Gum Fung Restaurant

The equivalent (and better version) of «Jing Fong» in Manhattan can be found here in Queens. The semi-​tacky décor and lively atmosphere almost reminds me of the kinds of places you’d find in Guangdong, China (I suppose thats a good thing for authenticity) and the place is spacious enough to bring all of your friends and family for a real good time.
The food is not spectacular but its not the worst either. For what its worth it beats Jing Fong in Manhattan by a long shot with some of the best egg tarts (mini sized), char siu sou, and shrimp dumplings I’ve had. The tarot cakes and lotus leaf wraps were a bit on the cold side, but I suppose that was a poor choice on my part. Ordering beef chow fun here a la carte is enough to feed 4 (no joke) for $ 7.95. The prices are hard to beat and with the short wait, makes this place a real hard one to beat.
Service has also been quite good here as well. They usher you in quickly, are prompt with drink refills, and the cart ladies /​managers are all very professional and seem to be friendly. As a total package, its hard to go wrong with Gum Fung.

This place used to be a good place for Dim Sum in Flushing but its been going downhill as of late. The service has gotten pretty shoddy and there must have been a change of cooking staff because the food which used to be quite good has become so-​so. The only positive thing about this place is that its huge and there is ample space but that of course means nothing when the food quality is below-​average and the service sucks.
There are much better alternatives to Dim Sum in Flushing so instead try Prince Restaurant or Sweet N Tart (a great little café) nearby.

Update: The restaurant is currently closed for renovation until sometime in September 2007.
Gum Fung is not necessarily the best dim sum in Flushing, but the location is great and it’s big enough so that you can get a table without a 60 minute wait.
Go early on weekends though. Anything after 11am will be a long wait, unless you want to share a table. Parking is hell after 11am as well. I don’t know what they gonna do when they demolish the community parking lot next to the restaurant to make way for yet another new building. I know I won’t be driving to Flushing Main Street after that.
The dim sum carts are trucked around by older Chinese women cheerfully shouting the names of the plates on the carts in Chinese. Since I don’t understand a word of Chinese (other than shie shie), I have no clue what they’re trying to hawk to me, so I just point. It’s worked pretty well so far.
There’s plenty of different plates to choose from, and if the selection of dim sum doesn’t appeal to you, you can also order entrees. I’ve never done that though.
Dim sum is good, not excellent, but the best part is the excellent selection of different dishes and the frequency of the carts. You absolutely don’t have to wait for the carts in this place.
I go at least once every two weeks.

my broda found this place in flushing actually with the help of Unilocal.we barely made it here, actually we were playing need for speed on the 360 till 7 am, so we were like 3 hours sleep and we head for dimsum.

well we did not hear the alarm clocks finally rushed out at 11 am, now parking is b%^&* in flushing, it took me 10 minutes to get to flushing and 20 minutes to find parking & another 10 to the restaurant. we finally got there, the hostess gave us 2 option, we chose to share cause we were mad hungry.
this place is one huge hall with a stage, apparently they can hold wedding here too. we sat in the far corner, were served tea and we greeted the 2 men next to us, guri there were only 2, i think you saw extra one due to lack of sleep. these guys were in their own world, they seemed vietnamese cause they kept on saying DU MA :). finally the servers made it our way, we took a lot of variety as long as it was steaming hot, i have no clue what it was, we just pointed and ate it. we eat everything so it makes it very easy, even guri had a waiver for his trip to NYC, so it helped.
i will go this sunday as there are no games this weekend, will post again, like someone said this place is better than a lot of places in chinatown manhattan. cheers

Gum Fung is passable, and some things are quite good. On the whole it’s not really anything special, but sadly most New York dim sum is not anything special. Go to LA or the Bay Area if you want good dim sum.
Standouts: The shu mai were quite delicious (though grease-​tacular); little yellow-​skinned fried dumplings were mind-​blowing; and the sesame balls came in two varieties, one full of yellow paste, the other full of green custard, and both had our entire table trying to figure out what was in them that was so delicious.
A lot of the translucent shrimp-​type dumplings were pretty mediocre; at most places they’re my favorites, but they were missing that usual shrimpy goodness.

forget chinatown in manhattan, the REAL chinatown is out in flushing. my grandparents have lived just outside of main street, flushing since the early 70’s, where the chinese food, chinese shops, and chinese people are a dominant cultural force, rivaled only by the equally large korean community, who battle the (primarily) hong kong chinese for strorefront occupancy.
right off the main street, flushing subway stop (the very last on the 7 train), gum fung is a classic cantonese dining hall. it’s large, but that is very much an understatement. enter on the weekend during lunch hour, and you will hear the deafening cacaphony of chinese families gabbing, fighting, and most certainly chowing down on a cantonese staple– it’s dim sum time, and here at gum fung, that’s serious business. the staff is not friendly, they’re efficient. and efficiency is the key to dim sum. if you’ve never done dim sum before, it basically goes like this: carts and carts of small plates (dim sum loosely translates to ‘little piece of heart’ in chinese) of savory and sweet dishes roll by and you’re expected to point and cajole those handling the carts to stop and give you some of that dim sum loving. if you don’t speak chinese, pointing will do. if you do speak chinese, pointing will still do. that, and yelling. yelling is a staple of my extended family, when we congregate at gum fung for a make-​shift reunion of sorts. try to get here early if you have a large group– but don’t fret, the wait isn’t too long– the space is massive.
asides from carts (which serves everything from dumplings to buns to chicken feet), there’s a station set up in the center that specializes in pan-​fried leek dumplings and clams sauteed in black bean sauce. again, go up and point. and another tip, if you’re already a dim sum aficionado and don’t see something you want– just ask the waitstaff– they will see if its in the kitchen and fetch it for you.
if for some weird reason, dim sum is not your thing… venturing to gum fung for dinner is also an authentic experience. i recommend a whole steam fish, crispy chicken, and the lobster sauteed with scallion and ginger. that last one, is moan-​ably good. mmm…

Chinese Cuisine with Dim Sum.
I’ve been here a few times for dim sum and for dinner. For a dim sum restaurant the food here is reasonable and good. There are no specific dishes that stand out, as usually dim sum is served the same at most restaurant. However, dim sum is still the best in Flushing’s Chinatown.
I’ve had dinner here a few times, but lately their quality has gone down. The food is not as great as other places in Flushing, I’ve had much better.