Chengdu Heaven

It always feels like you strike gold when you find little hole in the wall joints like these. Chengdu Heaven has one of the best spicy kick-​in-​your-​mouth, mala noodles I’ve tried in Flushing. Currently my most fav place to eat in Flushing. This place is downstairs in the food court, and the first food stand to your right when you go down the stairs.
Mala is a small black pepper they use in their noodles. It’s not a traditional oily spicy like most peppers, it’s a numbing type of spice that makes your mouth feel all tingly. Make sure you try these:
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Chengdu Spicy Cold noodles ($ 5.00)
Cold firm noodles mixed with a sweet spicy chili sauce. SO GOOD. For reference, it’s the top left item in the menu on the wall.
Spicy Wontons with Garlic ($ 5.00)
Sweet Spicy Wontons with that same spicy addicting mala sauce.
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For the sides directly they display directly in front of you, choose three items for $ 4 – 5. Cash only. Sit at the tiny tables directly across from the food.

Something more legit than this would defy credulity, and thus be unlegit.
Cold. Noodles.

I won’t claim to be an expert on Sichuan food but I eat it a LOT, and have been to most of the NYC spots. This one stays at the top of my list. It would be my favorite mapo tofu in town by far even it wasn’t substantialy cheaper than most competitors, and same goes for the dan dan noodles.
It’s in a basement, so don’t be surprised if it feels like you’re eating in a basement. I actually really like the atmosphere, and enjoy absorbing the whole scene of the food court, but even if you don’t I promise the food is worth it.

Very small and a bit dirty. The food was okay, but we have had much better in Chengdu, Monterey Park and San Gabriel. The food was spicy and had a good amount of Sichuan pepper. I picked the place from a news paper article and did not do enough checking before we went.

My very own heaven/​tian on earth. Incredible bang for your buck!
I’ve been craving authentic Sichuan food on a daily basis since returning from a trip to Asia earlier this month. I did a ton of research on the best Sichuan in NYC and first tried Hot Kitchen in Manhattan, thought it was only ok. Couldn’t wait to get out to Flushing to try Chengdu Heaven and am so pleased after finally visiting. This is the ticket!
My boyfriend and I shared dan dan noodle, house salad, marinated cucumbers, and ma po tofu. Everything was DELICIOUS and we had more than enough food (and we’re hearty eaters). All for less than 20 bucks. The sichuan peppercorn and chili balance was great — we can go for a bit more spice but it did build throughout the meal. Bright flavors, very fresh and totally recommended.
We braved snow and subzero temperatures to sit in a dingy basement and stuff ourselves with amazing food. Screw brunch, this is my idea of a perfect Saturday!

The BEST place for Sichuan food in Flushing. I always get the dan dan mian, spicy pork ears or fu qi fei pian. Although there are Sichuan restaurants in the area with better ambiance, this place rocks in terms of taste and price. Just remember to bring your own alcohol!

Please note the address. Golden Mall BASEMENT. This is important because water was literally coming up through the floor in the middle of the food court as we arrived here. No matter how good the food is, when there is a chance of drowning, I can only give you one star.
Despite the water level still rising, the water hadn’t quite reached Chengdu Heaven and one of us had already bought beer upstairs and still really wanted to give them a try. We managed to find a small piece of dry land and enjoyed our meal.
The various dishes were in fact pretty good. No need to get into specifics. We had 7 dishes and they were all very decent. In addition, the service is very quick. The problem still remains however, you might drown

