This recipe is friendly and flexible. You can use more or less of the preserved vegetable. They come in spicy and non-spicy versions (pictures below). The spicy is not very spicy though. This recipe also works whether you use a small bamboo shoot or a large one. You’ll just need to adjust with more or less salt or soy sauce.

Preserved Vegetable with Pork Strips and Winter Bamboo

• 2 to 3 packs preserved vegetable (70g to 100g size)
• 1 winter bamboo shoot
• 8 oz pork, cut in strips
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce + extra to taste
• 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoons grapeseed oil or other vegetable oil
• 2 pinches of sugar

1. Soak preserved vegetables in water for 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. While vegetable is soaking, peel and thinly slice the bamboo. Set aside.

3. Stir together pork and soy sauce. Sprinkle cornstarch on top and stir. Set aside.

4. Heat oil in the wok and swirl around. Once you see a little smoke, add the pork and stir fry. When the color of the pork starts to change, add the bamboo. Stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add the drained preserved vegetables and stir fry another 2 minutes. Add the sugar, give it a good toss, and serve immediately. (You might need more salt or soy sauce if you use a very large bamboo)

This dish can be eaten in two ways:

1. Serve with rice as a nice, light lunch or as part of a family style meal where all the dishes are eaten with rice.

2. Serve with noodles (I usually use Chinese wheat noodles) and chicken stock or pork stock (seasoned with salt or soy sauce) and it becomes a comforting bowl of noodle soup.

I often first make this dish as part of a meal with multiple dishes to be eaten with rice. Then, I use the left-overs to make a noodle soup for lunch on a following day. It’s sometimes challenging to get left-overs though.

I usually think of baking as something I have to do ahead of time but I can whip this one up last minute. It takes a few minutes to mix and just 25 minutes to bake. There’s no bringing butter to room temperature since it’s vegan. I also regularly do this one in my toaster oven which preheats in about 5 minutes which cuts down on the pre-planning and thinking too. Start to finish, this recipe takes less than 40 minutes.

Eat it plain, with butter (or vegan butter), with chili, with pulled pork, any barbeque…it’s endless. Pro-tip I learned from my 7 year old: it’s so good crumbled into chili!

Just a quick pandemic back story on this recipe: Years ago, Lon’s mom made a vegan cornbread and Lon really loved it so we got the recipe and used it for years. During the pandemic, I ran out of baking powder so I converted the recipe to baking soda. I didn’t have silken tofu (in the original recipe) and tried it with firm and actually like it way more. The recipe calls for plain soy milk but in a pinch (which is like every day of this pandemic), I used whatever I had whether it was vanilla soy milk, sweetened or unsweetened. All of it worked well. Everyone always gobbled up the cornbread. So try it and let me know if you find another great variation!

Amazing Super Fast Vegan Cornbread

Ingredients –

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt or table salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (preferably sifted)
• 1 cup plain soy milk
• 1/3 cup oil (vegetable, grapeseed, or avocado)
• 2 oz piece of tofu (firm tofu is best but silken, soft, or firm all work)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar

Directions –

1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Place soy milk, oil, tofu, and lemon juice (or vinegar) into a blender and run until smooth.
3. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and the pour the wet mixture in. Stir together until combined. Pour into a greased 9” pie pan or greased 8″ square pan.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Like everyone else during this pandemic, I’ve been baking bread. After months of it, I’m becoming pretty confident in my bread baking and that’s a plus I’ll always take away with me. I’ve been tweaking recipes a lot and thinking about them more which made me realize how robotic I was at times, pre-pandemic. Everything was rush rush rush…on autopilot. I had stopped blogging for a few years and stopped really connecting to the process. I didn’t see that before, but looking back, I do now.

Full-time blogging isn’t in the cards, but when there’s something really worth sharing, I’m going to try to slow down and take the time to share it. I’m happy to share this one. Everyone in this house thinks these pull-apart buns are amazing. I might even say it’s one of Lon’s favorite breads now. They are super soft and fluffy, making them perfect as a dinner roll or to make breakfast sandwiches. My absolute favorite use for this bun though is for a pulled pork slider. (Ironic, given it being a vegan recipe.)

This is also a relatively quick bread recipe. It’s not one where you need to be home all day, making this is a keeper. Eventually we’ll all start leaving the house regularly again, right?!?

