Palace of Wong

Palace of Wong has been on the Long Island restaurant scene since 1969, and it's been on my 'List' for about 4 years, when ABF moved just around the block from it. It reminds me of the restaurant featured in that scene from "A Christmas Story" where the family goes out for Chinese food (after the neighbor's dogs ruin their Christmas turkey!)

ABF's mom told us it used to be a fancy spot, where couples would get dressed up and meet for cocktails-- fun!

It's a lot more casual now, but the fancy drinks are still there and the prices are still decent.

I ordered a Zombie, a nod to ABF's love of shows like 'The Walking Dead,' and my love for things that taste like candy.

This drink is no joke-- several types of rum, including 151, and just one drink will have you feeling a little loopy. Deliciously loopy.

ABF Ordered the egg roll for his appetizer, and gamely shared a bite with me. Egg rolls don't normally float my boat per se, but this is one of the tastiest ever had. So tasty in fact, I went back for second bite.

His entrée also came with wonton soup. I just can't get into the wonton soup. I don't know if it's the texture, flavors, not liking the pork filling, but this just isn't for me. I didn't even bother tasting it, but ABF was very happy with it.

Palace of Wong actually has a section of the menu labeled for 'Indecisive People.' Yes, thank you, that's me! I went with the Empress, which is filet mignon and white meat chicken with mixed veggies. 

The filet mignon was perfectly cooked, medium, and the veggies were good, but I wasn't a fan of the brown sauce which clumped up a bit.

ABF ordered the cashew chicken, which was tasty, but not spicy at all (despite the warning pepper logo on the menu). The rice, which I normally ignore, was perfectly sticky and tasty. I liked his dish MUCH better than mine.

At the end of our meal we got the requisite fortune cookies (with a 'fortune' perfectly picked for me, even after just 1 Zombie drink), and some delightfully crunchy almond cookies. Those cookies were great!

Excellent Advice

Palace of Wong may have underwhelmed me with the entrées (not bad, just not GREAT), but the apps and drinks alone are reason enough to pop in for a bite...and a sip!

Palace of Wong
348 Sunrise Highway
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
516-764-3240

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London: Lotus

I had an amazing visit in London--best one yet! Before I knew it, my last night in London had arrived. ABF was saving the best for last--we took the DLR (above-ground train) a quick stop or two to Lotus, a Chinese restaurant on a floating barge.

The layout was lovely, bright, and the rooms were buzzing pleasantly with conversation. It was a veritable United Nations of a dining room--people of all ages, races, and walks of life happily laughing, dining, and smiling. I'm in!

We started with something cool to drink-- a Tsingtao beer for ABF and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc for me.

As we sipped our drinks, we saw them bring a warming plate to our table. This was getting interesting!

Spring rolls came quickly, and there are 3 to an order, but they were already cut neatly in 2 for perfect, easy sharing. These were delicious, not greasy at all, and scrumptiousscrumptiousscrumptious!

We also ordered delicious shrimp fritters, again perfectly sliced in 2 for perfect sharing. These were fantastic, too.

And because this is London and they keep it classy, we had bowls with warm water and lemon slices to dip our hands in after all that fabulous finger food.

Up next, my main dish of chicken and sautéed veggies. This was light, fresh, a bit of heat to it. ABF's mixed veggies and chicken dish with cashews is warming in the background on the hot plate, along with the spring rolls and rice!

Everything was so good!

ABF's dish had a lot more mushrooms, but it was equally tasty. The food here was stellar from start to finish.

Continuing on the classy front, we got more "freshening" towels for final cleanup after all the nomming! Overall, I was so delighted with this outing. It was excellent, swift, and friendly (! in London!) service, top-notch food, and the location couldn't be more fun. If you're in London and you have time to take the DLR out east, stop by Lotus and have a fabulous floating meal. :)

The Lotus Chinese Floating Restaurant

9 Oakland Quay

Inner Millwall Dock

London, E14 9EA

Tel: 020 7515 6445

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London: Dim Sum at Harrod's

Harrod's Department Store is a must-visit for tourists to London. It is like a city on its own, bursting with fashion, food, and people-watching like nobody's business!

It can be a little overwhelming with all of the food options, from pizza restaurants to ice cream parlors. We went into a main area of the food hall and spotted 2 seats at Mango Tree, the dim sum spot.
We got there just as the kitchen was closing (around 5, I think, on a Sunday afternoon)--so if you want dim sum, get there early!

We started with fresh juice...mango for me, passionfruit for LaShauna. It was a large serving but very expensive! It was about 9 dollars when you work out the conversion rates. I'm not sure any juice is THAT good, but it was delicious.

We ordered 3 dishes: vegetarian spring rolls, chicken dumplings and pork dumplings.

The spring rolls were beautiful AND tasty. They were crunchy, delicious, not greasy. Yum!

The chicken seemed to be pretty popular among our fellow eaters. They have a healthy dose of ginger--deeeelicious and my favorite bite of the evening.

The pork dumplings were just okay. I would skip these next time around and either try something new, or get MORE chicken dumplings! Okay, I'd probably do both. Those chicken dumplings are GOOD. No, they're REALLY good. Not cheap, but really, really good. Skip the juice and save yourself some money---and get the chicken dumplings already!

Harrod's
87-135 Brompton Road
Knightsbridge, Greater London SW1X 7XL
020 7730 1234

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The Dumpling Truck!!!

Whenever I've spotted the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck (an offshoot of Rickshaw Dumpling Bar), it's always been right after I've already eaten--blast! But not today, my friends. Not today. They were parked 1 block up from my office, on 50th street, and I was IN!

