Eng’s Chinese Restaurant – Serving Kingston NY Since 1927

In no way were Retro Roadhusband and I ready for yet another meal on our trip home from Lake George, but when you see a cool vintage neon sign lighting up the gloomy rain filled skies, you must investigate. And that's exactly how we ended up at Eng's Restaurant in Kingston, NY.

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(I couldn't help but think of my favorite Edward Hopper painting when I saw this!)

And when you see, inside the front window of this fabulous porcelain enamel facade storefront, that they've been in business since 1927, well, you drum up your courage, find a spot in your belly for some Chinese food, and head inside.

We walked into the darkened entryway on a rainy night and were greeted with folks waiting for their to-go orders (good sign) as well as some ladies waiting to be seated for a bridal shower in the back of this small restaurant. We were seated at a booth in the middle of this narrow dining space, and contemplated a tiki drink for about half a second, until we realized we were still many hours from home. But hey, tiki drinks!

I took a tour of the small establishment under the guise of finding the ladies room,  and was intrigued to see hundreds of trophies with birds on top of them. They were lining the walls, displayed in the corner, and holding a high place of honor near the front entrance.

When we asked our waitress about the trophies she said that the owner was very much into homing pigeons and those were his awards. I had not heard of homing pigeons in ages, and was getting them confused with carrier pigeons (and don't read the Wikipedia page on their extinction unless you want your heart broken). Retro Roadhusband was just glad that they weren't part of our meal!

So, what about our meal, you ask? While I can champion their hand made egg rolls (made with hand chopped vegetables and celery instead of cabbage) I feel it's only right to share with my Retro Roadmap Readers that I was disappointed in my meal. Having no idea that once again my Boston upbringing and concept of certain foods was so regionalized, I did not know until my meal was served that "lobster sauce" outside of Mass is a whitish gelatinous affair made with egg, and not the dark thick pork sauce I envisioned. The shrimp were tasty, and locals online rave about their food, so I'll chalk it up to different strokes for different folks.

But for a family owned business that has been around for 80+ years, making their own egg rolls, serving tiki drinks,  championing the homing pigeon and keeping their fabulous vintage neon sign and decor? Eng's makes the map for sure!