Mama Lee
“The 3-cup chicken wasn't as thickly cubed as those served at Nan Bei Ho, but tender and savory nonetheless.”
“Stopped early noon today just to pick up a few dishes in preparation for the coming snow storm over the weekend.”
“The San Bei Ji also was excellent with a wonderful mix of sweetness, saltiness, and crispness.”
Mama Lee
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Mama Lee's is my favorite food spot in my town. The person who's the face of this place, whom I presume is Mama Lee, struck me as sharp, energetic, and friendly. The lime green and orange wall colors inside are bright.
I've tried the black bean sauce with tofu over rice, as well as the fish and pickled vegetable dish over rice. I enjoyed the latter because it wasn't spicy, and I loved its soft texture: the fish was boneless and chewy, the pickled vegetables had just the right amount of taste to them (they weren't bland nor were they overwhelming). I appreciated that the staff here gives you free rice refills and free soup as well, I think!
I've come here for dinner at 7:30PM and for a late 3:30PM lunch during the weekday, and Mama Lee's was packed both times. Granted, the dining space is rather small, but I can tell that it is a popular spot.
I appreciate that Mama Lee and her comrade walk around the tables to make sure everybody's doing alright, and both of them interact often with their customers sitting at the tables. That's why this place has a welcoming, relaxed vibe that resonates with me and hearty Taiwanese food. That's why I think this spot is a must-try for anyone who lives in or visits the area!
If you look in from the outside through the front window this is what you'd see: it's a small, bright, clean, simple establishment. The walls, floors and tables aren't cluttered but rather very clean and spotless. There are only four tables and four seats to each.
As soon as you enter, you're greeted and seated immediately – given there's an open table. The menu has plenty to choose from so it is rather difficult to come to a decision so I'd suggest you visit more than once and try something new every time.
There's a jia jiang mien that was actually pretty good and that I find better than that which I've had from other places. First, the sauce isn't too salty nor does it drown out the noodles. I know of some places that skimp out on the noodles and it feels like you're drinking the sauce. On the other hand, there's a lot more noodles and given the bowl itself is a lot larger than I anticipated, there's plenty to share. Kudos if you can finish it on your own; you'll want to save some of your stomach to try the other stuff.
As far as Taiwanese dishes go, I'm always eager to try the minced pork from different places as it is a staple dish and can be cooked in so many different ways. Here the minced pork on rice is served with some fried tofu pieces, a hard boiled egg, and cabbage. I very much enjoyed the tofu in combination with the pork and rice, but then again I typically like fried tofu nearly everywhere I go. The pork itself looks dry but it has so much of the soupy flavor soaked up it has a great taste and the soupy sauce itself soaks into the rice beneath.
The managers/owners were very kind and checked with us often to see if there was anything more we needed or wanted to add. We were served a complimentary soup after ordering. What I was most surprised and impressed with was that the food came out of the kitchen so quickly I wondered if it had been rushed and lacked quality, but it didn't. I guess that's one of the perks of having so few tables/orders to have to cater to at one time.
I would love to come back again and try all that this place has to offer and I would recommend anyone stop in to grab a bite if you're in the area. Be warned, this place isn't very large so I wouldn't advise coming with a group any more than 4. Also, this place isn't open very late so make an effort to have an earlier dinner around 630 or 7pm.
Best Taiwanese food I've had in the US. Been to a couple of the other places in Flushing. Those are good, but Mama Lee's is a clear cut above.
The size of the restaurant itself limit the amount of seating available. There are only 4-5 tables of 4. However, once we got seated, service was extremely swift. Mama came and took the orders from us herself.
I ordered the three cup chicken, fried founder, and the Taiwanese pork chop. The meal automatically came with soup and rice. They offer 3 different choices on rice: white, brown, and purple. The soup was pork shank with dates and carrots. Pretty standard and satisfying. Seeing as how I only order protein, mama threw in a small plate of veggie on the house even outside asking. Awesome!
The three cup chicken was a bit overcooked. This led to the meal being a bit tough. However, the seasoning was good. I personally prefer heavier basil, but that's just me.
The pork chop was cut perhaps a bit too thin. So this led to slight overcooking that make it a bit tough similar to the chicken.
The fried founder was absolutely perfect. From the texture to the taste, everything was on point here. It's probably the best Asian fish dish that I've had for quite some time. I would go back just for that dish alone.
The prices on the menu include both tax and tips. This is convenient as well.
Will definitely be back when I'm in the area next time.
I've never had an eating out experience like mama Lee. The restaurant is very very small with only four tables that each sits 4. I would imagine most of their business are from takeout and during the one hour I was there approx 2-3 different folks came in to pick up.
The food is 4 star, Taiwanese style food, we ordered three cup chicken, salt pepper pork and beef noodle soup. They also provide complimentary soup as appetizer and can provide refill it seems.
What really made this experience different is the service/warmth of the owner (mama Lee?) that made eating out here like eating at your relative or friends house (seriously!) She was just so welcoming, friendly and in a genuine way. She gave us a bowl of the Taiwanese style pork rice with egg for free because of our 3 year old toddler then eventually dropped off a small plate of stir fried vegetable also for free for the kid!!
