In the past two years, restaurants from China's northeast region—adjacent to the Yellow Sea, across from Korea—have been flooding South Flushing along Main Street and Kissena Boulevard. Counter Culture has covered three so far, but not the newest: Lu Xiang Yuan. As with M&T Restaurant, the proprietors come from Qingdao, Shandong, a coastal city of 8 million that was the site of a German concession (mini-colony) from 1897 to 1914. During this period, the Germania Brewery was founded, where Tsingdao beer is still manufactured today. The city was later occupied by the Japanese, then the Americans, and is now bristling with Korean factories, a history that makes for a potent mix of culinary influences.
The logo of the restaurant is the Xiaoqingdao ("Little Qingdao") Light, a famous beacon erected by the Germans more than a century ago. Inside, the place looks like any modern Chinese restaurant, with ornate paper fans spread on the walls, and strings of orange lanterns dangling from the ceiling. In addition to the food we've come to expect from this fascinating region (lots of lamb and beef, virtually no rice, unusual seafood, and plenty of yams and pumpkins), there are some dazzling oddities on Lu Xiang Yuan's menu.
Read more at http://www.villagevoice.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment