food tour flushing

How to Eat Flushing: A One-Day Food Tour of NYC's Greatest Chinatown

Time and again we've extolled the virtues of Flushing, the Queens neighborhood at the end of the number 7 line that's home to one of New York's largest and best-fed Chinese communities. Few places in this city will feed you better or cheaper, and with an empty stomach and strong resolve, you can fill up on killer dumplings, noodles, and crispy cumin lamb all within a few blocks.

When travelers to New York ask me where to eat, I send them to Flushing. When locals ask me about a new restaurant I'm excited about, the answer's often there. But let's say you have just one day to take a whirlwind tour of the neighborhood. What do you need to try?

Flushing veterans each have their own list of must-eats, and some may disagree with mine. But after years of leading groups of neophytes to feast around Flushing's busy streets, I've come up with an itinerary that's managed to satisfy the most ardent chowhounds. Take a few friends and, depending on how much you devour, you can get away with spending less than $40 a head all day.

Don't eat breakfast.

Mid-Morning Dumplings (and the Food Court of Your Dreams)

Hop off the 7 train and make your way up Main Street to a grubby-looking complex called the Golden Shopping Mall . There, you'll find two floors packed with food stalls hawking everything from hand-pulled noodles to spicy lamb sandwiches (this is one of the first locations of the mini-chain Xi'an Famous Foods ) to exquisite dumplings.

How exquisite? Meet my favorite dumplings in the world : the lamb and green squash dumplings from corner stall Tianjin Dumpling House . This northern Chinese stall sells about 10,000 dumplings a day in over a dozen flavors, but these juicy, aromatic dumplings with tender-yet-chewy skins are the best item on the menu. Also seek out the ace vegetarian dumplings, filled with scrambled egg, glass noodles, and garlic chives. And don't be afraid to ask for some freshly made garlic sauce: raw grated garlic tempered by sesame oil, rice vinegar, and a touch of sugar.

You can get these dumplings (and 98 other varieties) at the nearby Dumpling Galaxy , but they're cheaper here—$5 buys you 12 lamb dumplings—and easier to eat on the run. But do stick around at the Golden Shopping Mall for some fiery Sichuan fare at Chengdu Heavenly Plenty, or Fujian-style tiny wontons at the upstairs Lao Wang Ji shop, or a plate of cold skin noodles from Xi'an. It's hard to go wrong here.

Don't fill up, though. You still have plenty of work to do.

Tianjin Dumpling House

Golden Shopping Mall, 41-28 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355

Lunch, Part One: More Dumplings

With the Golden Shopping Mall behind you, it's time to start thinking about lunch. But first: appetizers. And yup, you'll be eating more dumplings. Flanking your soon-to-be-lunch-destination are two shops with exceptional wontons in very different styles. If you're feeling ambitious, you can tackle them both, or just stick with one to keep your metabolism from seizing up.

White Bear: A tiny, much-loved shop with a well-known specialty: menu item number six, "wontons in hot oil." Light, juicy pork and vegetable wontons with gossamer skins come dressed in not-actually-spicy chili oil, ground up roasted chili, and nubs of funky, salty preserved mustard root. They're as flavorful a plate of wontons as you could hope for.

135-02 Roosevelt Avenue (on Prince), Flushing, NY 11354

map 718-961-2322

Sifu Chio: Also known as CHML H.K., Inc., this is where you'll find the finest Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup in New York. The wontons are packed with crisp shrimp and juicy pork, loaded into a rich chicken broth with some leaves of tender greens, and finished off with thin noodles that retain their bite.

Pro-tip: on a nice day, take either of these dumplings to-go and eat them in the quizzically-named Bland Playground across the street.

40-09 Prince Street, Flushing, NY 11354

map 718-888-9295

Lunch, the Main Event: Fu Run

A growing set of Flushing's Chinese demographic hails from Dongbei, a northeastern region of the country with a taste for sturdy griddled buns, doughy wheat noodles and dumplings, and simple country-style meaty seasonings. Witness the Muslim "lamb chop": a rack of lamb ribs braised until fall-apart tender, blitzed with cumin, sesame seeds, and ground chili to set your mouth on fire, battered, and deep fried. It's one of the main reasons you're heading to Dongbei-style Fu Run , but hardly the only one .

