Elias Corner

Very disappointing Greek food.  As others have noted, there is no menu, nor will they tell you everything they serve.  We had to ask for sides specifically (as the waitress walked away), and saw delicious items on our neighbor's table that was not offered to us.

The bread was stale, although served charred (a pattern emerges...).  The octopus appetizer, expensive at $17 (though a good portion) was beyond charred to the point that it was bitter.  The appetizer of 3 huge pork sausages was also burnt, but a better match for the high heat.  Juicy sausage, paired well with lemon (as everything is at Elias), but a bit bland and missing many of the Greek elements I was expecting.  Tasted more like traditional Italian sausage.

Our main courses were more of the same.  Burnt, bland food, cooked poorly.  We asked for Lemon Potatoes and Fries.  With less than 15 tables all night (that we could see) they were out of Lemon Potatoes.  Ok, no big deal, we ordered both types of fries (regular and sweet potato) and asked for them well done.  When they arrived, not only were they soggy and oily, but they were clearly thrown in a ball into the flyer, leaving many of them to stick together and remain soggy.  They were not busy, so this was just poor cooking.  I don't think either had any salt or pepper either, which was another theme.

The fish itself was fresh but very bland.  I've been to Greece, and I often eat fresh fish in Astoria so I'm used to and welcome a simple grilled fish accented by lemon (perhaps grilled as I had recently at MP Taverna), salt, pepper, perhaps dash of garlic oil or paprika.  At Elias's the fish is served bland.  Really bland.  My father said it had "no taste".  I'd disagree with him, it tasted once again, burnt.  The salmon fillet (the size of my arm) was so black on the bottom that I thought perhaps the kitchen was full of interns learning to cook.  The Branzino was decent, but also lacking seasoning.

Our waitress did not smile once during our meal, not even when we thanked her in Greek.  Really cold, unfriendly service, pretty much guaranteeing I will not be returning.  They need to improve in almost every facet of the restaurant.

Stamatis

Standard but good Greek food in Astoria, decent service, decent prices, nothing outstanding, but nothing at all bad, recommended for sure.  It is quite big and bright, and I believe they pool their tips, because they service is spotty.

The meal starts with nice toasted bread with a few herbs and olive oil.  There is also a huge jar of opened olive oil and one of vinegar on the table, to use as your liking.  They also drop off a small plate of lemons, you can douse just about anything they serve with lemon, and you should.  For appetizers we had the Avgolemono which was thicker then usual, very good version after I squeezed a few more lemon wedges into it.  Great soup.  We also had the fried eggplant with Skorthalia, which I usually find too bitter from way to much raw garlic, thankfully this one was seasoned just right.  Well fried, lightly battered eggplant, nice portion and well matched with the just garlicky enough Skorthalia.  Another good dish.

For entrees we ordered the Seabass and the Sole.  Both were good, although the seabass was overcooked and the Sole took an extra 5 minutes to arrive, albeit with multiple apologies from the server.  My seabass was grilled as I asked for, but it was overcooked to the point that the entire head was burnt, hard to pick at the crevices for tender pieces.  I like the skin crispy so I still enjoyed this dish, especially served with the oil and garlic sauce, but it was a bit dry.  The Sole was fine, standard, a bit boring, but that is on the fish, not the restaurant.  The lemon potatoes were not so good, not enough lemon and since they cook everything (aside from the fish/meat) in advance it sat around and started to break up, not very appetizing.  The rice and peas were passable.

The cherry on top is the free dessert that is so common in Astoria Greek restaurants, (which of course is a Greek tradition).  The name eludes me, but it was phyllo stuffed with a type of custard, topped with honey and cinnamon, wonderful flavor although a bit sweet for one of the dinner guests.  It was surprisingly light, and I personally loved it.  The house wine by carafe was decent, nothing memorable, standard house red.  Overall good meal, large portions, you will not leave hungry.  Decent service, not overly friendly, but attentive to your needs.  The octopus appetizer is $23 which is ridiculous considering how relatively inexpensive octopus is, I know the same dish served better is $12 a few avenues away, however the prices overall were moderate.  Recommended for fish.

Psari Seafood Restaurant & Bar

Great place.  I used to eat at "Greek Captain" occasionally, and did not realize it changed, dramatically... I believe its  1/2 the size now that it once was.  They still have the old "Greek Captain" sign up in addition to the new sign, which is kind of funny.  The old place was bigger, not nearly as friendly and felt old and stale... This place is very nice, great ambiance and the staff was very friendly and professional.

We sat outside which is always nice.  It is not a very busy street so it was decently quite.  The meal started with great warm garlic toast, very tasty, perfect start, much better than regular bead and butter/oil.  They have pitchers of sangria which of course are not Greek, but who cares!  My dinner partner and I love sangria and we were happy to order it.  It was very strong, fruity, sweet, and a great price for $18.

For appetizers we had the Saganaki.  Very good, although not quite as good as the flambe version at Zenon Taverna.  Still delicious, not very greasy, but as expected quite salty fried cheese.  Very good start, although not particularly memorable.

For our entrées I had the Stripped Bass, which was excellent.  I ordered it Broiled (cooked in butter and garlic) instead of the grilled version that I'm usually offered (which has oil and lemon).  Perfectly cooked, moist fish, very fresh, topped with garlic, spices, and other accoutrements.   The lemon potatoes on the side were standard but excellent.  The table also ordered the fillet of Sole, which is not a fish i'm partial to, but my guest enjoyed it very much.  It was a huge portion, perfectly cooked, moist and delicious.  It was served with decent rice with a few veggies in it.  Simple, clean, well cooked, healthy and delicious food.

We ended our meal with a great Red Velvet cheesecake which was like Red Velvet on the bottom and Cheese cake, which was much nicer than a mix of the two.  Great dessert!  We were also given a complementary Greek desert as well, which is tradition.  Excellent food, well cooked, great friendly service, outdoor setting, not overly crowded, and a very good value, highly recommended.

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!

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.

Telly's Taverna

This place is very loud and the staff is overwhelmed. Its a huge place, with few waitresses.  Hard to get anything at all, although they were all very nice when they did stop at our table.  They moved us twice during the meal, first when we sat down they moved us after a few minutes to the back where it was quieter.  Then before we were done they moved us to another small table in the middle of the room, kinda annoying.

The actual food was good to great, but took a while to get to us. Just like a few other Greek fish places in Astoria we were able to walk over to the grill and ask what was fresh and recommended.  I always like that, when i can see the fish up close and know its fresh and when i ask they give me an honest opinion.

The bread tasted fresh out of the oven, very hot and toasted on one side, so i'm assuming they actually grilled it for a minutes or so.  The sea bass was excellent, slighly charred on the outside, which i actually loved, its not often that i eat the skin but this was crispy and tasty.  Very fresh, great simple grilled fish.  The waitress removed the fish from the bone which is always a nice touch.  Came with excellent lemon potatoes, very starchy, particularly tasty, but arrived a good 10 minutes after the fish.  My father had the lamb  chops, nice sized portion, you get 4, decent sized chops.  He did not think they were great, but i enjoyed them very much.

Saganaki for starters was good but the batter was falling off and slightly burnt on the bottom, not quite the stuff i had in Greece, nor in other places in Astoria.  The grilled sausage was excellent, enjoyed by all. Complimentary desert really good, hot out of the oil balls of dough that reminded my of zepoli but with honey and cinnamon.  We devoured it!

Many of the Greek fish places in Astoria are similar, this one is not bad at all, the food was very good, but it is very loud, and its hard to get a hold of the waitress, still recommended, and enjoyed.

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.