(This post is based on a visit when the business was known as Grand Restaurant.) It's frustrating, not being able to identify a flavor you've encountered before.
My dim sum tablemates were also stumped, and the cart lady had been unilluminating. If the jellied texture hadn't suppressed the aromatic compounds, perhaps I would have recalled a fragrant pot of tea enjoyed in Kowloon some 15 years previously. Or, if I'd looked sooner at the paper menu snagged at the hostess station and quickly tucked in my backpack, I would have perused the long menu of dim sum. Just one item filled the bill: osmanthus jelly.
Also shown: fried stuffed peppers; shrimp shumai; salt-and-pepper shrimp; clams in black bean sauce; salt-and-pepper capelin (a sort of smelt); beef tendon in honey sauce; steamed-egg cream rolls; and a gooey egg tart with a delightfully flaky crust.
Royal Queen
40-21 Main St. (near Roosevelt Ave., 3rd floor), Flushing, Queens
718-358-3388
www.en.RoyalQueenNY.com