Fu Run's fish is also delicious, from delicate whole-fried flounder topped with chili bean paste to nubs of battered "crispy sliced fish" coated with chili and cumin (fish McNuggets!). An unassuming stir-fry of eggplant, taro, and green pepper ("triple delight vegetables") is a reliable hit with a deep, satisfying brown sauce. And for dessert: nubs of taro coated in molten sugar that you pick up with your chopsticks, drop into cold water to set the caramel coating, and pop into your mouth like candy.

map 718-321-1363

I know how you feel now. You are bloated. You have dumpling sweats. You are ready to roll yourself home.

Don't give up. Now's time for a tea break.

Head around the corner and halfway down Roosevelt Avenue to a near-unmarked storefront that leads you down a long hallway. This is in fact one of Flushing's many mini-malls, and if you take the last door on your right, you'll find yourself at Fang Gourmet Tea , a shop where a fiver will buy you a tasting of world-class tea .

Fang specializes in fine teas from China and Taiwan with prices that can climb to several hundred dollars a pound. But for five bucks you can taste any of them in a serene tea ceremony, a half-hour-ish process that shows off the full range and depth of flavors in a tea by steeping it five times. The merchants are some of the city's most knowledgeable but also the most approachable—don't think you need any tea know-how to love this place. And if you're looking for a place to digest your meal(s) in peace, there's no better spot in Flushing.

Fang Gourmet Tea

135-25 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354

map 888-888-0216 Website

Grocery Break

I know—no more food! (Not yet, anyway.) Instead, we're going grocery shopping, because half the fun of a day in Flushing is bringing the neighborhood home with you.

With 30,000 square feet of space in Flushing's largest shopping mall, JMart is a supermarket to be reckoned with, one of the largest Chinese markets in New York. The selection is astonishingly vast: a lengthy fish and meat counter; aisles and aisles of sauces, condiments, sweets, and instant meals; high quality produce; dry and bulk goods; frozen dumplings, seafood, and buns; and small shops selling Chinese sausage.

Also of note is a small stand called New Flushing Bakery , the sister shop to the location on Roosevelt and Main, and home to New York's finest egg custard tart . Go for the Portuguese variety with its vanilla-flavored custard, burnished top, and beyond-flaky crust. It's best fresh from the oven, but a room temperature tart for the subway ride home is always a good idea.

New World Mall, 136-20 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354

map 718-353-0551 Website

Dinner: Barbecue or Dosas

It's getting close to dinner time, but your appetite may not be back yet. So that's why your next stop will take you on a 15-minute walk outside of downtown Flushing and into the neighboring suburban communities. Hike one way and you'll hit Murray Hill, a Korean enclave with some great barbecue restaurants. Walk up Kissena Boulevard instead and you'll eventually find a large Indian community clustered near a beautiful Hindu temple.

Mapo: If you're feeling the craving for flame-licked Korean barbecue, Mapo is tops , with its real-deal charcoal grill (for a smoke flavor that will permeate your meat and your clothes) and superior marbled short rib for kalbi . The banchan here are plentiful and delicious, and sides like soups are deeply flavorful (and may come on the house if you're nice).

But this place is really all about the beef: order the kalbi (and plenty of it) and watch the servers grill, flip, and snip your barbecue to perfect doneness; no sauce required to cover up this beautiful meat. A meal here is a little pricier than other barbecue spots, but the upgrade in quality is certainly worth it.

149-24 41st Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355

map 718-886-8292

Ganesh Temple Canteen: For something completely different, visit the basement of America's oldest Hindu temple for a taste of the finest dosas in New York . The temple's canteen, which is open to the public seven days a week, serves a whole roster of south Indian vegetarian food, but crackly-crisp, ultra-buttery dosas are the best of the lineup. Try the paneer dosa, with chunks of paneer folded into spicy mashed potato, and the ghee roast, shaped like a traffic cone and loaded, if you can imagine it possible, with even more browned-butter flavor than the others.

