Rating: 3 paws out of 5
Spent:.  $7 per person
Chain: No.
Date Friendly: Yes.
Note:

13531 40th Rd
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 762-9313

Along Flushing Queen’s 40th Road, you gonna see the image of dense concentrated shops  and remind you of  the streets of Hong Kong.  The layers of retail shops and restaurants are easy to get lost in, if you are unfamiliar with the signs and entrances.    This hungry guy found a restaurant to get his Malay on and see what turns up.

Interior is decorated with some style from the homeland.

Menu is large, there are lots of choice and pictures of some of the food.  This is helpful for those that are not quite familiar with Malaysian food.

This place offers two kinds of Roti cani, first is the Mayalsan Roti.  It is a chewy and thicker version with more of a bite to it.  It more hearty, very tasty.  The curry sauce is sucked up with this kind of roti since there is more body to it.

Indian Roti Cani is the other version.  This one is a flaky, thin and crispy.  It has a stronger flavor due to the crispiness of the dish.  It doesn’t quite hold the curry as well as the other type but nether less it is delicious also.

Vegetable rolls, a vegetarian dish that can be enjoyed by both carnivores or vegetarians alike.    This crispy full of vegi dish dipped in the sweet sauce is a treat.

Beef Rendang here sometimes comes in a bowl, sometimes on a plate.  The flavor of ginger, turmeric and other “curry” flavors is very strong in this stew.  The meat is semi tender, there is  still some toughness still in it.  The spicy sauce goes perfectly with the rice .

Hanaise Chicken for those not in the know, comes cool – room temperature.   The chicken is tender and has a strong chicken flavor.  The skin has a slight gelatin like texture which some will love but some will be scared of it.

Chicken Flavor Rice is the rice of choice for the Hanaise chicken.  it supposed to be made with the broth from the boiling of the chicken.  It has lots of flavor and had nice soft grains of rice.

Thai Ice Tea has a very strong floral tea flavor and extremely sweet.  I wasn’t too crazy about it, but it wasn’t bad at the same time.

Indian Mee Goreng here is ok.  The flavor doesn’t impress me much, there isn’t anything wrong with the dish, it just doesn’t have any wow factor to it.  The peanuts, egg and thick noodles along with some Indian like flavors sounds like something that can’t be beat but it didn’t work as well as it should have.

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Rating: 2 paws out of 5
Spent:.  $10 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: not really
Note: service is slow
3017 Stratton St
Pathmark Shopping complex
New York, NY 11354
(718) 661-1770

The dying breed of dining is slowly disappearing in the Queens area.  Once full of many diners with excellent quality, now they are slowly disappearing.  There is one that is very convenient in the Pathmark complex in Whitestone.  This ferret went there while shopping around, lets see if this place can make food beyond the breakfast course.

Interior nothing fancy, semi clean.  Bread crumbs on the seats etc.

Bread and butter standard mass market.

Pickle and slaw, nothing much to see here.  Move on

Chicken souvlaki was dry and the rice was mushy.  Not good.

Turkey Club has one of the driest sandwiches here.  The fries are so so, but definitely not enough to make up for the dry sandwich.

Eggs and bacon is not really different from everywhere else.  It pretty much the standard fare in this case.

Rating: 4 paws out of 5
Spent:.  $7 per person
Chain: No.
Date Friendly: No, 2 small tables, it a hole in the wall place.
Note: Take out suggested, they kinda speak English, but it might be struggle.
133-49 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 539-5115

The best places are always the hidden and secret ones.  Well this place is out in plain site, but unless you can read Chinese, you are pretty much out of luck.  Lucky for this ferret, he has a secret decoder ring and compass to point to the good stuff in Flushing.  Come explore this place with me and you can see what treasures can be found.

Door to the place is kinda hard to find because there is not much English words around.  But once you find it you can get things going here.

You order form the board or from a paper menu.  They both have English and Chinese so it is not too difficult to decide what you want to have.

