My favorite foods in Astoria (Part 1)

This area is a wealth of authentic, delicious foods.  This is a list of the things I love most.  This is not a list of all things good in Astoria, just my personal favorites.  This is part 1, there is a 2nd part that will be up soon with more goodies!

Grilled Octopus @ Zenon Taverna

The best I’ve had in Astoria (although Sabry’s version is also excellent), this is very tender on the inside, yet the outside is often charred almost to a burnt crisp, which I love!  Excellent flavor and texture, this is my absolute favorite thing to eat in all of Astoria.  The meat is delicate yet rich, with that extra tang from the vinegar and lemon.  The Meze Meal is a close 2^nd for my favorite thing in Astoria, its an insane amount of items for a bout $20 each person (meat, fish or veg), I cannot recommend this enough.

 

 Fried Artechokes @ Sac's Place

Amazingly delicious, memorable little bites, not greasy, not deep fried, perfect appetizer.  Ravioli here is also excellent.

Tiropita Toast with Cream Cheese, Apples & Bacon @ Ovalia

The best breakfast sandwich I think ive ever had.  It’s a perfect mix of salty, savory, sweet bites that are soft from the bread and cheese and crunchy from the bacon and apples, perfect balance.  Order the lamb sausage on the side, excellent herbs and spices inside.

Imbustata @ Ornella

Packed with flavor, so many things inside this envelope of pasta that it all becomes one cohesive flavor.  Great dish!  Also recommended: Chestnut Pasta, Gnocchi and the Sanguinaccio (Pork Blood Chocolate Pudding).

Chef Ali @ Kebab Cafe

He is a legend.  The man who introduced me to the pleasures of eating offal.  Greets you like you are family, wonderful experience.  The lamb cheeks and the sweetbreads are my favorites but lamb brains are quite good as well.

 

Burnt Ends @ John Brown Smokehouse

The best BBQ I’ve ever had in NYC.  Nothing has come close.  This is BBQ perfection to me.

 Anything @ William Hallet
(Pictued below: Perogies with Foie & Bone Marrow)

Amazing flavor and diversity, this food is fun and exciting!  I recommend just about anything.

 Burek @ Djerdan

Light and crispy for something filled with cheese/meat/and or spinach.  Great crunchy outside, soft fresh baked inside, perfect bite of food.

Casu Marzu cheese @ Ornella

Bizarre and delicious, this is not on the menu, but it is around.  Tasty cheese (and worms)!

Baklava Cheesecake @ Amonia 

Never seen this anywhere else, but it’s a perfect mix of salty/sweet, crunchy and soft.  Creative dish that really reflects the area well.

Suckling Pig @ La Rioja

Huge portion of perfectly cooked, tender as anything, pig.  They even give you the option of what cut you would like (rib or leg).  Highly recommended, only served on the weekends.

 

Sushi B @ JJ's

This is the best Sushi I’ve had in Astoria.  It’s a wonderful mix of whatever is freshest, although its not quite omakase, it is somewhat standard.  In the past this included White Tuna and fatty Salmon belly which were amazingly delicious.  Sadly they don’t offer those portions anymore, but the mackerel and the rest of the box (sans the fake crab) are delicious.  Also the miso is above average.

Shrimp & Grits @ Queens Comfort

Had this once, was so memorable it makes the list.  It was packed with bacon, rich, deep flavor, perfectly cooked shrimp that still had a bite to them.  Huge fan of this place.

Pork schnitzel in potato pancake batter-topped with cheese @ Koliba

Pure indulgence, this is a crazy rich heavy dish that I just love.  Nice tender pork in a very crunchy flavorful crust with mild cheese on top.  Heavy yes, but perfection for what it is.  The garlic soup with egg yolk and cheese is also excellent.

JJ's

This is the best Sushi place in Astoria, nobody else comes close.  You know what to expect at 95% of the sushi places in NYC; Miso soup, spicy tuna, green tea ice cream, etc.  This place does all the usual stuff with class and has introduced me to a few amazing, not often served cuts of fish.

