New York, New York: Flushing for the US Open and Chinese Food

Gateway to the US Open

Trip Taken: 2010

My trip to New York City coincided with one of the biggest tennis events in the world, the US Open. It is one of the four major tennis tournaments in the world. The other being the French Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon. As a minor tennis fan, It would be a disservice if I didn’t at least visit the site of the tournament. So it was the plan to take the subway all the way to Flushing. Plus, I’ve heard that there is a booming Chinese community in Flushing where I can get some good Chinese food.

Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

On the subway ride to Arthur Ashe stadium, I met a big fan who had been to a game every day of the tournament. He was very excited to see the two semi-finals with Nadal, Youzny, Federer, and Djokovic. Although, he did say that he would probably sell his tickets to the final if Federer didn’t make it to the final. We arrived at the stop and there was a swarm of people getting off at this stop. The tennis complex was full of people. I came here on the pretense that I could get a ticket to just go into the complex grounds to visit the exhibits and store. Unfortunately, they were not doing it on this day. It happens every other day and I picked the wrong day to go. So with the morning semi-wasted, I headed further into Flushing for lunch.

Flushing’s Chinese Community

Shanghai Dumplings

One of my friends recommended this dumpling restaurant in Flushing. Apparently, it is one of the best Shanghai style dumplings that she has ever had. Finding this place wasn’t terribly difficult as the Chinese area wasn’t terribly big. I walked by a few noodle shops and street carts. I’ve never seen northern Chinese style lamb skewers in the US before but you can definitely smell them as walk by them. Anyways, the restaurant has a big wait. Luckily for me, I could share my table with another person and I was only one person. I waited maybe ten minutes before I got a seat.

I ordered the crab dumplings and that was it. It was pretty cheap and good. It wasn’t terribly memorable for me, but maybe I just never had really bad Shanghai style dumplings. That’s not true. I had bad Shanghai style dumplings in Shanghai. The person sharing my table had some spicy noodles and it looked really good. Too bad my dumplings were really filling or I would’ve ordered a bowl. With my stomach full, I was ready to see more of New York.

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