Vegan Pull-Apart Buns

~makes 16 small buns

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (table salt if you don’t have)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegan butter + extra for topping
• 1/2 cup almond flour

Instructions-

1. Mix 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour with sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, combine almond milk, water, and vegan butter. Microwave until just warm (110-120 degrees F).
3. Whisk the almond milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down sides if necessary.
4. Add 1/2 cup of flour and beat for another 2 minutes.
5. Mix the remaining flour and almond flour in with a wooden spoon. When all of the flour/almond flour has been incorporated, knead until it’s a smooth elastic dough, about 7-10 minutes. You can dust your hands and bowl with extra flour if it’s too sticky. Cover with a kitchen towel and rest for 10 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured cutting board, divide the dough into 16 pieces. Roll each into a ball and place in a 9×13 baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and rest in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 – 45 minutes

7. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
8. When ready, brush some melted vegan butter on the tops and bake until golden and fluffy, about 18 – 20 minutes. (Please excuse the annoying news in the background of the video.)

During the pandemic, I started looking at my recipes in a new way. I realized that the old recipe might deter some from trying it because the traditional method works best with Taiwanese cucumbers or Persian Cucumbers. They are slim, thin-skinned, and seedless cucumbers. But, those cucumbers are hard to find and not necessarily at everyone’s local supermarket. They weren’t available to me for the last several months either. So, I’ve re-written this recipe to work for standard conventional cucumbers or English Hothouse cucumbers. If the skin is thick, use this method, which starts with peeling the cucumbers. If you have a thin-skinned, seedless cucumber, use the old method.

Just so you know, in actuality, I’ve been using this method for years because sometimes I just happen to have standard conventional cucumbers in the fridge and that’s what I use. It just never occurred to me to re-write the recipe but the pandemic has made me more aware of the value of versatility in a recipe.

Chinese Cucumber Salad

Ingredients –

• 2 large cucumbers (around 2 lbs)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• chili oil to taste (optional)

Instructions –

1. Peel the cucumbers. Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Discard peels and seeds.
2. Slice into 1/4″ thick pieces and place in a storage container (that has a lid).
3. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Cover tightly and shake the container to coat the cucumbers in sugar and salt. Put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours (up to the day before you want to eat it).
4. Drain the cucumbers (these will let out quite a bit of water). Add vinegar and sesame oil. Cover tightly and shake again. Place it back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (up to a few hours).
5. When you’re ready to serve, add garlic. Drizzle chili oil if you want it to be spicy. Cover and give it a good shake. Serve.
6. The cucumbers will be most refreshing the first day but left-overs can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Uncertainty.

Is that the most accurate way to describe these times? I can’t even make up my mind on a day to day basis how to feel, how to proceed, and what my priorities are. It’s tough because I’m the kind of person that likes to have a plan. On top of that, I’ve been feeling guilty…about a month into the Covid shutdown, I posted that I was thinking about blogging again, after all these years. Yet, almost 3 months later, I’ve left you hanging. I am super sorry.

Every time I start working on a recipe, I stop and wonder if I should be spending my time figuring out how to homeschool or partially homeschool my kids this fall. Should I be working on learning how to grow more of our food? Should I be looking for more freezers and stocking up more? Shouldn’t I be trying to volunteer more? When do I find time to read up on all the current political issues more? Should I just relax?

That’s my way of saying I’m kind of going in non-committal on this. I’m not adhering to a schedule or developing recipes based on requests like I did long ago. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I do know that I really want to document more of my mom’s recipes…for me and my kids, and my cousins who grew up eating my mom’s cooking. I do know that some of you appreciate and use these recipes and if anything, it makes me feel slightly better that I’m contributing something to someone in a positive way.

I really hope you are all hanging in there, figuring out what works for you and your family. In the meantime, stock up on dried goods like everything in this Bean & Barley Congee recipe: dried adzuki beans and mung beans, dried lotus seeds, and barley. This concept is a classic that many Chinese families make, each with their own twist and proportions. Some people add orange rind or dried dates. Some like it sweeter. Caya pours milk into hers. Make it your own! The Chinese also consider it a healthy food especially when using lotus seeds prized for anti-hypertensive properties in Chinese medecine. My kids happen to love this for breakfast so I usually make a big double batch and keep it in the fridge for quick and easy breakfasts that take zero amount of work on those mornings when I wake up too late.

