Yipin Chinese Cuisine

On a Tuesday, in the middle of the afternoon between lunch and dinner, I walked in and disturbed a round of dumpling-​making that the entire staff was involved in. It was no matter though, as one nice woman jumped up and grabbed a menu for me.
After my order of cold homemade noodles with sesame ($ 5), she quickly got to work chopping and cooking, preparing the homemade noodles and all the ingredients. I had about 8 minutes to wait, washed my own greasy table, and grabbed a water out of the tiny dorm-​room refrigerator.
This trip successfully ruined my taste for the dish in Chinese takeout places the world over. I always order it as something «safe» that cannot be too sweetened, ruined too much by western preferences. Boy was I wrong. Done right, the dish is completely void of any sweet peanut butter-​ish ooze, and full of flavor due to the delicious sesame paste and spicy oils found hiding in the bottom of the bowl. A thick red spicy sauce can be added at your discretion to improve it even more. I knew the vegetables were fresh from seeing her chop them, but once I had mixed all the ingredients and got to work, the fresh cucumbers and noodles together made an amazing dual of opposites.
There was not a lot of off-​menu English here, so it was a little difficult to communicate, but my curiosity in one dish they prepared for themselves (it was apparently their lunch time by the end of my meal) was rewarded with small samples of two types of breads. They were happy to share them with me and all watched curiously as I tasted both the sweet bread, which almost hinted baklava, and also the corn-​based bread, which was bland and left unfinished. It was nice to feel so welcome though, so I asked for a bag to take them all home and make sure their gift was not left behind.

Excellent dumplings at good prices!
Try the buns. At only $ 1.25, these scrumptious veggie and meat packed goods are probably one of the best deals around!
This place was reviewed in the «Beijing in Flushing» article in the NY Times, but the dish that was reviewed (Sesame Seed Noodles) is probably an acquired taste. Avoid unless already a fan or in the mood to be very experimental.