Jade Asian Review: Identifying myself at Jade Asian
The thing about eating in Flushing is that sometimes you can get things that are less likely to be found in Manhattan. Taiwanese restaurants is one of those things. A food court with a variety of options is another. Dim sum I heard was supposed to be better. As it turns out, I’m not sure that Flushing holds any supremacy over Manhattan in that regard. Steph and I didn’t set out to see if conventional wisdom would hold up, we simply visited Flushing because too many months had lapsed since our previous visit. Jade Asian seemed like as good of an option as any in Flushing, and we actually broke our personal best record for earliest time to eat dim sum… we got to Jade Asian before 11:30 am and beat the crowd.
The first thing I noticed about Jade Asian was that they had windows and the restaurant was well lit. Most large Chinese banquet halls in New York probably do not have such a thing. It’s not as if the views are majestic, but natural light is always welcomed.
They have all the standard fare like chicken feet, spare ribs, tripe, and turnip cake. The har gao or shrimp dumplings were well made and delicious. Did that alone warrant a trip from else where in New York City to Flushing? I’m not sure.
We had a variation on the daikon/turnip cake that was made with taro. This item feels denser than turnip cake and it’s a serious gut bomb. Taro cake seems more starchy than turnip cake so maybe that’s why it’s more filling. Either way, I think it’s definitely an interesting change-up.
A dim sum classic, the shumai was upgraded by being a shrimp shumai. Apparently they think shrimp are like jewels, because getting these were like switching from store brand to P&G or some shit. This dish was $8 dollars. Yea. shoot me muthafucka. The thing is, I don’t know if you would want to travel all the way to Flushing, Queens expecting that the shrimp shumai is like ten times better than what is in Chinatown. That is a faulty line of thinking, just like if you believe Kim Kardashian and Kanye are for real. Come to think of it, I have never recommended to my friends that going out of their way to Flushing or Brooklyn for dim sum is a better choice than just going to the Manhattan Chinatown.
What you’re looking for when you travel outside of Chinatown is the idea that you might be surprised by some of the items. Steph and I were interested to try this pear shaped looking dessert that was fried. Does anyone know what this is? Because even though we ate two of these things, we had no idea what the fuck this was. It also wasn’t especially delicious.
An autopsy into the mystery dessert showed that it’s sort of white and yellow. I think it’s kinda like me. It’s got an yellow exterior, followed by some white innards, but deep down in the middle, it’s still yellow. I mean, fuck being a twinkie or banana. I’m the mystery pear shaped (which I am) dessert at Jade Asian dim sum!
Overall I think Jade Asian serves very good and very fresh dim sum. The thing, I think what they have isn’t so vastly better than what is available in Chinatown in Manhattan. While Jing Fong isn’t widely heralded by respected food enthusiasts, it’s still got some of the biggest crowds on a Sunday at noon. Yes you can eat very well at Jade Asian and if you live near by, it’s a great choice. If you’re traveling to Flushing and your trip takes more than an hour, you probably want to focus on some of the other food options in Flushing that’s more exclusive.
Jade Asian28 39th Ave.Flushing, NY 11354718-762-8821