My mum has this superstition that whatever you are doing on New Year’s Day or on your birthday you will do a lot over the coming year … in that case I’m going to be continuing my recent trend of eating and overeating! Today saw us visiting the second Chinatown for a bite to eat at our local Flushing Mall (on our way back from visiting the New York Hall of Science), and then heading into Manhattan for some Mexican at Zarela.

Walking around Flushing I feel it is more of a Chinatown than the one in Manhattan, although it could probably be more fairly called Asiatown (as a lot of other orientals, mainly Korean) seem to have settled there. There are close links between the two Chinatowns at any stage with buses that can take you to and fro for I think at the latest around $3-ish.

The food court in Flushing Mall is certainly an experience for those who enjoy true Asian style eating. There are a mixture of Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese eats. Pat had been given a recommendation about Xi’an Famous Food who are famous (ha ha) for their signature “cold skin” noodles and their take on the western burger. No their food is not typically Chinese but more a fusion of Middle Eastern and Chinese cuisines. Or so their website says. I’m not a noodle fan at the best of times but I do like my burgers. Pat decided to try the Savory Cumin Lamb Burger and I, of course, the Stewed Pork Burger.

Okay, so they don’t look that attractive in the photos but they were pretty delicious. My only complaint was that my burger was slightly on the oily/fatty side. Not normally one to complain about such matters when eating pork (fat is the vehicle for flavour after all) but because the juices were oozing everywhere it was just a little off-putting. Still, not a bad burger.

You could easily end up eating way too much at the food course because of all the stalls in there with their appetising food. I decided to give the shaved ice a go. Its not often you can find this kind of concoction in London and if you so its often attached to a hefty price tag. This treat is definitely for sweet tooths but was a nice contrast to my savoury lunch.