(This venue is closed.) Looks like there's fresh thatch up on the roof.
Yi Pin and its cold sesame noodles ($5) were profiled in the recent New York Times guide to Flushing food, so no surprise that the owner guessed my order before I even sat down. (She returned while the noodles were cooking to ask if I also wanted the thistle dumplings, likewise praised by the Times, but I had to decline; after all, I was on my way to dinner.)
Before she added the cucumber — julienned nearly as thin as the housemade noodles were thick, which greatly benefited the back-and-forth of flavors when I plucked them together from the bowl — she emerged briefly with a dipper of deep red, thick hot sauce, and seemed happy when I gestured for a healthy portion. Clearly, she disdains peanut-buttery goo on her sesame noodles, as you can tell by the bare leavings in the photo below.
Yi Pin Chinese Cuisine
40-04 Union St. (near Roosevelt Ave.), Flushing, Queens
718-939-3489
