Bourdain-Inspired International Food Tour (Queens, NY)
“We are an immigrant nation and that is abundantly and profoundly and deliciously clear in Queens”
If you’ve visited New York City, no doubt you’ve spent a lot of time in Manhattan, and likely took a walk over the bridge to Brooklyn. Perhaps you saw a Yankees game in the Bronx, and snapped a few photos of the city skyline from the Staten Island ferry. But aside from landing at JFK or LaGuardia, you might have skipped over the fifth borough that makes up New York City: Queens (Population: 2.3 million). If so, you’re definitely missing out! Queens is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth and one of the most ethnically diverse as well. This means there are a plethora of unique restaurants to discover. We’re talking about everything from a Bhutanese billiard hall, tofu from a cart in a flower shop, and a tiny Mexican seafood and cocktail stand in the back of a bodega. In this tour you’ll get a taste of Tibet, Paraguay, Ecuador, the Philippines and more, by travelling through Queens on the 7 train, a.k.a. the International Express. This tour was inspired by the Queens episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, but also includes some other finds in the borough.
An important word of advice, this tour in particular is definitely a marathon, not a sprint – please pace yourself, i.e. share dishes or order a small amount/appetizer where possible. Some people may even say the sheer amount of food presented here is impossible to conquer in a day…so there’s no shame in skipping a few stops or doing this in segments over two days. This tour starts at the end of the line on the 7 train and slowly makes its way back towards Manhattan, ending in Long Island City, right across the river from Manhattan with sweeping views of the City.
Queens is located on the traditional territory of the Munsee Lenape and Matinecock peoples.
Tour map
All aboard the International Express (Oct 2017) Starting Point - Chinatown
Start off by taking the 7 train to the end of the line – Flushing/Main St.
From the station exit at Main and Roosevelt, head east on Roosevelt Ave.
Joe’s Steam Rice Roll
For a taste of: Guanghzhou, China
136-21 Roosevelt Ave. #A1 (inside Landmark Quest Mall)
Flushing, Queens
Hours: 9am to 7:30pm
Sample item: Shrimp Steam Rice Roll
Flushing, Queens is one of the largest ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia (Oct 2017)Flushing is the original Queens Chinatown, and is now even larger than the original Chinatown in Manhattan. In fact, Flushing is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia.
At our first stop, we’ll try cheung fun - steamed rice roll – a Cantonese dish made with thin rice noodles and filled with meat and/or vegetables. Unlike many other places, owner Joe Rong authentically grinds his rice into a powder using a stone mill. You can choose from a number of fillings including the classic shrimp and egg combination. While Joe’s recently expanded into Manhattan, this location inside a mini-mall, is the original real-deal.
The tiny takeout counter at Joe’s Steam Rice Roll (Oct 2017)From Joe’s, walk west on Roosevelt Ave. (toward Main St.)
Soybean Chan Flower Shop
For a taste of: Southern China and Taiwan
135-26 Roosevelt Ave.
Flushing, Queens
Hours: 9am to 7pm
Sample item: Dou Hua (tofu)
Flowers with a side of tofu from Mrs. Chan (Oct 2017)Tucked into the facade of a florist, Mr. and Mrs. Chan (aka Soy Bean Chan) offer flower tofu or dou hua, a sweet Chinese treat. You can choose between a sweet ginger syrup or spicy sauce with flavours of chili, scallions, pickled vegetables and dried shrimp. The item may be a new experience for you but give it a try.
Continue walking west on Roosevelt Ave.
Turn left on Prince St. (the first left), which turns left and becomes 40th Road.
Malay Restaurant
For a taste of: Malaysia with Chinese influences
135-17 40th Road
Flushing, Queens
Hours: 11am to 10pm
Sample Item: Satay
Most of the Malaysia immigrants in NYC are ethnic Chinese, with many living and working in one of NYC’s many Chinese communities, including here in Flushing. This low-profile hole-in-the-wall restaurant highlights Malay, Chinese and Indian influences. Bourdain recommendations: smoky pi pa duck, cheong fun, Hainan chicken, roti canai
A taste of Latin America
Continue on 40th Road toward Main St.
Turn left on Main St.
Take the 7 train from Flushing-Main St. four stops to Junction Blvd.
Head west one block on Roosevelt Ave. toward Warren St.
