Whiting Sandwich at Chicken House

While walking down 8th Ave I needed to find lunch. Didn't feel like spending $9 at Pick a Pita, had enough pork this week so no GoGo Curry. Then I passed Chicken House, which I had heard of as a cheap and sketchy little spot, perfect. They fry things here including chicken, fish, shrimp, and fries. I got a whiting sandwich for $3.50. It didn't have too much flavor on its own but the tartar and hot sauce on the counter helped that out a bit. It wasn't dripping grease like I expected and the fish was respectfully moist. The guy behind the counter was really really nice. So for the price and the fast, pleasant service this is not a bad stop.


36th between 7th and 8th

Flushing Mall is more than shaved ice

Flushing Mall is unappreciated as an eating destination. There is a lot going on up in there and it can be intimidating unless you know what to expect and what are the most yummy things to eat out of the many options.

When you walk in there are two staircases on either side, to the right and up the stairs is a little store that sells random food goods from Asian countries. Up the stairs on the left is a store with fun novelty items like a tissue box holder shaped like anime poop.

The inner food court is the main target.

All the way on the right wall is a store front with hand drawn noodles. The make their noodles right in front of you; its a choreographed dance of flour coated precision. The various noodle soups are $4.95 on average. I have enjoyed the duck soups in the past, though now they are offering a "country duck" special that I don't like as much. The noodles are the stand-out component of the soups. Their texture is unique to noodles that are only a few minutes old. The broths are none to shabby themselves, though they benefit from the cilantro on top and the chili sauce on the table.

This stall also sells fresh and frozen dumplings.


Moving forward to the line of stalls against the back wall you will find Szechaun food to the far-right. Dan-dan noodles and other staples are available but I have not yet sampled anything from here.

The ordering system for the middle stalls is rather intimidating because its changes. Sometimes you order from the lady at the front of the dining area and sometimes you order from the different stalls themselves. Just ask, its ok, dont be scared.

Ay Chung food (2nd from the right) has a lot of great options. Do not miss out on the Salt and Pepper squid and Salt and Pepper chicken (numbers 18 and 19) For under $4 each you get a huge serving of tasty fried pieces that are a lot less greasy than you would expect.

To the left, the famous shaved ice station also sells fresh squeezed fruit juices, teas, shakes, and ice cream. The red bean ice cream was delicious but tasted like melon. I like to spoil myself by ordering the fresh squeezed fruit juices; I went with carrot orange this time.

Next door there are pictures of items you can point and order. It appears that soup dumplings are available here but I have not yet tried them.
I have gotten a flakey turnip bun here but on our last visit we tried a sesame pancake meat sandwich type thing. We all agreed this had potential but it was not our favorite of the day.

Moving on and skipping past various dumpling stalls, the second to last stall on the left sells crepes and takoyaki. You can guess which I always stop for. Takoyaki has been one of my favorite foods since I first tried them at Otafuku a few years ago. Its worth the wait to get them fresh. It costs about $5 for 6 of them. Other random flavors are available (like curry) but I always get the standard version.

Crisped spheres with mushy octopus flavored filling with a nub of tentacle and pieces of corn covered with mayo, okonamiyaki sauce, seaweed flakes, and dried fish shavings. Can I get an amen?

Do yourself a favor and sit watching the fish shavings undulate while the insides cool down.

The delmanjoo caked are sold in the middle of the mall, I like to ask for a free sample of a broken one.

Stop by the puffed rice cake stand next to it for a great low-fat office snack.



Don't forget, it is a mall! There are two clothing stores on the lower level that often have great sales. Though most of the clothing is hilariously hideous, there are some good finds if you can be patient. I got this fun little half shirt thing at one of them. A beauty shop upstairs sells foot detoxifiers, bento boxes, and containers you didn't realize you needed.

A salon on the main floor offers mole removal starting at $5, thats not even a little bit sketchy.

Under the staircase on the left (if you are entering) are massage services as well as cupping. If you are brave enough and into painful back massages, like myself, you may want to check it out. Voice your opinion if it gets too hard, I made the mistake of not doing this and it was pretty painful; the giant round hickys on my back were not so cute during bikini season. I do warn you in advance - this is not a spa experience.

Bathrooms are located on both floors all the way on the left side. Other rando mall shops host children's harp lessons, wedding photographers, Japanese toilets, and bonzai trees, proving the point that this mall has about everything a person could need.

Kosher Truck has Schnitzel

I intended to go somewhere else for lunch but the appearance of a new truck changed my plans. On 9th Ave between 33 and 32nd St Brucha Caterer parks its "Sub on Wheels" serving up a long list of sandwiches, platters, and side dishes.

I ordered the chicken schnitzel, which was listed as costing $7.75 but they charged me under $7 and had it ready for me quickly. It was really really large, half filled me up. The sandwich came with huge strips of juicy breaded chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, Russian dressing and a pickle. What makes this sandwich different from all other sandwiches? Its the pickle. They insert a real full sour pickle, none of this half ass half sour or sweet or sandwich style cucumber that is usually found inside sandwiches or burgers. I take pickles very seriously, ask anyone, and a find like this makes me very happy. All pickles aside, this is a schnitzel worth getting.

The home style Jew sides include potato kugel, kishka (if you are adventurous), chulent (on Thursdays), and whatever beautiful thing a pastrami egg roll is.

The completely kosher truck has been around for over a month and is open Monday through Thursday from 1130-4.

