Restaurant review, Eating the Putz at Flushing's Main Street Imperial Taiwanese Gourmet.

To outsiders, Taiwanese food can be challenging—which is why most Taiwanese-owned restaurants in Flushing serve food from other parts of China. And why not? Mainland migration to the island over the past century has furnished Taiwan with cooks well-versed in the cuisines of nearly every region. Though the Taiwanese have dominated Flushing since the '80s, now their grip is loosening due to a massive influx of northern Chinese immigrants. This has pushed newer Taiwanese restaurants to the fringes of the neighborhood. Since most patrons are now former islanders—rather than downtown Flushing's pan-Asian mix—it has also freed them to focus on their own home-style cooking. But if you're an outsider, it may be difficult convincing a Taiwanese waitress to let you try her favorite dishes. With a name more prepossessing than the small, spare premises would indicate, Main Street Imperial Taiwanese Gourmet lies just north of the Long Island Expressway, a mile south of downtown Flushing. At a recent meal, my crew and I had trouble getting our waitress to serve us "stinky tofu" ($5.95). She insisted, "No more, no more," sounding like the raven in the Edgar Allan Poe poem. The tofu's intense odor is traditionally the result of soaking curd for weeks in a solution of dried shrimp, vegetables, and fermented milk—one of many unexpected ingredients you'll find in Taiwanese cooking.

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