Flushing's Fragrant Shandong Garden

[scoopG]

Lu Xiang Yuan, or Fragrant Shandong Garden (魯香園 - Lu3 Xiang1 Yuan2) is Flushing’s second Shandong restaurant, which bigjeff spotted a good while back. No ideas as to why their bright yellow awning has red signage proclaiming “Hong Shun Restaurant.” Peter Cherches did not like his meal there last March but Joe DiStefano was more affirming a month before that.

I stopped in this past week and while it is not as affluent as M&T, there are enough different items on the menu done decently well. I wanted to try their version of the Qingdao Mixed Bean Jelly but they were out. Settled instead for:

Mountain Yams Stir Fried with Lilies - These Mountain Yams are also known as Chinese Yams (山藥 – Shan4 Yao) and tasted a lot like jicama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea_opposita

Tiger Salad – instead of using cilantro like the Dongbei restaurants here, they are using Artemisia or Artemisia carvifolia - 筒蒿 - Tong3 Hao1. Earthy and refreshing.
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pkKdwzB_5xrubyMTitCIwTclyPfCjj5q59sLqgGveEtCQrMMIzpru86s7pKEIB3SW6A5wjGdt-5iPa7nk_w7HZA

Rose Fragrant Fish – Probably only a dish to be ordered once. Here a fresh fish is steamed, then lathered in crushed peanut powder with mayonnaise on top and covered with rose petals. Might have worked better for me on a deep fried fish.

Open Dumplings – appetizing Guo Tie that are open at both ends.

Spinach Pancakes – perhaps a little bit salty and slightly overdone.

Eggs with Chili Peppers – scrambled with mild, de-seeded fresh green chili peppers and quite agreeable.

Lamb Soup – excellent. This savory soup had lots of lamb flavor, vinegar, scallions and white pepper.

Joe DiStefano’s report:
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/queens/world-s-fare/romance-and-regional-chinese-at-lu-xiang-yuan.htm

Dave Cook/EIT:
http://www.eatingintranslation.com/20...

Lu Xiang Yuan - 魯香園
42-87 Main Street
Flushing, NY 11355
Tel: [phone]

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Lu Xiang Yuan
42-87 Main St, Queens, NY 11355

[Lau]

scoopG - out of curiosity if u had to pick on northern chinese restaurant which one would it be?

[scoopG]

Hi Lau - they all have their strong points. I've not been to Yilan (Halal Tianjin) in awhile. I still like Golden Palace and Fu Run (Manchurian.) I'd put M&T (Qingdao) in the Eastern Chinese food category.

You should try M&T for sure. Qingdao folk are very proud of their seafood. They say their seafood offerings are different from Cantonese because the waters are much colder up there, affecting the growing time as well as size I think....

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Fu Run
40-09 Prince St, Queens, NY 11354

Golden Palace
14009 Cherry Ave, Queens, NY 11355

SN New Restaurant
44-09 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY 11355

[Lau]

alright thanks! ive been thinking that M&T or golden palace was going to be the place to try

hey btw - another question, have u tried any of the jian big guo zi in flushing? ive seen it at a couple of places and i love that stuff, but i havent tried any of the places yet in flushing

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SN New Restaurant
44-09 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY 11355

[scoopG]

Golden Palace going strong - they have expanded into the space next door. Any photos of this jian (big?) guo zi? Not familiar with it!

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Golden Palace
14009 Cherry Ave, Queens, NY 11355

[Lau]

sorry jian bing guo zi 煎饼果子...actually i always knew it only as 煎饼, but the places ive seen it at in flushing are tianjin places and they add the 果子 part to the name

here's a video of one being made in shanghai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nflTqb...

its one of the all-time best chinese breakfast dishes ever (actually just in general one of the best breakfast dishes ever), i ate one like everyday in shanghai for breakfast when i was there a year and a half ago. i'm not actually sure where its originally from b/c its common in shanghai and beijing and the places ive seen in flushing are tianjin places and when i was looking on youtube one of them was a street vendor in xi'an

[scoopG]

Oh yes! Had some on my last visit to Qingdao. (I'll have to create a slideshow for the China board). Here's one vendor on the left. Also available: Grasshoppers!