Bean & Barley Congee

Ingredients –

• 1/2 cup dried adzuki beans
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1/2 cup dried mung beans
• 1/2 cup dried lotus seeds
• 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions –

1. Soak Adzuki beans for 5 hours or more.
2. Drain adzuki beans and place in a large pot with barley. Add 8 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes. Add mung (green) beans and lotus seeds. Keep covered and cook for another 30 minutes. Add sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir to dissolve.
3. You can serve hot, cold, or anywhere in between.

If you know of another one to add to the list, let me know!

Asian-Veggies.com

Asian Veggies is still in soft opening mode, trying to get more pictures onto their website. They have decent quality and a good selection of veggies, some fruits, and some dry goods. They are a little pricey and quantities might be large, especially for fruit, i.e. 64 fuji apples in a box. There’s an $8 delivery fee. Orders place by 6pm are delivered next day (no Sundays)

DineMarket.com

Dine Market is a site that let’s you shop from three different suppliers. To make it less confusing, my SIL advises filtering for one supplier when you shop. She uses Valley View which has a $50 minimum. Prices are reasonable considering item quantities and free delivery. They are reliable and it’s easy to get delivery.

FreshGoGo.com

Fresh Go GO is kind of like Fresh Direct for Asian stuff but the website is not as good. They did exist before the pandemic so it is more of a website than most of the other ones. There’s a pretty large selection of fruits, vegetables, dry goods, prepared foods, and even masks and sake sets. The prices are reasonable and mostly good quality. No delivery fee but it’s very hard to get a time slot so my brother went to a pick-up point in Jersey City. Even so, this is my extended family’s favorite option because of the wide selection.

Konveny.com

I don’t know anyone who has tried this site yet but they’re centered around Japanese products. Free delivery for orders over $75

SAFG.us

SouthEast Asia Food Group is a wholesaler that is making home deliveries. You have to message them for a price sheet. There’s no pictured shopping site so it’s a bit hard to order. I know one person who made a home order and she did misunderstand some of what she ordered. However, the plus is that you can easily get a next day delivery slot. Some quantities are small and some are large and prices are good. The delivery fee and minimum seems so have changed so I don’t want to post the wrong info. Email them to ask.

So, I heard that some people throw out the broccoli stems. What? You only want the florets so you just chuck the whole stem? Promise me you’ll never do that again! Broccoli stems are delicious and crunchy and so amazing pickled! My kids love Quick-Pickled Broccoli Stems!

I’ll admit that it takes a little bit of work because you have to peel the broccoli stems but I usually do this while I’m watching TV. I use a pairing knife and the skins usually peel pretty easily. Sometimes you’ll get extra woody stems and you’ll want to cut off a little more if you see fibrous parts. The rest is easy!

Quick-Pickled Broccoli Stems

~makes 3 1/2 cups 

• 3 1/2 Cups peeled Broccoli Stems
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar + more to taste
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil + more to taste

Toss broccoli stems with sugar and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain all the liquid. Add vinegar and sesame oil and toss. Cover and refrigerate another 30 min. Taste and add more vinegar and/or sesame oil to taste. Serve cold.

*This will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.

This is a pretty quick and easy dish to make, perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner. The sweet and salty sauce full of aromatics is irresistible and the extra sauce is fantastic on rice!

Red Cooked Fish
~serves 2 as a main, 4 as part of larger family style meal

• 1 pound striped bass, cleaned
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 thin coins + scant 1/4 cup 1″ matchsticks ginger, divided
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large or 3 small scallions, cut into 2″ segments
• rice to serve

Instructions  –

1. Score the fish and cut off the tail. Sprinkle a little flour on both sides. Set aside.

2. Heat a large wok on medium heat. Add the oil and swirl.

3. Add two thin coins of ginger and fish right on top. Fry for 3 minutes. Flip over and fry for another 2 minutes.

4. Add rice wine (be careful as smoke comes up) and swirl.

5. Add soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sugar. Add 1/3 cup water. Give the wok another swirl.

6. Turn heat down to low. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Add scallion and continue cooking for 1 more minute.

