Eating In Translation

Heat Noodle

"Wuhan style cool noodle" was the one menu item whose name (English name, that is) suggested a regional cuisine. I loved the chewiness of the thin noodles, even as I despaired of identifying all the toppings, and I was surprised by the accompanying cup of soup — chilled, lightly sweet mung bean soup. The chef-owner himself does come from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in central China, according to a lady who placed her own order a few minutes later.

She also pointed out that the first item on the menu, "hot dry noodle" (热干面, rè gān miàn) is Wuhan's emblematic dish; her husband "has them every day." On a recent visit, after passing a mandatory temperature check at the food-court entrance and later stripping the takeout trappings from my order, so did I.

Heat Noodle
New World Mall food court, stall 10
136-20 Roosevelt Ave. (Main-Union Sts.), Flushing, Queens
917-908-0908

Henan Flavor

This restaurant serves five varieties of kou wan — literally, "invert bowl," or upend the cooking vessel, over the serving plate. Even when dining in, the practice is not universal, and it certainly would have been unwise at an improvised setting by the roadside. My bowl featured 16 loose-knit pork meatballs in anise-scented broth. A small surcharge added a portion of roughly torn wheat noodles for which the province of Henan, breadbasket of central China, is also famous.

Henan Flavor (aka Henan Fengwei)
136-31 41st Ave. (Main-Union Sts., downstairs), Flushing, Queens
718-762-1818

Stir-fried chestnut cart

In normal times this fellow also deals in stir-fried sunflower seeds and peanuts, and grilled sweet potatoes, as well as chestnuts. Considering the foot traffic — he's stationed outside that bastion of hands-on business, the local post office — masks, gloves, and bottles of sanitizer might now be even more appealing as impulse buys.

Stir-fried chestnut cart
East side of Main St. between Sanford and Maple Aves., Flushing, Queens

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao

I nibbled the top of these soup dumplings, with crab-and pork (above) and with chicken (below), only to ventilate them, and to add ginger and black vinegar. Rather than slurp, I took in each spoonful whole, then enticed it to burst — a more delightful experience when the dumpling skin is thinner.

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao
3916 Prince St. (at 39th Ave.), Flushing, Queens
718-321-3838
www.NanXiangXiaoLongBao.com

Fu Ran

Fu Ran, one of the first and most celebrated Dongbei restaurants in Flushing, has closed its doors (H/T Joe DiStefano). The owner, whose Great Neck restaurant New Fu Run remains open, reportedly is seeking a new Queens home for what he calls Muslim lamb chops, shown here. For more great chow from meals dating back to 2007, see my photos on Flickr.

Fu Ran (previously known as Fu Run, and before that Waterfront International)
4009 Prince St. (Roosevelt Ave.-40th Rd.), Flushing, Queens
718-321-1363

Corner 28

Despite moving to midblock five years ago, Corner 28 retained its name. Its general configuration, too — dining area upstairs, serving area downstairs — although that lower level seems to be shared with several subtenants. In downtown Flushing, similar carve-outs of restaurant and supermarket space are increasingly common.

From the dim sum display (only a fraction is shown): pan-fried red bean cakes. They nestled on an upper shelf beside cakes fashioned from taro and, palest, turnip — still best in my book.

Corner 28
13524 40th Rd. (Prince-Main Sts.), Flushing, Queens
718-886-6628

Nurlan Restaurant

As served by Nurlan, a Uyghur restaurant across the street from Flushing's botanical garden, da pan ji lives up to its Chinese name — literally, "big plate chicken." But beneath are ribbonlike belt noodles (second photo), and when both chicken and noodles are gone (third photo), the plate is still enticing. They have a bread for that.

Previously, the comfort of SpaghettiOs without the Os: ding-ding laghman, fat noodles sliced into spoonable nubbins. For more photos, see my collection on Flickr.

H/T Sam Oppenheim

Nurlan Restaurant
4339 Main St. (Dahlia-Elder Aves.), Flushing, Queens
718-987-9878

Meal Mart

Like the smaller nokedli, the soft, potato-based dumplings called nudli have their roots in Hungary and in the western parts of present-day Romania. Sweet versions, shrouded in ground poppy seeds and sugar, are still prepared in the old country; in the kosher shops of Kew Garden Hills, Queens, where these dumplings are known as shlishkes, the readily available style is savory, coated in breadcrumbs. Shlishkes function as a side dish and are meant to be served hot, but sneaking a few before you get home won't hurt.

Also shown, and likewise beloved in the same homelands: noodles with cabbage.

Meal Mart
72-10 Main St. (72nd Ave.-72nd Dr.), Kew Gardens Hills, Queens
718-261-3300
www.MealMartOnMainStreet.com
Also at 1920 Ave. M (Ocean Ave.-East 19th St.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-998-0800
www.MealMart1920.com
(Two of many locations)

Friendship BBQ

In the company of well-seasoned Chinese skewers, vegetables at Friendship BBQ are assertive, too, sometimes almost inartfully so. Shown: garlic okra, garlic eggplant, spicy cumin lotus root — and a shrimp, before its body was laid to waste and its head, sucked clean.

Friendship BBQ
13676 39th Ave. (Main-Union Sts.), Flushing, Queens
347-542-3909
www.FriendshipBBQ.com

Cupid Cheese Fruit Cake

(This venue is closed.) Warm cheese mellows durian, even the double dose offered by the "super" pie shown here. (Joe DiStefano has made a similar observation regarding durian pizza). On a recent food crawl with a dozen friends — none who loves the pungent "king of fruits" as I do, but all of them game to try something new — this ready-sliced pie disappeared as quickly as any other dish.

H/T Rich Sanders, Ethnojunkie

Cupid Cheese Fruit Cake
New York Food Court
133-35 Roosevelt Ave. (Prince St.-College Point Blvd., stall 18), Flushing, Queens
917-908-0383