Spicy Road (四海居), Pt. 2

Since my first post about Spicy Road (in which time they have changed their Chinese name to 四海居 - sì hǎi jū - "four seas restaurant", or food from the whole country of China), I've enjoyed quite a few excellent meals there. But two dishes in particular merit special mention.

Among the dishes with their own framed pictures on the north wall is one called "shrimp with two kinds of pork", a not-quite-accurate translation of 虾仁爆两样 (xiā rén bào liǎng yàng). In reality, it is a slightly spicy stir-fry of shrimp and another meat. Their default meat for this dish is lamb, but they'll make it with pork if you ask, and I think it's a better dish that way. Quite well-rounded and flavorful, and something only northern Chinese would come up with. (I'm still getting the hang of my camera, but this should give you an idea...)

But the real standout dish I've tried here is buried under the "Seafood" section of the menu: an entry reading "steamed whole fish with sliced lamb" (蒸魚羊 - zhēng yú yáng), accompanied by the warning that a 30-minute wait is required. How could one possibly not order it? The wait is amply reward by a stunningly good dish of exactly what the name says, although what isn't mentioned is that the lamb slices are first sautéed in dried red pepper and cumin, then stuffed into and spread on top of the fish. Stupendous, and I've definitely never had anything like it elsewhere.

Buried under all those lamb slices and that Chinese parsley is, indeed, a whole fish - tilapia, I think.

I also finally noticed that they have a particularly good, well-known German beer on tap here for a VERY reasonable price. I'll let you find out for yourself which one and just how cheap, but I was pleasantly shocked (how often one is so very unpleasantly shocked - such a nice change of pace) by the revelation.

Spicy Road
43-18 Main St., Flushing 11355
718-321-3688
(7 train to Main St.-Flushing, then 9 blocks south on Main St.)