While eating at Mapo can get pricey—as much as $50 a head for a big, meaty meal with drinks—you can stuff a crowd of eight at the canteen for 40 bucks.

Ganesh Temple Canteen

45-57 Bowne Street, Flushing, NY 11355

map 718-460-8484 Website

And for the Subway Home

You've done the hard work now and you're ready for a nice trip home on the 7 train. If you haven't bought some already, head to the Roosevelt-and-Main location of New Flushing Bakery to pick up an egg custard tart. Do note they run out in the late afternoon and close for the evening.

Fortunately, Coco is open later and is even better for soothing stomachs. The international chain makes consistently delicious, high quality tea; you can control the level of sweetness, and the bubbles are fresh with a soft chew. My go-to refreshing specialty: a tart, bracing grapefruit green tea with no milk or bubbles whatsoever. It's exactly what you need after a feast day of epic proportions.

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice

39-22 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11354

map 718-321-8566 Website

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Flushing Food Tour: 1 Day Self-Guided Itinerary

• March 24, 2022 July 17, 2022

Updated: June 17th, 2022

If you’re visiting New York and looking for good Chinese food, look no further than Flushing. Taking a 1-Day Flushing Food Tour is one of the best things you can do while visiting New York City . There are so many Chinese restaurants to choose from, all covering cuisines from different regions. Whether you’re looking for the best XLB, Taiwanese breakfast, or simply want to eat to your heart’s content at AYCE hotpot, there’s something for every taste bud in Flushing’s Chinatown.

How to Get to Flushing from Manhattan

But first, how the heck do you get to Flushing? Located in Queens, Flushing is to the east of Manhattan across the East River. Depending on where you’re staying in the city, it could be easier to subway or drive to Flushing for a food tour.

To get to Flushing by subway you’ll need to get on the 7 train. From Midtown Manhattan, you can take the E, NW, or D and then transfer to the 7. The whole journey takes about 40 to 50 minutes.

If you’re located anywhere that’s not by a 7 or easily transferrable to the 7 train, driving may save you some time. Driving from East Village to Flushing takes about 30 minutes, without traffic of course.

Now that transportation is out of the way, let’s get to the fun part. What are the best Flushing food spots to hit up?

1. Duck Buns at Shanghai You Garden

135-33 40th Rd, Queens, NY 11354

Duck buns are one of my favorite Chinese foods, so when I discovered that you could get a single duck bun for $2 at Shanghai You Garden, I was stoked.

A Shanghainese restaurant, Shanghai You Garden offers sit-down dining and takeout. Their menu features aesthetically pleasing soup dumplings, scallion pancakes, and of course peking duck!

If you’re feeling fancy, give their sit-down dining experience a try. Otherwise, just the $2 pork bun will make you wanting more.

2. Rice Balls at Go Go Fast Food

135-50 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11354

Growing up in Taiwan , I often had rice balls for breakfast. Having them again at Go Go Fast Food during our Flushing food tour had all the good memories flooding back.

Go Go Fast Food is your no frills, grab and go Chinese spot that features things like Rice Balls containing minced meat, Pork Buns, and Skewers.

Visit Go Go while you’re in Flushing. You won’t regret it!

3. Mango Smoothie w/ Cheese Cap from Song Tea

38-21 Main St, Queens, NY 11354 (Located inside Queen’s Crossing)

At this point in your Flushing food tour, you might start to get a bit thirsty. Nothing’s better than a good cup of boba (or what some call bubble tea) to go with your food.

Song Tea is right in the middle of Downtown Flushing and they have THE BEST mango smoothie I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot of boba. Be sure to get the Mango Smoothie w/ Cheese Cap. I’m pretty sure it’s the cheesy foam on top that made it the perfect drink.

4. Joe’s Steam Rice Roll

136-21 Roosevelt Ave # A1, Queens, NY 11354

Yelp | Instagram

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joe's Steam Rice Roll (@steamriceroll)

If you like dim sum, you won’t want to miss Joe’s Steam Rice Roll . Only a few years old, the restaurant serves freshly made steam rice rolls with shrimp or beef, egg, and 3 toppings of your choice.