7. Serve immediately with rice.

*note: fish does not make great left-overs

We’ve been living in Long Island City for almost three years (almost five years by this 2nd publishing) now and we love it! The restaurant scene has really grown, although we could still use more. Naturally, whenever friends visit the area, they ask me for restaurant recommendations, as well as neighbors so I’ve been working on this blog post about Long Island City restaurants for a while now. There’s enough here to cover various tastes and still several more. Please bookmark this page. I’ll keep updating as I try all the restaurants in Long Island City! Here’s The Long Island City Restaurant Guide in alphabetical order.

Aanchal 45-12 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101is a pretty solid neighborhood Indian restaurant. The lunch buffet is decent and the delivery lunch deal is pretty good too. The inside is a lot bigger than you’d think from the outside and some tables are suitable for pretty large groups. Food is a tad spicier than the average New York Indian restaurant but far less spicy than you’d find in an Indian home. We don’t go or order often though since they don’t seem to understand what it means when you say someone (Lon) can’t have dairy.

I love the staff at Alobar 46-42 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101! They’ve always made me feel so welcome. They want kids and families along with everyone else in our hood. Plus the food is tasty too. Not quite yet a destination restaurant but definitely a must for any LIC-er. The only reason I don’t go more often is that the food is heavy American and I just can’t eat such heavy food so often.

Anable Basin is the perfect place to grab a beer and chill outdoors by the water. There’s music playing, kids and dogs all over the place, and even an empty indoor room that the kids end up playing in. The food is simple as expected but surprisingly good. Get the salad! Head over early because you’ll have to find a table yourself.

We’ve only ordered-in from 
BANY 10-57 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 and they are consistently fast at delivery. It’s mostly what you’d expect from these kind of fusion-y Asian places. Nothing is amazing and nothing is that bad. All at reasonable prices. It’s as if these kind of places really intended on delivery business only. Order sushi sandwich and duck noodle soup.

Barista Panini House , which was called Flour & Herbs for a short time when they first opened, uses fresh ingredients for a short simple menu of pretty standard salads and sandwiches. There’s a little bit of seating…and I will probably forget this place exists.

While everyone we know seems to order pizza from
Bella Via 47-46 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 regularly, we’re decidedly not going to anymore after two tries. I just don’t think this kind of thin crust coal oven pizza travels well. It also doesn’t reheat well. New York style pizza is what you want for delivery and stick to eating this kind of pizza straight out of the coal oven at the restaurant!! I did enjoy a few bites of Rigatoni Bolognese a friend had shared with me but it’s unlikely for us to order non-pizza dishes too because I tried getting a salmon dish for Lon, specifying “NO dairy” about 6 times and detailing what that includes (butter, milk, cream, cheese, etc.) and yet the vegetables on that plate came soaked in butter. Ultimately, Bella Via’s popularity was built during a time when Long Island City had few restaurants. It became a staple for the residents as they ordered take-out from a rotating list of four or five places. As the area booms and new (some really great) restaurants open up, Bella Via probably won’t be able to hold onto it’s undeserving pedestal.

In the winter months, I could eat a big bowl of pho every day. I’ve been wishing for a Vietnamese place nearby since I moved to LIC almost 6 years ago so I think I did a cartwheel when I saw a sign for Bia opening very close to me. The caveat is that I walked over to get take-out (they didn’t deliver yet) the 2nd day they were open, but it literally took over 45 minutes to get the food when they told me 15 minutes. (I had to entertain Remi the whole time!) To top it off, we didn’t think the food was any good. The “large” pho was smaller than the smallest “small” I’ve ever gotten and the rest of the food came in small portions as well. The prices are definitely higher than their competitor, Cyclo (on the other side of LIC) too. Considering, it was their 2nd day, we may give them another shot. I’ll let you know if we do…

We had a good Latin-inspired brunch at Blend way back but then we ordered food from there once and it was horrendous. We haven’t tried since. They’ve opened a second location on the water that has a fancier menu for the fancier views. We haven’t tried it yet…

Breadbox Cafe had pretty good bagels once upon a time. Then they decided to stop making their own bagels and save money by serving stale and old food. They also served Lon rotten butter. I used to really like this place. So sad…

Bricktown Bagel 51-06 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 is good enough if you’re local and need a bagel but don’t travel here just for a bagel. I would treat this as a to-go place. It’s eerily dark inside and has had bad sanitation ratings for a long time. (Currently, they have a “grade pending” status.)

