On Saturday morning we asked Jeannette and Yvan if they’d be up for dim sum since Dallas and I hadn’t had it since the last time we were in New York a year ago! Dallas’s cousin Jessica from Honolulu is living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn now after having completed school at FIT, so we invited her to come along with us. Jeannette and Yvan have a car so after picking up Jessica, we headed out to Flushing, Queens and went to Jade Asian Restaurant.
Jade Asian is set up like a huge banquet hall. Kind of like Jing Fong, where we sometimes go in Manhattan. The thing about Flushing, though, is that it’s out there. Far. And it’s really Asian. In Manhattan you get a lot of tourists, a lot of non-Asians who live there and go to dim sum. Out in Flushing? I was the only non-Asian in a huge ballroom of people. Not that I really care. Just an observation. The dim sum food at Jade Asian did not disappoint. We tried all of our favorites and then some.
Doing my best impression of Jeannette, I leaned back and moaned about how full I was and then leaned forward and chipperly said “Let’s get dessert!” Kidding, but desert was on the agenda, as right across the street from Jade Asian is Paris Baguette. You know Jeannette can’t pass that up!
I was a little confused about why such a French-sounding place was smack dab in the middle of such an Asian neighborhood, but I just read on the Paris Baguette website that they are the No. 1 franchised bakery in Korea, with 1,700 locations in 3 different countries. It should be noted that the only New York location is this one out in Flushing, Queens. Of course when I went inside, it made a little more sense. Amongst the pilethera of French pastries there were a lot of Asian influences: red bean fillings, grean tea flavoring, etc. I recognized a hotdog roll I used to get in Chinatown.
Jeannette went to town and got a bunch of pasteries. I ended up just getting a coffee drink because I was so full from dim sum. Later on Jeannette admitted to Jessica that this is a well-travelled trip for them with guests. Dim sum at Jade Asian, dessert at Paris Baguette. Works for me! Great food, fun morning, and nice to see Jessica again.
