This is another long overdue post; for a while everyone was talking about New World Mall, and kept asking me to go with them. Sure… why not?
And so I went and took scads of photos.
Some random shots around the food court. This isn’t a real mall – there are hardly any retail stores upstairs.
The food court takes up a ton of room. By the way, cell phone reception down there is awful.
The first time I went, StB and I decided to split some things. She went to Lan Zhou Hand Made Noodle – I wondered if it was related to Lam Zhou in Chinatown, but we weren’t able to determine.
Meanwhile I walked over here to get something else.
StB’s beef hand pulled noodles. They were ok; I didn’t try too much of them but she seemed OK with them. Then she said “I’ve never had hand pulled noodles before” and I had to laugh.
I decided get dan dan mian. It wasn’t very spicy, and actually was more like Chinese spaghetti… there were a ton of bell peppers in the sauce, too, which was rather… different than what I was expecting.
Afterwards, we went to get SnoPo, which I posted about already.
But a week later, after I mentioned it to BF and subsequently set off a social media frenzy over the word SnoPo, he really wanted to go get some. It was weird. I’ve never seen him so intent on a food item, and we went pretty far out of our way to get it – not that Flushing is far from me, but we went there, and then to the movies. Very odd. He got mango. They sort of got mad at us because we ordered, then wandered away while they made it, and went to look at the other stalls, so by the time we picked up our order it had melted a little. “It’s been ready for a while!” the woman groused at me, but I shrugged. That’s why these two plates aren’t as fluffy.
I got lychee.
Then we went to the same stall where I got dan dan mian and picked up dumplings. I thought these were OK; they grew progressively spicier. BF liked them a lot, though, and I wanted to say “eff this noise! let’s go to White Bear!” but it was too late, haha.
A few weeks later, I went back with StB and E. The above stall is easily the biggest in the food court (or was at the time)- it’s red, and to the right of SnoPo and Lan Zhou Hand Pulled Noodles.
We all got “hot pot” items.
Don’t ask me the names, I don’t know.
I asked for mine to be less spicy. I’m sure I was obliged because mine isn’t bright red with chili oil. But I was still struggling to eat this – I managed to eat just about all of it, but I was sweating profusely while eating the whole thing, which was OK… I don’t know how I feel about this type of dish. Regardless, I’m going to recommend you not go there, since all three of us subsequently got very very sick. Unpleasantly so. Dunno why: maybe something is not kept clean?
A visit to New World Mall is not complete without SnoPo, so here is StB’s Oriental Milk Snowy.
E’s, but with green tea jello added. 50c extra, decent size portion.
For 50c extra, I got this much caramel popcorn. Boo.
Then I took TT and TC. Here is his honeydew SnoPo, which was actually pretty good. Tasted like a very sweet honeydew; I think he liked it. I know he enjoyed it and thought it was unique like I’d promised.
TC decided to get the $12.95 lobster special from the fresh fish place in the corner. Not a bad portion size, though it took FOREVER to make!
Came with “fried” rice and some cole slaw. He said it was okay, not bad. I didn’t try any.
Then TC finished strong with a coffee SnoPo, which was really fully coffee flavored… I thought the coffee flavor was pretty good, actually. I would definitely get this again.
Overall… I think what New World Mall has going for it is actually what will be its downfall. It’s great to have so many different types of cuisines in one place – a good number of regions of China that I am not familiar with are represented here – but at the same time, none of them does their own cuisine very well. The reason to eat here would be, aside from convenience/quickness, if all of your friends want something different from each other. Then I could see going here. Otherwise, there’s absolutely no reason to go to a restaurant in the area that has the cuisine you seek (Malaysian, Vietnamese, Szechuan, hand pulled noodles…), and skipping this mess of places. Meh.
4021 Main St
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 353-0551
BeerBoor says
That is a lot of SnoPo in one review!
As a person who’d be more a tourist than anything else, aside from the one non-recommend place, would I have a good chance of finding a decent dish just by randomly picking a dish from a stall, or is it shaping up to be a mall where there are definite must-try places?
Feisty Foodie says
Did you read my last paragraph? I guess because I skipped the “Yvo says” and the bolded “recommended/not recommended” it isn’t super obvious… I don’t recommend the mall for food aside from SnoPo (and that, only because you can’t get it elsewhere). The food thusfar has been mediocre at best; all the people I’ve talked to have agreed that nothing was particularly standout. Pass on by and go elsewhere for one cuisine, unless you have a bunch of people with you who ALL want to eat different cuisines.
And since you’re likely to be in Flushing with ME, I will say that we won’t be going here unless it’s for SnoPo.
BeerBoor says
SnoPo!
I didn’t get a feel regarding price vs. taste. It’s not standout cuisine – that much I got – but if it’s super cheap, is it “good enough” to go and check out? Or just don’t even bother?
Feisty Foodie says
I never said anything about price! Are you reading the same post as I wrote? It’s not super cheap. It’s the same price as other places in Flushing (minus tip, if you pick a sit down place).
BeerBoor says
That was my question, then, wasn’t it — is it super cheap to the point where it could be worth bothering to try the food? You’re saying no, it’s not super cheap nor is it very good, so there are no reasons to return.
Feisty Foodie says
Correct.
TT says
it was quite the experience going there as a causasian. ton of options too bad none were especially good.
snopo was very interesting and unique. although it may have been what gave me stomach issues since it is milk based and i ate an entire(huge) portion.
hungry says
Getting lobster here would kind of scare me.
lia says
why? its fresh out of the tank. I’ve had it numerous times.
T.C. says
The lobster was aight. The small sides (bland fried rice stored in their rice cooker and their overdressed salad, which was just slaw) were terrible/ crappy fillers. Only the lobster meat was worth eating. I did not get sick and ate most of the meal. I had it cooked with scallions and ginger. They will cook it other styles too like hong-style, szechuan, etc. It was 13.50+tax when I bought it. The price has now dropped to 12.50 as of this past Tuesday.
I recently had the Lan Zhou hand pulled noodles with braised beef and it was decent. I can see myself going back for it when the noodle cravings hit.
SnoPo was a nice dessert. I enjoyed the coffee flavor. It tasted like mocha.
taryn says
uhh….THANK YOU for this post! lol
I’m house sitting for my aunt for the next week and a half in Flushing…so guess where I’m going for dinner tomorrow night! lol…
I love this area…theres so much in terms of yummy food here!
snow ice fanatic says
i’m not a fan of new world mall food either. but love the snow ice at snopo. if you want to get some of snopo in the city, check out wooly’s ice! not as many flavors but just as delicious!
SugarButter says
I was tempted to get something from the made-you-sick place after getting my Sno Po on (good thing you mentioned it that day). Which, by the way, was super yummy. Sno Po has to remain a treat for me since I rarely go to Flushing; I didn’t even know there was a mall in that space until you mentioned it!