Frame opened today

Frame on 33rd between 9th and 10th opened for all of us midtown very west and south lunchers. The high levels of swank that they have going on with the decor is humorous. Options include salad, soup, sandwiches, drinks, udon, bibimbop, sushi, and baked goods. The by the pound tables are currently low on options, I am sure they will fill them up quickly, but at $7.50 a pound(or $3.50 per half pound as they phrase it) its not cheap. Most exciting to me were the baked goods they get from CeciCela and Sullivan St Bakery. I picked up a chocolate tarte thing made by Sullivan St and it was divine as expected. I noticed a rack of breads that looked very Sullivan Streetlike, and I found out that they were, but for now they are just a tease and display only. Frame could certainly stand out from the pack if their sandwiches came on Sullivan St bread.

Woorjip's bulgogi and kimchee rice wrap

While in line to purchase my box of steam table faves from Woorjip, I noticed something that I hadn't seen there before- a bulgogi and kimchee rice wrap. Though a sign advises that it be eaten right away, I had to save it for lunch the next day. It heated up well and I was very impressed. Wraps often bore me, but this one had some personality. The rice had flavor on its own and there was a good amount of savory bulgogi meat. A slice of pickled turnip was an unexpected but welcomed accompaniment. For $3 it makes the ideal snack on its own, but to make a full meal you would need two or the addition of some buffet items.

Father's Day in Jackson Heights

This is how we do father's day in my family- full day eating fest. I convinced the fam to ditch Flushing for once in favor of Jackson Heights.

With so many amazing ethnic restaurants all within a few blocks, it is fressing paradise.

Himalayan Yak:

Our first stop was Himilayan Yak, you know, for breakfast. We started with an appetizer sampler, samayabajee, that came with shredded meat, pickle, beaten rice, and soy nuts. The beaten rice was very unfamiliar to us; it resembles uncooked oatmeal and had a pleasing chew and took on the sauce that it came with.

We could not turn down the wild boar sausage, which looks like a fatty piece of bacon.

It was loaded with smokey flavor but had a bit too much fat on it for me.

Momos were another must have, we ordered the pork version.
With the doughy bun and juicy filling, Sister compared the texture and flavor to a soup-less soup dumpling, and I agreed.

Street Festival:

We followed some music that led us to an Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani street festival. It was packed with people dressed in bright colors and stand after stand of spicy food.

We sampled a type of chaat (I have had better at the 6th ave news stand) from one of the friendly vendors. We made a stop for spicy but refreshing picked mango, which came in bright yellow and a darker curry color. Fried veggie patties were plentiful, we only tried a nibble to avoid too much grease, after all we had plenty of eating left to do

Hornado Ecuatoriano:

Next we stopped at Hornado Ecuatoriano, a favorite of mine for ceviche. I usually order the shrimp ceviche, but we opted for the mixto. The shocking dark color of this ceviche was due to the conch that floated around along with the shrimp. Despite its muddy appearance, we loved the limey liquid and every drop was consumed.

Tostones on the side helped soak up the last remnants from the bowl.

My parents pepped up with café con leche that they claimed to be exceptional. I opted instead for a glass of chicha, the taste of slight fermentation just does it for me.

Los Chuzos:

A sign advertising arepas and chorizo caught our eyes next,

and we went into the tiny eatery, Los Chuzos y algo mas. We shared one cheese arepa and a fresh fruit juice with strawberry, pear, and orange. Both cost $3 and were devoured in seconds. There is a window for ordering from the street.

Tacolandia:

Tacolandia has a window right on the street and you can guess what they sell. We had a taco al pastor and one of chorizo. The meats are all on a steam table and finished off on the griddle to order. The chorizo was the better taco. Neither were the best of my life.

Unidentified Flying Chicken:

We finished off with fried chicken for dessert. UFC has supposedly famous Korean fried chicken that we had to judge for ourselves. We sat downstairs in the dining area and got the $10 small order of wings and drumsticks in soy garlic and sweet and spicy.

The soy garlic, the traditional kfc, was the clear winner, with that perfect crisped skin and umami flavoring. We also agreed that we would order only wings next time, as they provide more crisp to meat ratio. I also ordered a cup of tea, which is not the perfect accompaniment to fried chicken but I required something soothing and caffeinated at the time. I have to point out the cuteness of the tiny little honey cup they brought out for me. That combined with the wee little chicken motto was borderline too much
cuteness to handle.

Guayaco's Truck:

More ceviche? Yes, because it came from a truck and we got our selections to go. Guayaco’s Ecuadorian truck had a horde of men watching the soccer game of the t.v. attached to the truck.

Our other order, cazuela, made me retch. I could probaby start dry heaving right now if I thought hard about the way it tasted. It was extremely fishy, but leave it to my dad to say he likes it. I was expecting cazuela de pollo, my mistake.

The shrimp ceviche on the other hand was very fresh tasting and would have fulfilled the ceviche craving had we not just had some 15 minutes before. They even threw in a bag of plantain chips.

Grocery Shopping:

Later at the Asian market I spotted something that made me cock my head to the side and go hmmm? Sliced deer horns. Apparently they can be used as a sexual tonic. Eeek. I’ll just purchase my powdered dashi and be on my way.

La Casa Del Pollo Peruano II:

My mother can never resist a Peruvian chicken, so I took her to La Casa Del Pollo for a bird to take home. A whole chicken can be ordered for take-out for under $8 with the elusive green sauce. Extra sauce is another quarter; sister insisted on extra. The Peruvians have it down, the next day my lunch of meat was moist and the skin was charred and spiced in that way that makes mouths water.

Happy Father’s Day Daddy! You are a champion eater.

Himalayan Yak: 72-20 Roosevelt Ave
(718) 779-1119

La Casa de Pollo Peruano 2: 8707 Roosevelt Ave

UFC: 71-22 Roosevelt Ave
(718) 205-6662