[missmasala]

What the guy is making in that youtube video looks amazing! Which places in flushing have it? Wanna try one next time I'm there.

[Lau]

i dont know what they are called, there is one on the outside of the golden mall on 41st road (shares a space with a fujian place and their main dish a halal chicken dish) and there is another one on 40th road in between all the fujian and malaysian places on that street, it says something about serving northern food.

They are run by people from tianjin (a port city just south of beijing), but it doesn't say that in english anywhere and i stumbled on it by accident as they had a small sign in chinese saying they serve it

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Guangyuan Jinweishifang
135-23 40th Rd, Queens, NY 11354

[Lau]

actually i found one review on yelp for the one on 40th road
http://www.yelp.com/biz/guang-yuan-ti...

[NewYorkNewHaven]

I believe I'm thinking of the same thing--we called it the "Chinese breakfast burrito." A bit of a stretch, but it was DEFINITELY bing and consisted of thin, crepe-like bread served with scallions, garlic, chilies, eggs, ... some combination of various elements, it didn't always have to be the same. I used to love eating this in ShanghaI, if anybody has the word on places selling it in Flushing (those highlighted by Lau and any others) please share!

[AubWah]

I can vouch for M & T. My takeout cucumber and pig face salad was excellent and certainly a barometer for the integrity of their kitchen

[swannee]

I tried Fu Run for the first time and liked it. We had the standards, but were fascinated by a dish at another table. It is called "Stewed miscellaneous Fish with Home Style Cookies" in English (the Chinese says little wok pancakes with stewed fish): it comes in a large wok and around the sides are the yellow "cookies", obviously some kind of bun (made with corn??) with the smallish fish in sauce in the middle. Has anyone tried it?

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Fu Run
40-09 Prince St, Queens, NY 11354

[Lau]

yah if you search the boards for fu run, there is a long thread and a couple people tried it, but they didn't think it was that good....thought it was more of a novelty as opposed to a great dish if i remember right

[scoopG]

Thanks swanee. I have not been back to Fu Run in a long time. Will have to remember that dish.

[scoopG]

Meanwhile, in another part of town someone else is still working on the Qingdao-German connection....

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-0...

[buttertart]

Sietsema is always so original in his restaurant picks and commentary, isn't he.

[bigjeff]

i love how he tries these quasi-historical-geographic connections.

[scoopG]

Sietsema uber Alles!

[NewYorkNewHaven]

Did this place fall off a cliff? i know it's been a while since the last post, but it appears that this place has closed. Does anyone else know the word on the street? Because the place I peeped into was empty and offering greasy American-Chinese garbage. Still had frog and conch on the menu, though. Awning is still yellow, too!

[scoopG]

Thanks for the update - not sure what happened. Was in Flushing but did not stop by there. Will next time!

[bigjeff]

sounds good; pretty good. I saw that Edible Queens article a little while ago . . . interesting. The "tong hao cai" that I know is similar to watercress perhaps? a proper taiwanese oyster omelette will use that vegetable; there are also some very good soups that use it; in fact during "Yuan Xiao Jie" which is some Chinese holiday we always have the "tong yuan" which are the small spheres of glutinous rice flour in a thick soup with pork, mushroom, etc. and usually with this vegetable as well.

There is also a Shandong dumpling place on the first floor of Golden Mall that has the open-ended guo-tie, with the slightly thicker, crispy bottom. The lamb soup, was it thick or thin? Sounds great; been meaning to do a NE China circuit coming up soon and I'm thinking, I should just stick with M&T; or do you like (or want to try) a different joint?

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Golden Shopping Mall
41-28 Main St, Queens, NY 11355

[scoopG]

Actually I think Tong Hao is this now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garland_...

The lamb soup was very light. Could have sworn it was mutton but they said it wasn't!

Haven't been to to M&T for awhile. I like all the Dongbei places. Golden Palace and Northeast Taste are less crowded as they are further away from Main & Roosevelt. Fu Run can get packed real quick sometimes so go early. I am still thinking about Fu Run's Muslim Lamb Chop.