Queens Comfort (Pt 2)

Peanut Butter & Jelly - Skippy Peanut Butter, Grape Jelly, Smoked Bacon

 

 

Mac & Cheese

 Chicken & Waffle – Tabasco Glaze, Maple Syrup, Powdered Sugar

Free-form Tamale with Smoked Pork

The Billionares Salad with Brown Sugar Bacon, Mesclun, Blue Cheese, Poached Egg, Maple Vin

Ring of Fire - Batter Fried Jalapeno & Bell Peppers, Cheddar, Sriracha Aioli (Left)

 Meatloaf Sandwich – Cheddar, Onion Rings, Bacon Ketchup (Right)

House-made Jalapeno Poppers

The Wall of Queens Comfort

In the year or so since I've first reviewed Queens Comfort, I've eaten here nearly 20 times.  It has become my go to place for brunch; when guests are in town and want something funky and fun; weekly dinners with my father who is notoriously picky but loves this place; even for Friday date night with my wife (which is appropriate because our pictures are on the wall). No matter the occasion (aside from perhaps a formal celebratory dinner), this is my place for local delicious food.  The servers seem like old friends, the chef/owner is thankful and passionate about what he serves, and they have an awesome collection of cook books for viewing.  This is a true neighborhood spot where you see the owners of other local restaurants splitting the mac and cheese and nearly every table has friends sharing a bottle of wine or a 6-pack, taking advantage of the BYOB policy, enjoying a few hours while B-movies and classic wrestling moments play on the projector screen.

They have listened to their customers feedback and incorporated change when needed.  Instead of the frozen lego, they now serve a thick fluffy homemade waffle with a tabasco glaze and the most amazing boneless fried chicken breast.  They still serve alot of the delirious southern inspired comfort food with a twist, but now they serve more Mexican food.  The owner Donnie cooks wonderful Mexican food, my favorite dish being his free-form tamale and smoked pork.  The homemade Jalapeno Poppers are the best I've ever had.  Huge, plump jalapenos with the seeds included, fried to a perfect crisp, yet not greasy at all. 

I've had most of the menu and there is not much that is not memorable and delicious.  The Disco Tots with Tater Tots, Sawmill Gravy, Cheddar are a perfect fried snack to share, rich and cream, and begging for the vinegary hot sauce.  The Billionares Salad with Brown Sugar Bacon, Mesclun, Blue Cheese, Poached Egg, Maple Vin is a fantastic spin on a cob.  The flavor is massive, its a perfect start to the meal.

The Peanut Butter, Jelly & Bacon burger is amazing!  It is not as funky as it sounds, its actually a good balance of sweet, salty and umami.  The melting Peanut Butter looks like sharp cheddar cheese but the sweetness reminds me of ketchup.  That may be my favorite burger at QC, but all of them are fantastic.  Served with a huge pile of crispy house-made shoestring french fries.  Absolutely delicious.

The other sandwiches are also worth ordering.  The house-made fresh bologna with a fried egg is excellent and has a very meaty rich flavor.  The Meatloaf Sandwich with Cheddar, Onion Rings, Bacon Ketchup is a huge mess of delicious tender meatloaf paired perfectly with the crunch of a thick Onion Ring.  Even my non onion eating father loved the crunch and taste of the ring.

I love the music they play, the prices are very affordable, the service is attentive friendly and casual, and the vibe is perfect.  This place is a real neighborhood gem, and I look forward to many more meals here.

MexiQ

Some things about this place I like (beer selection, service, ribs) some things I don't (the pork skillet), but overall a decent place.  As noted by others they have 48 beers on tap (actually 46 plus 2 ciders I believe), which is a huge and awesome variety.  Our waitress, Cat, was super friendly, and very helpful with choosing our drinks, even gave us little samples of a few we had not heard of.  Her beer recommendations were great, I really liked the Chocolate Stout.  The place is nice, big, clean, a bit random, and the music is a bit too loud.  The host, runner and busboy were also very friendly, great attentive service.

