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Archive for the tag 'chinese food'

Food Stuffs: Buddhist Delight And Beef Casserole – Lian Won Café


by on Sep 27th, 2012

Food Stuffs is a bi-weekly column examining the gastronomic landscape of Bensonhurst and the surrounding neighborhoods. Each entry will cover anything and everything even remotely related to food because here in Bensonhurst, food is always news.

As you walk along 86th Street in Bensonhurst you will start to see a different style of Chinese Restaurant than those that had populated this neighborhood in the past. In old Bensonhurst or Gravesend, you would have your ubiquitous Happy Wok or Big Chef next to the pizza place or the bakery serving up ample plates of General Tso’s chicken, pork dumplings and spare ribs. You could count on these neighborhood fixtures for lo mein, fried rice and a lunch special packed in styrofoam with an egg roll and wonton soup that would keep you stuffed well into dinner.

But the new Bensonhurst has Chinese restaurants that you would see in the Chinatowns of Lower Manhattan or Flushing or not too far away in Sunset Park. At the Lian Won Café, with the specials and sign menu in Chinese (I think Mandarin), it’s a different experience from the start. Instead of being met with takeout menus and bullet proof glass, you are served hot jasmine tea and greeted by waiters that speak little or no English. And I mean none, the words water and rice were missing from our server’s vocabulary. But that’s all part of the fun.

The menu, fitting for any Chinatown, is full of diverse items like chili pig intestines and various casseroles served in a steaming hot stone dish. My partner decided on the sizzling beef casserole over rice and I opted for the Buddha’s Delight over rice.The Buddha’s Delight was solid, with wok fried broccoli, black mushroom, shitake mushroom and and tofu skin served over bed of white rice. The broccoli was a bit undercooked, but the mushrooms were perfect and meaty and the tofu skin added a nice chewiness to the entire dish. For $4.50 it is a great deal that will fill you up and make you thank the Buddha for his generosity.

My dining partner was excited about the various meats, ducks, pork, chicken and beef. His casserole decision was a bit complicated, because the waiter needed us to draw circles around the menu numbers to make sure it was correct. The casserole came out in the stone pot and was sizzling, he shared that the meat was full of his kind of flavor. He enjoyed the meat and rice so much, that he ordered another dish beef over rice, which was essentially the same dish just not in the hot stone pot.  Fortunately, he was able to take most of that second dish home because it was too much for our lunch meal.

At the end of the meal, lunch for two came to $14.50 and we tipped well in hopes of bridging the communication gap. The meal could have easily been under $10 and certainly filled us up with quality food and a new experience. Of course, I brought my chopsticks home to re-use and my non-environmentally friendly lunch partner packed his leftovers in styrofoam and took a plastic bag. He enjoyed the leftovers though, and I am still enjoying the chopsticks.

I would certainly return to the Lian Won Café and sample some of their other vegetable dishes. And my partner seconded that thought and said he would also consider bringing his own takeout container for leftovers. So be brave and be daring and try all the fun Chinese restaurants under the tracks on 86th Street. We will be reviewing more soon!

Lian Won Café, 2012 86th Street (718) 333-1666.

Is there a restaurant or specific dish you think we should check out? Let us know!

Food Stuffs: Pickled Plums – Wah Fung New York Mall


by on Aug 16th, 2012

The preserved plums at Wah Fung New York Mall

Food Stuffs is a new column examining the gastronomic landscape of Bensonhurst and the surrounding neighborhoods. Each entry will cover anything and everything even remotely related to food because here in Bensonhurst, food is always news.

Hidden in the quiet Asian Grocery stores of Bensonhurst are many treasures. Some are appetizing, some are intimidating and some are just funky. In the Wah Fung New York Mall at 2286 86th Street, among the dried coconut, 30 types of ginseng, withered mushrooms and cranky staff members are jars of colorful preserved plums. Could there be a better way to start a pickle column than with a rainbow of shapes, sizes, textures, flavors and types?

The preserved plum pickles have a bizarre taste that reminded this reviewer of a chemical mixture of cotton candy and frozen orange juice. The aftertaste recalls lollipops children are given in doctor’s offices after an injection: sweet and also, somehow, sad.

I was conservative and chose only the plums that were $3.80 a pound, and almost a week later I still have most of them. If you want to try these odd and intense plums – you can certainly do it on a budget.

I also sampled the preserved mandarin, which I enjoyed. It had the bitterness of citrus skin and the taste of lemon-scented pledge.

One darker preserved plumb was more expensive at $9.40 a pound. It looked more like a dried piece of steak than dried fruit. That plum was the most palatable, having the texture and aftertaste of licorice. Imagine a fine anise-flavored liquor injected into a Jujy Fruit.

If the neon plum parade is not reason enough to visit 86th Street, you should know that the staff in the mall were extra friendly. They refused to allow any photos of the plumbs, even after I purchased them. I also had to ask six times how to prepare the dried coconut – the one word answer – soup! But the Bean’s talented photographer was able to sneak a couple of shots, as if we were in the middle of a communist cell meeting or a Central American civil war circa 1980.

The staff also checked my plum bag to make sure I hadn’t taken the expensive plums. I will note the helpful assistance of the plum police after I struggled with the tight lid of a preserve jar and one strong staff member was able to pry it open without injuring me, the plums or himself.

I will say this, if you love pickles, if you love preserves, you should go and sample all of these strange fruits. It will help you grow some hair on your chest and give you some serious Bensonhurst street cred.

Until the next barrel.

Wah Fung New York Mall, 2286 86th Street.

Is there a restaurant or specific dish you think we should check out? Let us know!

Silver Star Still Here After All These Years


by on Sep 21st, 2011

Best dining room entrance ever (By Steven T. via Yelp.com)

One neighborhood business that’s been a fixture on 18th Avenue since before many of our readers were born is Silver Star Restaurant.

Since 1944, Silver Star has provided Bensonhurst residents with American-style Chinese food in a sit-down restaurant setting.

The ‘white table cloth’ type of Chinese-American eatery has become increasingly scarce due to a proliferation of more casual take-out spots, as well as an influx of residents seeking more traditional Chinese fare.

I remember coming here as a child with my parents and getting the Pu Pu Platter which, even as an adult, I can never seem to order with a straight face.

Any readers have fond memories of Silver Star?

How about a more recent experience? Do you think their food is still as good as it was ten or twenty years ago?

Silver Star is located at 6221 18th Avenue, between 62nd Street and 63rd Street. Their phone number is (718) 331-2799.

By Steven T. via Yelp.com