I particularly enjoy the Salmon belly they serve often in the Sushi B combo.  A few years ago they started serving White Tuna, before I saw it featured in other places, I really like the texture and taste of this, much more than the usual tuna.  They also serve an excellent well seasoned Makeral which is not as fishy as Makeral often is.  The Miso as mentioned is above the usual grade, its very rich and delicious.  The spicy tuna, while not everyone taste, I find just perfect.  They seem to season it lightly with sesame oil, which adds that nutty almost smokey essence and gently coats the tuna.  Love this! The crunchy rolls have tempura flakes that are prepared with green food coloring, at least that's what I assume, because they do nothing for the flavor but the fun is kicked up a notch, and they are perfectly crunchy.  Love this also.  Memorable food.

Aside from the Sushi, the other items I've enjoyed are their famous Edemame dumplings.  The soft creamy inside is a bit strange inside a dumpling, although they are tasty and everyone I know who has tried them loves them.  Also the Miso Eggplant is fantastic.  Is is rich, salty and delicious, they do not skimp on the Miso.  My favorite thing to order is the Sushi B combo, it is a great mix of all pieces of sushi and a tuna roll, with soup or salad.  Perfect mix of hot and cold food, perfect size, great selection of whatever is fresh, although usually its the same types of fish.  I don't eat here very often anymore because they are quite busy and frankly their delivery is fast and courteous, so I order from here whenever I've craving sushi.  Highly recommended!

Zenon Taverna

Zenon has always been one of my favorite places in Astoria.  It impresses my on all fronts.  The food is consistently excellent, well cooked, tasty and massive portions.  The service is perfect, its a family place and they are warm and friendly throughout the meal, one reason I've enjoyed birthdays and holidays here (thanksgiving 2009).

I visited here again Friday night with friends and family, we all loved it.  Everything in these pictures was included in the Meza Meat meal (aside from the Grilled Octopus which is a must order at Zenon).

 

Here is my review of Zenon from 2009:

I've been here twice in the last week and i absolutely love this place.  Its nice inside, like someones home, friendly, clean, busy, but the tables are far enough apart so your not on top of the next table as you might be in Manhattan.  You can take your time here, they wont rush you out at all, in fact, its slow food, as its excellent.  The wait staff is very friendly, knowledgeable about the food and attentive.  The prices are very good for huge portions.

The food is the best part, huge portions of perfectly cooked/prepared Greek food.  Excellent flavors, and textures, everything was fresh, nothing was disliked at all.  The first time we went to Zenon was on Thanksgiving for their thanksgiving meal.  Not your average thanksgiving dinner.  Started with a cream of turkey soup, and as expected it had lemon in it.  Great flavors, the lemon was a perfect fit.  The stuffed grape leaves are some of the best ive ever had, sweet and salty filled with i believe pork and other things.  The fried pork and potato meatballs are good, but not my favorite thing here.  The turkey was moist, included some dark meat which i enjoy and was accompanied by a great rice stuffing with raisins.  Great meal and at $22.95 or so, it was a great value.

The Meze platters are what they are famous for, and reading about them here on yelp, I had to try it.  It was extra special for me because one of the best meals i've ever had was at a well known restaurant in Rhodes Greece called Ta Kioupia , where they just kept bringing plate after plate of wonderful food.  This meze platter is the closest thing i've had to that.  A huge feast of a meal for 2 or more people, choosing from either fish, meat or vegetarian options for around $20.  A tremendous amount of food and an excellent price.  Appetizers were excellent, Tahini, tzaziki, tarama, salad too was excellent, few more items too.  We had the meat option and it was a huge portion of quail, pork and more pork.  Would have been good to have a little lamb with the meal, but thats my only complaint.  Smoked pork loin was excellent, so were the grilled pork meatballs or sausages.  Grilled hallumi was excellent and salty as expected.  Best quail i've ever had, very tasty.  We did not have room for desert but we ordered it anyway, both items we had were just alright, passable to say the least.  Fill up on the meal.

Overall a wonderful meal.  Very inexpensive for what you get, tasty, cooked well, excellent selection, friendly service, perfect meal.  I'll be back soon.

