Flushing is not my favorite neighborhood to visit. It isn’t far, and it is indeed loaded with cheap eats and amazing Asian restaraunts for really cheap, but it’s so crowded on weekends and filled with rude people who push you and aggressively block you and just… I don’t like it. I also don’t like the embarrassing moments that occur because I look like I fit in, but I don’t. (To put it more plainly, when people try to speak Asian languages to me and I stare back blankly and am reminded, once again, just how crappy my Chinese is.)
However, when I hurt myself recently, I was instructed to get an X-ray on my ankle, and the X-ray facility was in Flushing. Since I chose to go on a weekday afternoon, it was slightly less crowded, and I maneuvered my way into getting another Flushing Feast. Mmm. All food seen above, which came to $11.25. Seems like $11 is the magic number for when I decide it’s too much food… 🙂
More Peking duck buns… but this time just two. Perfect.
What’s this!? This is the gua bao from Gu Shing that I didn’t manage to get last time. This monstrosity was $2! The pork belly meltingly delicious, while the sugared peanuts with the slightly pickled mustard greens… then the lovely brightness of cilantro… I really liked this. I would absolutely seek this out again. OMG. *tears of joy* $2 and this could be lunch.
Wo tip, or fried dumplings… I grew up getting them from this place. There’s no name that I could see, but it’s on the side street by Starbucks, across the way. These got a little soggy during my run home, but they were delicious and even better quickly toasted. Gosh, I remember the days of 5/$1, but these were 4/$1.25. Yum.
Duck wings! Yes, they look a little scary, I imagine, to someone who didn’t grow up eating these. But I did. You mostly gnaw the skin off the wing tips, and then there’s a bit of meat on the wing itself. They’re fun to eat, though pretty oily, so you’ll want to eat these during… maybe a baseball game on TV? 🙂 $2.50 for that giant container. I actually wound up picking the meat off the remainder – after I’d eaten about half the container during a baseball game on TV – to make duck fried rice.
Mai fun, I think this is called. Lots of veggies which I like, and only $1.25! How any single person could eat that entire container and still be hungry beats me. I wound up bringing some for bento one day, actually. This was a little bland so I splashed a bit of hot sauce on it to waken it up and boy howdy was that yummy. 🙂
More of those pork buns (4/$1.25) I talked about last time… except this time, with
shot of the innards! Juicy delicious, perfect for breakfast. Or eat 3 of them for lunch one day. Which I did 😉
Those chicken drumsticks I talked about last time but didn’t get – fried to perfection, crispy – even after a stint in a wax bag for a while, then some time in the fridge… delicious and full size. 2/$1 or 75c for one. Obviously I got two. Yes they are greasy but they taste fresher and better than the ones from the local takeout place you might usually get your fried chicken from…. 😉
I am renewing my love of Flushing, though I’m pretty sure I’d still prefer to keep my jaunts to weekdays between the hours of 9-5… with so much cheap, delicious food to be had, I may have to revise that… or quit my job and start writing about food permanently. 🙂
Happy eating!
see previous post for locations/map
SkippyMom says
Okay – you are right – I had to skate [fast] past the pic of the duck wings as I have never had them [but I grew up eating squirrel, go figure] and the pic squeeed me out. Otherwise, that is a boatload of damn goodlookin' food on the cheap. I could eat for a week on all of that! 🙂 Nicely done.
Nummy 😉
Ailin says
that pork belly bao looks soooo gooooood… drool. and this is before my lunch of soup and mei fun. which is yummy but not exactly meat. this is why i left flushing. all those rude pushy people! but i miss the easy access to multiple food choices. not enough choices in our neighborhood
Nicholas says
You're going to make me fail school with all the Flushing trips I'm OBLIGATED to take now. The Gua Bao costs about the same as in Asia… but looks bigger, that makes me smile haha.
Lucy says
Those duck wings look fantastic! They're my favourite meat snack since I was old enough to nibble on one. My grandpa still buys them for me when he knows I'll be visiting.
Hungry says
Oh man, you just reminded me of so many good food memories from my childhood.
chubbychinesegirl says
Have you ever tried the taiwanese place further out down main st? around the highway, called Imperial taiwanese gourmet?… very very good food! Worth the trip!
http://chubbychinesegirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/main-st-imperial-taiwanese-gourmet-my.html
LN says
I was thinking about your Flushing run last time I happened to be there… Got a chance to get a box of the $2.50 duck wings, but they were not as flavorful and not as tender as the ones I can get in the Manhattan Chinatown (although those cost $3.50-$4 a box).
I did get a chance to also try the freshly made stuffed rice noodles in the stall right next to the Peking Duck sandwiches. These had a homemade feel to them. I was so hungry I ate them on the spot… They had a good chewy texture, but the ingredient (I picked shrimp) was not inside the noodles, they were outside. The taste was ok, but I’ve also had better at other places.
Overall, a bit disappointed w the flavors of the food, but definitely unbeatable in price. Next time, I’ll try the dumpling places.