06/30/20 10:39pm

Smoky jerk chicken and rich chicken foot soup at St. Best.

It’s usually my food photos—Thai steam table treats, tacos de birria and the like—that make my friend and partner in arms in Queens Dinner Club Chef Jonathan Forgash jealous, but recently the opposite’s been happening. Largely because he’s been on a jerk chicken binge for the past two weeks in Southeastern Queens, thanks to recommendations from friends at The BlaQue Resource Network, an online networking and resource community for black-owned businesses in Queens, that has been throwing their support behind Queens Together.

Even though I spent the first two years of my life in Queens Village, it along with the rest of Southeastern Queens is a neighborhood that I’ve been needing to explore more for a long time. I’ve had the pleasure of eating from the  soul food steam table heaven that is R.C.L. Enterprises, but that’s about it.

So on Monday I took the F train to the last stop in Queens and then hopped in Jonathan’s car for the drive over to Queens Village for out first stop, St. Best Jerk Spot. Like many of the best restaurants in Queens, it takes a bit of effort to get to, but it’s worth the trip. (more…)

01/22/14 3:43pm

When I was lad there was no such thing as a “polar vortex,” we called it winter—and reveled in it. Decades of relatively mild winters have spoiled me and many other New Yorkers. As a public service to help you thaw out from Winter Storm Janus, C+M presents a bone-warming roster of some of our favorite soups in Queens from Long Island City to Flushing, and points in between.

YUNNANPORKRICESOUP

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

1. Yunnan rice noodle soup with pork at Crazy Crab
Find this lovely bowl at New York City’s only crab shack/Burmese/Yunnanese  spot. Warm up with tender chunks of pork and a spicy broth enlivened by a fresh squeeze of lime. It’s a taste of Southwestern China by way of Flushing. Not a bad deal at all, for $8.99.  Crazy Crab 888,40-42 College Point Blvd, Flushing 718-353-8188

MUTONKOTSU

2. Tonkotsu 2.0 at Mu Ramen
When the sun goes down and it’s brick cold out, head to over to Bricktown Bagels, which turns into Long Island City’s only ramen-ya. Joshua Smookler’s Tonkotsu 2.0 ($15) is made from six different types of pork bones, including shanks that cook for more than 20 hours. Topped with a slick of mayu (black garlic oil) and wobbly bits of tontoro (pork jowl), the soup is rich and complex. Best of all it has plenty of marrow thanks to all those shanks. Mu Ramen, 51-06 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, Tues-Sat 6:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (more…)

08/23/13 12:01pm
oxtail

The stewed oxtail lunch special at Liang’s is spectacular.

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

I’m proud to announce that in the interest of sharing the love and deliciousness we all crave C+M’s Photo Friday will be taking reader submissions via Instagram. This week’s entry—níu wěi fàn or oxtail and rice—comes from my good friend Colin Goh, who as always proves to be a font of information about dining in downtown Flushing. Colin found this bountiful plate of sumptuous stewed oxtail, firm tofu, cabbage, and a hard-boiled egg, all topped with a generous sprinkle of minced pork at Liang’s Kichen. At $8.95 it is one of the best and tasty deals in downtown Flushing. And as Colin points out it’s not every day that one literally the name of one’s web site embodied in a plate of Taiwanese comfort food. By the way Liang’s  is one of those places that Colin and I have both passed by hundreds of times. Located in the basement of a hotel, it turns out some of the tastiest Taiwanese food I’ve had in downtown Flushing. To submit your delicious finds simply tag your Instagram photos with #CMSHUNGRY. And while you’re at it check me out on Instagram, joedistefanoqns.

Liang’s Kitchen 133-51 39th Ave., Flushing, 347-506-0115