YIPIN CHINESE CUISINE

He says:
I had the fortune of trying many obscure and excellent foods while quite young, so it’s rare for me these days to come across a dish that is so radically new and startlingly good that I am blown away. But such a thing happened to me at Yipin Chinese Cuisine, a small, unassuming shop at the edge of Chinatown in Flushing, Queens.

By most accounts, the Chinese cuisine in Flushing is the most authentic in the city. Far from the tourist-choked streets of Mott & Canal in lower Manhattan, the restaurateurs of Flushing are Chinese folk cooking for Chinese folk. Here, Mandarin is the standard language, and with few signs or menus in English, navigating the food scene can be a daunting challenge. Fortunately the New York Times recently published an eater’s guide to Flushing, and armed with this knowledge Uptown Girl and I took the number 7 train into the heart of Queens.

She says:
Having never been to China, I imagine it's somewhat similar to Flushing – crowded. As soon as we exited the subway station, we were pushing our way through crowds and being jostled in turn as we tried to locate the food stalls the article had identified as worthy. Admittedly, this wasn’t a very original idea… we saw several other couples carrying the same newspaper article and looking completely lost. One of these couples even had the audacity to ask to see our article, as they had left theirs at home!

We made several stops, sampling delicious shrimp pancakes, fried wontons, and the best grilled chicken I’ve ever had. Our last stop was Yipin, a spare little restaurant with tile floors and four small tables where strangers sat together, huddled over large noodle bowls. The cold sesame noodles we requested took forever to make, but how could we be irritated at the old lady who kindly took our order or the single cook busily boiling and straining noodles behind the counter?

He says:
I regret never having cold sesame noodles before since I have no basis for comparing Yipin’s to other restaurants. It’s a moot point, though, since this dish is like nothing else I’ve ever had. The noodles are thick with the perfect blend of chewiness and give. They sit over a rich broth of ground sesame paste, chili paste, soy sauce, and peanut oil served at room temperature, with everything topped with shredded cucumber. The result is spectacular. The sesame paste gives the dish its distinctive flavor and creaminess; the chili paste provides a dose of heat strong enough to take you aback but not enough to keep you away; the shredded cucumber provides a cool, crisp contrast. Everything about this dish was completely new to me, but I also recognize genius when I see it.

She says:
Although it wasn’t love at first taste for me as it was for Downtown Boy, I do agree that the noodles were quite different than anything I’d had before. Personally, my mouth was burning uncomfortably after several bites, but I did enjoy the density of the noodles.

He says:
I agree with the New York Times – these are indeed “paradigm-changing noodles.”



She says:
As far as noodles go, these just aren’t my favorite.



Yipin Chinese Cuisine
40-04 Union Street, Queens, NY 11354
718-939-3489

BAY LEAVES

She says:

I don’t think the future is bright for Bay Leaves. We visited on a Thursday evening with a Creative Loafing coupon in hand and ended up being the only ones there during our entire meal. This doesn’t bode well for the Little Five eatery, which only opened in May. I can’t say that I will feel any great loss if the restaurant ends up closing, but there may be some disappointed vegetarians out there, if only because their options are few and far between in this meat-loving town.

Bay Leaves’ menu focuses largely on vegetarian items and meat that comes from local, organic animals. (There’s also quite a few fish choices, but I forgot to see if they were sustainable options.) As for the cuisine itself… I’m not sure what’s going on. The menu is supposedly “international fusion” but seems to be primarily a mélange of Thai and American – an odd combination, particularly in a city so laden with good Thai food. Downtown Boy and I agree that a chef should pick one cuisine and do it well, rather than try to please the masses with multiple cuisines.

Our meal started off well, with the Bay Leaves’ Volcano appetizer, which consisted of pita bread topped with sautéed mushrooms, basil, spinach, tomatoes, and fake meat. A drizzle of creamy, chipotle dressing brought it all together. It’s not rocket-science but it tasted good.

He says:
The fish sandwich I ordered was one of the sadder things I’ve seen in Atlanta. The grilled tilapia was passable, but what happened to the “pesto dressing” the menu mentioned? My sandwich only came with lettuce and tomatoes. And where was the “fresh ciabatta bread”? The tiny fillet of tilapia came between 2 slices of supermarket brown bread – and not the nice Pepperidge Farm 7-Grain bread, but the cheap, Home Pride 99-cent stuff.

Seriously, if I want to eat a sandwich like this I’d rather stay home and throw a can of sardines on Wonder Bread. The dish’s saving grace was the sweet potato fries, which were nice and crunchy.

She says:
On our very sweet waitress’s recommendation, I got the ginger chicken. I was eager to back Bay Leaves’ support of all-natural, wholesome, happy chickens, but the chunks of chicken didn’t taste very happy. In fact, they were a little dry. The chicken had been sautéed in soy sauce with bell peppers and LOTS of shredded ginger. The ginger was everywhere and could have used a lot more dicing. Overall, the dish was overwhelmingly gingery and easily something I could make at home.

He says:
For dessert we tried the fried ice cream, two large scoops of vanilla with a thick, doughy crust. The fried exterior was far thicker than I’ve seen in other restaurants, but I didn’t mind since deep-fried anything tends to be A-OK in my book.

She says:
I thought it was terrible. The fried dough on the outside was too thick and tasted slightly of rancid oil.

We say:
While we support Bay Leaves’ use of natural ingredients, we definitely do not support their mediocre cooking.





