Joo Mak Gol (주막골)

Joo Mak Gol (주막골)
3526 Farrington St
Flushing, NY 11354
$$

Everything from the food to the staff radiates a rustic, village feel. Stews and soups are the highlight here and if you are a bit hungrier, cheap Korean BBQ is available too. Joo Mak Gol is a little restaurant surrounded by many small Korean bars on Farrington St. This place seems to be popular to the local older crowd as many diners were rowdy men enjoying drinks or adult couples dining a modest dinner.

I have to admit that the less English spoken, the more authentic the restaurant is. While lacking in English, the staff seems to be fluent in Korean and Chinese. But language is not an issue when pointing and repeating after the waitress gets you by.

The entrance is quite small and could be easily missed. The Korean name is written boldly above the door and do note that the English name is written as “Jun Gol Jumak.”

Fear not as they have an English menu although it’s only two pages. One side is stews and drinks while the other is bigger dishes and entrees meant to be shared.

Most of the tables are in sets of 4 seats and they have portable heaters in the middle of the room.

Like any legit Korean restaurant, an assortment of banchan is served with the meal. My meal came with fish tofu, bok choy, a type of dried tiny fish, kimchi, potato salad, soy sauce braised squash, and octopus.

Spicy Fermented Kimchi Stew

The Spicy Fermented Kimchi Stew ($8.95) sets your tongue ablaze with its strong pungent acidic flavors. It got to a point where I was just spooning the soup down my throat to avoid the it burning away my taste buds. The bowl was generously stuffed with kimchi, firm tofu, rice cakes, and pork belly. I would recommend this if you love strong flavors and need to warm your body up. Each stew is served with a bowl of rice.

Soft Tofu & Spicy Sea Food Soup

The Soft Tofu & Spicy Sea Food Soup ($8.95) aka Soondubu seems to be the only one of its kind on the menu. I saw traces of clams, squid, and scallop but missing the egg typically served on the side like other restaurants.

Potato and Pork Thick Stew

The Potato and Pork Thick Stew ($10.95) had the richest flavor of the stews, a little on the salty side even. In the stew there is a huge chunk of potato and three pork bones to gnaw on.

Joo Mak Goo has a very homey feel to it and it’s only fitting soups and stews are their M.O. Also, when it comes to Korean food, I’ve never seen cheaper. Pair that with their no-nonsense traditional cooking equals a restaurant that has withstood the test of time. Like an old shop in a village, the staff is welcoming and the food is warming.

T-Swirl Crepe

T-Swirl Crepe
40 08 Union St
Queens, NY 11354
$$
Menu

When you see crepes in glass domes lined against the wall like a botanical laboratory, you have arrived in T-swirl Crepe.  This fairly new shop specializes in savory and sweet crepes rolled up into a cone. The crepes here are unique in that they are much crispier than your typical crepe.

The interior is very clean and modern looking; at the same time giving off a café feel. The menu is displayed above the counter. Crepes range from $6.50 to $7.95.

Much attention is put into the arrangement of the ingredients on the crepes.

Matcha Chocolate Truffles Crepe

The Matcha Chocolate Truffles Crepe ($7.00) had the perfect balance of sweetness. The chocolate truffle cubes were the best part and slowly melts into the crepe as you eat. It is also filled with a green tea cream and strawberry slices.

Angus Short Ribs Crepe

 The Angus Short Ribs Crepe ($7.95) was the heartiest sounding crepe on the menu. I loved the clean flavors and the contrasting textures from the crunchy peppers/green beans and the tender short ribs.

Other than New World Mall’s Mojoilla, this is the only other place to get the popular Japanese style crepes in Flushing. In my opinion it’s a little on the pricier side for crepes but they do come quite large and are filling. Also you get a stamp card where collecting 9 stamps will get you a free crepe.

Kimganae (김가네) (Recommended)

Kimganae (김가네)
3912 Union St
Flushing, NY 11354
$
Menu (Prices Not Updated)

If you are looking for cheap Korean food, look no further. Kimganae serves some of the cheapest kimbaps around and they are generous with the portions as well. It is located on Union Street along with other small Korean restaurants.

