Top 5 things to eat at new Chinese food hall in NYC
U Ni Rice serves Okinawan sushi sandwiches called onigirazu. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Hear me out: It's worth traveling to Long Island City for this Chinese French toast. Of course the French toast isn't the only thing you'll be eating at this impressive new food hall, but it is worth the trip alone. It's that good.
The Hong Kong French toast just one of the many gems inside the new Long Island City Food Hall, or LIC Food Hall for short, in Queens. Despite the vague but straightforward name, the place focuses on Chinese and other Asian cuisines, with hyper-regional offerings you won't find anywhere else. Located in the Star Tower, which is a short walk from two subway lines (the closest Long Island Rail Road stop is Woodside), the LIC Food Hall feels like Flushing meets Manhattan.
The new Long Island City Food Hall is a short walk from the Queens Plaza subway station. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
The two-level space is admittedly a glorified hallway, and has been rather cramped and bustling with people since it opened earlier this August. But it's a very fancy hallway indeed, one that's surely been through a professional design firm or two, made up to look like a Disneyland version of a Hong Kong alleyway.
The walls of the ground-level floor are lined with 10 stalls, serving Hunan food, Yunnan food, Sichuan, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Okinawan and more. Most of the seating is down the stairs in a bustling neon basement, which can be difficult to navigate when you're carrying a mountainous basket of spicy dry pot meats. But we spent several hours trying nearly all of the vendors so you can play it smart. Here are our top five dishes worth traveling for.
Hong Kong French Toast from Marathon Hong Kong Diner
The decadent Hong Kong-style French toast is stuffed with peanut butter from Marathon Hong Kong Diner. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
The first stop on your right as you walk in, this spot offers unique Hong Kong comfort foods you may have only seen on a food show. The most iconic is the Hong Kong style macaroni tomato soup, a fusion of Eastern and Western flavors that you'll only find in a cha chaan teng, Hong Kong's version of a diner. If you've never had one before, it's worth ordering as a novelty, but the mellow tomato broth soup doesn't compare with the pure decadence of the Hong Kong French toast ($11). The fluffy slabs of milk bread are slathered with peanut butter and deep fried to heavenly crispiness. Pair that with the melted butter and condensed milk on top, and you've got the ultimate breakfast-for-dinner splurge.
Pork flatbread from Fat Cat Flatbread
This is a good one to snag as an appetizer and eat straight from the bag, skipping the tables in the basement altogether. Almost like a Chinese naan bread, this snack called guokui is said to have originated in the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi, although this particular style hails from Jingzhou farther southeast. After you order, you'll see the workers rolling the dough balls and flattening them before throwing them into a small compartmentalized oven. The long crackery breads are scattered with sesame seeds and stuffed with curry beef, salted egg yolks, red beans and more. The simple pork flatbread ($7) was layered with thinly sliced meat, which added an unassuming savory touch.
The pork flatbread at Fat Cat Flatbread. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Cold Sichuan skewers from Guagua
This is the sleeper hit of the entire food hall. Chinese skewers are normally served fiery hot, but in the Sichuan Province they can also be consumed cold and soaked in spicy oil. (It's called bobo chicken, although there are a lot more varieties than just poultry.) I'll admit, cold skewers don't sound like a run-don't-walk food item, but surprisingly they were my favorite dish of the night. We picked out a cup of 10 meat and veggie skewers ($18.59) and had them dipped in the tantalizing Sichuan rattan pepper oil. Because the ingredients were served cold, the sauce had a much more vibrant taste, almost like a fresh Chinese salad. But with a mala peppercorn zing ...
Sichuan-style cold skewers are dipped in flavored oil at Guagua. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Onigiri sandwich from U Ni Rice
Perhaps you've heard of onigiri, the triangular rice balls sold in Japanese grocery stores. Well, there's another version that hails from the island region of Okinawa, and it's shaped more like a sandwich. This stall serves 11 varieties that are all stuffed with a slab of Spam, and a sweet tamago egg patty. The more savory the better here, so you'll see ingredients like curry croquette, fried karaage chicken and kimchi beef. We got ours stuffed with grilled eel ($15.90) and the large flappy loaf of sushi rice was twice as indulgent as your regular onigiri. Maybe that's because of the Spam ...
U Ni Rice serves Okinawan sushi sandwiches called onigirazu. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Dry beef noodles from Hunan Noodle
Tucked into the back corner next to the blind box vending machine, this stall will nevertheless draw you in with its stunning selection of pickled condiments. Hunan Noodle is a second location of a small restaurant from Flushing, and they don't mess around when it comes to spice. Their signature dry beef noodle ($13.95) comes loaded with pickled green beans and chiles and peanut toppings, slicking the bouncy spaghetti-like noodles with a fresh heat. Make sure you grab some extra condiments for the road, so you can have Hunan for days.
Order the dry beef noodle from Hunan Noodle. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Long Island City Food Hall, 27-17 42nd Rd. Suite C3, Long Island City, 718-715-0802, licfoodhall.com. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
