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.

Aroma31

 

 

This place is perfect for me, its casual, service is warm, it feels local, and most importantly they serve excellent Mediterranean food.  Everything looked so good we ended up with a 5 course meal on a recent visit!  To start the brought us pita slices with hummus, always a great start, I appreciate the complementary hummus alongside the usual free bread most places in Astoria serve.

For appetizers we had the Mac & Cheese, a simple dish served everywhere but not usual with this much class.  Excellent, huge portion of rich aldente pasta, cooked to order which is always a plus for mac and cheese.  It was so big we had trouble eating the rest of the meal.  The octopus was very good, not the best I've had, nor the softest, was a bit chewy, but a nice portion and well paired with capers and tomatoes, a change on the usual Astoria octopus.  For entrees we had the burger (one of the few items available with the voucher we had, although those conditions were certainly not printed on the voucher.....).  Really amazing thick beef patty with huge flavor.  A better burger than one from the place across the street.  Slightly undercooked, but served with a pile of fries, that were well seasoned, excellent stuff!  The dessert was one of my favorites of all time, Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts.  This item is always something I cant stop thinking about, so simple, great contrast of the tart yogurt with the sweet honey, and the crunch of the walnuts are a perfect foil to the texture of the yogurt.  So simple, so perfect!

The sangria was the only miss of the evening, just terrible, do not order it.  Very watered down, not really Sangria as much as watery cold red wine.  However it was amazingly inexpensive.  Overall excellent food, a chef that knows what he is doing, attention to detail and quality cooking overall.  Good prices too, I look forward to trying this place for brunch, 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.

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.