Nine years ago I had what seemed a bright idea at the time, if a quaint thought today: Download a photo from a food blog, upload it to my mobile phone, and circumvent a language barrier to order an off-menu item. (My inspiration, three summers earlier in Xiamen, China, involved my camera's display screen and a cup of peanut soup.) For a recent group lunch at the Cantonese restaurant Imperial Palace, I was late to the table, but my dining mates made out just fine, even though snow pea leaves with crab meat sauce (shown here) still hasn't been codified on the printed menu. To the waitstaff, this must be a familiar request — no picture menu needed.
For more photos — dig the deep-fried chicken with minced shrimp — see the EIT page on Facebook.
Imperial Palace
136-13 37th Ave. (Main-Union Sts.), Flushing, Queens
718-939-3501