BareBurger

Interesting night.  Excellent burgers.  Other things can be improved but overall very cool, fun place with good food.  To start we ordered the fries which were not as crispy as they should have been.  They are not double fried, which is easy to do, but they are still good and well seasoned.  I enjoyed 2 of the 3 sauces, decent, but nothing memorable.

Onto the burgers, I had the MAUI WOWIE BURGER... AMAZING!  But let me clarify, the burger itself was well cooked and thick as a burger should be, but on the lean side.  That is not a bad thing, certainly when I cook burgers at home I'm looking for a lean piece of meat to ground, (90%/10% ground chuck is my usual mix) but when I go out on a Friday night and order a burger I expect it to be juicy.  This was not.  It's surprising to see such a lean burger as the only Beef variety as they also offer the much leaner Ostrich.  That said, the toppings, buns and sauce really took this burger to the next level.  I've never had smoked mozzarella on a burger and it might become my favorite topping ever!  The smokiness was just perfect, and way more intense than the usual smokiness you get from a bacon burger.  This burger left a smoky, umami aftertaste, just awesome.  The only thing that was a miss for me was the canned pineapple, I would have much preferred grilled fresh pineapple.  The other burger at the table was BIG BLUE BACON BURGER which was also very good, thoroughly enjoyed by the table.  

After a 2nd visit I have to recommend the Lamb burger!  Rich and gamey, but not that funky, although clearly lamb.  Loved this burger! I thought it would be dry but it was actually much more juicy than the beef burger, and with much more flavor.  We also tried an additional sauce this visit, the pesto mayo, and again it was a disappointment.  I was also confused as i expected it to be some shade of green, and it was instead light pink... Perhaps they gave me the wrong sauce?  Decent but not memorable and one note kinda sauce.

Overall fun place with good to excellent food.  Good prices for the area, the pitchers of beer are super affordable.  The service is decent, they certainly do not rush you, they let you sit and drink which is nice.  However our waitress ignored me twice... The first time I thought maybe she did not see me, but twice?  Really?  Oh well, it reflected in her tip... And it is not a reflection on the rest of the staff, the busboy, runner, and hostess were all very nice, as was the waitress until she ignored me.  I really enjoyed the vibe, music, decorations, and of course the food.  Good value also.  Great location and highly recommended!

Cronin & Phelan's

My favorite pub in Astoria.  I'm not much of a drinker so i come here for the food alone, its worth it.  They always have a great selection of specials, tons of variety.  They food is as expected served in large portions, heavy, filling, and delirious.  The burgers are great, typical juicy burger, great toppings.  The wings are huge, well fried and offered with a good selection of sauces, typical quality wings.  The soups are always something we enjoy, whether  its the French Onion Soup or the soup of the day, its usually excellent.  Sometimes they have a fried brie appetizer that is excellent, heavy, rich, and on occasion, the perfect thing to order.  They pork dishes they serve are always good and moist, not dry boring pork.  The ribs are just OK, not my favorite thing here.  The Shepherds Pie is excellent!  BIG portion of piping hot beef covered in creamy mashed potatoes.  The fish and chips are also very good, although a bit greasy.  Overall almost everything I've had here is excellent, highly recommended for pub food in Astoria.

King of Falafel and Shawarma

This is outstanding!  Its a gut buster for sure, but worth every calorie.  I think I have to rescind the "best falafel ever" comment i gave to a previous establishment, because this is simply better.  Although it was a bit greasy, I was excellently seasoned and perfectly crispy.  I like the oblong shape, a bit different than the usual falafel.  The owner is very friendly and entertaining which is nice, since there is usually a few minutes wait.  Last time i was here they gave everyone on the line a free falafel for waiting, a nice gesture.  The food is expectantly cheap and SUPER filling.  I think i was full for the rest of the day.  Highly recommended!!!

Muncan Food Corp

One of my absolutely favorite stores in Astoria.  This place is amazing!  All the meal hanging from the ceiling, the smokey smell, i love it!  They staff is very helpful and patient if you need to ask a million questions, as i usually do (what kind of meat is that? what animal made that cheese?  is that pork belly?!?!).  One time they said to me: "every time you come in, try something different".  They are kind enough to always offer a taste even if they need to cut into something new, very helpful and accommodating service.

