Craving Rice Casserole

Mellie’s Seafood (美麗華海鮮城), 137-81 Northern Boulevard, Flushing 11354 [site]

There are an unexpected gathering on Friday night, and what better way to feed a group of people than to not cook it yourself? So I had a craving for rice casserole, and the closest place around that I wanted to try was Mellie’s Seafood, which just opened up earlier this year. I had no intentions of order Shrimp with Walnuts, but the table across from us ordered it and it looked so good.

I ordered the preserved meat rice casserole, and Tony ordered the chicken with mushroom rice casserole, Helen ordered Singaporean Mei Fun, and Ting+Duckie ordered Fried Udon. I realized there was a lot of starch and meat, but no veggies, so I decided to get the stir fried snow pea leaves. That’s always a favorite of everyone.

Tony’s chicken was a bit on the bland side, and the rice on the bottom wasn’t that crispy. He seemed to think it was okay though. I couldn’t try the mushrooms because I had a mild allergy to it. His rice wasn’t as flavorful as I hoped.

My preserved meat casserole was actually more flavorful than Tony’s. I liked it a lot, but I wished there was more rice and less seasoning. I actually like Yummy Noodles rice casserole more, but it’s all the way in Chinatown in Manhattan.

This was Ting and Duckie’s dish, the Beef Fried Udon. They weren’t really hungry so they shared a dish. It was the first thing that arrived on the table, and the first thing we picked on until I realized that I wanted to take a picture. Heh.

Overall, a pretty decent Cantonese-style seafood restaurant. Nice decor, lots of seating, friendly service and decent food. They also have something rare that most restaurants in Flushing don’t have: free parking. So, it’s probably going to survive. I’ll come back again if I don’t want to go to Manhattan for rice casserole.

The Marketplace on a Rainy Day

St. Lawrence Market, 92 Front Street East, Toronto ON [see site]

It started out as a rainy day, and also the last day of Toronto before we head back. I was disappointed at Kensington Market (I imagined more to be like Union Square, not the Village), so I actually wanted to walk all the way to St. Lawrence Market since I read it was more true to the title, “Market”. Ting was kinda moody after we got here due to the weather, but our spirits were lifted when we realized this place was indoors and it had a lot of free samples. Some of the free samples we tried were olive bread, prosciutto, grilled ham with an assortment of mustard dips, etc. I started taking random pics to get a feel of the market:

Fishies!

Meats!

And Fruits! (Oh my o.O?)

There’s was another section downstairs, so we head downstairs for more free samples such as chips and salsa dips, types of jams and preserves, oddly flavored tofu, and more etc.

Being a rice fanatic, that sign caught my attention.

I was so thrilled to see a store that was just dedicated to rice varieties! So many choices! By the pound! I think was kind of expensive, but you get to try some at home before you commit yourself to a 5lb bag.

Speaking of which, one the side of these rice display, there were actually empty 25lb bags in the trash. So they do buy bulk. That and they have the same Jasmine rice I usually buy ^_^.

I saw that Rube’s also did noodles too, so I was reminded of Frank.

I don’t think their noodle varieties was as extensive as their rice varieties, but it’s still nice to know that they have a noodle section.

Wow, look at this semi-aerial view of St. Lawrence Market! How does one get a shot of this? I was able to go up to the second floor to visit the Postal Museum. Outside the window I saw the market from above and it was an amazing sight. I had to take a picture of the bustling crowds.

Here is another angle of the view of the market from above. It so nice to see a lot of people shopping for fresh food. I think it would have looked pretty awesome if I could connect the two aero pics together.

Overall, this place was a wonderful find. That, and Ting found her Australian licorice that she was craving for since she left Stony Brook, so I have to say… we both left the marketplace pretty satisfied. I wonder if there’s a place like this in New York City. I hope there is.