Lexy N.
Yelp
Alright, so, let me start off by saying that I've grown up in and around Flushing, NY, almost all of my life. I've had all sorts of Asian dishes, both traditional and Americanized, so maybe I'm not the demographic that Duck Sauce had in mind when they put their menu together.
With that said, let me now tell you what happened when I discovered this little Chinese food joint. I came across Duck Sauce when I was looking around at the map to check out some of the local eats (I'm semi-new to the area). I instantly saw that they have "dan dan noodle" on the menu, and I was EXCITED. To say I love dan dan mein is an understatement. I've grown up on the mouth-numbing stuff, and it's cured countless hangovers for me, over the years. I haven't found any place around here that makes it (well, at least), so I was super happy to see it again.
First, let me say that I was a little confused about the description of the noodles, on the menu: "Cucumber, bean sprout, scallion, garlic soy on egg noodle" with the options of chicken, pork, veggies or tofu.
"Okay, so I guess they top their noodles with a little bit of fresh veggies," I thought, "and they let people choose their own protein, too." Cool, that's fine. Options are usually good, right? I called in my order and I was told that my food would be ready in 10 minutes. Awesome! I walked over there to get some exercise, and excitedly hurried back to dig in. Finally, I took out the nice, hot container of noodles and just.. laughed.
Listen. LISTEN. If you don't know what something is, why on earth is it on your menu? I'm going to post a side-by-side of what dan dan mein ACTUALLY is, and what they sent me off with. If, for some reason, you can't see the picture, let me describe the situation to you. It's like.. if someone who has never tasted, seen, or even heard of a hamburger is told to make one, and they come back to you with a ham sandwich. It's like they kind of got an understanding of what it's supposed to be, but really had no idea and also the wrong ingredients, and also didn't care AT ALL whether it was right or not.
Wrong noodles, wrong sauce, wrong everything. I'll spare you every little detail, but I'll just say that I was VERY hungry and still couldn't eat more than a few bites of what I'm guessing someone's 4-year-old put together in the kitchen.
I left two stars for the fact that the food was ready quickly and that it was hot (and edible, to the extent that just about any noodle + sauce + protein would really not be the worst thing on earth to eat). Other than that, I'll just stick to satisfying my cravings when we're back in NYC.