His name might have been Ike like the President, or perhaps Mike like the mayor. Not that it mattered, since neither of those were his real name. That I never learned. What I do know is that his favorite brand of baijiu is erguotuo, and that he readily hands out shots to complete strangers.
My college friend Cho and I had journeyed out to the end of the 7 line for a long-​overdue Sichuan supper. Our first choice, Xiao La Jiao, was shuttered. So we moved onto a old favorite, The Golden Food Court, an underground collection of stalls on a street corner in the middle of Queens’ Chinatown.
The Sichuan stall, Chengdu Tianfu, is probably the only place in New York where I’m regularly admonished for my infrequent visits. The accuser is the restaurant’s sole waitress and occasional chef, a Sichuanese in her 40s with long bangs and a smattering of little freckles under her eyes.
The stall has changed a bit since my first visit four years ago before a Mets game. One wall now displays 8 ½ by 11 pictures of popular dishes, including Grandma’s Pock-​Marked Tofu and Shredded Rabbit in Spicy Sauce. The wall also shows the complete menu in Chinese and somewhat strangely translated English.
It’s still, however, a place best approached with a working knowledge of Chinese, as the staff speaks essentially zero English and the variety of dishes on order is a bit daunting for a place with only four tables.
This was my first visit with a native Chinese speaker, which helped me pick up a few nuances I’d missed on earlier visits in a rush to order for and eat with several people. Cho pointed out a distinct lemming effect, wherein many new customers would order the same dishes that we were consuming. During our consumption of dan dan mian, a very thin noodle served cold with sichuan peppercorns, chili oil and vinegar, two people walked over to the waitress and requested more of the same. We also increased sales for the truly excellent double cooked pork and the wontons in oil, which could have used more garlic and way more pepper.
Tianfu’s food beats any Sichuan in Manhattan, even though I picked an off night to bring Cho. The flavors didn’t pop as much as they had on previous visits, and even after four dishes, I missed the forehead sweat and fire mouth a full Sichuan meal should bring.
What will set this visit to Tianfu apart is a fateful decision to bring my own beer. While Cho smoked a cigarette, I went to a corner store and grabbed four Negra Modelos for the spicy feast to follow. As soon as I cracked the first one open, the two middle-​aged Chinese men (to clarify, everyone who stopped to dine that evening, besides us, was Chinese) asked, «Where did you get that beer?» Cho directed them outside and upstairs to the street.
Two courses and 10 minutes later, one of the men returned, not with beer but a bottle of Chinese rice liquor, baijiu. It was Erguotuo, an upscale brand used by working and middle class Chinese to celebrate special occasions, but here in the States a rather work-​a-​day beverage.
We started chatting, and after revealing my age, how I met Cho, where I learned Chinese and why we were eating here, we were offered shots. Cho declined, saying he wasn’t drinking, but I, with the Sichuan food in my stomach competing with Mainland nostalgia, decided to acquiesce to a shot. And then another.
It was awful, the equivalent of swallowing a mix of paint thinner and mouthwash and then forcing yourself to feign a smile when finished. Cho very cleverly managed to get the bill from the waitress after the second shot, and I escaped by pressing upon our new friends the remaining two bottles of Negra Modelo. We left so quickly I didn’t solve the mystery whether my baijiu friend was called Mike or Ike. Maybe it was both.

Their fu qi fei pian ($ 7) is good, but saltier than most I’ve had (I’ve had a lot!). Also try the cucumber ($ 4), which is sweet and cooling and somehow cuts the fu qi fei pian nicely, even though it’s swimming in the same chili oil and Szechuan peppercorn as the other dish.
Most recently I felt like they skimped a bit on the beef slices (vs. the stomach slices), but then again most places do. Times are tough.
Chengdu Heaven is the first stall you see when you enter the Golden Mall basement, at your left. They have slightly more seating than the rest of the stalls — the little nook just as you descend the stairs is theirs, as well as a couple tables in front of the stall itself.
Fun fact: Szechuan peppercorns were illegal for import into the US until just recently! (No, they’re not hallucinogenic, though eat enough of it and you may start to feel that way)

I’m no expert on the traditional dishes of central China, but I loved what we had Chengdu Heaven.
Dan dan was delicious, orders of magnitude better than what I’ve had upstate. Unlike other reviews, my noodles were evenly coated and seasoned. Chili oil was subdued, but our wontons more than made up for that. Wontons looked menacing, sitting in a pool of blood red chili oil. They were definitely spicy, but the savory pork filling still shown through.
Although we did get scolded for bringing food from other vendors into Chengdu to find an available table (such behavior is apparently frowned upon in the cramped quarters and limited seating in the Golden Mall) the proprietor was still helpful and friendly. When she saw that my friend was slightly confused as to where to begin with his meal she quickly came to his aid and showed him how to mix up his noodle dish so he could enjoy it the way it was meant to be. They take their food very seriously.

The first stand on the left when you get to the bottom of the stairs from the Main Street entrance, Chengdu Tian Fu Xiao Shi was our first stop on a day of mad eating. They have several tables in front of their counter, and a few more across the aisle (over which hangs a much needed air conditioner). Overall, pretty dumpy but most of the Golden Mall shops are like that; décor is not why you come.
I had one of the best dan dan noodles I’ve ever had here. It arrives in a white takeout bowl, white noodles with a few veggies and crumbled meat on top. The rest of the sauce is underneath so you mix it up. Its not a whole lot of sauce, which I generally associate with dan dan mein, but once you get the springy noodles coated, the flavor was fantastic. We devoured it and when our fifth compatriot arrived, we sent him off to order another, ostensibly for himself, but we all helped ourselves to some more.
Their fu qi fei pian, with big slices of beef tendon, tongue, and tripe, was also pretty good, numbingly spicy, flavorful, dotted with cilantro. We got some spicy wontons with fresh garlic and that was good, although not extraordinary.

