By Jazmin Justo
On this beautiful summer day, the breeze was just right for the dragon dancers to perform accompanied by powerful drumming to announce the grand opening of the all new Rong Restaurant at One Fulton Square in Flushing. Rong Restaurant’s mission is to dedicate to cooking the freshest and most authentic Chinese cuisines. With a very helpful and watchful staff, the customer is able to relax in comfortable wooden chairs with large windows that give an outside view of the busy street and allow the natural light to illuminate the wooden interior. The interior design is simple and elegant, creating a warm environment in the air conditioned restaurant. As the staff helped with the seating arrangements, the dragon made a surprise visit inside and snaked around all the rooms to bring in good luck and prosperity to the new restaurant.
When the performance was over, the waiters began to deliver the appetizers. The appetizers began with sliced of tender steamed chicken, pickled cucumbers marinated in lemon juice, steamed taro covered in sweet sauce with sticky rice stuffed in the holes, and beef. The beef was a bit tough to eat, but still well cooked. Accompanying the appetizer was a salad with cilantro, thin slices of celery, thin slices of scallion, bean sprouts and bite-sized scallops with a golden crisp outside and soft tender inside. For those who never tasted scallops before, they have a soft taste of chicken but fresh from the sea.
Next arrived a platter of fried rice with corn and bits of crab and small waffle bowls with a jumbo shrimp in a creamy sauce with bits of crispy fries on the top. The jumbo shrimp was tender, the cream light and flavorful almost like ice cream, and the crispy waffle as a neutral benefactor to the dish. Next arrived a bowl of chicken soup with pieces of the chicken that was eaten as a appetizer before and a bowl of sticky rice balls with a sesame filling inside in a white wine soup. The chicken soup was a salty with a tinge of soy sauce flavor. The bowl of sticky rice balls is better suited as a desert for its sweet sesame filling and chewy texture.
The main course was a large broiled fish with cubes of tofu marinated in a walnut soy sauce accompanied by a large salad. The fish had a lot of small bones, but still tasted fresh and the soft tofu was delicious with the sweet, nutty flavor of the sauce and dices of chives. The salad was a refreshing and colorful platter with chunks of tomatoes, taro, and cucumbers marinated in lemon juice. Together, it was a well balanced cooling platter to beat the summer heat.
Following the main dish was fried king crab legs and king crab arms marinated in a garlic sauce. The fried king crab shell was easy to break open. Inside revealed a beautiful white and red with flaky tender meat. You can tell the crab is fresh from the taste of sea salt as you eat the meat but also from the soft tender texture of the meat. The king crab’s arms was even more appetizing and mouth watering with the fresh crab meat saltiness and bit of garlic flavor. The giant king crab shell had cooked egg with soy sauce and diced chives which was similar to the tofu in texture and taste.
The cuisine overall is delicious where the customer can appreciate the fresh ingredients used to cook the meal and the natural beauty of the food in its aesthetic arrangements. The Rong Restaurant is well suited for catering large family gatherings or hosting large luncheons with its large rooms. All the meanwhile, everyone is still able to enjoy themselves in the wide open space while still delivering a sense of home and comfort with a very helpful staff. The restaurant also has a open bar which offers an array of drinks including a pineapple cocktails, strawberry martinis and even the simplest orange juice can be made to look fancy.
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