Tangra Masala - Queens

Chinese Indian Mashup
Unlike the mash-ups that I do myself (see here) this one came pre-mashed. During the meal, my Indian colleagues and their wives debated the origin of Tangra food - Chinese re-mixed for the Indian palate. A little post-meal research proved one of them right - it originated from a specific neighborhood in Kolkata (Calcutta) where many Hakka Chinese settled. Tangra is traditional Hakka food with Bengali influence. I don't know Hakka from Bengali but I can tell you this - if you like it deep-fried and spicy, this place is a godsend. Just take a look at this shrimp pakora!

Sripraphai

Thai in Woodside, Queens

I have never been to Thailand, don't have any Thai friends and don't claim to know real Thai food in any way, shape or form. I boarded the 7 train to check out Sripraphai and compare it to my favorite Brooklyn Thai restaurant - Joya. I texted my boy Hatebean and told him to take the 7 train to 61st St to meet me for some Thai food. At the agreed upon time, he called me from 61st St and 7th Avenue in the upper west side of Manhattan. Yeah, ok, sure - I will do this one on my own, I guess.

Just off Roosevelt Ave, the small storefront doesn't do the interior justice. It is sunny and bright on the inside with a beautiful, flowered garden patio out back.

The first couple of things I noticed when I walked in were that it is cash only and most of the patrons were Asian. Cannot say whether they were Thai or not, but it gave me that "authentic" feeling, whatever that is. I started off with something called Fried Golden Bag - a deep-fried dumpling of chicken, corn and pea. It tasted as good as it looks below:

I then moved onto a Cornish hen soup called Tom-Zab which was laced with onions, mushrooms and chilies. It was potently spicy and made me flush immediately. It was also very difficult to eat since the Cornish hen chunks included bone and cartilage. I used my fork and soup spoon to eat and it took quite a while to finish. I had to stop once in a while to drink some ice-water.

I am torn. I cannot say I enjoyed the meal as much as most I have had at Joya. However, I want you to check it out Puff, see how you like it. I would like to try a few of their other dishes before I make up my mind.

64-13 39th Ave (and Roosevelt Ave)

Woodside, Queens

Map it!!