There are so many items i love here its hard to list them but i will try.  They do a great bread that is almost a phyllo stuffed with beef, or sometimes apples, its fresh, and excellent.  They salami's and other style meat in that category are excellent as is the selection.  I enjoy the one with paprika.  The stuffed cabbage is the best I've ever had, it comes with bacon on top so that it cooked down and the fat flavors the cabbage while its cooking.  Its always fresh because they sell a huge amount as far as i can tell and whenever i have it for guests for family everyone loves it.  It is stuffed with ground meat and maybe rice or something?  Not ever sure what kind of meat is it but its fantastic!  They have fried pork chunks that are perfectly fried and crispy.  Very crispy actually, they are super rich and heavy, but a few bites is perfect.  They always have a few items fresh and still hot, or a few hours from the oven/smoker/etc.  Just try them all.  The lamb sausages are good, a bit hard but that is to be expected.  The smoked and dried pork loin is one of my favorites, its a great lean meat.  They have a great selection of cheese and deli meats also.  They have excellent black olives and feta.  I also hear they roast baby pig on request for catering, something I'm very much looking forward to ordering in the future.  Even the bread they have is excellent and fresh.  The best part are the prices, everything is so cheap, i never spend more than $20 and i walk away with days worth of food.  Excellent value!

If you are in queens and you like meat, you must go out of your way to visit this place.  They get busy so arrive early or be patient, it is worth the wait.  This place is amazing!

L'Artiste

4/14/2011
Here is what I like about this place: EVERYTHING!  The vibe is perfect, dimly lit, cozy, perfect relaxing jazzy music both old and new.  The staff is very friendly, warm, and accommodating.  The food is fantastic! The best course I've had here is the Salmon dish with baby bok choy, sherry tomatoes and more.  Perfect dish, absolutely bursting with flavor, well cooked. I finished the plate and practically wanted to lick it clean. Yes it was that good.  The price was great too, under $20.  The amuse bouche was great ratatouille in a small pastry shell with balsamic vinegar, great simple fresh start.  Even the bread comes with an olive spread which I love and is so much more exciting than butter/oil.  Highly recommended, love the vibe here, can't wait to return!

1/1/2011
It is a shame it took me this long to try this place, its a welcomed addition to Astoria, something distinct in an area that already has so much fantastic food.  I really enjoyed my meal here on New Year's Eve.  We had a reservation but were not informed about the special menu, I did not mind but my company would have liked to order from the regular menu.  That said, we had a wonderful meal and it was a great value.  $75 for champagne, wine, 3 small sampler appetizers, 2 entree courses, sorbet palette cleanser, and 3 sampler dessert course.

The appetizer  while a very good start was so small it was almost a 3 taste Amuse bouche.  Not sure the three items worked together either.  The beef was the weak link, not very tender, nothing special, although it was flavored very well.  The salmon tartar was excellent but again small.  The squash shooter was the best, great rich flavor.

For the second course I had the duck and my company had the crab cake.  They were both excellent, petite, but seasoned very well.  The duck was cooked perfectly.  For the third course I had the Fillet Mignon with potatoes, not the best choice in hind site, i think i played it safe.  It was very good, but a bit standard and the piece of Fillet I got was one of the fattier end pieces.  The potatoes were not as crispy as I would have liked, but overall a very good dish.  My company loved her chicken with mushrooms dish.  The chicken was cooked perfectly and was very moist.

Apply sorbet in i think champagne was the palette cleanser was fantastic, very crisp.  It really woke my palette up.  Onto the dessert round, I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, so this was a bit of a disappointment, but overall it was very good.   The best of the three for me was something like a hot chocolate with brandy shooter, very good and not too rich.  I also enjoyed the Semi Freda.  The chocolate layer cake was just alright, nothing memorable although it looked beautiful.

Overall the meal was excellent, although it was not the largest meal I've ever had.  Petite portions, but i did not leave hungry.  They played very nice diverse music at a good volume, the selection of wines and the house wine they served us was excellent.  The service was friendly and attentive. Great ambiance in the place and a kitchen that clearly knows how to cook.  I look forward to returning here for escargot and a fig desert very soon.  Highly recommended.

