Malagueta Restaurant

This place has fantastic food, very large portions and is an excellent value.  The ambiance is not great, simple lights and paper table cloth, but the food and service more than make up for it.  I've been here a few times and enjoyed the meal very much every time.  Yuka fries are so much better than potato fries, and here they are well fried  My father got a HUGE plate of garlic shrimp.  Massive portion for $7 and it was cooked perfectly, the shrimp had a bite. For the main course, I had the Pollock, made with a s fish paste sauce, very strange, and totally excellent.  Wonderful bold flavors, fresh fish and cooked very well.    My fiance had the duck with crispy skin the way duck should, but still a little pink inside, cooked perfectly.  She enjoyed it very much.  We had 2 desserts that were as good as the entree.  The passion fruit pudding was quite tart which I enjoy very much. There were many new taste experienced at this meal, Brazilian food is interesting, and I quite like it.  The Brazilian Tiramisu was light and airy, really surprising and enjoyable.  The staff was helpful and nice.  I highly recommend this place, they also have outdoor seating which is nice.

Pollos A La Brasa Mario - 5/13/2008

The chicken is really amazing.  When they are done cooking it, instead of keeping the chicken under hot lights to maintain temperature, they keep the chicken in some kinda steamer.  The result is a very moist chicken.  Lots of flavor.  One of the best chickens i've ever had.  The yuka fried are great also, much better and less greasy than regular french fries.  I don't enjoy the soups or the rice porridge at all, but the yellow rice is very flavorful and moist.  I recommend this place for take out, i doubt i will ever cook a full chicken again, when this is about the same price and much better than what my oven could do.  Corner of 41st Street and Broadway in Astoria, 24 hours a day on the weekends.