New York City Review: M Wells

M Wells

21-17 49th Avenue

Long Island City, Queens (at 21st Street)

718-425-6917

Unfortunately as I write about M Wells, there is sad news that it will close at the end of August.  Apparently they have another location but it's not known when they will reopen.  Read the article here. 

M Wells is really a place for people who love to eat.  I was told that it was not an actual diner and that the menu changes regularly so I was picturing a spread of healthy, local and organic dishes.  Instead, I learned that it was owned by Chef Dufour, who used to work at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal (which I have actually been to) so a lot of the food was a heart attack waiting to happen.

When I walked into this retro diner, I thought they were trying too hard to just be different and hipster.  But once I ate their food I didn't care about their slow service or attempt at making Long Island City the next Williamsburg.  We ordered a few dishes and shared them family style- the best way to eat with friends.  There really is no clear theme or concept for the food here... They just serve whatever tastes good I suppose- and I had a bit of a problem wrapping my head around it at first.  But my taste buds and belly had no problem accepting M Wells. I didn't take a photo of the herb salad with buttermilk dressing but it was an eye opener! Loved the dill in the salad and there was plenty of dressing coating each leaf.

 I knew I had to eat this when I saw another table order it.  Escargot with bone marrow! It's absolutely genius!

 I didn't know what to expect when we ordered the gravlax pie but it exceeded my imagination.  One of my favorite dishes of the meal.  Loved that there was salmon roe on it.  Served with creme fraiche and potatoes.

 The steak tartar was just alright, nothing special

 The fish and chips had a very thick batter so I wasn't a fan

We were so full at the end but I HAD to order the banana cream pie.  It was not too sweet and the crust was close to perfect.  Loved it!

New York City Review: Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant

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Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant

13330 39th Ave
Flushing, Queens

(718) 359-8600

After doing some research online, it seemed like this was one of the best places in Flushing for dim sum.  Just like at the dim sum places in Chinatown on a crowded day you get a number and wait for it to be called out.  You really don't have to wait long to get a table so it's worth the wait.  It really feels like you're in Hong Kong or somewhere else in China when you walk into this place. What I love about dim sum is the variety you can eat with just two people.  Below are photos of everything we ate between the two of us.

Some sort of pork patty

Siew mai: pork and shrimp dumpling

One of my favorites: pork riblets with black bean sauce

Chicken feet: better than any I've had in Chinatown because it's very tender

Turnip cake

Shrimp stuffed chili peppers

Didn't really like this: celery, carrots and shrimp wrapped with glass noodles

One of my favorites: fried glutinous rice balls with sesame and lotus root paste

Fried dough wrapped in rice noodles

Some sort of pork ball

Rice noodles with shrimp

New York City Review: Minangasli

Minangasli
8610 Whitney Avenue
(Elmhurst, Queens)

718-429-8207

The last time I ate Indonesian food was back in 2007 when I went to Bali, and I was CRAVING some Indonesian flavors.  Just thinking about Nasi Padang or sop buntut made my mouth water.  An Indonesian taxi driver I spoke to one day told me that Minangasli or Mie Jakarta in Elmhurst, Queens, were the best places to go to.  

Minanasli was a tiny eatery with maybe five tables.  The food took quite a while but the wait was worth the while.  I never really ate gado gado growing up but I decided to order it because my friend loves peanuts.  When I ate it I wondered why I always refused to eat it whenever my mum ordered it.  The sop buntut tasted just like how I had imagined, with that familiar and nostalgic taste of the fried shallots.  The first time I ever ate oxtail was in an Indonesian restaurant called Sanur in Singapore and since then I love it! For my friend I ordered the beef rendang (a braised beef dish) because it's a typical Indonesian dish. For myself, I ordered the ayam goreng (fried chicken) with green chili sauce.  The fried egg with sambal was exactly the flavor combination I was craving and the curry sauce for the braised kale was delicious and comforting.  The skin on the fried chicken was perfectly crispy!


The food was overall extremely spicy (it has been a while since the last time something made my lips feel tingly like that) and definitely satisfied my craving for Indonesian food.

Gado Gado: shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, green beans and tofu with a peanut sauce and fried egg

 Sop Buntut: oxtail soup

 Ayam Goreng: fried chicken with a green chili sauce, fried egg, braised kale and sambal