La Rioja

Amazing food!

4/10/2011
After a few more visits, this had become one of my favorite places to eat in Astoria.  The best dish i've had, which I cant wait to return for is the roasted pig that they serve on the weekends.  Its absolutely perfect.  I've been the Spain recently and i ate roasted pig at a Michelin star restaurant, and i have to say this is better.  It is extremely juicy, and packed with flavor.  The skin is crispy and the portion is large.  Perfect food!  Everything else i've had here is great especially the sangria.  The Guava Shells topped with Goat Cheese is one of my favorite desserts in the whole words!  This place is worth a visit to Astoria if you are from another borough, its just a few blocks walk from the N or R train. 


7/28/2010
I had a wonderful meal here.  The place is quite large, so you will likely have a table all to your own, and not be right on top of the table next to you.  The service was good, no complaints.  The food was really excellent.  The Dates wrapped in Bacon was the weak link of the meal, instead of the bacon providing that salty crunch around the soft sweet date, instead the bacon was very soft, not very good, but still tasty.  The shrimp in garlic was good, standard, same with the mix of olives, good but not particularly memorable.  The Anchovies with Avocado sauce and I believe a light tomato sauce under it was fantastic.  Excellent mix of flavors, highly recommended for the nice large anchovies and the excellent sauces.  For the main dish we shared the chicken topped with cheese and jamon Serrano, would not have been my first pick on the menu, but I'm sure glad we ordered it.  Excellent dish!  Huge flavors from the strong cheese and ham, which matched perfectly with the sweet blend of onions and tomatoes.  Large portion, served with very nice almost mashed potatoes.  The large pitcher of sangria was only $20 which is less than I usually pay for a pitcher even in the area.  The sangria itself was good, fruity, kinda standard but I'd go back for it as I love sangria.  Really nice menu they have here, large selection of Tapas, decent prices, highly recommended.

Ornella Trattoria Italiana

One of my favorite places to eat in Astoria!  Here are my two reviews.


2/14/2011
After a few more visits, Ornella has become one of my favorite restaurants in Astoria.  From he value, to the service, and most importantly the food, this place is fantastic.  Recently I had a wonderful dinner here on a Monday which is steak night.  The steak was amazing, well seasoned, a tender beautiful porterhouse, for $15!  I had the sheet of fresh pasta stuffed with a melange of chicken, pork, mushroom, cheese and various other things, served over a pink sauce.  Fantastic flavors, great rich filling entree.  Then the owner walked over with a new entree he is working on, knowing I enjoy funkier foods as well as the classics he offers me something I've never had, sheep.  This was a great cold sheep salad with vinegar over greens.  It was not as gamey or funky as I would expect sheep to be, this was clean and very nice, although not very lean.  I liked this very much, fun flavors, great match of heavier meat with fresh crisp lightly seasoned greens.

I've also been here for the Pork Night, which I have to say really excited me.  It was by complete surprise and i was thrilled with this dinner.  It started with Porketta over greens, a good cut of meat not featured often enough, love this start.  As with everything, this was a big starter.  The The best course was the pork tenderloin in red wine sauce.  One of my favorite cuts of meat, in a very rich sauce, rich and velvety.  Pork heaven.  The pork blood pudding was very good, the texture was strange but delicious.  Love the creativity and the fun that Ornella brings to the table.  The standards are excellent and huge, from the Parmesan to the steaks as mentioned.

They have excellent wine by the glass, or half carafe as it seems they serve.  Great value again.  The owner cares about the food he serves, its something different than you can get pretty much anywhere.  Quite a few dishes i've never seen and are I hear from various little towns in Italy, as well as wonderful house creations.  This is one of the places i recommend most to people in NYC, or looking an amazing meal at Queens prices.  Half a block from the train, this place is highly recommended!