There are three Joe’s Steam Rice Roll locations in New York City, and I’ve somehow already made my way to all of them!

Wanderer Tip: Since Joe’s makes their steam rolls fresh, you could wait a while before you get your food. Make this one of your last stops so you aren’t starving when you get here and are more likely to appreciate a bit of downtime between food stops.

5. Wontons from White Bear

135-02 Roosevelt Ave Ste 5 Flushing, NY 11354

I haven’t met a person who doesn’t like wontons with chili oil. Visit White Bear and order their Spicy Wontons if you don’t know what I mean!

Their spicy wontons are perfectly cooked – not too soggy and not too firm, the wrap is perfectly thin but impenetrable, and the chili oil is so delicious even those who don’t normally like spicy food might want a second serving.

6. Egg Tarts from New Flushing Bakery

135-45 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11354

Wrap up your 1-day Flushing food tour by visiting New Flushing Bakery . They’ve got all kinds of egg tarts: classic, Portuguese, coconut, and even a mango-flavored one.

These egg tarts are perfectly portable and can last a few days so bring some home if you’re feeling stuffed by the time you get here.

Tips for the Best Flushing Food Tour

Not gonna lie, I’ve never come to Flushing for anything other than the food. So if there’s anything better than eating all day in Flushing, please let me know in the comments!

Before I wrap up, I’ll leave you with these tips to have the best Flushing food tour possible:

• Order just a few things at each stop . Over order and you won’t make it past the first couple of spots
• Go with a group of friends . The beauty of Chinese food is that a lot of it can be shared. Go with maybe 3 to 6 people so you can share things and try more. Food tours are funner with friends anyway!
• Bring cash. Many places are cash only. Don’t be that person who tries to pay for a $2 food item with your credit card.

The most important tip of all is to enjoy the experience and know your limit! Trust me, it’s easy to overeat.

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This Off-the-Radar Food Court Is One of the City’s Absolute Best

One block from Flushing’s new multi-million dollar Tangram mall and food hall, New York Food Court remains a must-visit

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The name tells you nothing, not even its location: New York Food Court could refer to any food hall in the five boroughs, but it’s located in Flushing, Queens, at 133-35 Roosevelt Avenue, west of Prince Street, and two avenues downhill from its more famous competitor, the basement food court of the New World Mall. The food court is made up of around two dozen stalls, mostly Chinese and Taiwanese businesses whose prices are affordable and whose menus are only sometimes translated into English.

Though it opened in 2014 , the New York Food Court has gone largely unrecognized, even as newer food halls, including the vastly inferior one at the new Tangram mall, have turned heads. We descended on the food court this week and ordered from each of the stalls. Bowls of colorful noodle soup and sizzling steaks overflowed from a central table, and picking at them, we each chose five dishes that we thought made this food court stand out. The verdict? New York Food Court is a contender for the best food hall in the city.

As workers around us tied zongzi with twine, and stuffed Squirtles beckoned to be rescued from claw machines, we dug in, dabbing away sweat beads from our brows since much of the food was quite spicy.

Sour spicy shrimp rice noodle at Da Wan

The first stall on the left when you walk into the food court is Da Wan, with a menu that lists barbecued skewers, noodles with kimchi, and maocai, a style of hot pot prepared in individual portions that originated in Chengdu. Just about everything costs $9.99, and after asking an employee for a recommendation via Google Translate, I was directed to a section of the menu labeled “sour spicy soup.” I ordered one with shrimp, and about ten minutes later out it came bobbing with a half-dozen whole shrimp, fish cakes, tofu skin, quail eggs, corn kernels, and a whole lot more hiding in the depths. It was an early lesson that the New York Food Court is a place of good soup. — Luke Fortney, reporter

