Update: Oreo, Dog Thrown Off Building, Was Euthanized
People Wait For Tomorrow's UWS Apple Store Opening
Emily and Sarah Kunstler, Filmmakers
Cheap Chicken Wing Deal Ruined by Gunslinging Teens
FIT Students Busted For Drug Dealing Get Probation
Ah, summer in New York: hot-dog contests, fireworks, the beach, and, don't forget, a stolid steamy blanket of humidity that greets all who dare to step outside their freon fortresses. But summer in the city needn't be all about sweating through the wet-dog daze.
As soon the mercury rises many turn to salads for solace, but let's face it, mixed greens are neither filling nor cooling enough when its hot and humid. To Gothamist sweltering summer days spell opportunities to discover eats that both satisfy the appetite while lowering our core temperature.
One of our favorite hot-weather dishes is naeng-myun, a cold Korean noodle soup. This is no gazpacho, folks. Imagine a cold version of pho, as beefy as it is refreshing. We slurped down the season's first bowl of this liquid air conditioning at Ga Si Ri, a newish spot off a stretch of Northern Boulevard that's come to be a roost for Korean fried chicken joints. We knew from experience to accept the waitress's offer to scissor the tangle of ultrathin buckwheat noodles into more manageable strands. Shaved brisket, crunchy translucent slices of Asian pear, daikon and cucumber spears kept half a hard-boiled egg company in the brass bowl. After a dash of vinegar, some hot mustard and a little red pepper paste, we dug in. Within minutes, we were cold chillin'. Like many Korean spots, Ga Si Ri offers a short rib and naeng-myun combo. We must confess that we thoroughly enjoyed eating a plate of the sweet marinated meat with our hands before the soup arrived.
Not in the mood to cool off with cold beef broth? No worries, head to Flushing Mall. Wind your way through a maze of shops hawking Hello Kitty merchandise, DVDs and overpriced Mets t-shirts. Soon you'll reach the promised land: the food court. Since it's so mind-meltingly hot and humid, you'll easily resist the temptations of the shabu shabu and hand-pulled noodle stations and find yourself standing in front of the shaved ice counter. The first thing we noticed was freshly blended arctic white shards of ice being dumped into plastic bowls that could easily hold a half-dozen Snow Cones. For a moment we felt cool. Then reality crashed down as we faced the pressure of choosing from at least a dozen ingredients ranging from such candied fruits as mango and passion fruits in day-glo colored syrup to red bean, tapioca pearls, green bean and grass jelly. Since we were overwhelmed by the very concept of picking six of these ingredients, we settled for a mere four.
Gothamist decided on pineapple, passion fruit, green mango and grass jelly. Next time we find ourselves at a shaved ice counter we'll probably opt for some of the bean-type ingredients. In addition to being the brighest frozen desert ever, our shaved ice was way too sweet. Nevertheless, the combo of the industrial strength sugar high and consuming all that ice left us feeling quite refreshed.
Ga Si Ri, 40-29 162 St., Flushing, 718-888-9400
Flushing Mall, 133-31 39th Avenue, Flushing, 718-888-1234
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
why does gothamist always have something asian? Don't you guys know asians don't matter? all they do is sell fake shit to tourists.
guest | July 9, 2007 5:20 PM -- go fucking kill yourself.
@guest
GROW THE FUCK UP.
And this advice is coming out of a 15 year old?
Cold Borscht is another good cold soup.
It should be obvious that the first poster was being ironic, and appreciates gothamist's coverage of the asian-american community in NYC.
Why don't you guys do some more Jewish food? Oh I forgot, Jewish cuisine really sucks ass, bland and dense and no taste whatsoever. Why do they own NYC? With such a bad tastebud?
Yea Asian food is definitely better than Jewish food. I had a Knish the other day and it taste like compressed pile of sand.
Asian food is good. Chinese, Japanese, Viet, Thai... all great. Korean is shit. They get their veggies from the dumpster, and eat the wild dogs and cats in the neighborhood. I reccomend never going to this rat trap.
Korean is good except the soups. naeng-myun is friggin awful. It tastes as bad as that picture looks.
Yea Jewish food sucks! Matzah ball taste like heavy densed used-up old sponge or rag.
to Vietnam: Have you try Kalbi? the Korean BBQ short ribs? If no maybe you are one of those ignorant stupid whitewashed Americanized Banana that got blindfully educated with "White is superior" value. I love Vietnamese food and I am Korean, I love Bun Mam and Bun Rieu. I probably know a better place to eat Vietnamese food that you sucker poser.
@vietman: HAHAHAHAHA that cats amd dogs joke is HILARIOUS? where on earth did you get that from?
fucking prick. i'm surprised another asian would be so ignorant.