10/17/2010
Really interesting well made Italian food.  Very nice relaxing place, very friendly service.  They serve some traditional Italian dishes (parmigiana) and many smaller dishes you can only find in certain towns in Italy.  They do not limit the food to region either, its diverse Italian food.  We started with a small carafe of Chianti for $15 which was about 1.5 glasses each, very nice price for dinner.  For an appetizer we had the Duck Meatballs in what I believe was a cognac sauce.  Really nice appetizer, like nothing I've had before.  They were large and stuffed with cheese, the sauce was very sweet but i thought it went very well with the meatball.  For my entree i had the Chestnut fresh pasta with pistachio cream sauce.  Fantastic dish, a bit heavy, but that's what i expected.  Very rich creamy sauce, lots of flavor, highly recommended.  The veal parmigiana was very good, standard.  For desert we the lemon cake and the eggplant cake are both good choices, not very sweet, but a good refreshing end to the meal.  Excellent flavors and service, I'll be back here for sure.  Looking forward to trying other things on the menu I've never had before.

Sabry's

So glad i took the 10 minute walk here from my house, absolutely loved this meal, as did my company.  We sat outside, perfect summer evening, not to humid, not to hot.  Great relaxing atmosphere, great attentive service, friendly and calm.  We could have sat there all night if we wanted to, that's the impression i got.  The food was outstanding, simple, and excellent.  The Tahini was excellent and the Babaganoush was the best i've ever had!  Served with excellent toasted thick round bread.  I like these dips so much i ended up ordering more to take home.  We also had the grilled octopus which was excellent and very fresh.   The shrimp soup was spicy and packed with shrimp in a great broth.  For the main course we had the Branzino which was as expected excellent.  Perfectly cooked, slightly crispy skin, great garlic and oil sauce, just a perfect dish.  Even with the extra 2 appetizers to go, we spent about $65 for all this food, fantastic value, and makes this place a must visit.

Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company

As far as bagels go, this place is about as good as it gets.  Huge fresh bagels cooked the traditional way (boil first, then bake).  Great selection of cream cheeses and other goodies.  Fresh orange juice, great coffee, nice service.  They pile on the toppings so much, that it feels like an order of cream cheese with a slight topping of bagel!  Too much for me, so i usually ask for just a smear.  They even deliver which i appreciate on Sunday mornings.  Highly recommended for a huge NYC bagel.

Piccola Venezia Restaurant

Excellent northern Italian food, my favorite Italian place in Astoria.  Someone at my table said, in an affectionate way "They have not changed the menu in 25 years".  The meal was just like i expected it to be, fresh food, great service, expensive, busy for a Tuesday night.  When we walked in they had about 5 cooked dished to view which was a nice touch, and did influence our choice in entree.  The roast veal looked amazing, although we did not end up ordering it.  Nice decor, simple and effective.  A warm place.  I've eaten here many times, this review is based on the first experience there.

The meal started with warm bread, always a plus.  Butter, which being northern Italian cuisine I guess i should have expected that , but i was hoping for olive oil.  We were also given a complementary plate of small pieces on cheese, a cured meat and some olives.  Nice touch, good starters.

For appetizers i had the Fussi alla Grappa (bowtie shaped pasta with mushrooms, grappa and parmigiana. This was alright.  The pasta (which i was informed is made fresh daily) was not great, it was not a bowtie at all and more like thin flat pasta rolled over itself, not a great texture.  The sauce was good, again not great. Very heavy on the garlic, which I love but it might turn some people off.   We also had the crab cocktail. That is an item I order ofter, this one was excellent.  Very large portion (which it should be for $16.50), large pieces of moderately sweat crab, lemon and cocktail sauce.  Standard but excellent.

For the entrees I had Salmon with a white wine, garlic, lemon type of sauce.  Huge portion of fresh salmon, nothing else on the plate but the salmon and its fantastic oily sauce.  They removed the skin and the gray part which I appreciate.  Strange presentation for sure.  The side plate had spinach (excellent, sauteed, standard ) and potatoes gratin (on the cold side but full of flavor).  Both were excellent, but it would have been nice to have it on the plate with the salmon, so the sauce would flavor both.  Overall this was an excellent dish i would order again, the salmon was bursting with flavor.  My table also ordered the Arrosto d'Anatra (Roasted LI duck in Gran Marnier Sauce), which is another dish we have shared many times in other restaurants.  The sauce was fantastic, not the usual orange sauce i'm used to, it was thicker and richer.  The duck however was on the small side.  I love a crispy Long Island duck, but they can run on the small side. Once you have had a very large 1/2 duck with the fat between the skin and meat trimmed off by say La Primavera on Long Island, its hard to enjoy this duck.  Aside from on the small side, it was way to fatty.  Still the taste of the meat and the sauce was excellent.  While not every dish was totally satisfying, the food overall was very good.  Quite expensive, but worth it for the right occasion.