Brooks 1890 24-28 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a bar/restaurant with a menu split between American and Italian.  After one meal there, we will never go again. The service was terrible. The food was horrible. It was one of those places you’d expect to see on “Restaurant: Impossible”.

Cafe Henri 10-10 50th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 has some excellent crepes and eggs at reasonable prices. I’ve never tried dinner here. Weekend brunch is packed!

Inside the LIC Arts Center you’ll find
Caffiena Espresso Bar 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101, a small place to get espresso-based drinks, soups, salads, and sandwiches. Again, I’m not going to judge coffee/espresso right now since I’m on decaf (breast-feeding) but the fresh sandwiches are half-price already low-prices after 4pm. They also have some baked goods from Balthazar. The only downside is that strollers and wheelchairs have to come in from the side of the building (a pretty long way)  because the front has stairs only.

I used to go to Cannelle Patisserie in Jackson Heights when I needed to bring a cake somewhere so of course I’m thrilled they opened a location in LIC. The prices are a little higher but I love having a place to get croissants, cakes and pastries, and fresh breads.  I’ve yet to try the savory menu but hopefully will soon…

Casa Enrique 5-48 49th Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101 is not just “good for the neighborhood”. It’s a Pueblan Mexican restaurant actually worth traveling for, for brunch or dinner! (It’s only one stop from Manhattan on the 7-train.) Read the full review on this place!

Chimney Cake [CLOSED]is a unique Hungarian-Transylvanian Pastry only sold here in all of NYC, as far as I know. It’s made fresh while you wait so it’s pretty awesome as fresh pastry is! However, if you wait too long to eat it, it’s not as awesome anymore. It comes in several flavors and it’s definitely worth a try at least once.

Court Square Diner 45-30 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 is important to know in LIC because it’s open and delivering 24-hours. They didn’t even close during Hurricane Sandy! It’s an average NYC diner, at best, which isn’t saying much but hey when you need food at weird hours, go here.

Every area needs those big over-sized delis with the sandwich station, salad station, pasta station, and a few random Asian menu items. Cranberry holds down the fort for LIC.

Every neighborhood needs a casual, comfortable, and reliable place like
Cranky’s Cafe 48-19 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101. [CLOSED] They serve some Cajun/Creole items and the rest seems like standard American fare. The prices are reasonable and the service is welcoming. Definitely try the Homemade S.O.S. Dinner was kind of a let-down though.

I’ve only been to 
Crescent Grill 38-40 Crescent Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 once but it is probably going to become one of our regular spots this year. We have a habit of ordering salads and vegetable sides when we go out because so many restaurants don’t put much vegetable on the main courses. We love that we don’t have to do that here. Every generously sized dish was absolutely delicious and covered in very fresh vegetables, really tasting farm-to-table. I’m still dreaming about the English Pea Risotto and Magret Duck. The service was also fantastic with nice decor. You could definitely bring a date here!  Thanks to our friends Tim and Jessica Lo for telling us about Crescent Grill. There’s no way we would have found it otherwise. It’s in the middle of nowhere in the industrial part of LIC. To make up for that, they’ll send a car to pick you up and take you home from dinner.

Cyclo 5-51 47th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a welcome addition since we needed a Vietnamese spot and I can’t survive winter without several gallons of pho. It’s been hit (very good spring rolls bun-salad and chicken curry) or miss (awful papaya salad with shrimp) though and dining in has been better than delivery. It’s one of the cheaper options in the area.

ENC Deli 5 Court Square, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a corner deli and the closest one to me so I’m grateful for it’s existence. Do I eat there? Not really, but I’m not into corner deli food. It seems average though. They could have been interesting since they have some Korean food on the menu but the few times I tried, it has been inconsistent, varying between terrible and just ok.

On one side, 
Five Star Diner 13-05 43rd Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a banquet space. The other side is a casual restaurant. The menu is a list of items with no descriptions. You’ll figure out quickly that this is not your average Greek Diner.  It’s an Indian place. We’ve eater here once  and ordered delivery once. We enjoyed most dishes and our waitress was so sweet, bringing extra things for the kids. Samosa with Cholley (Samosa smothered with chickpeas) is a must! Skip the Tikka Masala. The white meat chicken pieces are a little dry.