Chicken Leg over rice here comes with a soy sauce hard boiled egg, sausage, some pickled vegetables and rice with meat sauce.   The chicken here has a very crisp skin and extremely moist texture on the inside.  The outside of the skin is seasoned with some sweet flavorful spices.  I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly it is but it in the neighborhood of an Asian one such as five spice.  The egg, vegetables and rice goes well with the chicken and this is a complete meal on it own.

Pork Chop over rice is very similar to the Chicken leg except just with pork chop instead.  The seasoning of this pork chop is very close chicken leg.  Beginning a fried pork chop makes the interior the meat very moist, it is not too fatty also, but not lean by far.  The exterior of the pork chop is crispy and can put a smile on carnivores face.

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Rating: 4 paws out of 5
Spent: $15 per person
Chain: Nope
Date Friendly: Yes, a southern boy\girl will appreciate this place much more. 
Note: It can get pretty busy and crowded.

166 S.4th Street
Brooklyn NY 11211
347-529-6090
http://piesnthighs.com/

You ever get that craving for something , you might not be able to put your finger on it.  Something crispy, something juicy, something that can hit the spot.  This might be the place to find that craving that you are having.  Southern food has been making a splash in New York and it being a fried chicken place ago, just makes it a better reason to go.  Oh this hungry ferret will probably pay dearly for the food that is about to go into his belly, but it should be worth it.  He hopes!?!

The restaurant is not very large, majority of the seats and tables are close to each other.  The front is similar to a small cafe or former retail storefront with a cashier counter that has been retrofitted into a restaurant.

The  Backroom is similar to a backyard with walls and a ceiling.  It looks very rustic with the exposed brick showing.  It is heated or cooled depending on the season, so it is comfortable.

Menu is very simple and doesn’t have a lot of items to confuse anybody.

Fried chicken here is especially good, but it is more of the traditional kind.  There aren’t any special herbs and spices in the breading of the chicken.  Most likely (unconfirmed) the chicken was marinated in buttermilk to tenderize and season the meat, then floured and fried.  The breading sticks very well to the chicken and has a nice crispiness to them.  When you bite into the chicken, the breading stays on.  The breading doesn’t completely shatter and fall off.  The meat inside is very juicy and tender.  It contains everything you expect from a fried chicken.

Collard greens were cooked to perfection.  It had the right texture and saltiness.  With a touch of the house vinegary hot sauce it made things just right.

Cream of spinach was creamy and well seasoned.  It the spinach was well done but not overly cooked or burnt.  The corn bread on the other hand not very tasty.  The corn bread was gummy, cold, and very gritty.

Salad side with dressing was fresh and crispy.  The dressing was not over dressed and the hard boiled egg and bacon was nice addition to having it as a southern salad.

They have good selection of Pies, it is Pie ‘N’ Thighs after all.  The only complaint about the pies, were that they were on the small side.  It was quite a small pie slice, but at the same time after a meal, you might not want such a large or rich desert.

Chocolate Peanut Butter pie was sweet but not overly sweet.  The consistency was smooth and you can have a good sense of the peanut butter in the pie.

Guava Cheesecake had a nice smooth cream cheese base.  The Guava fruit on top was more of a gelatin type kind.  The sweet and sourness of the fruit cuts the rich and creaminess of the cheesecake.

Chocolate Pudding pie was chocolate rich and smooth.  It pretty much taste like chocolate pudding, just in a more solid form.

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Rating: 4 paws out of 5
Spent:.$12
Chain: No.
Date Friendly: Not really
Note: Cash only and they have table service. 

6826 Fresh Meadow Lane (cross from an Indian movie theater)
Queens, NY 11365
718-762-5572

After a long movie this ferret was very hungry.  Looking through his ferret super manly purse (I got no pockets) he saw that this ferret was pretty broke and didn’t have very much money.  There are been tall tales of a place where the food was plentiful, good and doesn’t hit he wallet too hard.  This ferret decided that this is the day to go exploring for cheap eats.  After the long travel from Flushing to Fresh Meadows, he spotted this oasis of neon palm trees that beckoned to his empty stomach.  Luckily for this traveler, the movie didn’t let out yet across the street yet and decided to hurry and finish his quest to a full stomach.  We will see if, this little guy will pay for food with a bad case of heartburn and a queasy stomach.

