Queens Tribune

65-07 Woodhaven Blvd., Rego Park
(718) 830-9788
Hours: Delivery – 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon-Thu; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri & Sat; noon to 10 p.m. Sun; Eat-In – 4:30 to 10 p.m. Sun, Tue-Thu; 4:30 to 11 p.m. Fri & Sat.
Cuisine: Chinese
Credit Cards: All Major
Parking: Lot
Delivery: Yes

You may know the place by its great take-out menu, but East Meets West Chinese restaurant on Woodhaven Boulevard is a far cry from your average take-out joint.

Recently expanding into what used to be a gym next door, the little place next door to West Coast Video now offers a spacious, 50-seat dining areas beautifully decorated in papers lanterns, bamboo and with the restaurant’s signature panda scene on the wall.

Upon being seated we were given broad fried noodles with sides of duck sauce and mustard along with a pot of fresh tea. We asked our server Donna, who has been with East Meets West for the last eight years, to bring us what she and the owners Lisa and Billy thought we would like.

We started simple with a Pu Pu Platter to get the feel of the fried delicacies and also sampled some Clams In Black Bean Sauce and Salt & Pepper Calamari. The platter hit the nail on the head, with dumplings, wontons, cheese wontons, spring rolls, shrimp rolls, fried shrimp, ribs and beef on s tick all served around an open flamed dish. The rolls were light, the breading on the dumplings was thick and flavorful and the taste of the meats was impeccable.

The clams were delicate, served open with a sauce that added just the right amount of flavor to the bivalves. The calamari was unusual – a great surprise, served on a bed of fried rice noodles with chopped scallions. The combination of the salt and pepper with the crunch of the noodle almost gave the impression of eating some kind of calamari chips, though the rings themselves were soft and tender.

Moving on to main courses we got to sample a wide variety of dishes. The special of the night was Beef With Long Beans, which are like string beans but, well, longer. The taste is a little heartier than a regular green bean and a perfect complement to the tender strips of beef.

The second dish, Walnut Shrimp, may sound familiar but is quite extraordinary. Billy candies the walnuts himself, adding scoop after scoop of sugar to the boiling nuts, which get a drizzle of honey just before they cool. The sauce that matches the nuts is a sweet honey sauce served with the jumbo shrimp and a side of broccoli.

Another twist on a classic is the restaurant’s specialty – General Tso’s Chicken, which, like all the chicken dishes on the menu, is made from chunks of white breast meat rather than the higher-fat darker meats. What may be lost in flavor is more than made up for in the homemade sauces, the crisp exterior and the beautiful glowing amber tone of the entrée.

We were also fortunate enough to try two other dishes: Steak Peking Style, a sautéed filet of beef with pepper, served with button mushrooms and chunks of pepper and onion; and East Meets West Savory Pork, which is served in a Szechuan sauce with crisp cabbage.

If you thought that the part in the menu where East meets West was limited to white meat and candied walnuts, you are sadly mistaken, but will be happy to know the source of the Western influence – dessert.

Vanilla, chocolate, coffee, blueberry, pistachio and green tea gelato are just a sample to get you into the main dessert menu. Then comes the chocolate soufflé a la mode, the Great Wall of Chocolate mousse cake, the old-fashioned chocolate cake (my favorite), the piña colada parfait (my wife’s favorite), the champagne sorbet, peanut butter pie, brownie sundae, banana spring roll and Limoncello parfait (my daughter’s favorite).

So sure, you can order out and get your neat dishes delivered in microwavable containers, but why do that when you can come on in and get so much more? Experience Chinese from a Western style, and enjoy!