I’ve been looking for some good Dan Dan Mian, other than Spicy & Tasty’s (recommend!) and heard it was pretty good here. Unfortunately, I was not very impressed. This was pretty much standard issue, nothing «stand out» or unique about it, and would only try again for comparison, as maybe today they just weren’t that good. Noodles were kind of dry and the «dan dan» mixture under the noodles barely solved that problem, and tasted rather uninspired and very ordinary.
Also had an order of dumplings in red chili oil, #38 I think, and again I was disappointed. Absolutely swimming in oil and nothing that would make me want to try them again, except for the crushed garlic? on the top. Again, to be fair, I got them to go, so they were soaking in a plastic container for about 20 mins. before being consumed.
The woman behind the counter was friendly, and I’ll return because of that and to try some other dishes recommended by people here. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to add another star or two.

hot & spicy noodle soup… the one they have a picture of in the lower right corner of the menu. Only $ 5 per order!
Me and the bf always get it without meat /​vegetarian
We’ve been coming here at least once, if not 2 — 3 times a week for the past 5 — 6 months since we migrated from xi’an foods after their continuous unwarranted price increases on their noodle soups.
A must try if you like spicy food! Noodle soups are definitely more flavorful and spicy in comparison to xi’an. I tired a dry noodle from this place once which wasn’t great so for dry noodles, I’d stick to liang pi from xi’an.

I LOVE this place! After trying it for the first time (while taking a break from the hand pulled noodles down the hall), I’ve completely fell in love. I’m so glad to have discovered an authentic place where my favorite spicy dishes are available and they are all spicy enough for my standards. All the pictures they have on the wall already make me salivate because I adore spicy food.
Highly recommended:
The Ma Po Tofu is absolutely delicious, I’ve been getting it for two or three times a week.
They also have one of the best Fu Qi Fei Pian I’ve had in NY, where it’s spicy, filled with slices of beef, stomach, lung (instead of parsley like some other places).
The Sour-​Spicy Clear Noodle, chewy and yummy.
I like the Dan Dan Noodle also, but it’s a little on the non-​spicy side.
Of course it’s not the cleanest place in the world, but that’s expected when you decide to step into Golden Mall. I’ve never actually sat down and eaten in there, always brought everything to go so it doesn’t bother me as much. The portions are big, and the price is great. But I do not recommend it for people who can’t really handle spicy food.
*The chef doesn’t come in every day so sometimes they only serve cold dishes.

I took my Chengdu-​born and raised (and New York-​hating) mother here and she was thrilled. Enough said.
We ordered the pork rib noodles and the dumplings in chili sauce. I actually have a terribly low tolerance for spiciness, but ate as much of it as possible because it wasn’t just spicy for the sake of being spicy — it had actual flavor.
This is not for everyone though. The menu is daunting although there are English translations. And I was truly hesitant at first to step foot into the horrible underground food stall area…

Ugh, I am paying for what I ate here yesterday. And this is not to say that it was BAD food… it was just really SPICY food. My stomach is not happy with me this morning :(
Hubs and I have always been wary of «authentic» China cuisine in Flushing… I have a sensitive stomach and if something is remotely unfresh or ‘dirty’ I will know in an hour, tops. However, after going to China this past January, I have become a little braver in terms of adventurous foods in the States.
So we walked to Golden Shopping Mall to try this little shop that has had great reviews. It is in the basement of the mall, and there are a handful of stalls offering a huge variety of food, but you can tell that Chengdu Heaven is the most popular since it is constantly full of customers and take-​out orders.
We ordered the following:
pork rib noodles
stewed beef noodles
hong you cha shou (wontons in spicy red oil sauce)
fu qi fei pian (I think these are lungs and other organs, not quite sure since I don’t eat this stuff)
Our order, plus two drinks, came out to an affordable $ 20.50. Both noodles were drenched in hot spicy oil soup… and they are really the same soup so I think next time we’d order just one and pick something else off the menus. The place is hot + spicy foods = sauna conditions while eating.
The food is good. But like I said, very spicy and one may pay for it the next day. This is really China street cuisine at its best.
Although most menus are in Chinese, Chengdu Heaven has pictures of everything, along with fairly accurate English names for each.