Food Cellar & Co. is a gourmet food market that looks kinda like a Whole Foods knock-off. As a supermarket they are way over-priced and I try not to ever shop there. However, the pizza oven is rockin’ and they make some good pizzas and sandwiches in there. The prepared food buffet sold by weight is decent too. There’s a modest self-service seating area.

Gaw Gai Thai Express is possibly one of the worst Thai food places I’ve tried. Full review here.

Yay!
Hibino 10-70 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101, a popular Brooklyn restaurant has opened a location in LIC! They have good house-made tofu, Japanese tapas, sushi, and a few cooked entrees. I wouldn’t call anything amazing but we were fully satisfied. It’s a clean open space with good service and decent prices.

We’ve only been to Il Falco 21-50 44th Drive, Long Island City, NY 11101 twice so far but I already have high hopes that this place will become one of our favorites. The work of two Il Mulino alumns lived up to my expectations with a delicious Italian meal and a pretty long menu of so much more I need to try. The white tablecloths, waiters in suits, and excellent service places Il Falco at the higher end for Long Island City but menu prices are affordable. Watch out for the very strong sales of the “specials” because these dishes are priced quite a bit higher than the regular menu.

John Brown Smokehouse 10-43 44th Drive, Long Island City, NY 11101 just moved closer to us. Yes! This is our favorite BBQ joint in all of NYC! …and their new digs has an outdoor space. Read the full review here.

From the outside, 
Jora 4746 11th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 does not look exciting so we were pleasantly surprised by the well-lit and appealing interior. Then the waiter was really charming. I took tiny sips of everyone elses’ awesome cocktails and made mental note to come back when I can have them. At least I got the Chicha Morada, a traditional Peruvian drink made from corn, which sounds really weird but tasted like a nice juice. Standards like paella and skirt steak were expertly prepared and plated. Unique Peruvian dishes like the pumpkin stew with shrimp and octopus covered in a black olive sauce are wonderful and different. All of it comes at very affordable prices! We can’t wait to try more dishes here AND they even have a small parking lot!

Lhawan2 [CLOSED] is reliable and cheap Filipino food, perfect for casual occasions and ordering in. The restaurant is much less ghetto than you’d expect. For a very safe bet, order the barbeque pork.

Right on the water in the new Hunter’s Point South Park, which is gorgeous, sits
LIC Landing by Coffeed 52 Center Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101. They sell coffee (obviously) but no decaf, beer, some frozen lemonade-ish stuff, and some pastries, sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs. I haven’t tried any food yet (doesn’t seem that interesting) but they kind of win for location. You can even get there by East River Ferry which docks right by it.  The prices are fine so just buy something so you can sit and enjoy the view.

LIC Market 21-52 44th Drive, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a great neighborhood spot, small, cute, and homey. For those that miss the days of living in Manhattan, here you can pay Manhattan prices for Manhattan portions (with a few exceptions), with quality up to par. The menu is short and simple, seasonal, where rustic meets chic. The Halibut Sandwich was the best thing I ever ate there and would make this a destination if it were permanently on the menu but alas, that was a special. I can only speak for breakfast and lunch since I haven’t had dinner here yet. Be warned, this place gets packed and there could be a long wait.

I feel like classic NY style pizza can be made in giant pies and reheated by the slice when ordered but that thin crust fancier style pizza needs to be made to order and eaten right away. At L’inizio, they use fresh local ingredients and resemble that fancier style of pizza but they make large pies and you can buy it by the piece (also rather small pieces for the price), which they will reheat for you. For me, it doesn’t really work but it’s a nice space with an outdoor garden. I believe you can order a whole pizza and have them make you one so it could work if you’re going with a group.

I love the true neighborhood vibe of
Malu 12-09 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101, [CLOSED] an ice cream shop opened by a husband and wife that live in the area. They have an ever-changing menu of ice cream flavors, some inspired or developed by other Long Island City businesses. I remember a very good strawberry ice cream and a nice huge affogato.