Taiwan-style steak at 8090 Taiwan

Robert crowned this sizzling platter of steak, eggs, and noodles the worst dish of the day, but I’m a sucker for combination plates, and this Taiwan-style steak ($25) scratched several cravings at once. Steak comes medium rare with the choice of mushroom sauce or a more popular black pepper one; order the latter at the counter and hand over a $5 deposit to be collected at the end after returning your silverware and wooden tray. The platter is dropped on a side counter, announcing itself like a plate of fajitas. To Robert’s credit, he found the steak too tough, and to me the steak sauce was sweeter than I remembered, but it’s straightforward, satisfying fare — and easy to understand why people line up to order it. — LF

Lamb burger at Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodles

My palate was shot less than half an hour after stepping foot into this Flushing food court: Too many Sichuan peppercorns and red chiles led me to order a lamb burger ($7) from this food stall named for its noodle soups with lamb and fish balls. (Lanzhou Hand Pull Noodles is not to be confused with Lanzhou Handmade Noodle in the underground food court of the New World Mall.) The outer bun was crisp from toasting, and hiding inside was a generous scoop of lamb meat, tender and tasting strongly of cumin. Credit where credit is due: This is the only dish of the day that I finished in its entirety. — LF

Chinese sausage, tripe, and more at Taipei Hong

Step up to the sneeze guard of Taipei Hong, and pick from a range of ingredients that include prickly pieces of tripe, plump Taiwanese sausage, fatty beef, and a wide variety of fresh-looking vegetables that I mostly ignored. Ingredients are thrown into a metal bowl, priced by weight, and then tossed into a skillet in the back and prepared at spicy levels ranging from “two drops” to “very spicy.” (Meats and seafood are priced indiscriminately by the pound, while vegetables are priced weighed separately.) Three minutes later, out came this takeout container ($16) with crunchy lotus root and hot dogs cut in the shape of octopi. Side cups of white rice are free. — LF

Spicy fish head at Ke Zaoqin

Ke Zaoqin, the name of this business supplied by Google Translate, is located furthest back in the food court, but it’s a line drive from the front door and the first stall you’d likely see when you step inside. Seafood is the specialty here, and the small herd of buffalofish swimming in the gray waters of the display tank called my name. An order of spicy fish head is served in an oversized aluminum tray that would have felt right at home at a backyard cookout. (The medium size, pictured here, is $25. I can’t imagine the occasion for one, but a large order is available for $10 more.) A full head, plus slabs of collar meat, are covered in a blanket of vinegary red chiles and scallions; I brushed them aside and picked through bones to reach the main event of any whole fish prepared in this fashion: Saline eyeballs the size of quail eggs. — LF

Hot and spicy fish noodles at Grains Fish Noodle

This stall micro-focuses on Hunan fish noodles. Hunan food has a reputation as being hotter than Sichuan, and this very filling bowl of noodles ($13) proves it, quite deliciously. There are swatches of fish and a dozen other ingredients, including pickled mustard greens and tofu, in a chile-laced broth, while a wad of relish something like a concentrated sriracha rides atop. Lo and behold, when you plunge into the depths, there are three kinds of noodles ranging from off-white to deep brown, the latter one made with buckwheat. — Robert Sietsema, senior critic

Special cold noodles at Mr. Zhang Noodles

Like many food courts throughout Flushing (where there are perhaps 10 of varying size), Zhang specializes in Sichuan food from a working class noodle perspective, quite different than the menu at places like nearby Szechuan Mountain House. This dish ($8) is a cognate of the sesame noodles more often seen here, firm wheat noodles slicked with chile oil and heaped with crunchy cukes, the perfect cooling antidote to the spicy hot soups that fill half the menus in NYFC. — RS

Curry beef gokui at Fat Cat Flatbread

We were all forlorn when Crop Circle closed on MacDougal Street, at the time seemingly the only place in town to serve this stuffed flatbread that originated in Shaanxi, but is equally popular in Henan and Sichuan. While Crop Circle offered only a few choices, Fat Cat bakes up 10, which are the size of a car tire skid mark. I picked curry beef, but other interesting choices included black milk tea and salted egg yolk with pork floss. — RS