FYI is that Tax and tip are included in the menu price, it doesn't say so on the menu which made the price actually very very affordable.
I'll def be coming back but will prob do take out
It was great and now significantly declined. Yesterday we went for to-go. Taiwanese Mama Lee was not there. The casher who speaks Cantonese totally had no clue on things. Order was mass. Front of house is like head-less chicken. The kitchen was bad too – the friend rice we ordered was horrible – no flavor and rice was stick as few balls. So sad!
Here was my old review. I hope Mama Lee is back or can train her staff better.
I have been here four times. No doubt, one of the best Taiwanese food in NY. Feel like home, free extra rice, free soup with fresh ingredient, and just like mom, the Lee would suggest you which dish is better than others. Chicken soup with wine is amazing. However, it's just really like homemade – not professional enough. Some of the days food was amazing which some of the days food was not good. I saw they put food in bowl on the floor which is not professional practice, beef friend rice – the beef some of them are much bigger than others, bamboo was from he can. I admire the fresh ingredient, family style /home made style but I also wish them bring the level to the next, more professional and more digital.
Decided to have lunch on Friday and we had fried fish on a light batter with peppers and pineapple on a sweet and sour sauce, let me just say that this plate was delicious. The fish was lightly battered and not oily yet crunchy. The fish itself was seasoned with just salt and pepper and the sweet and sour sauce was not overwhelming. I had it with a side of brown rice. As usual mama lee came out to greet us and yes she explained that she will be closing as of next week due to health reasons. This gem of a restaurant has been a staple of the neighborhood for a good while and now mama lee has to go to take care of health. From the bottom of my heart we will ALL miss her. I wish her good health and i hope that she reopens in the near future. She is a remarkable person and you can tell she really enjoys cooking from the heart as her passion shows on the quality of the food and service.
Good thing my friend called ahead to find out that she reserved a table for a larger group so we hurried over there. I quickly went inside the restaurant to grab a table…thank god it was emptied! I spoke Mandarin with Mama Lee and she pour two cups of cold water as my friend looks for a closer parking spot.
Our stomachs were rumbling and we were starving so everything tastes so good. Honestly I was paying attention when my friend was ordering and taking Mama Lee's recommendations. She told us that we have enough food…totally right!
Ooooo the purple rice with minced pork was soooo damn good! Three cups of Chicken…boneless and much easier to eat than most spots have the bone attached. The beef was so tender and melted in my mouth along with those delicious potatoes. The Taiwanese Chicken Roll so crispy and very tasty. The pork bone soup was very tasty along with the mustard greens pointed out my friend and I was thinking Chinese broccoli but duh I don't cook lol to know the difference. The dishes taste like a home-cook meal from your mom's kitchen.
I am so happy that me and my friend finally popped our cherries tonight! Mama Lee is so sweet. I am sooooo incredibly stuffed and took the leftovers home.
You definitely must try it pronto!
I have heard many good things about this small restaurant right by Bell Boulevard. My friend generally raves about this place and is his first choice whenever we want to meet up. However, I had never been here until now and I don't know why I stayed away so long. This place definitely has some good home cooked food just as if you were in mama lee's very own kitchen. I did come on a weekend afternoon so there was a half hour wait as there are only 4 small tables in this place. When I was waiting there was a family of 7 people also eating here and they had to sit at 2 different tables in order to eat in. There was also some young korean people here who were also enjoying mama lee's food and chatting with her.
When we finally got seated we ordered several dishes. My friend told me they have a family meal that comes with soup and rice but we did not see that on the menu anymore. However, we were not discouraged but we ordered the 3 cup chicken, beef with mushrooms and chicken with eggplant. Our order came with rice and some house soup. We got to choose white, brown or purple rice. Obviously I got the purple, which is pretty much a lovely lavender hued red bean rice, which was appealing to both my mouth and my eyes.
The complimentary house soup was a hearty veggie laden affair with tons of root veggies and almost with a hint of chicken and fragrant ginseng but it could have been burdock root as well and felt very nourishing as I gulped it down.
As for our entrees I was looking forward to the 3 cup basil chicken since I haven't had it in awhile but even though it had good flavor it was a little dry and the chicken was a little tough on the bone and hard for me to get the meat off. We also ordered the eggplant with chicken and this chicken was velvety soft and almost melted in my mouth and it was very good with the eggplant. The beef with mushrooms also did not disappoint. The beef sauce was really tasty and there were tons of large mushroom pieces in it and definitely something I would want to order again.
Mama Lee definitely gave us a lot of hospitality and spent a lot of time chatting with us at our table and offering us more refills of soup and rice and tea which was nice as I really liked the soup and wanted more purple rice.
Generally there is a tea dispenser by the counter for you to serve yourself if they have not tended to you yet as this place can get busy for takeout and eat in. The family style servings weren't very big though I think each dish serves two people comfortably with rice and soup so it is recommended to get more dishes to share. Don't expect to be blown away by decor or service though as this is just a humble mom and pop type restaurant with eccentric hours and service possibly due to the fact that mama lee sometimes takes a trip to visit her kid in college but definitely drop by for some good homecooked food when you can get her and you will be treated to a delightful meal.
4 1/2 stars overall