Tag: nyc

Hidden Chinese Reflexology from AW

M's Adventures

One day when in Flushing, Queens, I felt the need to find a foot rub. Maybe Chinese reflexology. After all, I was in one of the largest Chinatowns in the world.

I looked at the map and there was a place nearby with a 5-star rating. I eventually found it in a high rise behind a bakery (to the left of the green awning in the photo).

The reflexologist was a gentle soul who bathed my feet first before working on my meridian lines. Luckily my Mandarin-speaking friend showed up so she could do some translating. Not that I remember very much as I was too busy feeling relaxed.

Ms. Annie Wong was a treasure. I wish I lived nearby. Because I was the first customer of the day, I got my 90-minute foot massage for around 50 bucks.

I highly recommend finding places like AW Spa when in Chinatown Flushing.

The Softest Sponge Cake in the World?

M's Adventures

No, but it’s really good. It’s so good that they put a sign up about it.

One on of my New York City visits, I went to this place for the “best sponge cake in NYC” and it was.

The address is 118 Baxter Street. Inside is a bit of a dive (but it’s more fun that way, right?).

Try to go when the buns are hot out of the oven.

I’m not even into sponge cake and this was so soft. Is sponge cake the same as chiffon cake?

Gold Peking Duck in Queens and Yummy Rice

M's Adventures
The Peking Duck platter.

Peking Duck is a dish originally from Beijing, China. It is a specially roasted and basted duck, served with wheat pancakes, scallions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce. But some places, it is elevated to gold level. The first written recipe for Peking Duck is from 800 years ago. The complexities of the recipe and preparation can be read here. Our duck was served with sugar and pineapple chunks giving it a tropical and extra luxurious feel. There was also edible gold leaf on top, like a cherry on top. Surprisingly, the half duck portion only cost 48 bucks. It was enough for three people, with the addition of a few extra pancakes and some fried rice.

Private dining rooms lined up like train cabins.

We had our duck at Jiang Nan, in Queens, New York. It is subway accessible, if you want a cheap but long ride. It is located in Flushing, Queens, which is the largest unofficial chinatown in America. Our restaurant had atmospheric private rooms that took us away to a tea house in the Orient.

So good it required a photo.

Aside from the duck, we had shrimp fried rice. It is not as simple as it seemed. A really good fried rice is about the aroma — not of oil but of umami. This one was like a warm hug.

Chrysanthemum tea was also pretty.

Danish Bakery in New York City

M's Adventures
Raspberry “snippets” like Poptarts but less dry. Copenhagener/Tebirkes coated in poppyseeds. And cinnamon slice.

A danish is a pastry and my favorite one is not too sweet.

Normally, when I fly out of Copenhagen, I get a final danish at the airport. The bakery at the airport in Copenhagen is a branch of Ole & Steen, which is a franchise version of the old venerable Lagkagehuset (layer cake house).

But, New York City has four branches of this franchise! I had to visit.

Obviously, the dough and bread is different (like with NYC pizza, it’s the water, don’t ya know). The menu was also different. They still had my favorite pastry so I got two. My favorite is called “tebirkes” in Danish but they have changed it to “copenhagener” in English. It is in the first photo, covered in poppyseeds. It is a basic pastry with a subtle almond sugar paste layer inside.

The roast beef sandwich that I got was awesome with horseradish cream and rare pink roastbeef (a bit cooked in my photos because it traveled in a bag for six hours). I also bought rye bread and rye bread rolls. My eight rolls were so dense that they had to go to secondary screening at the airport.

Tak is thanks in Danish. Some Brits say, “ta” and I wish that was part of American English as well.

A City of Villages – New York City

M's Adventures

Colombian food in Brooklyn.
Colombian food in Brooklyn.

While many people visit New York City for the shopping, the sites, the entertainment, I like New York for its villages. It seems like every few streets, New York changes nationality, from Chinatown, Little Italy, Jamaica, and all the other little villages that make up the great world of New York City. Every neighborhood is distinct and many New Yorkers never leave their neighborhoods.

Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.
Seafood dumpling soup in Chinatown, NYC.

Usually, when I take a taxi, I chat with the taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are often immigrants and many have interesting stories to tell. On this trip, my first taxi driver shared with me where to get the best Pakistani food in New York and in Washington, DC. But then suddenly, he asked about my marital status. I was a little taken aback because I had forgotten, after a few months in politically correct DC, that this is considered a polite question in some cultures.

A few days later, my second taxi driver, an Ecuadorian, patiently let me practice my Spanish with him (gracias, and I appreciated your philosophical stance on bilingual education). My third cabbie was a Miami Cuban taxi driver. I considered trying to practice Spanish on him but his delightfully colloquial rapid fire English and his story about his epiphany about happiness, on 9/11, made me keep quiet.

A farmers' market in New York City.
A farmers’ market in New York City.