Shepherd’s purse fresh meat wonton at Diverse Dim Sum

You may have difficulty spotting the English name of this Shanghai stall (#12) with some fascinating offerings. One is a wonton soup ($7) made with gigantic, lamb-stuffed dumplings in the shepherd’s purse style native to Jiangsu Province north of Shanghai. Every bite is a delight, and the dark broth is filled out with omelet strips and feathery gobs of seaweed. — RS

Taishan stewed chicken at Gao Ba Dou

The biggest surprise of the afternoon was when I ordered Taishan stewed chicken, name-checking a coastal Guangdong county just west of Macau. The picture had shown a modest serving of stewed chicken, but when the dish ($10) arrived, it was a full meal with several lip-smacking elements. There was the soy-braised chicken itself, and generous helpings of baby bok choy, pickled daikon, a thin soup with a section of corncob in its depths, and pork-scallion fried rice. What a great meal! — RS

Peach oolong gelato at La Mira Gelateria

An honorable mention is in order for La Mira Gelateria, which opened next door to the food court last fall but has a window inside the food court for ordering wheel pies, waffles, and other desserts. The main event here seems to be the scoops of gelato that are named after emotional springtime creatures. Happy bear, chirpy chick, little piggy, and lonely panda are all part of the family, but this time and last I took home behaved bunny, who had stale marshmallows for ears and a sphere of peach oolong gelato for a body. It tasted a lot like strawberry ice cream. — LF

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A Snacker’s Guide to Flushing

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New York City has many Chinatowns; how many is a matter for dispute. While the oldest and most famous is in Manhattan, southern Brooklyn now boasts two such neighborhoods – or maybe three, depending on who’s counting. Without a doubt, however, the city’s largest and fastest-changing Chinatown surrounds the eastern terminus of the 7 train in Flushing, Queens.

One measure of Flushing’s vibrancy is the variety of spoken languages. Flushing is home to speakers of Mandarin, Shanghainese, Fujianese, Cantonese, Taiwanese and many other Chinese languages and dialects. The neighborhoods immediately to the east are densely populated with Korean speakers; in much smaller numbers, we also find speakers of other East, South and Southeast Asian languages.

Another measure is the variety of businesses that communicate in these languages. Like any true Chinatown – as opposed to a cluster of restaurants catering largely to tourists – Flushing is well-furnished with pharmacies and banks, eyeglass shops and legal offices, beauty salons and laundromats, and all the other businesses, large and small, that cater to the daily needs of the community.

Yes, Flushing also offers countless restaurants – we couldn’t begin to tell you how many we’ve visited – but for a Flushing resident who’s running errands, often there’s time for no more than a light bite or two. Although we don’t live in Flushing ourselves, we’ve discovered that snacks are a great way to get a taste of the neighborhood while on the go. Here are a few of our many favorites.

The namesake of Joe’s Steam Rice Roll is cheung fun , a common sight at dim sum spots in every Chinatown. These steamed sheets of rice-flour batter, typically served in batches of three, are folded over fillings such as beef, pork, shrimp or vegetables, then dressed with soy sauce. Thin to the point of translucence, the rice rolls hint at their contents even before they’re sliced for easy nibbling.

What’s uncommon about Joe’s cheung fun is the texture. While many other restaurants employ an electric grinder, Joe’s grinds the rice for its batter in its own imported stone mill; we can see it beyond the counter, when we step up to place our order. Almost certainly the process is more cumbersome and time-consuming, but Joe’s rice rolls couldn’t be more silky.

From across the avenue, the Soy Bean Chan Flower Shop resembles nothing other than, well, a flower shop. It is, in fact, an oasis of greenery just steps from the subway exit and a bus lane. But a kiosk to the right of the entrance, open to the sidewalk, offers a different sort of refreshment: soy bean curd. It goes by many other names, among them tofu pudding, soy custard (despite the lack of egg) and doufu hua – literally, and fittingly, “bean curd flower.”

The genesis of that last name might be the loose consistency and blossom-like appearance of the soft tofu once we shovel into its center with a spoon. Bland itself, the soy bean curd takes kindly to a savory topping of chile pepper, cilantro, scallion and (we believe) baby shrimp, or to one of several sweet variations. We favor the classic gingery syrup. Like the savory sauce, it quickly insinuates itself throughout.

