[REVIEW] Lake Pavilion, Flushing, NY

Jews Happy!

Tonight we dared to venture again across the Queens border in to Flushing.  We ate at the creme de la creme, top of the heap, where the influential Chinese Machas go to eat.  When you want to have a memorable occasion or event, or put on the Ritz, whether it be to impress clients or family, this is the place you want to go.

From banquets pre-priced at close to $5000, to prime shark fin soup served at $110 per person, clearly you’re dining here and not caring how many decimal places appear on your bill.

We opted not to impress others, but to impress our palates, we asked to enjoy an authentic Chinese meal.  Unfortunately (for him), Mee Gonzi Biao was unable to join us this evening.  Our guest this evening was our cousin Mee Tso.  Mee Tso What is left up to debate 😉  (What happens, or is spoken, at Lake Pavilion, or on any Quest, stays at Lake Pavilion).  While taking Mee Tso’s opinions in to account, he did not participate in our review or rating.

Lake Pavilion is located at:

60-19 Main Street

Queens (Flushing), NY

Our server was #182 (yes, the waiters have numbers, and not names… ok, they have names, but they’re written in Chinese… and each of the name tags have numbers on them.  I think that’s for serving Dim Sum, but I’m not sure.  Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

We were also assisted by #168 and on other number that I didn’t catch.  I wonder if the single, and double digit waiters serve only the Chinese customers.  There were very few Caucasians there (A very good sign!).  We came early, 6:00pm, and we were the only ones there when we came in.  The restaurant is quite expansive.

Pictured above is the main dining area.  There were also numerous smaller private rooms along the wall for more intimate parties and gatherings.  Though I would dare to guess the largest one could hold close to 100 people.

On most nights the restaurant is totally packed, and the line to get in for Dim Sum on weekends is out the door.

We asked #182 to serve us an authentic Chinese meal.  We were served:

• Special Fresh Seafood Soup – this was totally NOT to our liking.  The base was quite glutinous and the fish was kind of minced up.  Thankfully every other dish made us (almost) completely forget about the soup.
• Peking Duck – PERFECT!  What more can I say.  The duck skins, served in the buns, with scallions and hoisin sauce.  Perfect!  (The rest of the duck was served in a separate platter.  I didn’t try the remainder as duck tends to be fatty and I have a sensitive stomach.  The other Mee’s liked it)
• Sauteed Lobster with ginger and scallions (Two lobsters) – OMG, this could have been the best lobster I have ever had.  I couldn’t get enough.  It melted in your mouth.
• Sauteed Scallops In Black Pepper Sauce  – Scrumdelicious!  I don’t know if that’s a word, but I don’t know how else to describe it.  The sauce was beyond belief.  I couldn’t get enough.  The brocolli with the sauce.  Kudo’s to the Chef!
• Snow Pea Leaves with garlic – I’m not a big fan, but it was good.  The other Mee’s love it too.
• House (Twin Flavor?) Fried Rice – Just right!  Light.  Not filling.  Tasty!  Yummy!
• Peking Pork Chops – Being that we were still hungry, we ordered another dish.  This was so moist and tender.  The sauce sweet.  Almost like a dessert dish.  This was a nice finish to our meal.  And there was SO much served.  How we finished it all can only be attributed to how good everything tasted!

We licked our plates clean.  We had SEVEN dishes… there was plenty of food.  And not a morsel was left over.  Yet, we didn’t feel stuffed.  We felt just right.  Five happy Jews.  What more could we want?

Fresh sliced oranges were served (no fortune cookies, and no fried noodles).  Our fortune was discovering this restaurant!

Our rating of Lake Pavilion:

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum (“Chop!  Chop!”)