Menu of the items for consumption.  For those not too familiar with some items, the pictures in the menu helps with the decision making and amount of food that you will receive.

Interior of Bakhter, the numbers are for the wait staff to drop off your food.  The interior is pretty simple nothing fancy unless you count the neon palm trees in the corner.  Not a very romantic place but nether-less a good place to each compare to the other Afghani restaurants out there.

Salads at this place is pretty basic.  The basic lettuce and tomatoes are staple vegetable you can get at a Afghani place besides the grilled tomato.  You can drizzle the white yogurt sauce to give it a nice tang and is common practice for visitors of this type of restaurant.

The Hot Wings are cooked to a very nice golden brown deliciousness (G.B.D.) that would make a grown man cry at times.  The bread is very thin, crisp and attaches itself well to the wing.  Once you crack open the shell of this wing, you expose the trapped steam within the chicken wing.  The moist plump texture inside the wing is just waiting to be discovered.

Rice here is excellent and pretty much comes with all the grilled dishes.  The basmati rice  is firm and separated, not mushy.  It is well flavored and seasoned,I can’t tell what is in it besides some oil and possibly a stock with very mild spices.  These places usually keep it a secret anyways.

Chicken Tika and Beef Kufta over rice is a very popular combination.  The chicken has that very nice grilled exterior that many people love.  Even with the nice grilled outside, the inside of the chicken was still moist but not watery or oozing with the juices.  The Beef Kufta is similar to a Indian Seekh Kabob.  It is basically consist of ground  beef, root vegetables, seasonings and then reformed into a long cigar.  Then the meat is skewered and grilled over charcoals.  It was very good and has the texture of meat balls.

Chicken Tika and Beef Kufta Kabob  is a good combination if you enjoy solid chunks of meat.  The chicken Tika is the same chicken as the other combo dishes.  The Beef Kufta Kabobs are well done, most middle eastern places frown upon bloody meat since it generally not considered good practice by them.  This though does not make the meat dry or tough.  The marinade that they used did its job and kept the meat moist. The beef kabobs were very delicious and had a nice chew to it.

White sauce here is very tasty and one of the better ones that I have tasted.  It is not oily, greasy, too watery, too salty, or just taste plain weird as many other places.  It works well with almost everything that they serve here.  Chicken wings, fries, salad, kabobs and even the bread will be complimented well with this.  Keep an eye on your squeeze tube and make sure that it well stock at all times.

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Rating: 5 paws out of 5
Spent: $15 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
Note: Chicken is made fresh, can take up to 20 mins, cash only.
71-22 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
(718) 205-6662

With the recently popularity of the Korean fried chicken stands, there has been a lot of winners and losers in the fried chicken game. The Hungry Ferret will dig deep and look to the skies for an answer to the age old question, ” It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a flying chicken?”

Out of all the different flavors of fried chicken, the best the Hungry Ferret tasted is “Soy Garlic”. They claim the taste is out of this world, well it is according to me. So what makes a good fried chicken? Lets look through the steps of how the perfect fried chicken is made.

1: use fresh chicken and cook to order.
2: have a flavor that is well balance and perfect.
3: have the skin crispy and thin.

But really I believe the 2 main things that make this fried chicken so good is the flavor and how the skin is. Flavor is some secret voodoo that the chefs at UFC has come out with. The skin is really crispy and separates from the main portion of the meat. The best way to describe it would be comparing it to another dish, Peking duck. Peking duck when prepared correctly, the skin is suppose to separate from the meat after pumping air in between the meat and the skin. Well somehow the UFC master chefs have figure it out to do this to their chickens dishes. UFC has won the elusive 5 paw award.

The sides here are also good, the chicken comes with a cabbage salad with thousand island dressing. The Fresh thick fries have a very crisp outside and soft potato inside. The macaroni salad has nice sweet tangy creaminess that most will enjoy.

Interior Decor

Macaroni Salad

French Fries

Chicken Wings

Up close chicken wing