Chelsea Gallery Diner
Chelsea Gallery Diner
72 7th Ave, New York 10011
(Btw 14th & 15th St)
212-691-5200
When I get a craving and there’s no White Castle around, I’ll settle for burger and fries at a diner. Something happy and magical about a diner that I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe because it’s loaded with fattening comfort food that sends me into a trans-like ecstasy mode. Yeah that’s it.
This diner is on the outskirts of Chelsea Village, literally blocks from the bf’s work site. When you know the restaurant isn’t trendy, or the waiters aren’t gay, you know you’re no longer in the heart of the rich Chelsea village.
Anyways, after when I pick up the king after work, we walked around to find a place that’s not too pricy and not too dingy, cause you know you get for you pay. So ultimately we settled for this joint.
As I walk in, I can’t help but notice that maybe there’s some kind of early bird special because all the old people in nyc are sitting right in my face. There are a sprinkle of young, my age, gay and lesbian couples here and there, but majority of them are old. They’re eating eating along, or they came with their girlfriends and families to chat. Not that I have a problem with that, it’s just a new experience that’s all. I thought I was at the old folk’s home or something. Let me tell you, this is certainly not a trendy place. The audience here is mainly caucasian, especially when I went there. But the people here are friendly and the staff are super cool.
The waiter, who’s pretty old himself asked us what we wanted to drink to start off first. Nothing goes down better with fries than a nice ice cup of pepsi. After I got my drink, I knew what I wanted to get.
Mushroom Burger!
Price: $6.25
I didn’t want to order something too heavy and I always think putting mushrooms into anything makes it healthy. I know it’s not, but as long as I dam well feel it is, then it is!
I forget that at a diner you have to essentially build your own burger. I kind of wished I didn’t have to because I’m such a lazy ass, and also because I think it’s better built because it can have all sorts of juicy sauces in it. This lacked that sauce. This isn’t your fancy smanchy high-scale diner joint; this place serves it to you the good ol fashion way — you build it and you can add ketchup, mustard, salt and/or pepper.
The french fries are the best. It just hits my sweet spot. That doesn’t mean to say that I’ll settle for any fry — I have to have a french fry that is crispy and golden on the outside, and soft hot on the inside. This fry wasn’t too thin or thick which is just the way I like it. I didn’t need to put any salt on this because it’s perfectly salted, but my bf only because he’s a salt-maniac!
The burger is very bland and dry especially if you don’t add condiments. I wish they made a special sauce with this burger, but at least the beef patty itself isn’t too dry.
Recommended – Only if you love mushrooms on your burgers!
Rating: 3/5
Bacon Cheeseburger w/ onion rings
Price: $6.75
Without repeating myself, all I can say about this burger that my bf ordered is that there’s bacon and lots of it. I love bacon and it makes anything taste great. I wished I ordered a side of bacons with my burger, shoot. I like my burger loaded with ketchup and a little of mustard like on my hot dog. Without it, your mouth is going to be bored sheitless, believe me. The only thing exciting on these burger plates are your side orders — in this case, onion rings which was crispy and somewhat golden on the outside, and sweet on the inside, which was somewhat the way I wanted it to be.
Recommended: Yes
My Rating: 3.5/5
Now I leave you guys with the city’s health inspection report.
CHELSEA GALLERY
72 7 AVENUE, MANHATTAN 10011
212-691-5200
Violation points: 26/28
Inspection Date: 07/13/2007
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
Sanitary Violations
1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
2.) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.
3.) Wiping cloths dirty or not stored in sanitizing solution.
4.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
5.) Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
6.) Eggs found dirty, cracked; liquid, frozen or powdered eggs not pasteurized.
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.
New Southwind: Chinese Diner
New South Wind
21 Division St
(btw Catherine & Market St)
Lying near the far end of Chinatown, almost underneath the Manhattan bridge, this is a mom & pop diner that most locals will know. Unfortunately I never knew about this place when I was a kid because I lived in the other side of town, but hey, it’s better late than never right? haha. Luckily, my boyfriend grew up eating at this place and tells me how good their food are. So I decided to come to this place once and for all, with him, and to find out how good their food really is!