Warren Street/Little Ecuador
For a taste of: Ecuador
Warren & Roosevelt
Jackson Heights, Queens
Hours: Varied
A taste of Ecuador and catching up on the latest soap operas (Oct 2017)We’ve left Chinatown and entered NYC’s unofficial ‘Little Ecuador.’ The stretch of Roosevelt Avenue between Warren and Junction is often filled with street vendors selling traditional Ecaudorian snacks. The Mini Picanteria El Guayaquileno Food Truck is one of the many options where you can try one of Bourdain’s recommenations: Hornado Ecuatoriano (roast pig), mote (hominy corn), guatita (tripe in peanut sauce), bolons (mashed plantains suffered with pork).
From Little Ecuador, you can either walk 1.3km/0.8 miles west on Roosevelt Ave. or take the 7 train two stops to 82nd St-Jackson Heights and walk a couple of blocks west on Roosevelt Ave.
Jackson Heights has a lot to offer so stay hungry and again, pace yourself!
La Esquina Del Camaròn Mexicano
For a taste of: Veracruz, Mexico
80-02 Roosevelt Avenue
Jackson Heights, Queens
Hours: 11am-8pm (until 9pm Friday-Sunday)
Sample Item: Seafood cocktail
Cash Only
You may not expect to find great Mexican seafood from a tiny two-table spot hidden at the back of a convenience store, but that’s exactly what you’ll get here from owner Pedro Rodriguez. The speciality here is a Mexican seafood cocktail packed with shrimp and octopus (coctel de camarones y de pulpo) but you can also go for a tostado or empanada.
Fresh cocteles at the back of a bodega (Oct 2017)Head west on Roosevelt Ave.
Turn right on 79th St.
Turn left on 37th Ave.
Arepa Lady
For a taste of: Colombia
77-17 37th Avenue
Jackson Heights, Queens
Hours: 12pm to 10pm (until 11pm on Friday and Saturday)
Sample Item: Cheese Arepa
For decades, Maria Piedad Cano (The Arepa Lady), sold arepas – grilled corn cakes with mozzarella kneaded in and topped with steak, chorizo or chicken – under the 7 train but opened up a restaurant here in 2014. You can also try plantains topped with meat and avocado (patacones) or Colombian kebabs (chuzos). This part of Queens – Little Colombia - is home to about 75% of NYC’s Colombian population.
Head south on on 78th St.
Turn right onto Roosevelt Ave.
Returning to Asia
Khampa Kitchen
For a taste of: Kham province of Tibet
75-15 Roosevelt Avenue
Jackson Heights, Queens
Hours: 11am-11pm
Sample Item: Paoze
This is one of the only restaurants in the United States that serves food from the Kham province of Tibet. The backbone of the operation are the herbs foraged by owner Thupten Bachan’s family near their home in Kham that Bachan brings back to the States. Grab a seat among the robed monks with the sound of traditional Tibet song and dance on TV. Dishes include paoze – a fluffy dumpling, Lhasa noodle soup, and poethek, a traditional communal Tibetan beef pie (which might be too heavy at this point in the tour).
Turn right on 75th St.
Turn left on 37th Ave.
Walk two blocks west (to corner of 73rd St.).
Raja Sweets and Fast Foods
For a taste of: Northern India
72-31 37th Avenue
Hours: 10am-10pm
Jackson Heights, Queens
Sample Item: gulab jamun
Street festival during Diwali in the Indian neighbourhood of Jackson Heights (Oct 2017)
You may be wanting a dessert at this point. Raja Sweets serves classic Northern Indian sweets including gulab jamun or rasgulla - both milk-based sweets. There’s also a wider variety of vegetarian dishes including, dahi puri, (crispy orbs filled with potato and chickpeas) and sev (crunchy bits of chickpea flour noodles.)
Walk west on 37th Ave.
Turn left on 69th St.
Purple Dough
For a taste of: The Phillippines
3805 69th Street
Woodside, Queens
Hours: 2-9pm (opens at 4pm on Tuesday and closes at 7pm on Sunday)
Sample Item: Ube Donut, Bubble Tea or silvana (a crunchy meringue sandwich)
The dessert stretch of the tour continues. This is an American-Filipino bakery offering all things ube – a purple yam that is a staple dessert ingredient in the Philippines. More than half of New York City’s Filipino population lives in Queens, and the cluster of Filipino shops in the surrounding blocks is sometimes called Little Manila.
The Home Stretch
Turn right on Roosevelt Ave. and continue for about 0.8 miles and turn left on 54th St. Or, take the train two stops from 69th St-Fisk Avenue to 52nd St-Lincoln Ave and walk a block back up Roosevelt Ave. to 54th St.