After multiple visits it keeps getting better and better.  The Buccoloni is amazing and very unique, fresh sheets of pasta wrapped around Osso Bucco in a light tomato cream sauce i believe.  One of my favorite dishes in all of Astoria.  Order it for an appetizer, then get fish for your main.  The Oysters are always excellent, so you could also start with those then finish with the buccoloni.  Almost everything I've had here is great and the service is attentive and friendly.  Every time I go here its packed, every single time.  Its worth a wait.  Highly recommended.

Kabab Café

 
After hearing so much about this place, and since i live walking distance i had to try it.  This was not just a meal, it was an experience.  Knowing it was small and imagining it would be busy, my fiance and I arrived at about 6:30 which is early for us.  We dined for about 2 hours, gotta expect a long meal here, Ali takes his time, as he should, this is slow food.   When we arrived there was one other person getting take out, but he left and for the majority of our meal we had the place to ourselves.  When others did arrive it was clear that they were all locals who knew Ali well.

The place itself is like walking into a kitchen or a living room,  When you walk in your surrounded by amazing looking food right in front of you... and the smells!  It smelled incredible.  Such a small place with not much of an outside, i never even noticed it before.  But i'm glad i went.

Awesome meal!  We tried the sweatbread of i believe lamb, thu it might have been veal,  for the first time and loved it!  It was heavy on the salt, but rich with flavor.  The lambs cheek was good, not great, kinda this big black mushy stew with an egg in it, very strange and not appealing in appearance.  The appetizer plate with hummus and apples, falafel and a few more dips was amazing.  Not oily at all, and most dips were a bit chunky, which i enjoyed.  From where i was sitting i could watch Ali cook, it was really interesting.

After the appetizers Ali left to go to the store or something so we hung, thankfully he was back 10 minutes latter to take our dinner order.

"What are you in the mood for?  We have fish... Whole bronzini, porgies, grilled sardines, soft shell crab... meat? Lamb, goat, duck..."

No menu, which was fine as it was an experience and i imagine he is telling me whats best and fresh and recommended.

My fiance ordered the duck.  Very tasty and moist with rice and Asian broccoli, which i really enjoyed, and i generally don't enjoy that stuff very much at all.   I ordered the stuffed lamb.  It was very good but not great.  Not enough meat for me, and to many carrots, but the flavors were fantastic and the spinach was really good too.  We both enjoyed our food very much.  Had a crepe type dish with yogurt and fig jam for desert, it was fantastic, smooth, rich, hot, perfect way to end the meal.   Which was good to because we were totally stuffed!

One thing i really liked was the music, it was like i was at home! fantastic mix of jazz, drum and bass, and world music, really enjoyable to listen to for 2 hours.

Including tip we paid exactly $100, which is kinda expensive, but we ordered alot of food, 3 apps, 2 drinks, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert, so i guess $100 is not that bad.  Very memorable meal, we will return for sure.  Highly recommended for unique food and for a unique experience.  The place is so small you have to interact with the other patrons, which is kinda nice.  I'm not giving it 5 stars because the lamb and the lambs cheek were not great, but if i could give it a 4.5 i would, this is one of the most memorable places i've ever eaten in, i cant wait to go back! 

(I've been back 3 times after this first visit)

Taverna Kyclades - 5/13/2008

Might be my favorite restaurant in Astoria!  This place is fantastic.  Although its very busy and you usually have to wait a while.  The fish is very fresh and cooked to perfection.  I had the red snapper and it was excellent.  The lemon potatoes were great also.  The typical Greek complimentary was very good.  Very nice service, they asked if it was our first time there because they did not recognize us.  It was our first time there, and they said it in a nice way, implying that they know everyone who eats here because they all become regulars.  After that first meal, I will become a regular also.