persian restaurant called Darband's that my whole extended family loved.

Not impressed with any of the current options in Roslyn or GN or NYC but there's a kosher "French" bakery which is the only place I know of where you can try ash-e anar. Also Gino's pizza fucking rules.

Chatanooga is supposedly the best Persian spot but as i say not impressed myself

龜, is there a Korean place you particularly like on that stretch (especially closer to the Great Neck end)?

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Thursday, February 15, 2024 1:40 PM (one hour ago)

dunno - my comment was more that the good chinese restaurants are concentrated in flushing rather than on the stretch of northern boulevard leading towards the necks. but every time i'm around murray hill i remark to myself about the number of really good looking korean restaurants in the area that i wish i had the metabolism to try.

Oh, I didn't know where Murray Hill was but now I do, lol.

murray hill is great, only been to Ziggle, who have an outpost in Sunnyside as well but the Murray Hill one was more fun. They brought out this barley water that was delicious.

just read that Dutch Kills is opening a live music venue/bar upstairs from the normal bar:

https://www.dutchkillsbar.com/debbies

They'll have live music and "vinyl djs".

You think they have any interest in italo-disco and post-punk?

Or will they just look for swing dance DJs.

There used to be a guy in NY called the vintage DJ who'd travel around with two old-school gramaphone type turntables and play 78s. That's who they should book.

https://toptrumps.us/pages/queens

I submitted Sripraphai and Donovans. You can submit up to 5 places, businesses, locations etc.

I would choose Eddie's Sweet Shop and Whitestone Lanes, which i just found out is slated for demolition soon. fuck! Been driven past it a million times but never been inside, guess it's now or never.

Any Litte Manila recs Dan (or anyone)?

78's is a good call, i would say lots of international records cause it's Queens

Also Gui i think you are otm about Northern Blvd but there are loads of enticing new-ish Chinese restaurants on Bell Blvd and Middle Neck Rd

Murry Hill rules for sure, I always wanted to try the Malaysian restaurant next to Gold City on Kissiena for one, online reviews are lukewarm iirc

yeah never been in whitestone lanes. For a while they had a tiki bar attached, which I imagined was the best place in the world.

Little Pepper used to give out coupons for whitestone lanes. No idea how that came together.

Speaking of tiki bars, I miss King Yum in Fresh Meadows. Huge chinese restaurant split into two halves, one old school american chinese with 80 year old waiters wearing vests and bowties serving giant egg rolls, the other half polynesian tiki decor serving pu pu platters while karaoke took place. The one time I went both my dish, some sort of pineapple and chicken thing, and my drink, called a "Taboo for Two" were served flaming. The fact that places like that can't survive forever saddens me.

Haven't hit tons of little manila places though its super close, my wife is pescatarian and filipino places really don't get it if you don't eat pork! Though she and my daughter love ube so there's lots of deserts. There's a pastry shop called Purple Dough near Sripraphai that we're regulars at.

I think people like Ihawan? The one place I used to order from now and again when I was alone was Tito Rads, which is on Queens Blvd further west from the main little manila strip, but they have an inasal chicken that's some of the best chicken I've ever had, and people seem to agree that it's a good spot.

RIP King Yum https://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/nyc-dining-king-yum/

Hard agree about King Yum, loved that place too deep & it left a huge hole in my heart when it closed. Tiki decor needs to die, though.

Good info as usual. I'm mostly vegan and strictly vegetarian, could give Purple Dough a try TY :)

I think filipino food may be one of the hardest for vegetarians! I may be wrong, check out the menus of various little manila joints.

nepali bhancha ghar on roosevelt by the station is lively and the food is good

― adam, Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:55 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

We went to this place tonight. Never had Nepalese food, but this seemed amazing. Goat momos in a kind of curry soup were spicy and delicious.

Prophecy confirmed.

Queens needed a thread to itself, feel like this will mostly just be about food but hey

― iatee, Wednesday, February 23, 2011 8:38 AM (twelve years ago)

if you want more of that, there's a very active facebook group called Eat Something New in Queens that's good.

Went back to Zaab Zaab tonight, the original one. I see they're in williamsburg too.

Walking home noticed some new places, or places I hadn't noticed. Red Panda, another nepali place, but on Woodside Ave

Next to that is Yoku Sushi and Bubble Tea. They have bubble tea, sushi, momos, panipuri, "authetic himalayan piro chips".

Will check that facebook group out.

I wanted to hit Birria Landa down the street as well, but we ate too much.

That was a standout rec from adam, some people need to post more hint hint. The "extra pocket features" one was a classic riposte.

Queens would still be the best borough if it wasn't the best food borough. Has all the classic NYC vibes without the gaudy opulence and the pretentiousness and nauseating hipster bullshit. The 20th century refuses to recede completely away and contemporary life buzzes around the ruins (literally!), and you can travel across time and vast distances in a single day. Food is a great way to celebrate the collision of cultures though! I know this sounds corny af, but i don't care. You should visit Queens, Aimless. It's pretty cool.

You should visit Queens, Aimless.

I fully agree, but I am going to die in abject ignorance of 99.9% of this amazing planet merely for lack of time, money, or energy. But not for lack of interest!

yeah same, for sure

currently at izakaya nana sitting behind a taiko drum autographed by eric adams.

https://i.postimg.cc/GmrWjPDr/IMG-7544.jpg

Put it in the trash

^^^

update: was cursed with the worst food poisoning i've had in recent memory after the meal. up all night on the toilet. do not recommend. also, pretty sure the place is run by chinese people. if that matters to you.

it's on
https://i.ibb.co/tzPptck/IMG-20240226-162251169-HDR.jpg

place is a real time capsule, not the cleanest. expectations exceeded. it's awesome

still has a bar attached, not open at 4:30 on a monday but i had a peek amd doesn't appear tiki themed

Couldn't tell you the last time I was in there. Or don't want to ;)

https://i.ibb.co/kK0Wsvk/IMG-20240226-171014010.jpg

not bad for a f***** who doesn't know how to bowl

114 very respectable in my book.

do we know when that place is closing?

https://gothamist.com/news/council-clears-path-to-replace-whitestone-lanes-with-housing

per this article from feb 8, no construction schedule yet

The Bowlero near the BQE is still in business but that doesn’t have nearly the charm or history

It was still an AMF or whatever and still had some charm the first time I went but that was quickly erased.