Kimganae is known for their kimbap or gimbap, a rice roll with various types of vegetables and meats inside. The typical ingredients are usually pickled radish, egg, imitation crab meat, carrot and rice. Be sure not to confuse this with sushi as this roll rarely contains fish and the rice is flavored with sesame oil instead of vinegar. This is one of the most popular types of Korean fast food.

The kimbaps take up a whole page on their menu. The best part is that they are super cheap. The rolls range from $4.50 to $5.50. The popular ones are any roll that contains beef, squid rolls, and spicy tuna rolls.

Left: Sausage Roll / Right: Beef Roll

On the left is the Sausage Roll ($4.50) containing a vienna sausage-like meat. The right is the Beef Roll ($5.00) filled with thinly sliced beef. You can see the workmanship on how compact and even the rice and ingredients are put together.

Pork Cutlet Roll

Rolls like the Pork Cutlet Roll ($5.50) that has some sauce inside taste better. The cutlet still retains some crispness since the food gets to the table quickly.

With the meal, each table gets complimentary spicy picked daikon and bowls of soup. The soup is frequently refilled your empty soup bowls as well.

Kimganae also has non kimbap options like rices and noodles. However I hear these are not that great.

You can tell the Combination Ramen ($7.00) is just instant noodles. I don’t think its ever worth it to pay that much for instant ramen. It is topped with a bit of meat, kimchi and cheese.

The kimbap here will definitely fill you up. I was already stuffed after one roll so I recommend ordering a couple to share because it was difficult to decide on one. For about $5 a roll, its a bargain and definitely worth a visit.

Crazy Crab

Crazy Crab (888海鮮屋)
40-42 College Point Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354
$$$

When you think of seafood boils, you think Southern United States, New Orleans, Cajun. But most people don’t know that down south in another region half way across the world there is a another take on seafood boils. Crazy Crab puts an Asian twist into their shrimp, crawfish, crab, lobster, and anything with a shell stews. In addition to the cajun spices, there is the inclusion of lemon grass, chili, and lime.

Although they take pride in their seafood boils, Crazy Crab is one of the few restaurants in the area and city to serve Burmese and Yunnan food. Burma borders south west China, more specifically the province of Yunnan, and also Thailand therefore their cuisine is heavily influence by both regions.

Here is the menu for the different seafood boils. You have the “a la carte” option where you pick a specific seafood by the pound or the three combo options with set prices
A) 1lb Shrimp + 1lb Crawfish
B) Dungeness Crab + .5lb Crawfish
C) Lobster + .5lb Crab + .5lb Crawfish

Each diner is supplied with gloves and a wet wipe for the impending saucy mess on their hands. Also the waitress personally puts a bib on you. How about that service!

The restaurant is well lit with a diner feel to it. The Spanish and oldies music will make you think you are eating in the middle of Corona rather than a Burmese restaurant.

Combo B. This was supposed to have dungeness crab and Crawfish but they substituted those for snow crab and shrimp. (Might I add those cost less for the restaurant to serve). Be aware…

Combo C. This mix contained one lobster, some flower crabs, and crawfish. The crab meat was mushy which means either it was overcooked or not fresh.

You have 3 options of sauces to mix into the seafood (cajun, lemon pepper, and garlic butter). The 3 sauces tasted pretty much the same. Cajun didn’t taste like cajun, garlic butter didn’t taste like garlic butter, you get the idea. Instead the sauces tasted tangy and herby with notes of lemongrass and onions, almost like a combination of all the sauces.

This tray contains one pound of shrimp ($14.95/lb) which is just enough for one person. There was at least 15 shrimps. Shrimps is also the best bang for the buck because it has the best meat to shell ratio.

We did not sample much of the regular dishes but the one we did was the best of the night. The Fried Yunnan Yellow Tofu ($10.99) had a super thin crispy skin and inside a soft silky piping hot yellow tofu made from yellow split peas. The light coating had flavors of garlic as well. What put together this dish perfectly was the tangy, spicy chili fish sauce.

In my opinion the seafood boils are overpriced but the tofu gave me high hopes that the rest of their menu will be delicious. Also regular dishes are not that expensive. I might not come here again for seafood but I see many future trips just to try the Burmese and Yunnan cuisine.