KFC or Tangra Masala?

Normally Fish fingers are a dish that I wouldn’t give a second—or even a first—thought. In fact I’m pretty sure the first time I had them was at the inaugural Queens Dinner Club, held at Peter Lo’s Tangra Asian Fusion. At the time there was so much going on, the chef’s Tangra Masala fish fingers ($7.95) didn’t make much of an impression.

Recently Queens Dinner Club returned to the gaudy ballroom that houses Lo’s mecca for Indian-Chinese cuisine to celebrate our first anniversary. Everything was great, but  my dining companion and I found the fish fingers to be particularly amazing.

With their craggy crunchy coating, the ruddy chunks of fried fish were a dead ringer for KFC’s fast-food fried chicken. That crunchy spicy batter yielded to a moist interior, that might in fact be mistaken for chicken. We joked with our tablemates about serving it to people and not telling them it was chicken. The fish tenders came with a mint coriander dipping sauce, not that they needed it.

Chef Lo wouldn’t tell me whether he uses 11 secret herbs and spices in the batter which has a nice thrum of heat. He did tell me one though: garam masala. In case you’re wondering, Lo’s actual chicken dishes, including lollypop chicken were on point that night.

Tangra Asian Fusion, 39-23 Queens Blvd., Sunnyside, (718) 786-8008