I first heard about Rickshaw Dumpling Bar because of its ties to the awesome chef that is Anita Lo. While she is no longer with Rickshaw, she helped create and develop their delicious recipes! She is a rock star, and I enjoy her work. Kenny Lao & David Weber are the heart & soul behind this operation, and they are still doing a delicious job. Their Rickshaw Dumplings truck parks all over the city and hands out tasty, steamed dumplings made with all natural ingredients (antibiotic-free pork, free-range, organic chicken, etc) and a very reasonable price.

Don't let the lack of a line fool you--it's not because the food isn't good--it's because the service is that fast!!

I couldn't decide between the Chicken & Thai Basil or the Pork & Chive, so I mentally flipped a coin and got the pork. I'm a sucker for anything with fresh chives in it!

6 dumplings for 6 bucks--not bad, right? I ordered the pork & chive dumplings, which came with a toasted sesame seed & soy dipping sauce.

The dumplings were soft, not too chewy, the filling was tasty, and the sauce was salty without tasting like seawater--all very balanced!

Their Twitter page touts a 6-dumpling order as being under 300 calories--nice!

This was win-win-win: great location, almost instant delivery of my hot dumplings, and delicious flavor! The only change I'd make would be to add a side--I'm still a little hungry. I'll be back soon, this time to try the Chicken & Thai Basil. Mmmm..peanut sate sauce....and maybe their cold noodle salad!

Track the truck yourself for a bite--you can follow them on Facebook or on Twitter @RickshawTruck to find out where they'll be next!

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La Caridad 78

NYC is quite a mix of people from all cultures and walks of life, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that one of my favorite places (thanks to friend & NY Native CPZ) to eat is Cuban/Chinese hybrid La Caridad. They serve bountiful portions of delicious dishes, from vaca frita to sesame chicken. You can easily eat for under 10 dollars a person, too.

Jen A & I stopped here yesterday after some retail therapy. It was scorching hot outside, so we drank iced tea and soda at our corner window seat while perusing the chock-full-of-choices menu.

Jen A ordered the avocado & onion salad, not realizing it was only....avocado and onion. Raw, pungent, eye-searing onion. We removed most of the onions and ate the incredibly generous portion of fresh, soft avocado (there was still plenty to take home later).

I ordered the 1/4 roast chicken, and when the server told me they only had dark meat, I barely hesitated. I'm learning to love the darker, more tender meat that I once avoided. This may not look fancy, but it was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and I absolutely, happily demolished it.

My chicken also came with a mini-mountain of rice and beans. That is a plate piled high of zesty yellow rice and creamy red beans. YUM.

Jen A ordered the sesame chicken with broccoli. I had a bite of broccoli (one of my all-time favorite veggies) and it had a bit of the chicken's sauce on it--zippy and sweet--not bad!

We ate to our hearts' content and still had plenty of leftovers. La Caridad 78 is cash only, but you only need a little to get a lot of food! Our lunch specials were each around 8 dollars--an insanely affordable and savory treat!

La Caridad 78
2199 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
(212) 874-2780

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Jani

Another trip with Lil Sis took us out to Long island, courtesy of ABF. He drove us all over the island, from Robert Moses Nature Preserve to the Horse Rescue/Vineyard (post soon!) on the North Fork, and back again to his town. We were pretty hungry and it was pretty late, and one shining option still open and welcoming was Jani.

Jani is a long, brightly-lit restaurant in Rockville Centre. Their wall is an elaborate, mirrored display of teapots of all kinds of shapes and sizes--I always find something new and fun with every visit (that dragon teapot is pretty sweet!)

I'm not that 'into' dragons, but even *I* thought that teapot was pretty awesome.

Jani sets you up immediately with a pot of hot tea and some crispy-crunchy things. I'm not a huge fan of fried things, but the mustard sauce that comes with it is too too good.

I was browsing the drink menu and saw an old favorite, The Shirley Temple, for TWO DOLLARS! Heck YEAH I ordered myself one! It was every bit as scrumptious as I remember: ginger ale, grenadine, and the flavor of my childhood memories.

As you can see, there is no 'Capital S' Shame in my 'Capital G' Game. I will order a Shirley Temple at any age, thankyouverymuch, and enjoy it thoroughly.

It was a cold night, so I decided to start with a ($3!) bowl of Tom Yum soup, one of my favorite Thai dishes. This was just what I needed--hot, salty, satisfying broth with tons of mushrooms, baby corn, chicken, and herbs.

I can't even tell you how good this is--and for $3 a bowl!?!?

Lil Sis ordered the Sesame Chicken, which just popped with color. I'm not a big fan of the fried Chinese dishes, but she did share a bite, and it was good, just not up my alley.

The broccoli was JUST like I like it...green but still with a lot of crunch.

And speaking of broccoli, there was a TON of it in my chicken and broccoli dish. Just as crispy-crunchy as that on Lil Sis's dish. I ate half of this and took the rest home for lunch a few days later (and it was still fantastic)!

ABF ordered the General Tso's chicken, which had a sweet flavor to it (again, not my thing, but he seemed to really enjoy it) and came in another thoughtfully-prepared presentation.

As our meal wrapped up, they brought us the bill and a plate full of juicy canned pineapple. It was a delicious finish to a fantastic meal.

This is not your run-of-the mill Chinese food pitstop. Jani puts careful thought into its expansive menu and various dishes, and you can taste the difference. They also offer so much food at such crazy-low prices that I wondered aloud how they manage to stay in business. My guess? Steady, loyal customers like us! If you stop by, let me know what you think, too!

Jani Chinese & Japanese Restaurant
294 Sunrise Highway
Rockville Centre, NY 11570-4906
(516) 766-2554

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