Mid-Autumn Festival aka Moon Cake Day
The moon can never get any brighter and rounder at this time of the year. The Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, and Koreans prepare to celebrate this very special day by buying moon cakes, making special dumplings, pies, and all sorts of food. I know in my culture, we buy moon-cakes from the bakeries weeks in advance and give it to friends and families as a sign of respect and good luck.
Moon cakes are primarily made with flour, shortening, red beans, and lard. Adding eye yolk, lotus, green tea, or whatever else you want is optional.
This year I actually took the time to take pictures of the moon cake instead of stuffing my face. My mom brought home a box of Malaysian moon cakes which I have never had before and I was curious to try.
Haewaytian Cake House
This is by far the best mooncake I have ever have. This has green tea in it, which I’ve never had, which is probably why it’s not so sweet. Most moon cakes that I have are usually really sweet. So sweet that it gets to the point that I get turned off from it.
Recommended: Yes
Rating: 5/5
Now the Chinese Moon Cake.
See the difference?
Anyways, Happy Belated Moon Cake day! =) And remember to eat yours under the moon so the goddess up there can see you.
Sunway Cafe Chinese Diner
39-07 Prince St
(Near 39th Ave, 7 train to Flushing)
Flushing, NY
After watching Simpsons The Movie at the glamorous College Point Movie theatre, the bf, bf’s brother, and I were craving for food. We left at about 10:30 pm and tried to figure out what the hell we were going to eat. No, not Wendy’s or White Castle again. For once, we were all sick of fast food and thought that we needed to sit down tight at a civilized place with plates of real food. Since we were on a tight budget, we decided to head out to Flushing for some cheap ol’ Chinese food. The bf’s younger sweet 16 brother, Alvin, suggested that we go to Sunway. He swears that it’s the best place ever and claims that he’s been there over 20x. It must be dam affordable if he goes there religious. With growling tummies and a loose wallet, the bf and I decided that we should hit this joint and find out.
If you’re in Flushing, you have to be blind not to see this restaurant. It’s smacked right in the middle of Flushing, literally a block away, and it’s right on the corner of Prince and 39th Ave. We got there around 11pm and had to wait on line because there were so many people waiting for a seat! Outrageous! Well, it’s better than it being deserted because then it would get creepy, like in manhattan’s Chinatown.
After about 10 mins, we got seats right under the plasma tv. The baseball game was playing, but not like anyone was paying attention to it. Most of the people here were younger kids that looks really fobby. A pack of young teenage girls were giggling in the back of the restaurant, and a good sprinkle of older fobby guys were sitting in the middle chatting it up like gangsters.
Anyways, after we were seated for like 10 mins, a waitress came to us and asked what we liked to drink. Let me tell you, the best part of the menu are their drinks. I’ve never seen anything more colorful and cocktail-like in my whole entire life. They serve an array of bubble teas and mixed fruity drinks. I opted for the Phoenix Sunrise drink, picture below, because it sounded so kickass. When the drink arrived, I was oh so impressed by the color because it looks like how it sounds and it tasted very sweet, which I love. I can taste mango and orange. Exactly what they put their drink is beyond me. And Alvin got the mango smoothie, which to me didn’t look anything special. The taste wasn’t that great too.
Alright time for the chow part of this blog.
Rice noodles with duck, wonton, and choy sum
Price: $3.75
I wished they gave more rice noodles. Apparently Alvin didn’t finish this bowl due to the dim sum that we ordered, which I will get to. I did have a taste of the duck and wonton and to me, it wasn’t anything special. I grew up eating this stuff, and I figure as long as the taste doesn’t get worse it’s fine by me.
My Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended: Yes especially if you never had this before, or you’re craving for delicious duck and noodles.
Rice noodles with braised beef
Price: $3.75
Again, what’s up with skimping with the dam rice noodles?? I ordered this thinking that this dish can absolutely cannot go wrong, but it did. I’m pissed as hell with the skimping, but to give me the hard ass part of the beef and a few pieces of meat is not cool with me. The broth tasted pretty good, but I’m not feeling this skimping part.