Weekender Billiard
For a taste of: Bhutan
41-46 54th Street
Woodside, Queens
Hours: Noon-11pm
Sample item: ema datsi
With snooker tables beneath a portrait of the Dalai Lama, this may the first Bhutanese billiard hall you’ve ever been to. Be prepared: Bhutanese food is spicy. A favourite is the ema datsi (cheese-coated chili peppers) which is the national dish of Bhutan.
Turn left on Roosevelt Ave. (which will turn into Greenpoint Ave.) for about 0.7 miles.
I Love Paraguay
For a taste of: Paraguay
4316 Greenpoint
Sunnyside, Queens
Hours: 11am to 10pm
Sample Item: Mbeju 4 Quesos
Paraguayans are the smallest Hispanic group in the U.S. (approximately 25,000) but the NY Metro area is where the majority are based. Here, you can try Paraguayan comfort food including mbjeu (cheese yuca starch flatbread), chipa guazu (a cross between corn pudding and soufflé). Many Paraguyan dishes involve a healthy dose of Muenster cheese. Dessert is also available including pastafrola, a sweet tart.
Head back the way you came up Greenpoint and then turn left onto 46th St.
Grab the 7 train from 46th-Bliss St. Station to Vernon Blvd-Jackson Ave. station. Head north on Vernon Ave. and turn left on 47th Ave.
Cannelle LIC
For a taste of: France
5-11 47th Avenue
Long Island City (LIC), Queens
Hours: 7am-8pm
Sample Item: Mille-Feuille
End your epic around-the-world food adventure with a coffee and world-renowned French pastry such as croissants, mille-feuilles, and palmiers. Co-founder
Jean-Claude Perennou previously spent decades as the Executive Pastry Chef of the Waldorf Astoria.
Views from the 7 train heading back towards Manhattan (Oct 2017)
Once you’ve grabbed your dessert and/or coffee, head a few blocks over to the Gantry Plaza State Park and enjoy the skyline views of Manhattan from the neon Pepsi-Cola sign. You can take the 7 train back to Manhattan from Vernon Blvd. and begin your food coma.
Route Information
Take the 7 train to the Flushing/Main St. station. From the station exit at Main and Roosevelt, head east on Roosevelt Ave.
Joe’s Steam Rice Roll (136-21 Roosevelt Ave. #A1, Flushing)
Walk west (retracing steps) on Roosevelt Ave. towards Main St.
Soybean Chan Flower Shop (135-26 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing)
Continue walking west on Roosevelt Ave.
Turn left on Prince St. (the first left), which turns left and becomes 40th Road.Malay Restaurant (135-17 40th Road, Flushing)
Continue on 40th Road toward Main St.
Turn left on Main St.
Take the 7 train from Flushing-Main St. four stops to Junction Blvd.
Head west one block on Roosevelt Ave. toward Warren St.Warren St/Little Ecuador (Warren & Roosevelt, Jackson Heights)
Walk 1.3km/0.8 miles west on Roosevelt Ave. or take the 7 train two stops from Junction Blvd. to 82nd St-Jackson Heights and walk a couple of blocks west on Roosevelt Ave.
La Esquina Del Camaròn Mexicano (80-02 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights)
Head west on Roosevelt Ave.
Turn right on 79th St.
Turn left on 37th Ave.Arepa Lady (77-17 37th Ave., Jackson Heights)
Head south on on 78th St.
Turn right onto Roosevelt Ave.Khampa Kitchen (75-15 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights)
Turn right on 75th St.
Turn left on 37th Ave.
Walk two blocks west (to corner of 73rd St.).Raja Sweets and Fast Food (72-31 37th Ave, Jackson Heights.)
Walk west on 37th Ave.
Turn left on 69th St.Purple Dough (3805 69th St., Woodside)
Turn right on Roosevelt Ave. and turn left on 54th St.
Or, take the train two stops from 69th St-Fisk Avenue to 52nd St-Lincoln Ave and walk a block back up Roosevelt Ave. to 54th St.Weekender Billiard (41-46 54th st., Woodside)
Turn left on Roosevelt Ave. (which will turn into Greenpoint Ave.)
I Love Paraguay (4316 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside)
Head back the way you came up Greenpoint
Turn left onto 46th St.
Grab the 7 train from 46th-Bliss St. Station to Vernon Blvd-Jackson Ave. station.
Head north on Vernon Ave.
Turn left on 47th Ave.Cannelle LIC (5-11 47th Ave., Long Island City)
Walk west to Gantry Plaza State Park for skyline views or you can take the 7 train back to Manhattan from Vernon Blvd.-Jackson Ave.