LAO DONG BEI: HARBIN MOM-AND-POP SHOP ON KISSENA BOULEVARD

At 5:45 on a brisk weekday, Flushing Food settled in at Lao Dong Bei Restaurant (44-09 Kissena Boulevard). Guests at other tables were already boisterous, clinking bottles of Budweiser® together. Patrons individually motioned to the waitress for more bottles. Harbin and Shenyang accents filled the small room.* There were six tables total: one seating two, three seating four, and two seating upwards of six (occasionally, up to fourteen!).**

The restaurant owner, Mrs. Zhu, hails from Harbin, as does her husband (the chef).*** Excited to try some Harbin entrées, Flushing Food selected two of the Top Ten dishes: crispy sliced fish with cumin ($11.93) and cumin lamb ($11.01). As a balancing appetizer, Flushing Food settled for winter melon and seaweed egg drop soup ($4.58) after learning that the kitchen was out of country-style cucumber ($5.05).

Here’s Flushing Food’s play-by-play of our dinner:

The winter melon and seaweed soup was a decent palate cleanser in preparation for the oilier entrées. Lao Dong Bei was as generous with melon and seaweed (alongside wispy ribbons of egg) as it was light-handed on sodium. After a few sips, our palates were primed for impending oils and spices.

As expected, our plate of cumin lamb was a greasy pile of goodness. Happily nestled on a thin bed of lettuce, each individual piece was burst with flavor. We noticed that cumin seeds could easily be brushed off—perfect for guests who like lamb but not so much cumin.

But, our seafood entrée emerged as the evening’s winner. Perhaps not surprising, since that the city’s name originates from a Manchurian word for “place for drying fishing nets”!**** Tastefully presented on a bed of lettuce to soak up oils, each sliced fish fillet was as fluffy as the last, despite it being a fried (read: oil-heavy) recipe. Lao Dong Bei’s chef achieved a nice depth of flavor, with cumin being a generous point guard with fellow spices.

May Flushing Food suggest: avoiding the table closest to the window. It’s farthest from the kitchen, shaky, and too close for comfort to the front door.

* The first difference you might pick up about many dongbei accents are the suffixed r-sounds (儿, pronounced “er”). For example, chuan (BBQ sticks) would be pronounced "chuan'r”. Mian (noodles) would be slurred into "mian'r". Some have fondly nicknamed dongbei speakers Mandarin Chinese’s pirates.

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** http://www.yelp.com/biz/lao-dong-bei-restaurant-flushing?start=40
*** Informal interview. Monday, January 5, 2015.
****http://china-trade-research.hktdc.com/business-news/article/Fast-Facts/Harbin-Heilongjiang-City-Information/ff/en/1/1X000000/1X09WA24.htm

Media credits: Helen Y.
Gadget: Nikon® Coolpix™ AW110