Rating: 2.5/5
Not Recommended
Dim Sum!
Price: $2.25/each
Beef wrapped with Rice Noodles (In Chinese, it’s called Ha Chern)
Malaysian Spongcake
Ha Gow (Shrimp covered with thin rice paper)
Pork Bun
I give them props for having dim sum at this hour. These didn’t taste bad at all. If you are craving for dim sum late night, I’d definitely recommend it.
BBQ Spare Ribs
Price: $5.25
This is the cheapest piece of meat that I’ve ever seen. There’s not a lot of meat and this is the most oily thing that I have ever eaten. I didn’t really like it and wouldn’t recommend anyone ordering this.
Remember, you pay for what you get. The food is decent here and it really gives a quick fix for a staving stomach. The drinks here are absolutely phenomenom. People were ordering it here like crazy. I really recommend that. Alright, I’ll leave you with the health inspection results from the city.
SUNWAY CAFE
39-07 PRINCE STREET, QUEENS 11354
Violation points: 9
Inspection Date: 09/14/2006
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
Sanitary Violations
1.) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
2.) Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Breaking-Fast at Middletown Pancake House!
1610 Highway 35
Middletown, NJ
(732) 671-1145
I normally don’t take trips out to central jersey, but this time was special. I was visiting my friend Victoria out in Middletown, where upon for breakfast she takes me to this local joint. As I looked out from the car as we were pulling into the parking lot, I can’t help but wondered if this place is better or worse than IHOP. Hm…on one hand I think IHOP is totally overrated, but I totally love it. But whatever. I placed full faith into Victoria’s hands and dived right in to this gorgeous pink and white house. Not like I had a choice anyways! I’m starving as always.
Walking into the restaurant, I felt this awkward presence — I thought I was in the south, somewhere like Texas. The people here is mostly older caucasians with families. I do see a lot of interracial couples, mainly asian women with caucasian males, and their mixed babies. The babies are cutest. Just not when they’re screaming and crying all over the joint. That shiet that drives me the hell nuts. But yeah, expect middletown to be something like middle america, except here in Jersey, everyone is very very nice. The hostess is oh so sweet and guided us to our table and immediately asked what drinks we wanted. Being hungry and thirsty as hell as I am, I ordered a coke and lentil soup, while the sidekick called for just plain tap agua.
Speaking of breakin’ fast, low and behold drinks arrived as well as my lentil soup.
It comes with oyster crackers so that’s always good. The utensils looks like they’ve been there forever due to the dullness in their silverware and the rusty look on their plates. I love the combination between tomatoes, celery, lentils, and not to mention my small round crackers in this soup. All the blend of these ingredients gave the soup the extra added punch that it needed. This soup is exactly what I wanted to taste, without the mumble jumbo.
My rating: 4/5
Next came Victoria’s breakfast plate:
Canadian bacon, pancakes, and sunny-side up eggs.
What can I say? This looks fabulous. I had a little taste of the pancake since the girl was going to chop my hands off with her knife and fork, and let me tell you know fluffy and rich the pancake was. This is just the way I love it. And since miss Vicky finished it up, I figure this is a very good meal since she’s a real picky eater. Your judge for yourself.
Next came my ultimate feast:
Belgian waffles with strawberries and confectioner sugar on top w/side of apple sauce, bacon, cream, and hash browns.
You cannot believe the orgiastic pleasure my mouth felt when I was eating this. This dish right here had the perfect marriage of salt and sugar. The belgian waffle is soft and fluffy with a nice crispy edge. When you dip it in their sweet apple sauce, you can feel the party happening in your mouth. And what can I say about the hash brown and bacon besides the fact that they’re really good?
My Rating: 5/5
When you happen to be in middletown, please drop by the pancake house and try their insane waffles and pancakes. They also serve lunch like salads, wraps, sandwiches, etc etc. There’s a wide array of choices for you to choose so that you’ll be 100% satisfied. I really loved this place and I’m glad Vicky brought me here.