With only one very mediocre brunch at
Masso 4725 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101, I can’t really form an opinion yet since it seems to be an Italian restaurant and we didn’t have any of what they specialize in.

Manducatis 13-27 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is so much bigger than you can imagine from the outside with several different rooms. This is an old-school family run place so there is a warm casual friendliness but also a slowness that makes it feel less like a business. The Italian menu is hit-or-miss varying from soggy oily green beans to an excellently fried veal chop. I’m not really itching to go back but it’s a good-to-know place because they can accommodate very large groups and there’s no plating charge for birthday cake. *added 3/21/13

Manducatis Rustica 46-35 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 seems pretty popular among LIC-ers, especially those with kids. It’s casual Italian with enough space for bigger groups. The one time I went, the food was so mediocre. It’s one of those things where it kind of depends how often you need to eat out. If you live in LIC and eat out a lot, you’re going to need to rotate through the not-quite-enough restaurants in the area and this is barely pass-able. For us, we don’t eat out that much so we only return to the ones that are really good and this one doesn’t make the cut.

We picked up pizza and fried calamari to-go from 
Manetta’s 10-76 Jacksome Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 once and the food showed some strong potential. We finally went back for a sit-down meal and discovered that it’s a perfect place for families where the waiters like kids and there’s a good list of solid pizzas and pastas to chose from. The good quality at good prices make it a neighborhood spot but not a destination.

Every neighborhood has one or two (or ten in parts of Manhattan) Chinese take-outs. On my side of LIC, it’s 
Mr. Wonton 2604 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 with the standard menu and the food is exactly what you’d expect of Chinese take-out. They actually have some seats in this place but who actually eats inside these places?

Since my friend Julie was sweet enough to make a reservation (during a short time, they were taking same-day reservations at 3pm, now it’s first come-first serve), I’ve been to Mu Ramen! The ramen is rich and fantastic, as well as the appetizers which are more upscale than your average noodle shop. I like the simple space and the long communal table. It is noticeably pricey though which dissuades me a little but not as much as having to wait on line (especially outside in the winter when I want ramen).

I had really high hopes when Murasaki opened because Caya always wants sushi but this is really just one of those hole in the wall cheap sushi joints in disguise. You can’t just use stone tiles on the walls, do some decent plating, and call it real sushi. Sorry. They are really nice and welcoming there, and the prices are cheap, so if you’re not picky, go ahead.

The first version of M. Wells (full review here) closed a while back and now they have two new locations:
M. Wells Steakhouse 43-15 Crescent Street, Long Isand City, NY 11101and
M. Wells Dinette 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101(inside PS 1) Read the old review and you’ll see why we’re not in a rush to try the 2 new locations…

I was excited to see 
Pink Canary 13-11 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 open. It looks like a super cute and girly cupcake shop but alas, the cupcakes are covered in food coloring (I’m allergic) so I won’t be trying any.

When Breadbox (see above) went downhill, I was so excited to see that
Pumpernickel 23-10 44th Drive, Long Island City, NY 11101, a bagel store, was opening very close to my apartment. Alas, the bagels are dense without chewiness. If this business survives, it will be purely because it is right under the Citicorp building.

Sage General Store 24-20 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and like the other four places we’ve been to from triple-D, this one also kind of stinks.  The southern-style food is served from a steam table on their counter and tastes like such. They recently renovated and got rid of the steam tables so I’m debating trying the food again but in no rush. However, the coffee (hot and iced) is good and they offer organic milk/cream. The raspberry iced tea and lemonade are also nice so think of this as a place for beverages only. Expect to wait a while for service. They changed their business concept yet again and are currently a lunch and dinner restaurant, attempting to go a little more upscale. I’ve lost interest in trying this confused place.

I remember the warm and helpful staff at Station LIC but I don’t remember what we ate which tells me it was neither bad nor great. It’s a New American bar menu with more than just burgers and wings…

Sweetleaf 10-93 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a true coffee shop and though they’ve expanded, I still don’t recommend trying to bring a stroller in there. Pathways are very narrow. For a while, I was making it a regular stop for Iced Americanos but had to nip my habit. The baked goods are pretty good too. Now, they have multiple locations.

I really wanted to like 
Testaccio 47-30 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 because it’s a nice looking restaurant serving Roman Italian cuisine. It looks like a place you could take guests and the menu has some enticing dishes. Alas, the food is hit or miss, and all of it is drastically over-priced.

