42-47 Main Street, Flushing, Queens
Behold Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan – a Chinese restaurant that even the most squeamish of eaters (our friend Shaun) can call absolutely delicious. And when I say squeamish, I mean our he was getting nervous even before we walked in the door panicking over the idea that there would be a bathroom in the restaurant (?!). The boy is no fan of Chinese food, with belly aches past to blame, but by the end of our feast, he had declared that he did, indeed really like this place.
Most Flushing gems we’ve frequented (Spicy and Tasty, Little Pepper, Imperial Palace: all brilliant in their ways) offer up at least one dish in our random selection that makes us all stop and say with politeness.. well that was a little weird. Mind you, (to give you an idea of our comfort level) we’re not all the way stuck with Western palettes, we don’t mind “strange” combinations and don’t hold back on the spiciness, but at the same time we never order a bowl of pigs feet either.
At the recently opened HKoGS, every single dish was a hit, we only had favorites among all the yumminess starting with a jalapeno and pickled bean fried rice that is, without a doubt, the best friend rice I have ever encountered.
Dan Dan Noodles arrived next surprising us by being hot (we had had cold before) and kicking our butts with chili oil heat. Continuing on our epic order of appetizers, we chowed down a perfectly toothsome scallion pancake, some fried savory sweet pumpkin cakes (not the favorite of the bunch, but still really good), and pork soup dumplings that were smaller and, dare I say it, better flavored than Joe’s Shanghai.
That is where my meal took a turn – not food wise, but my own body failed me when a filling popped half way out (not on anything I ate, it had felt weird for days and finally broke). I couldn’t really chew properly anymore, but as the meal continued to be so delicious I carried on as best I could (and took lots of left overs home, which I am LOVING as I write this).
OK, so personal woes aside, lets get on with the main dishes. Again all were excellent but perhaps the favorite was the Sauteed Pork Farmer Style, a slightly black beanish, saucy dish that had a lot of kick and was the biggest gamble of the night (most other dishes we read about either in the Times review or on yelp).
Sour Green Beans and Ground Pork was unusual but in a great way (in fact I am devouring a huge bowl of it now) the pickled beans from the fried rice accompany chopped spicy peppers and you know I am a sucker for ground pork.
Our third adventurous dish was white pepper beef, a nifty dish full of flavor but not as hot as it appeared on first look : tons of chili’s peeking out from the almost jerky like bits of beef.
Really, all three are highly recommended, though it seems from out experience that you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu here.
Add in a really friendly staff that makes you feel comfortable to linger (and who doted on Van) and you have yourself one spectacular eating experience, one that can even over shadow dental problems. This is bound to become a foodie destination if it’s not already.
We went as an early celebration to our Anniversary. We didn’t want to be away from Van and we didn’t want to spend a fortune so this was perfect. Our huge meal was less than $30 a person and it was laid back enough that Van could be comfortable there.
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