Thursday, April 8, 2010

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous….East Buffet and Restaurant


Another restaurant in New York catering to those of us who love dim sum and to the immense  Chinese community of Flushing is East Buffet and Restaurant. It is so Chinese centric that the website doesn’t have an English translation. We considered ourselves lucky to have been told about this authentic establishment, until we arrived. The enormous dining rooms boded well for the quality of the food, because mediocre quality, even sold very cheaply couldn’t possibly keep this place full, or so we thought. The rooms were full, the dim sum was cheap, but it wasn’t worth the time it took to ride in on the subway from NYC precisely because of the mediocrity.

As we were led to our table, I couldn’t help but notice that the linen on the table had several holes in it and many large patches applied to other holes. My dining companion was mortified when I called the waiter over and asked for another table, because I was not happy to see holes in the table cloth. The photograph above was taken at the 2nd table where we were seated. Something must have been lost in translation concerning my complaint, because the waiter was oblivious to my disappointment at being seated at such a shabby table, even with the visual clue of poking my finger through the linen. Perhaps I used the wrong finger. This photo was actually cropped to eliminate several other holes. The Ha Gow on the right was actually decent and so was the dumpling on the left.
 
This particular dumpling was composed of several vegetables and whole peanuts. I’d never seen anything like it before and was intrigued by the crunchy texture the peanuts provided. I’d order it again, if I ever saw it served anywhere else. The egg rolls were as greasy as any I’ve ever had and reminded me why I usually refrain from ordering them. I have yet to taste an egg roll that is worth the effort. It may have been more palatable with a sweet and sour sauce, but none was provided.
Carefully rearranged plates manage to hide all the holes in the linen on this photo, but it also shows the balance of our meal. We simply cut it short because the carts were few and far between and the decor was distracting at best. I do not like to “pan” a restaurant, but being seated at a table with a table cloth that is patched and or is filled with large holes is just beyond the pale.
The shrimp rice rolls were not the best because the sauce was truly inferior to the one served at Golden Unicorn. The  Char Siu Bao were baked as I prefer them, but the barbequed pork inside was not very flavorful, nor was the dough. The condiments amounted to a red vinegar and soy sauce and also provided little in the way of flavor or good taste, no chili sauce or oil was present at all. Even if we had not tried Golden Unicorn, this restaurant would have been a bust. Luckily we already knew what good dim sum tasted like or this restaurant could have put us off it for a very long time. I find it ironic that it should be in a locale named Flushing.
4207 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355

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