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As aficionados of regional Chinese food spots know, you generally don’t come for the atmosphere. So Lotus Blue’s upscale surroundings (high ceilings strung with decorative lanterns, brick walls) come as a surprise: this isn’t your average Flushing dive. The food isn’t typical, either; only a handful of places in the city serve Yunnanese food (although this fare is “Yunnan-influenced,” the owners say), which hails from the southwest corner of China and displays a decidedly tropical bent. This is evident in a salad of mango and lotus blossoms, amped up considerably by bird’s-eye chili, though sadly the mango on a recent visit wasn’t very sweet and juicy. Yunnan is known for its many varieties of mushrooms, and a tempura fry shows off several: delicious, salty, and spicy, with basil garnish. Skip the pork meatballs, which are gummy and arrive in a dark salty sauce akin to Swedish meatballs’. Better to save your taste buds for the delicate hot pot chicken, which needs a little salt; once it got a shake, its deliciously delicate gingery flavors emerged. Also, don’t miss the charred prawns with candied olives or a tasty fried rice with ground pork and cubes of turnip. As a nice touch, the place is upmarket enough that they’ll happily change your plates and silverware between courses. For dessert, if you dare, try the puffs filled with durian, a fruit so pungent it’s banned from public transit in its native Southeast Asia. — Jenny Miller

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Tempura-fried mushrooms with basil and mint,$9; stir-fried tiger prawns with candied olives, $26; steam pot chicken, $22; ground pork and pickled turnip fried rice, $12

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