Tung Yi Fung (Dong Yi Feng)

Tung Yi Fung (Dong Yi Feng) 
135-29 37th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 886-8233 or (718) 886-8785

Tung Yi Fung or Dong Yi Feng (they spell it differently on their menu and sign - no idea why) is a Cantonese, family-styled restaurant in Flushing.  I went here with my family (the older generation) and being the youngest there, I just went with the flow and let them order.  So since they ordered in Chinese, I don't have the exact names of the dishes - I'll try my best to describe the dishes in a tasty, non-intimidating manner. Also, since we ordered enough food to sustain a tiny colony, this blog will be more of a "speed-cap" rather than a detailed recap.

We ordered a large Fish prepared in two ways/dishes.  One was a Fish Soup.  The soup was thin and looked milky.  It was definitely a comfort food - so savory and warm I craved for another bowl, but with better judgment I passed on a second serving knowing that there was going to be so much more tastiness ahead.  They prepared the fish the second way by cutting it into chunks and sauteing it with some Chinese melons and mushrooms.  It was very fresh and the meat was very tender.

We ordered a Sea Cucumber, Mushroom, and Greens dish - which was my least favorite.  I'm not a big fan of the sea cucumber - its texture reminds me too much of gastropods, though I do sometimes wish I could learn to appreciate it.  The sauce of the dish was not very appetizing, with a slightly herbal after taste to it.  We also order some Pork Chops, which I didn't try and some Chinese Greens, which was rather ordinary.  We also ordered a fish dish that consisted of Fried Tiny White Fish with Veggies.  The tiny fish were perfectly crispy and really retained the taste of the wok.  There's this Chinese foodie idea that goes like this - if the food is cooked well, it retains the fried/smokiness flavor of the wok in the food itself - kind of like baked salmon retaining the flavor of the wood it was baked on.

Knowing that I'm a big seafood fan, we ordered two Lobsters fried in ginger and scallion.  The lobsters were pretty fresh, but they were tiny as can be.  I could have probably consumed both of them and still had room left for more.  Another dish we ordered was the Fried Shrimp in mayonnaise sauce and Fried Crispy Milk.  The Fried Shrimp coated with mayonnaise is a popular Cantonese dish, but I always find myself scraping away the excess mayonnaise.  In this case thankfully I didn't have to do much scraping.  The Fried Crispy Milk was one of my favorite.  I don't know exactly how they make it (trust me, if I did, I'd be making/eating it too often and an old friend called my waistline wouldn't be too happy with me), but the outside is a crispy, thin doughy layer that yields a warm, thick, sweet creamy milk filling inside.

At the end of our meal, we got complimentary fruit and dessert.  They served us a fruit platter with melon slices and orange.  They also provided us with a Tong sui (Cantonese-style dessert soup).  I've never had this variation before which consisted of sweet Oatmeal and Tapioca.  Can you say breakfast for dessert?!  It was a pleasantly surprising mixture of textures and flavors with the grainy oat and the smooth tapioca balls.  However, the chef was definitely a little too generous with the sugar, making it hard to swallow down the entire sugary dessert.  -11/4/09

OVERALL RATING: * * 1/2
FOOD: * * *
SERVICE: * * 1/2
AMBIANCE: * *
VALUE: * *

PROS:

• Fast service
  

CONS:

• Ambiance - it's your typical loud Chinese restaurant with gaudy decor
  

SUGGESTIONS:

• Fried Crispy Milk (don't judge until you've tried!)
• Fried Tiny White Fish