Jade Asian Restaurant

136-28 39th Ave
Flushing NY 11354
(718) 762-8821

www.jadeasianrestaurant.com

Located a block from the 7 train's Main Street subway stop, this restaurant offers the most wonderful dim sum at just $2 a plate weekdays. Some carts offer dishes that cost more like the fried shrimp or gail lan.

My friends and I have have eaten dim sum at several restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown and were VERY impressed with the variety and quality of the dishes. It has quickly become a new favorite and we will definitely make the trek out here again!

Credit cards are only accepted on checks totaling $20 or more.
Take out and doggy bags are charged full price so be careful on over ordering.

Lotte-Assi Plaza

131 -09 39th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 321-8000

Store hours: 8AM - 10PM

http://www.lotteplaza.com

This has got to be the largest Asian/ International Market in the NYC area with branches scattered about the United States (check website for addresses).

Mainly Korean, the store also carries a large variety of sauces and ingredients from China, Japan, and the Philippines. They also sell a few kitchen and home gadgets and small appliances.

Produce, seafood and meats geared towards Asian cooking are also sold here at average to pretty good prices. I was lucky to grab some packaged beef short ribs at $2.59 per pound before they went into the deep freeze section. This week fresh crab is selling at 99¢ per pound! Click my photos to see larger versions.

The staff is Korean but they pretty much understand and speak English and the signs above each aisle are printed in English.

The store is brightly lit and clean and a short walk from the 7 train to Main Street.
All major credit cards and food stamps are accepted.

Excellent Pork Chop House

3 Doyers Street #1

New York, NY 10013

212-791-7007

http://excellentporkchophouse.com/

I visited this restaurant tonight for dinner with a friend who used to live in Chinatown. This place is well known for it's pork chops and with a name like "Excellent Pork Chop House", I was ready for the experience.

We both ordered the Pork Chop Noodle Soup with mung bean with noodle of choice. The waitress brought over a large soup bowl for each of us filled with a lovely broth, bean sprouts, mung bean noodles, and chopped pickled cabbage. Next came the plate of pork chops. I detected the flavor of 5 spice and the pork chops were tender and tasty.

The decor is not very fancy, more like a family owned restaurant. Dishes and prices written in Chinese on bright colorful paper adorn the walls. An English menu sits on your table along with a caddy holding disposable bamboo chopsticks and plastic eating utensils. Their famous hot sauce sits in a glass container next to the napkins. The hot sauce is mild with a base of black bean. Deliciously fragrant.

Service was good and prices cheap by New York City standards. Judging on the amount of people that were coming in on this cool rainy Summer night this place is quite popular.

You can view the menu here.

Wing Shoon Seafood Restaurant

165 E Broadway
New York, NY 10002
(212) 780-0238

Located on the corner of East Broadway and Rutgers, this little Chinese Restaurant offers Dim Sum for as little as $2 a plate (Monday through Friday only)!

I came here with a friend today to experience their dim sum. The restaurant is filled with mainly large round banquet tables so we wound up having to share a table with other lunch patrons.

Atypical of dim sum service, a card with a grid on it to designate how many dishes and of what size you consumed is placed at your side and the cart comes around with steamed, baked, and braised specialties all on various sized plates. $2 for small plates, $2.50 for medium, and $3 for large.

We chose shu mai and har gow ($2.50 per plate), stuffed tofu skin and braised spare rib tips ($2 per plate) and a steamed pork bun (80¢) and a small bowl of rice. Check came out to $10.05!

The food is very tasty and pretty good. The service is somewhat cordial as they were attentive but English is not their strong point. You may have to come here with someone who speaks Cantonese (or Mandarin). The menu is in English and in Chinese.

Overall a wonderful experience and easy on the wallet!

Chinatown East

1650 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10128
(212) 987-3500
http://www.chinatowneastnyc.com



Came here last night to try out their AYCE sushi for $25.95 per person. A full menu offering Chinese and Japanese dishes a la carte is also available. Sushi and Sahimi is offered at $1 per piece as well.

First off the place is small with 20 tables or so with a small bar when you first enter and a small sushi bar off to the back. Dark wood and stone walls are set off by blue and green neon lights about the ceiling and the sushi bar. The stone cocktail bar slowly changes through all the colors of the rainbow. Three large flat screen TVs on the walls air CNN, ESPN, and local news on mute. Soft Asian music plays over the speakers while recessed intensity lights are set on dim to enhance the mood.

The sushi menu is quite extensive ranging from the standard sushi and maki rolls to Chef's and House special maki rolls. A variety of soups and salads are also included as well as ONE house saki (hot or cold) which you can also substitute beer, wine, or a soda. An AYCD price of $14.95 is also offered.

The waitress comes over with a pad and takes your order also warning you that if you don't finish everything on your plate, you will be charged menu price for items wasted (isn't that the case in all AYCE?)

After your order is placed, the starter (soup or salad) is brought to your table a well as your beverage. Then your plate of sushi comes to your table displayed artfully by the sushi chef. I started with the green salad which consisted of iceberg lettuce, thinly shaved red cabbage, and thread-like carrot shreds dressed with the sweet, Japanese carrot ginger dressing.
The sushi was quite fresh for a Tuesday night in my humble opinion and the rice perfect.
For being a Chinese-Japanese restaurant I was impressed. Once your are finished with your plate, the waitress comes around again clearing your plate and to ask if you would like to order again. Plate sharing is not allowed so be careful when over ordering!

After a plate of sushi and a plate of maki I was stuffed and the saki I had made me a bit sleepy. I was content, sushi craving satiated, and probably will visit again.

An 18% gratuity is automatically put on the bill and there is a 2 hour limit at the table. The bill is accompanied with Chinese fortune cookies as a sweet ending.