Update on Flushing Apartment Explosion

Frustrated tenants are still looking for answers after their Flushing apartment building exploded on July 25...

Pain lingers from Queens blast, victim dies and tenants not allowed back

This was a terrible disaster. I remember driving by that block on the day it happened. Firetrucks were all over the place. queenscrap.blogspot.com posted about this Daily News article.

Kyochon Chicken

I've been wanting to blog about KyoChon Chicken for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it until now (and coincidentally, it was featured in this weeks Village Voice). KyoChon Chicken is my favorite Korean-style chicken shack in Flushing. I mean, there might be comparably good chicken at any of the many competitors' spots but KyoChon honestly takes the cake. Not only does it have great chicken, but also has great beers on tap, combined with great beer specials. Well, they only really have two great beers: Blue Moon and Samuel Adams (the Coors Light doesn't count).

I talked about Korean-style chicken a while back, but it was in a negative review of the now not-so-recently-opened Oh My Chicken, which I can't believe is still around (kicking and screaming). Read the original scathing review/critique here. Oh My Chicken has tried just about everything to get customers from changing the signs out front and on their windows seriously about five times to handing out samples of their unsavory chicken out front to passers-by (like the free Chinese food samples at mall cafeterias).

FOOD: A+
Atmosphere: A
Beer: A+
Cost: C+ ($15-20 person)

KyoChon Chicken 156-50 Northern Blvd
About a 10 minute bus ride from the 7 train -- well worth it!
Behind the Washington Mutual (aka JP Morgan/Chase *wink) Flushing, NY
718-939-9292

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Short History of the Chinese Restaurant

Fascinating article looks at the development of Chinese restaurants in America, inspired by a past exhibit at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas.

Here's a sampling to give you a taste:

Chinese eateries in America, known as "chow chows," which sprang up in California in the mid-19^th century to serve Cantonese laborers. True holes in the wall, they were marked, as per a Chinese tradition, with yellow cloth triangles. No menus have survived, if ever there were any; who knows but that they served stir-fried buffalo.
...
Would anyone have bet the bank on Chinese food back then? According to Chinese Restaurant News, there are now more Chinese restaurants in America than there are McDonald's franchises—nearly three times as many in fact.

Read the article here.

Delectable Treats: Asian Bakeries

In Seoul, a friend once shared with me that the West was beginning to take notice of Asian treats and pastries, as they are innovative, light, pleasing to the eye, and of course, tasty. This week, the Village Voice has a cool article on the sweet topic of little Asian bakeries and in particular, those of Chinatown.

Not surprisingly, many of the Chinatown bakeries mentioned, and others very similar to them, have branches in Flushing. Getting excited? You should be. There is a perhaps surprisingly high concentration of bakeries in Flushing and there is so much exploring to be done, it's not even funny.

The Korean-owned Paris Baguette just opened up in the Southeast corner of Queens Crossing Mall and happens to be the first one in NYC. This is the premier chain of bakeries in South Korea. It should cause a ripple in the Korea style bakeries here, as Koryodang, the main chain around Flushing, has to face new competition. Not to mention, the Bakery De Paris (or as Koreans call it, De Paris), which opened up not too long ago either.

Finding Beijing in Flushing

"Everything tastes different in Flushing, Queens, the best neighborhood in New York for tasting the true and dazzling flavors of China. The dumplings are juicier here, the noodles springier..." -Julia Moskin, "Let the Meals Begin: Finding Beijing in Flushing." (07.30.08)

With the Beijing Olympics only days away (08/08/08 at 8:08 pm), the NY Times ran this excellent article on the extremely rich and diverse Chinese food scene here in Flushing .

I particularly love the interactive (2nd image down the page). It show's you a picture of dishes from specific restaurants as you mouse over different places on the map. There's even an audio pronunciation guide and when you click on a eatery you get even more photos. It's the perfect tool for food lovers in their exploration through the oftentimes intimidating labyrinth of Chinese restaurants here.

The printable version of the interactive map is quite nice because, in addition to the neighborhood map, it puts all the restaurants and their info, along with corresponding pictures of dishes, on one handydandy little sheet that you can carry around with you. The pictures are crucial when you need to convey what scrumptious little concoction you'd like but quite possibly would otherwise be hindered by linguistic barriers.

There's also some interesting stuff in the comments following the article. A few people point out that the sweet beans over shaved ice isn't Chinese. I don't know, but I've enjoyed it on many an occasion in the Philippines (called "halo halo") and in Korea (where it's called "bat bin su"), with slight differences between the two. One commenter mentions a commuter van from Chinatown to Flushing... I didn't even realize there were vans connecting the two spots. So the next day, I went and checked it out for myself. Sure enough, for $2.50, a speedy 25 seater shuttled me and 24 other commuters from Division St. to right in front of the Flushing Library in approximately 30 minutes.

The article comes right on the heels of another Times article about Flushing; this one about the incredible diversity of places of worship in the Flushing area. Some of these houses of worship are truly incredible. Another interesting article about Flushing's incredible religious diversity can be found here.