Bay Leaves
1138 Euclid Avenue, Atlanta GA 30307
http://www.rewardsnetwork.com/details.htm?merchantId=91891

SUGAR SWEET SUNSHINE

He says:
Let the cupcake wars begin! Magnolia threw down the gauntlet 12 years ago with its delicious $2 cupcakes, setting off a craze that has swept across the country and even infiltrated Atlanta in recent years. Few of Magnolia’s imitators have come close to the original, though. Too often their cupcakes are dry or airy, and the icing just not distinctive enough to justify their high prices.

But with Sugar Sweet Sunshine, we have a contender.

Unlike Magnolia, there is no half-hour line that wraps around the block. We walked right into SSS on a Monday afternoon and ordered our cupcakes and coffee, which is a good thing. Also unlike Magnolia, there are more than three flavors of cupcake. Actually, there are more like ten, and they look amazing. What to choose? The Sunshine, a yellow cupcake with vanilla buttercream? Or the Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting? Perhaps the Lemon Yummy, a lemon cake with lemon buttercream? It’s hard to decide because they all look and smell delicious.

From the first bite, it’s clear that SSS’s frosting is lighter than Magnolia’s and the cake less dense. I actually prefer this to the “heaviness” that accompanies Magnolia’s cupcakes. However, the flavored cupcakes are where Sugar Sweet Sunshine really takes flight. The pistachio cupcake was wonderful, the cake simultaneously rich yet not too sweet, with a pistachio current running through every bite. The vanilla frosting was sprinkled with crushed pistachio nuts for enhanced texture and flavor. Awesome. The strawberry cupcake was nearly as good, with fresh strawberry slices baked right into the moist cake.

She says:
Ok, step back. I may be incredibly biased, but the only valid way to assess a cupcake shop is through its chocolate cupcakes, or – to be generous – at the very least its chocolate-frosted vanilla cupcakes. Because what is a cupcake if it does not contain chocolate?

And so I sampled the Ooey Gooey, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate-almond buttercream frosting. My first complaint – the cupcake itself. It was barely chocolate. I don’t even think something that subtle should be allowed to call itself chocolate. Not to mention that the cake was lighter and drier than cake should be. And then there was the frosting, which was way more almond-y than chocolaty, and for a buttercream, it was certainly lacking in richness. Overall, there was nothing ooey or gooey about this “cupcake.”

After the disappointment of my cupcake, I did try a bite of Downtown Boy’s strawberry and pistachio cupcakes to see what he was raving about. My impression? Muffins. That’s right, these imposter cupcakes taste exactly like what they should be – muffins. Last time I checked, a muffin is not a cupcake.

He says:
For their range and expertise in cupcake flavors, I’m going to give the nod to Sugar Sweet Sunshine in this latest round of the cupcake wars.




She says:
Magnolia may only have 3 flavors, but they do cupcakes right – rich, moist, and chocolaty. Unlike Sugar Sweet Sunshine, where any true cupcake essence has been lost in the quest to diversify.




Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002
http://www.sugarsweetsunshine.com/

NYONYA

He says:
On our latest jaunt to New York City, Uptown Girl and I had the pleasure of dining at Nyonya, which is arguably the best Malaysian restaurant in Manhattan and inarguably one of the best cheap eats you’ll ever find. Named after the famous Malay brides renowned for their beauty and cooking skills, Nyonya is a secret gem of a restaurant that most locals – including my parents – picked up on long ago. While their Brooklyn location is equally busy, the Grand Street restaurant is perpetually packed with old Chinatown shopkeepers, Asian teens with gelled hair, and food adventurers clutching their Zagat guides. Even though the scene on a Saturday night borders on mayhem, our party was seated within ten minutes, and five minutes later the first of our appetizers rolled out.

Roti Canai is a super-thin paratha served with a curry chicken dipping sauce. It’s a marvelous combination. The curry’s intense blend of turmeric and masala is balanced with a touch of coconut, and trying to wipe every last drop from the bowl with the paratha is half the fun!

Another of my favorites is Chow Kueh Teow, a noodle dish reminiscent of Pad Thai. But chili paste gives these rice noodles some needed heat, and the ensuing mix of stir-fried shrimp, chives, squid, fried egg, and soy sauce come together with a complexity that I’ve rarely seen in plain old Pad Thai.

She says:
After the Chow Kueh Teow, my favorite dish is the Satay Chicken. The skewers of dark marinated meat achieve that subtle balance of inner juiciness and outer firmness that only comes from the grill. The satay has a slight coconut flavor – possibly from the marinade – and is served with a delicious peanut sauce.

We also ordered the tofu version of this dish, but the tofu, which came in huge airy pieces, was bland in comparison.

We also had the deep fried tilapia in Belachan sauce. The fish, which came out whole (head included) was quite good… tender and fresh tasting. The sauce, on the other hand, was what I would call an acquired taste. It was pungently fishy and salty, and while Downtown Boy and I squeamishly scraped the sauce off the fish, Downtown Boy’s dad couldn’t get enough, slathering extra sauce on his rice. Downtown Boy managed to redeem his manliness, though, by eating the brains out of the fish’s head. For the nutrients, of course.

He says:
We finished our meal with cendol (aka ABC), a dessert of red beans, green rice noodles, and coconut milk covered with shaved ice and brown syrup made of palm sugar. It’s a cool and refreshing dessert, and you shouldn’t leave Nyonya without trying it.

We say:
Most every dish at Nyonya is excellent, and the majority of what we ordered cost less than $7. Ridiculously good food at cheap prices – no wonder this place is always crowded!




Nyonya
194 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013
http://www.penangusa.com/location_nyonya_main.html