6. Forest Hills
Forest Hills has become one of Queens’ mini Chinatowns due to increased Chinese immigration and cheaper rent prices than nearby Flushing. Although the area is very culturally mixed, Austin Street and Queens Boulevard have quickly become epicenters of Chinese culture. The neighborhood, with a 30% Asian population, is a must-try for both Northern and Southern Chinese cuisine.
For a taste of Beijing street food, Beijing Dumpling specializes in juicy pork and chive dumplings and fluffy fried pork buns in addition to beef hand-pulled noodle soup. Due to the area’s diversity, Beijing Dumpling also offers Japanese-style dishes like chicken teriyaki. Spy C Cuisine, which also offers some Shanghainese dishes, specializes in Beijing-style fare like pork belly and potato dry pot style, braised fish with mustard greens, and cumin lamb.
Food from China’s northwest is featured at Xin Taste Hand Pull Noodle, which specializes in Lanzhou cuisine. The small eatery offers both thin hand-pulled noodles and thick hand-peeled noodles prepared with proteins like duck and eel.
Memories of Shanghai, a tiny, hidden-away eatery, offers classics like xiaolongbao and sticky rice ShaoMai as well as thick pan-fried noodles and dim sum options like radish cake. Dim sum also features prominently on the menu of East Ocean Palace, a spacious dim sum eatery offering classic Cantonese options like roast pork buns, turnip cake, and shrimp rice rolls.