I first learned about culinary fusions with Chinese cuisine a few months after I moved to New York City in 2009. One November day an old friend of mine from Memphis (Jessica) and I went to see the Daily Show with John Stewart on the West side of Manhattan. We were famished after the taping and it was freezing outside so we opted to hop in a cab and play it by ear. When we got in the cab we just told the cabbie to head towards the East side, at which point Jessica began chatting on her phone leaving me (a "chatty cathy") with no one else to talk to but the cab driver who was an East-Indian man. Somehow in our coversation we got on the topic of Indian restaurants in Jackson Heights, which lead him to ask us if we had ever eaten what he called "Indian-Chinese Food". We said "What's that?" and he replied by saying "Imagine that you are in India and you go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant...it has that Indian flavor." As soon as he explained the food we asked him to take us to the closest Chinese-Indian restaurant that he knew of... luckily it wasn't too far. That night we ate at a restaurant called Chinese Mirch which is really good. It tasted just like the cab driver said: like Chinese food with an Indian twist.
The next day at work I began telling some of my co-workers about this incredible tasting Chinese food I ate the night before. After I explained the flavor to them, one of them asked me if I had ever had "Guyanese-Chinese" food...I told her "No, but is it anything like Indian-Chinese food?". She then informed me that there is a large Indian population in Guyana and that the Chinese restaurants there have a good amount of culinary influence from the Indians. Then she told me about this Guyanese-Chinese restaurant in Richmond Hill Queens called New Thriving of Guyana....so of course I had to take a trip out there to see what was up.
It isn't really all that exciting...but damn their food is tasty.
I searched "New Thriving Queens" on Google and the results showed that I have to take the A train a few stops shy from the last stop in Ozone Park. I called the number listed with the business to make sure the joint was still open and then made way for a culinary field-trip. What I ate at New Thriving ended up being so good that I chose to eat there during Mardi Gras as I was about to forfeit alcohol and meat for Lent. These pictures were taken at some point over Mardi Gras weekend (2011).
I thought Banks was strictly a Barbadian beer...it
turns out Banks DIH is a Guyanese and Barbadian company,
however their exports are brewed in Barbados.
Fried Shark. You can't get this at Chinese Mirch, but
you can totally order it at New Thriving...it is a
FLAVOR EXPLOSION!!!
Plaintain fries. Nothing special...but still yummy.
Big bowl of fresh soup. I'm not sure exactly what kind of soup this was, but it was
certainly fresh, good and did not have a corn-syrup base like most take-out soup.
This is my default meal whenever I go here. It's called "Mixed Fried Rice".
It consists of a heaping mound of well flavored, sliced pork next to a large portion of
chicken (bone-in) which is placed on top of a large bed of incredibly seasoned fried rice.
It is truly unlike any "American-Chinese" food I have ever eaten. The quality is epic.
This is basically the same as what is pictured above
except for the fact that this is roasted duck.
Crispy AND soft. So good.
After a few too many Banks and some coaxing from the happy dancing man,
it seemed reasonable to join him and dance to the Soca music.
If curiosity strikes you and you feel like makin' the trek, then I say "Go for it!" Just take the Ozone Park bound A train to the 104th Street stop in Queens, New Thriving of Guyana is only a few blocks up. It is certain that you can eat and drink well there....and not to mention cheap. A Banks beer is never more than $3 and the Mixed-Fried rice meal is less than $5 during their lunch special (except on weekends). Enjoy!
-Boatner
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