Soy Bean Chan Flower & Gift Shop

"Just one block from the Main Street station, Soy Bean Chan is a plant shop, but it's always our first stop on a Flushing food crawl because they also sell perfectly silky and jiggly douhua. There’s nowhere to sit, but you can take your soft tofu pudding to a park with benches around the corner. It’s too hard to choose between the sweet version with ginger syrup, and the spicy one with chili oil and pickled radish—so just get both. They also have soy milk (warm or cold) and other things like tea eggs, taro cake, and fish balls. It's cash-only, but nothing on the menu costs more than $10, and most items cost less than $5. " - carina finn koeppicus, kenny yang, neha talreja, bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick

"In a neighborhood full of delicious, affordable things to eat, Soy Bean Chan deserves special mention as our first stop on any Flushing food crawl. As the name suggests, this is actually a plant shop, but they also sell Chinese snacks like tea eggs, taro cake, fish balls, and homemade douhua. Their version of this soft tofu pudding is perfectly silky and jiggly—it’s too hard to choose between the sweet one with ginger syrup, or the spicy one with chili oil and pickled radish, so just get both. The small shop is cash only (most items are under $5) and there's nowhere to sit, but you can take your food and some warm or cold soy milk to a park with benches around the corner." - Kenny Yang

"Soy Bean Chan Flower Shop in Flushing, New York, is everything its name promises. Just inside a doorway flanked with bouquets of flowers for sale, customers line up at a small counter to purchase homemade soy products. The store’s most popular dish is a melt-in-your-mouth soft tofu pudding called dòu huā (豆花)—literally translating in Mandarin to “bean flower.” The pudding can be either sweet or savory, eaten with a ginger-flavored sugar syrup or a savory sauce made with chili peppers and tiny shrimp. Mr. Chan, who has been making the pudding for more than two decades, scoops it out of a rice cooker into containers for each customer. The store also sells fresh soy milk alongside its traditional counterpart, yóu tiáo (油条). The long strips of golden fried dough rest on top of each other in a large rectangular box on the counter. Other quick bites like steamed buns are visible through a small arched opening in the front window. Further inside the store, there are small sculptures, bouquets, and plants, crowding narrow aisles. The greenery is contrasted by decorations in red, the color of prosperity. Large lanterns hang from the ceiling. Red ribbons are tied around plants. A smiling Buddha faces the doorway, greeting those who pass by on Roosevelt Avenue. Know Before You Go The shop only takes cash, for both flowers and the food." - Ilena Peng

"Soy Bean Chan Flower Shop is the kind of wonderful amalgam that one finds only in New York City. Part tofu shop, part florist, they carry fresh and silky tofu in a few flavors, including a ginger syrup topping, that reveals great craft in its simplicity. While there’s not much variety on hand, this long-running shop is a must-visit for its well-made, generously portioned, and affordable namesake item." - John Tsung, Liza de Guia

"Homemade douhua, a silky tofu pudding, is served from a steel cart in front of Soy Bean Chan Flower Shop." - Eater Staff