As one of the more uniquely themed late night (#1) food carts around Flushing, Jiutouniao serves up a mix of street-style (central) Chinese dishes. Their literal name "九头鸟" is a reference to the 9 headed phoenix, a mythical bird (#2) that was popularized in Chinese mythology to symbolize adversity in the mist of chaos. The latter is could also be a way to describe the food, which has been inconsistent in terms of availability and taste, while also being pricey.
I typically have found this cart right outside of Tangram Mall on the Prince St side, but I know they also end up near the corner at Queens Crossing at times. Since the cart is plastered with images of restaurant quality foods, it's easy to get the impression that they have a bunch of items on their menu. Typically, it's whatever is on the handwritten sign, which in my case was spicy duck head and/or neck ($10), hot dry noodle with beef ($10), stuff fried lotus root ($10), or even stinky tofu ($8).
The stinky tofu was the initial draw for me, but the fact it wasn't at all stinky was an issue. The tofu itself was fine, but very unmemorable. Just the idea of finding a dedicated cart for something so niche was exciting but unfortunately a tad of a letdown. The beef dry noodle is not worth it in my eyes, especially since there was so little beef and way more noodle.
They also have late night skewers and practically all of them are in the $2-3.50 range at this point. if they're charging for $3.50 for potato slices (土豆片), then I'm not likely to order much from here.
Previously they offered delivery on Chinese-only platforms like Fantuan and still take payment on WeChat. (#3) I have a sneaky feeling they're directly related to the standalone restaurant along 45th Ave & Parsons but I haven't confirmed this just yet. Mandarin Chinese is preferred and as always, cash is king.
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(#1) Otherwise known as my prime time.
(#2) Also known as Fenghuang (鳳凰)
(#3) Does it get more Chinese than this? read more