The food was hit or miss.  The guacamole is inexpensive ($5 or $6 with a topping) and was decent, a bit too much onion for my taste, but well seasoned and nicely citrusy served with not stale chips.  The Ribs were really good in a decent sauce.  They were extremely soft (in a good way) and "fell of the bone" as the saying goes.  I actually ate them with a fork and knife.  Very meaty and quite delicious, I'd recommend this dish for sure.  They are served with a large portion of French fries and a moist, light jalapeño goat cheese cornbread.

If that were all we ordered I would likely give this place 4 stars but the pork skillet was a big disappointment.  The sauce itself (mustard like) was excellent, bright, tasty, not too overpowering.  The meat lean, but very overcooked, to the point that it was dry and chewy, not appealing at all.  I was also confused at how they served it.  I asked for no coleslaw (as I don't personally enjoy it), so they served me a skillet with HALF of it filled with food (the pork) and the other half empty.  They did not substitute any vegetable, or starch.  Even my corn bread side was another sent out another 2 minutes latter, so my plate stayed half-full.  It irked me that a kitchen would send out an "entrée" with no side at all, kind of lazy and confusing actually.  Also from a presentation standpoint it was a disaster, dark charred meat with dark sauce on a black skillet (again only  1/2 full).

Despite the pork dish I would recommend this place and I would like to return to try a few more items, the beers are well priced and the service is excellent.

William Hallet

Super impressed with this food.  It is not perfect (the double cut pork chop was undercooked so was the brownie, completely soupy in the middle), but the food is very very tasty in huge portions and modestly priced.  Its also a bit funky and neuvo (Foie sliders, wild boar chili, turducken, bacon caramel, etc).  I've been here twice and both times have been impressed with everything we ordered.  I enjoy the music they play, mainly consisting of Indie rock (Built to Spill), nu-folk (Fleet Foxes) and the like.  The waiter/bartenders are all young, hip, fun, and friendly, the service both time I went was excellent, very knowledgeable about the food.  Our server even gave me a few samples of the various dark beers on tap before I made my selection, nice service for sure.

 The best item I've ordered here is likely the Suckling Pig, (which was much more like pulled pork), with cheddar grits.  This was awesome. I did not leave 1 bite of food on the plate, and it's a big portion!  Appropriately salty and a bit sweet (which I like), this was a great memorable dish and a good value at $17 (although the menu says $16).

 

The double cut pork chop aside from being slightly undercooked was excellent!  Massive piece of meat, enough for dinner and lunch the next day... Another sweet sauce in a delicious demi-glaze and well cooked potatoes.  Excellent dish, very tasty pork chop.

 

The turducken sandwich is decent, I'm not sure I could distinguish between the three types of meat, but it was tasty.  The bread was delicious.

 

The lobster roll is another winner, big pieces of lobster, good value.  Served in a nice open top bun, as I think it always should be.

 

The wild boar chili cheese fries are out of this world.  HUGE portion (as it should be for $15) of well seasoned chili over thick-cut, crispy potato wedges.  This is an item that must be shared, and I recommend you do just that, really nice appetizer.


 My brownie dessert I was informed is cooked to order and needed 15 minutes, which I did not mind waiting, but it arrived soupy and very undercooked.  Still very tasty and they took it off the bill so I'm not really complaining, mistakes happen.  I did like the bacon caramel.

The only thing I don't love about this place is that it can get quite loud at times, so even if you are trying to have a private meal it feels a bit like you are sitting at the bar at all times.  To their credit the music is not that loud, which often forces people to speak louder to be heard, its just loud enough to be heard but not intrusive.  The value is quite good, this food in Manhattan would cost much more, and for the most part its prepared well.  I'd highly recommend this place for dinner, drinks or lunch, I look forward to returning soon!

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.