Saturday In Flushing Queens New York - Chartered Territory

One of the most overlooked boroughs in the city of New York, next to Staten Island, has to be the Borough of Queens. There is much that Queens has to offer including a great quality of life, bedroom communities and a sense of neighbors and neighborhoods.

The focus of this post is my short weekend travel to Flushing Queens and its bustling community, including it's own Chinatown. Yes, Chinatown, which rivals the Chinatown we all know as being in Manhattan at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. That community and neighborhood is for another day.

I took the 7 train to the last stop, Main Street and just did a little footwork and walked down to Northern Boulevard and walked back to Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street. Along the way, I took some photos of the neighborhood, to show the Chinese flavor of the neighborhood, with its jewelry stores, banks, restaurants and trading stores. This was old stomping grounds as we used to play touch football in a league across from Flushing High School on 149th Street and 25th Avenue.


Pedestrian Traffic on Main Street


I dined at the La Coral Cafe - It was very good Chinese cuisine. I had Duck Wonton Soup.


Just another restaurant showing the diversity of the cuisine in Flushing Chinatown.




A view from Main Street of a Trading Store



Long Island Rail Road Flushing - Main Street Station


A fresh fish, vegetable and fruit stand on Kissena Boulevard

My mission for the day was not to go and take pictures of Chinatown-Flushing. My mission was to go and purchase a mountain bike. When we used to play football in Queens, we won the semi-finals for our league and came within a game of winning the league championship. Of course, we won a substantial amount of money, so we went to a Mets game (this was in April), froze and before going home, we asked around the Flushing neighborhood, where a bicycle shop could be found.

We were directed to Kissena Boulevard and we walked about 6 blocks and found the bike shop of our dreams. Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, Raleigh - this store had it all and the prices were not Manhattan-esque. The prices are reasonable, the service is fantastic and we have been going to this bike shop for the past 10 years.


Its called the Kissena Bicycle Center located at 45-70 Kissena Boulevard, 718-358-0986


My Bicycle - Mongoose 27- Speed Mountain Bike

Tomorrows post will be about my visit to Shea Stadium and the new Shea Stadium in the rain

And Yet another New York City Restaurant Review

So my birth month started on March 5th, so I'm being wined and dined because of this and we decided to go to a chinese restaurant, where I just love the food. The restaurant is called Kam Chueh, located at 40 Bowery, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge and accessible via the IRT 6 and BMT M, N, R trains from the Canal Street station. They have fresh everything, including crab, lobster, shrimp, bass and eel. As soon as you enter the restaurant, there are fresh water tanks filled with crabs, lobster, shrimp, sea bass and eel. See the photo:



and the outside of the chinese restaurant:



And now the food. I give the food 5 stars for the freshness and 5 stars for the serv ice. I have even been allowed in the back to visit with the chefs (they have 6) and the food comes out quickly. If you ever want to experience real deal chinese food, visit Kam Chueh or call them at (212) 791-6868. Ask for Oliver.

Food pictures:

Jumbo Shrimp, Spare Ribs


Shrimp Fried Rice:




Shrimp Fried Rice, Ribs, Jumbo Shrimp, Braised Chicken Wings



Beef with Scallions



Braised Chicken Wings




Shrimp Fried Rice



Lobster Tank