Excellent Sichuan spicy foods. This little stall is located in the Golden Mall, in the basement, first one on the left with many pictures. They don’t speak English, but I think the pictures will get you what you want to eat. The place is cheap and good. Don’t expect any ambience, but do expect excellent food. We had the cold noodles with chili sauce, and dumplings with chili sauce. ORGASMIC!!! Will go back to try other things!

This is one of many food stalls inside the basement of Golden Mall. It is the first one on the left of the entrance (the one with all the pictures of dishes). Be warned, this is sichuan cuisine, most if not all the dishes are spicy.
I order the dan dan mein, which was nothing to brag about. It was pretty much noodles with hot sauce. I would’ve been much happier spending the $ 3.50 elsewhere. I really disliked the Cheng Du Noodles (also $ 3.50). I though they would be noodles, but they were long blocks of cold rice noodles served in soy sauce, vinegar, and scallion. It was just plain hard to eat; very salty with hints of vinegar. Blah! If I come back, I will probably try the noodles with broth. It seemed like mostly everyone else was eating some sort of variant of that dish.

«Chengdu Heaven» is the popular nickname for the restaurant «Cheng Du Tian Fu Xiao» — this is a duplicate review, I originally posted it for «Cheng Du Tian Fu Xiao Shi» but wanted to make it accessible to people who may not know the full Chinese name…
For about two months this was my favorite place on Earth, it was all I could think about day and night, I craved the food even in my dreams… First, it’s in a basement, part of a food court… Second, nobody speaks or understands any English and none of the signs are in English and none of the menus even have English translations — my trick is to recognize certain symbols (for rabbit, for ma la, for rice noodle) and point, or to point at the dishes other people are eating…
This place has the absolute best dan-​dan noodles I’ve ever had in my life, and since this dish is a favorite of mine that means I’ve had a lot of them… They serve the best ma la rabbit with peanuts and scallions you’ll find in New York City… They serve a dish called hot pot noodles which is just insanely good, I can’t get enough of them… The ma la beef intestine is awesome… There’s a salad of three shredded vegetables I really love… There are these sort of hot and sour thick cellophane noodles that are particularly good… I’ve only tried two of the noodle bowl with meat dishes — the vegetable one was pretty good and the duck one was all necks and bone, the meat tasted pickled, it was the only thing I’ve had here that I didn’t really like, so I’m avoiding the wheat noodle dishes for now…
It’s BYOB, everything is really cheap, it’s first come first serve, the waitresses are patient with the language barrier and they never rush you in or out of the restaurant, the clientelle (if you’re not Chinese, which I am not) will look at you like you’re an alien — one person actually asked, astonished, «How you find here?» and another person asked, bewildered, watching me gnaw on a pork foot and chomp on a duck neck, «You like this food?» — Yes, yes I do, I LOVE THIS FOOD… Highest possible recommendation.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
Chengdu Heaven is located at the bottom of a flight of stairs, in the midst of a bunch of Chinese food stands. Stopped in with my Mom one day in the middle of the summer. There’s no décor whatsoever. And they don’t speak English, nor are any of their signs or menus in English. So, if you decide to take a trip, it’s probably best to bring a Mandarin speaking friend with you … or be prepared to just point at a random customer and do the whole «I’ll have what he’s having» thing.
Most of the people we saw there were having soup. Looked good, but we were in a hot pot mood. Pointed to the burner on the table, and they got the point. They brought us our hot pot (half spicy, half regular) and a variety of goodies to get cooking. They brought out plenty of shrimp, thinly sliced beef, bok choy, slice of taro, spam (yes, spam! lol), noodles and a variety of other veggies that I couldn’t quite identify.
Once the water came to a boil, it was cooking time! Basically, throw your food in, swish it around for a minute, take it out, dip in sauce and devour. It was delicious. I thought I’d prefer the spicy broth better, but I was wrong. The spicy broth had a very aromatic scent and flavor that I found to be a bit overpowering. No worries — my Mom stuck to the hot side, while I cooked all my food on the other.
One thing I will say: to all you hot pot newbies, make sure NOT to dress your best. Hot potting is messy … especially when using chop sticks. You will be leaving with stains on your clothes, so best to wear dark colors, and clothes that you aren’t too fond of.
I don’t have very much hot pot experience myself, but I really enjoyed it. If you have good company, you can stay there for hours, eating, talking and enjoying. They’ll keep bringing out as much meat, veggies, etc. as you want. At about $ 15 per person, it’s a pretty good deal. I’ve heard that this place is pretty authentic szechuan cooking, and if you want a new experience, it’d be a good idea to check this place out.