Sunshine Restaurant, Queens, NY
Sunshine Restaurant
69-15 Northern Blvd.
Woodside, Queens
(718) 639 – 6900
Cuisine Category (As listed in the Restaurant): Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi
Sunshine Restaurant
Sunshine Restaurant
*7/19/09 Update: I returned here for the second time and I love the haleem and naan! It’s so savory and enjoyable to eat especially when the naan is fresh out of the oven! I highly recommend you guys to try!
Lesson of the day! As my friend points out, when a restaurant or store lists a few countries for the cuisine type, the country that is listed first is usually the primary group. So in this case, even though the restaurant lists 3 countries, it is owned by a Pakistani and the cuisine type is Pakistani. The reason why the other countries are listed is to attract customers of those nationalities. Yes, what an interesting tidbit!
The world of Jackson Heights is bristling with fast-paced people primarily from South Asia of all hours of the night. See in Chinatown, it’s gets dead around 11pm, but here supermarkets are shops are opened 24hrs! Restaurants are opened late night, but not all of them are. I have to admit, yes there are people walking around late night, but they are mostly men. I have yet to see any women besides my friend and I, so it made us feel a little uncomfortable. Now, there are halal carts on almost every block so you can be sure that you’ll never go hungry. After shopping for Indian spices and ingredients at the infamous Patel Brothers supermarket, my friend and I decided to look for a restaurant to settle down to eat. So we drove to Woodside, which isn’t too far away, to a restaurant that I have yet to explore.
Sunshine Restaurant Interior
Restaurant Interior of Sunshine Restaurant
Excited to what I have in store for my taste buds, my friend orders a bunch of dishes that you can see below!
The Meal
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.
Corner 28 Chinese Restaurant: Peking Duck Snack
Corner 28
40-28 Main St
(Corner of Main St and 40th Rd)
(718) 886-6628
In this Chinatown off in Flushing, Queens, there’s a little hidden treasure on Main Street, across from the Caldor as you can see on the reflection in the above picture. Here on this corner of 40th road and Main Street are two windows that sell ice cream, and other for peking duck. Yeah you say Peking Duck, what’s so freakin’ special about that? Hold your judgement until I tell you this: THEY SELL IT IN PIECES. That’s right, they sell it in pieces.
I just rather find it quite fascinating that you can buy Peking Duck in pieces. Why you ask? Because most of the I can’t finish a whole peking duck or that I don’t have the funds for it. Peking Duck is definitely not as cheap as regular duck, and it can cost you up to $26 for a whole one, while a regular one is about $18. Huge difference.
As my bf and I approach the nice lady at the window for some duck, we realized that she spoke only of Mando. So folks, you better brush up on your mando, especially the numbers, because this woman does not understand cantonese or english. Here, my bf is telling this woman 10 pieces, “sup gor,” that we wanted. This lady thought we wanted 4 pieces. So here’s a picture of her setting up our 4 pieces:
When she was done, we were like, that sure as hell wasn’t 10. Then I told her, “su! su kway!” Then I held up my fingers and she held up her fingers and we got 10. Ahhh, so funny. Yeah I should be embarrassed, but I’m sure as hell not.
I apologize for the picture. This is the only picture I have of the Peking Duck because I was too hungry to take the picture when I got back to my bf’s place. But hey, I made this picture just a little bit bigger just for you.
Verdict:
*Let me tell you, if it’s cold by the time you bring it back home, heat the dam thing up. The duck becomes hard to chew because it gets hard and very thick.
And as far as the taste is concerned, the meat of the duck is very moist and succulent and the skin is nice and crispy. It compliments well with the garlic chives (cantonese: gow choy), Chinese barbecue sauce, and the bread. I can’t stop popping these little sandwiches in my mouth because it’s that good. Remember, if it’s not hot, it definitely isn’t as good.
Price: $0.75/piece, w/duck bone $2.00/piece.
Rating: 5/5 – Recommended!
Let’s see how clean the city’s health inspector thinks about them!
CORNER 28 INC
40-28 MAIN STREET, QUEENS 11354
718-886-6628
Current violation points: 24/28
Inspection Date: 05/01/2007
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.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
3.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
4.) Hot food not held at or above 140°F.
Corner 28 Chinese Restaurant: Peking Duck Snack
Corner 28
40-28 Main St
(Corner of Main St and 40th Rd)
(718) 886-6628
In this Chinatown off in Flushing, Queens, there’s a little hidden treasure on Main Street, across from the Caldor as you can see on the reflection in the above picture. Here on this corner of 40th road and Main Street are two windows that sell ice cream, and other for peking duck. Yeah you say Peking Duck, what’s so freakin’ special about that? Hold your judgement until I tell you this: THEY SELL IT IN PIECES. That’s right, they sell it in pieces.
I just rather find it quite fascinating that you can buy Peking Duck in pieces. Why you ask? Because most of the I can’t finish a whole peking duck or that I don’t have the funds for it. Peking Duck is definitely not as cheap as regular duck, and it can cost you up to $26 for a whole one, while a regular one is about $18. Huge difference.
As my bf and I approach the nice lady at the window for some duck, we realized that she spoke only of Mando. So folks, you better brush up on your mando, especially the numbers, because this woman does not understand cantonese or english. Here, my bf is telling this woman 10 pieces, “sup gor,” that we wanted. This lady thought we wanted 4 pieces. So here’s a picture of her setting up our 4 pieces:
When she was done, we were like, that sure as hell wasn’t 10. Then I told her, “su! su kway!” Then I held up my fingers and she held up her fingers and we got 10. Ahhh, so funny. Yeah I should be embarrassed, but I’m sure as hell not.
I apologize for the picture. This is the only picture I have of the Peking Duck because I was too hungry to take the picture when I got back to my bf’s place. But hey, I made this picture just a little bit bigger just for you.
Verdict:
*Let me tell you, if it’s cold by the time you bring it back home, heat the dam thing up. The duck becomes hard to chew because it gets hard and very thick.
And as far as the taste is concerned, the meat of the duck is very moist and succulent and the skin is nice and crispy. It compliments well with the garlic chives (cantonese: gow choy), Chinese barbecue sauce, and the bread. I can’t stop popping these little sandwiches in my mouth because it’s that good. Remember, if it’s not hot, it definitely isn’t as good.
Price: $0.75/piece, w/duck bone $2.00/piece.
Rating: 5/5 – Recommended!
Let’s see how clean the city’s health inspector thinks about them!
CORNER 28 INC
40-28 MAIN STREET, QUEENS 11354
718-886-6628
Current violation points: 24/28
Inspection Date: 05/01/2007
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.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
3.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
4.) Hot food not held at or above 140°F.
