The much-hyped LIC Food Hall is now officially opened for business. Opened in early August for soft opening, I visited this newest food hall in New York City recently to check out a few vendors I've never tried before. There are 10 specially curated East Asian vendors at LIC Food Hall:
- Marathon Hong Kong Diner
- Pho Vital
- Gua Gua Bo Bo Chicken
- Taipei Hang
- Hunan Noodle
- Fat Cat Flatbread
- Ten Seconds Noodles
- Duomi Rice Yogurt House
- Cozy Tea Loft
- Uni Rice
Also known as Taipei Hong from Flushing, it has an expansive menu of Taiwanese classics like Taiwanese railway bentos, popcorn chicken, lu rou fan rice, and mala tang/spicy hot pot. I got the popcorn chicken railway bento since it also comes with a little bit of everything else I wanted to try: Taiwanese sausage, lu rou minced pork, and some veggies. You can choose the spicy level of your popcorn chicken; I imagine if you choose 'not spicy', that means it won't come with the spicy powder. The popcorn chicken was freshly prepared and if there's any additional feedback, it would be that it could be even juicier. All bentos except the lu rou pork bento is priced at $13.99 before tax.
U Ni Rice 飯丸屋
This one is pretty new to me: Okinawa-style onigiri. I have not seen this brand before and there are not much about the brand via its English name, so I decided to google its Chinese name and found so much more information: Originated from Taiwan, the founders of U Ni Rice tried Okinawa onigiri in Japan and wanted to bring it back to Taiwan. The brand was founded in 2020 and has been expanding in Taiwan since. You'll be eating an open face rice "fold" with the classic combination of spam and egg, hence the Japanese name ぽくたまご (pork and egg). Aside from the classic combination, you can add other fillings to go along with the classic to spice it up. The coolest option on the menu, also the most expensive one, is the Peanut Butter Fried Chicken ($12.98 before tax). I have never tried peanut butter sauce with karaage, so even though it's quite expensive for a sandwich like this, I decided to go for it anyway.
The not-so-goods: It was definitely salty with both the spam and chicken. Because it's a big folding, layered rice "ball", it can be difficult to eat without opening your mouth wide. In addition, it was messy to eat, since things started to fall apart after one or two big bites, just like when you eat a taco.
Cozy Tea Loft
You may have seen this brand at different food festivals and may have visited its New Jersey locations before, but LIC Food Hall is actually the first New York City location for Cozy Tea Loft. Known for being the champion of milk tea at one of the bubble tea festivals in the past, the brand focuses on using natural tea leaves and locally sourced ingredients to prepare diverse tea drinks. I was invited to go check out their drinks during soft opening and got two interesting drinks to try: Strawberry Creme Brulee and Mango Panna Cotta.
The strawberry one has no caffeine: it contains milk, boba bubbles, and strawberry syrup. When I asked about adjusting sugar level for this drink, I was told less sugar means less strawberry syrup. After the base of the drink is made, yellow cream and sugar will be placed on top and staff will start the caramelizing process with a torch. I think the brulee made the drink creamier, though I didn't taste the burnt/caramelizing flavor. Overall, it was a refreshing dessert drink.
The mango panna cotta is an interesting one: Mango-flavored base with chunks of light panna cotta and a cheese foam topping. I wasn't sure how I feel about this combination, but it's not something I'd want to get again, at least not with the panna cotta; it just didn't feel right with the drink.
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📍LIC Food Hall
27-17 42nd Rd Suite C3, Long Island City, NY 11101