The burgers at The Burger Garage 25-36 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 are fine, not bad, but not note-worthy either. I prefer to make my own burgers. However, I do really like their crispy sweet potato fries and thick shakes. That used to mean I’d stop by for snacks but not meals but recently, my friend Rita told me about their veggie burgers. I’m not a veggie burger person but this chickpea patty with a Bangladeshi spin (just a bit spicy) really rocks. Ask for extra pickles on it!

The Creek & The Cave 10-93 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 is a comedy club and Mexican cafe. I’ve heard good things about the shows here. We’ve only ordered delivery from them and that we’re unlikely not do again.

Perhaps one of the best values for a healthy meal for a family of four in LIC are the family combos at 
The Inkan 4502 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 that range between $27 and $35. You’ll get a whole Peruvian style rotisserie chicken with a salad (with a lot of avocado) and sides. The decor is not exciting here and the place is pretty small but the chicken is better fresh off the spit, rather than delivered.

The Mill 44-61 11th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101, a coffee shop opened by and in the same building as Neue Atelier (a design studio) is a welcome addition to our neighborhood because it’s a bit closer for those that live near the Citi Corp building than Sweatleaf. It has the full-line of expected espresso based drinks and a nice selection of baked goods, including some vegan options. I’m going to refrain from judging the coffee/espresso right now because I’m still on decaf (breast-feeding).

Tournesol is an awful little French place. It’s dirty and needs to be closed by the health department! Full review here.

We had a strange first experience with
Woodbines 47-10 Vernon Boulevard, New York, NY 11101. It was a cold snowy day last winter when Remi was maybe 2 months old and we decided to go in for an early brunch. After ordering and waiting for a while, we were told they just opened so it takes some time for the heat to kick in. The food was taking a while as we huddled with our kids with jackets on and some time later they told us the heat was broken. We asked them to just pack the food so we could take it to go but the food was taking a really long time. Eventually they offered to deliver it. We accepted the offer and included a tip for the delivery and left. We headed home and when the food came, we enjoyed it but the overall experience was already tainted. So I guess that’s not much of a review of this place except that the customer service wasn’t very thoughtful.

I’m not going to bother reviewing the chain restaurants that are in the area but I will list them so you know they are here in LIC: Chickpea, Dominos, Dunkin Donuts (3), Kung Fu Tea, Petey’s Burger, Spice, Subway, Tozt (several of them in LIC), Quiznos (closed).

Here’s a few places that we hope to try in the near future: Alewife, Beans Grapes and Leaves, Blissville Kitchen/Dutch Kills, Corner Bistro, Maiella, Queens & Pauper, Rockaway Brewing Company, Swallow My Words, and The Beast Next Door, The Shannon Pot.

Also, there’s a few places I’m not so interested in so let’s acknowledge that they exist in LIC but they’ll probably never get reviewed: American Hero, Shi, Skinny’s Cantina.

I love how easy this idea is, just a couple of things tossed in a food processor. The result is garlicky, rich, and satisfying on some good sweet corn just like the traditional Mexican Street Corn known as Elotes, yet without the dairy! As much as I want cheese on everything, I love this recipe and didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. For those that entertain, you’ll appreciate a recipe that is vegetarian and dairy-free and will satisfy most. Good thing this recipe will also double, triple, and quadruple easily.

Dairy-Free Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)
~serves 2

• 2 ears corn
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 ounces peeled carrot (roughly 2″ segments)
• 2 cloves garlic
• pinch salt
• pinch cayenne pepper
• chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Instructions –

1. Preheat the grill. Peel off and discard outer leaves of the corn, leaving about two inner layers.

2. Soak the corn in water for 10 minutes.

3. While the corn is soaking, place mayonnaise, carrot, garlic, salt, and cayenne in the bowl of a food processor and process until it forms a paste that may have little lumps. You make have to scrape down the bowl a few times. Set aside.

4. Grill the soaked corn for 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

5. Remove the corn from the grill and shuck completely. Return the corn to the grill and grill for another 6 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until the kernels look cooked and golden with some nice charring.

6. Slather the sauce generously over the corn and sprinkle with cilantro (if using). Serve immediately.