If you look at the window of the restaurant closely, you’ll see a tray of big fat specialty rice noodles. Can you see it?
Can you see it now? This is what you called Ha Mai Chern in Cantonese, which is essentially rice noodles with scallions and dried baby shrimps. What’s different about this is not only it’s big packed size, but there’s ham in it! Yum yum! This is the restaurant’s best seller. Yeah I can just tell when I walk into the restaurant and tray after tray of this is coming out from the kitchen to the front window. Man, it sells fast!! It’s cheap, at about $1 per roll, and it’s so delicious! I have never tasted something like this anywhere else in Chinatown, and I really highly recommend it.
Honestly, New South Wind isn’t really a nice/clean restaurant to sit in. It’s better if you order out here, but of course it’s entirely up to you. Since I’ve never been here before and I hail all the way out from Brooklyn, I figure it would be nice to eat here with the boyfriend.
Now from what he tells me, this place has went through reconstruction. The walls and furnitures are completely new, except for the floors, but who’s looking right? Haha. But yeah, this place is a simple Chinese restaurant that doesn’t need to look fancy and impressive. It just serves the needs of its locals, which is cheap delicious food.
When you first walk into this restaurant, you’re not going to have someone to guide you to a table. You just walk in and sit anywhere you please and eventually a waitress will come out and ask you what you want. Don’t expect to have a menu at your table. Most locals don’t even need a menu, but if you need one, look at the other tables and you’ll see a menu lying somewhere.
There it is. That’s all there is and then on the back it’s completely in Chinese. Refer to menupages to see the menu in full.
Alright the moment we sat down, out of nowhere this waitress comes to us and asks what we wanted to eat. I guess most people already have it ingrained in their mind of what they wanted to eat, but I wanted some more time with the menu. So we started off with some sodas. I heard that they make some kick ass ice milk tea, but I didn’t try it, but if you like it and you happen to stop by here, go for it and tell me all about it.
My boyfriend is always raving about their pork chops here and tell me that no place can make it more succulent and delicious. So we both order the pork chop w/onions over rice, $4.00, and he ordered the meat with tofu for starters, $2.50.
This is the meat w/tofu obviously, but it wasn’t that impressive to me at first. Apparently the tofu wasn’t fried which was a first to me, and to me this dish looks really bland. But I was wrong! Haha, the meat is really rich and flavorful, with the right amount of salt and the right about of greasiness. It sorta reminds me of the meat that you eat at a dim sum place, err…sorta like the shumai but better and meatier! Man, the only bad thing I can say about this dish was that they didn’t make more meat. God! The meat is so so good and it works perfectly with the tofu. Delicious!
My porky porky! If you’re an onion fan you’ll be drooling all over, but if you’re not, like me, you’ll still enjoy it too. Yes this dish doesn’t look like much at first, but you’ll be amazed at how much flavor it has. The onions are really, truly sweet mixed with a delicate taste of sweet soy sauce that’s obviously pan fried, and the pork chops are soft and salted to perfection, not at the least dried and cooked with soy sauce as well. The sweetness and the saltiness created a perfect balance for this dish which created droolage overload for me. This got to be the best pork chop cooked Chinese style I have ever had. I will highly recommend this dish.
I see most people order the pan fried rice noodles (sup chow gnow hor) and the green peas with minced meat over rice and a fried egg. It looks delicious and I can’t wait to come back here for take out!
After ordering another 4 rice noodle rolls, the bill came out to be under $18 and that’s including tip. I’d highly recommend this place. This is truly a gem of Chinatown.
Health Inspection Results!
NEW SOUTH WIND
21 DIVISION STREET, MANHATTAN 10002
212-966-4116
Current violation points: 21
Inspection Date: 11/13/2006
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
2.) Wiping cloths dirty or not stored in sanitizing solution.
3.) Personal cleanliness inadequate. Clean outer garments, effective hair restraint not worn.
4.) Hot food not held at or above 140°F.
