SHANGHAI CUISINE 33: WAIT TIME AND SERVICE WORTH THE LONGER TREK

Craving soup dumplings (xiaolongbao, or XLB for short), and up for a scenic detour? Head to or order from Shanghai Cuisine 33. After hopping off the 7 train at the Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue intersection, head south on Main towards Booth Memorial Avenue.* You’re going in the right direction if you pass Queens Library (Flushing Branch) to the left.

Continue, and also see Flushing’s U.S. Post Office, Queens Botanical Garden, and New York Hospital Queens. Cross Booth Memorial Avenue, and proceed for two more blocks until arriving at 57-33 Main Street on your left, just before Main hits 58th Ave.

A-rated XLB extraordinaire Shanghai Cuisine 33 rewards visitors’ cardio sessions with—at least by Downtown Flushing standards–shorter wait times and friendlier service. Despite the strip mall-esque exterior, inside décor errs on the modern side, with soothing green walls and lighting adorning stylized pictures of Hong Kong. What this Flushing destination lacks in space, it compensates for by consistently providing a “bright” and “clean” dining experience.

Additionally, the younger, mostly English-speaking staff strive to provide top-notch service to every patron. According to Manager Robert Lin, Shanghai Cuisine 33’s behind-the-scenes staff training focuses heavily on service (fuwu).**

As for food? Order all the soup dumplings! Shanghai Cuisine’s specialty is, after all, THE top Flushing pick according to one XLB expert. If nothing else, try the succulent crab soup dumplings for just the intensely-flavored broth.***

The Flushing location undertook painstaking efforts to perfectly mimic Shanghainese-style cooking, having been trained under the tutelage of the Shanghai chef at the Manhattan location.**** The results? Cantonese cooks who “know what they are doing.”***** You should expect “pretty much…the same food” you’d expect from Shanghai Asian Manor (21 Mott Street) in Manhattan’s Chinatown, where the Shanghai chef lurks.

Almost as good as the XLB offerings are “perfectly crisp” pan-fried pork dumplings, greasy zhajiangmian (also spelled jajiangmien, or written 炸酱面), sautéed spinach with dried onion, and perfectly-crispy-yet-chewy scallion pancakes.

And for the overly-curious? Kindly request some ginger ice cream to round out your meal.

May Flushing Food suggest: Walking here, because (legal) parking is laughably non-existent during most business hours. To satiate your XLB cravings, either walk over, or place a quick order for all your heart’s desires. Heads up: last orders accepted at 9:30 p.m.

Sponsor's Link: Shanghai Cuisine 33

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* Between 11D and 11J.
**, **** Interview, October 21, 2014.
*** See http://chopsticksandmarrow.com/2013/01/xiao-long-bao-battle-royal-in-flushing/.
***** See http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/891886/.

Picture credits: Mike L. and Ms. M.