On the occasions when we seek out the even greener spaces of the Queens Botanical Garden, a 15-minute walk down Main St., invariably we walk a few minutes more to Yeh’s Bakery. This Taiwanese shop turns out curry puffs and scallion buns, moon cakes and egg tarts, and sponge cakes flavored with vanilla, strawberry, green tea or a rainbow of all three.

Yes, Flushing also offers countless restaurants – we couldn’t begin to tell you how many we’ve visited – but for a Flushing resident who’s running errands, often there’s time for no more than a light bite or two.

By acclamation, however, the crowd favorite is what the bakery calls 波士頓派: Bōshìdùn pài. Although it lacks the chocolate frosting integral to a classic Boston cream pie, the sponge cake and cream filling could hardly be improved. A single slice is almost impossibly light, and it seems to disappear impossibly fast. We’re not surprised to learn that Yeh’s sells whole cream pies, too.

At first glance the roasted cold noodles at Quicitop (formerly known as Followsoshi) look nothing like noodles (nor, when served, are they cold). Rather, they resemble the eggy stuffed crepe called jian bing , which this tiny kitchen also prepares, and which are a breakfast favorite in the previous home of the fellow at the griddle: Tianjin, in northern China. For both jian bing and roasted cold noodles, the dressings, including chile oil, sesame seeds and cilantro, are very similar, as is the litany of possible fillings. We’re fond of braised pork.

Roasted cold noodles, however, dispense with the jian bing’s fragile crepe in favor of stiff, striated sheets of noodle. These are sturdy enough to be sliced into manageable, sharable pieces, and to be clasped between chopsticks, without immediately falling apart. The texture of the cooked noodles is chewy, verging on al dente; the striations corral a little chile oil in every bite.

Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry are three of the “exotic” flavors typically on hand at the Flushing Ice Cream Factory. Just as at its more established sibling, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory in Manhattan, the “regular” flavors include the triumvirate of green tea, red bean and ginger, as well as mysteriously herbal pandan, intense black sesame and don tot – that is, egg tart.

If we weren’t already fond of durian – the notoriously pungent “king of fruits,” as it’s been crowned in many countries of Southeast Asia – Flushing Ice Cream Factory would provide a gentle introduction. The aroma of the shop’s durian ice cream, while lush, is not so overpowering that our friends shy away.

Frankly, however, we prefer a flavor that’s truer to its inspiration: almond cookie. Better still, it’s a cookie that never crumbles.

If you want to further explore Flushing, join us on our walk through New York City’s largest Chinatown.

Published on July 28, 2021

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Food & drink tours in moscow.

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3. Kot Shrodingera

4. Farmers Market Petrovskiy

5. Accademia del Gusto

6. Culinary Studio CulinaryOn

7. Culinary studio Clever

8. Prosto VKUSNO

9. Pivzavod 77

10. Cooking Studio Vkusoterria

11. Eco Market

12. Moskvoretskiy Market

13. Culinary Studio Julia Vysotskaya

14. Culinary Studio CulinaryOn

15. Domodedovo Market

16. Krasnopresnenskie Baths

17. Exhibition-Tasting Hall Ararat

18. Preobrazhenskiy Market

19. Seven Hills Brewing Co.

20. Lefortovskiy Rynok

21. Food Studio DELI

22. Cheryomushkinskiy Rynok

23. Sushi Povar

24. Food City

25. Gingerbread Museum

26. Masterslavl

27. Fish Shopping Complex Pyatnitskiy

28. produce market.

29. Leningradskiy Market

30. Marusya Gastronomic Studio of Russian Cuisine

What travelers are saying

• Usachevskiy Market
• Moskvoretskiy Market
• Farmers Market Petrovskiy
• Pivzavod 77
• Prosto VKUSNO
• Novikov School
• Cooking Studio Vkusoterria
• Accademia del Gusto
• Culinary Studio CulinaryOn
• Culinary studio Clever
• Culinary Studio Julia Vysotskaya