M Wells

(Not quite Astoria, but walking distance... Excellent food!)

 

This is a real special diner.  There are so many aspects that make it seem like a normal everyday diner, of course its set in a traditional diner building and has the classic booth and counter seats, but the food and vibe bring this place to another level.  Even the warm, motherly service you get at any diner was present here, in a hip, young kinda way.  Nice friendly attentive service.  I was very excited to try this place after all the great reviews and i must say i was very impressed.  I sat across from the flat top grill at about 11:30AM and watched the action.  This place takes classics and gives them a high class spin, such as searing a piece of Foie Gras to accompany a corn chowder, or adding a piece onto grilled cheese.  They also make alot of creative food that seem exceedingly original, such as the spaghetti sandwich which looks awesome, although heavy and greasy.  I opted for the Esgargot and Bone Marrow.  Although it was not a large plate, it was a fantastic, and had my begging for more.  I enjoyed the breadcrumbs on top also, a really rich dish i'd order again in a minute.  I opted for the soup sans Foie and I really enjoyed it but in retrospect i should have gone all the way with that soup.  The coffee was much better than normal diner coffee, it was excellent.  I took home a Cuban sandwich as i'm a sucker for pork, and i have to say it was fantastic and might have been one of the best Cubans i've ever had.  Sometimes they get dry and a bit flat on taste, but this was packed with flavor and grilled on the flat top with butter, can you get any better?  Excellent flavors, really good sandwich!  I cannot wait to return here, the baked goods looks great and very fresh.  The staff was running around prepping food and cooking, it was quite and exciting little place to eat in, highly recommended!

Djerdan

 
This place is excellent.  The Burek's are fantastic light and tasty, the cheese version is my favorite but the mean one is good also.  They are always fresh, and perfectly crispy one the outside without being greasy.  A really good pie.  The Cevepi is excellent also, HUGE portion of nicely grilled and still juicy little veal kebabs. The meat seams to be of good quality, really enjoyable with the red pepper spread.  They have a dessert I like very much that is like a Napoleon filled with layers of cream.  The cake is very light and moist.  It is delicious.

Overall great place, the service is decent, they are nice but sometimes there is a slight language miscommunication, but the good is excellent and well priced.  There is also a sparsely decorated but still charming back courtyard.  Highly recommended, especially if you have never had a Burek.

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.

La Casa Del Pan

I absolutely love this place... Its my go to place for a quick bite in Astoria.  Their chicken and beef empanada's are excellent.  They have the yellow ones that are greasy and often filled with potatoes.  I enjoyed the white baked ones that are not at all greasy and have a great crust.  They are always fresh and the filling is lean and tasty.  My favorite item they make is I believe called Treme but I call it a Mexican challah because that is what i looks like... It is stuffed with white cheese, gauva and pineapple, its fantastic and everyone i share it with loves it.  Sometimes I pick up a few potatoes here so i don't have to cook a side dish for dinner, cheap, fast tasty.  They are very nice and the food is always fresh.  Recommended for sure.

Pachanga Patterson

 (This picture is from a recent visit for Brunch.  Excellent value at $10 for food and a drink)

I said to a friend just 2 weeks ago that Astoria needs a modern Nuevo Mexican place, thankfully a few days latter I found this place!  It is exactly what the area needed.  The food is fresh, tasty and exciting.  I like the small menu, I don't need a million options, and it is a lot easier to keep food fresh when there are fewer options on the menu.  The staff is very friendly, casual, knowledgeable about the food.  We had the spiciest of the salsa's, the Charred Tomato & Serrano Chili. It was good, although not quite as strong, or spicy as I would have liked.  The chips were fried fresh and a bit on the thick side, which I like.  Their house hot sauce was way to mild.

To start we ordered the Mussels which we did not enjoy very much.  They were just OK, the taste was a bit flat, under seasoned.  It could have used something to sharpen the flavor, perhaps citrus, or vinegar or just more salt.  Both my company and myself did not enjoy this very much, although we did not return it.

The entrees were very good.  I had the Roasted Pork Belly Enchilada, chocolate, fig & peanut sauce, cumin crema which were excellent!  The pork belly itself was cooked well, although not falling apart it had a good texture.  The sauce, chocolate, figs and peanuts were a wonderful balance to the pork, I really enjoyed the flavor combination and the crunch of the peanuts.  Great dish!  The fish taco's are excellent also, good portion of well fried fish.  Very tasty and not greasy.

For dessert I had the cold fruit soup with whipped cream.  It was alright, tasted more like a fruit salad, the actual broth was not memorable, however it was tasty and a great cool refreshing end to the meal.

I'm looking forward to returning to try the Duck and the Pork tacos.  Chips and salsa are not complementary, and neither are side dishes, which may push the price a few dollars higher than I would normally spend for Mexican food.  It is worth it for the food and the great outside sitting area.

Mojave

I had a really good meal here the other night with 3 other people, most of the food and drinks were excellent.  As a few others have mentioned, the service is a bit slow.  Our server disappeared for about 10 minutes just when we were ready to order.  Thankfully it was a beautiful night and we were sitting in the nice back patio, so we did not mind the wait.  The inside is cavernous and also quite nice.   We had a pitcher of sangria, not very good, not good wine and to expensive at $32.  A lot of the food seemed a bit overpriced, but with a place that big I can only imagine the staff/rent costs.  Although the Sangria fell flat, the frozen margarita was much better and expectantly stronger.  

The food was very enjoyable, in large portions and cooked with skill.  For starters the Mojaves Margherita Garlic Gulf Shrimp was excellent!  Reminded me a bit of a ceviche with a thicker, tomato based sauce.  This was enjoyed very much by everyone at the table.  The Calamari too was excellent and enjoyed by all, great texture, well fried, not a chewy bite.  The Queso Fundido was also good, super heavy, and not as spicy as i would have liked, but good.  The only miss was the Grilled Corn on the Cob, which should have been the easiest thing to do.  It was very under seasoned, I could hardly taste any of the expected flavors, lime, butter, cheese.  It even needed salt and pepper.  I really wanted to try the fried Oysters, but $15 seemed a bit high, for what i imagine are canned oysters.

Onto the entrees, the Santa Fe Shepard's Pie is something I've ordered a few times in Manhattan in Nuevo Mexican places, basically mac and cheese over chilli.  Great dish, big filling portion.  The chili was distinct, it packed a punch but it was not quite spicy.  I think they were heavy on the chili powder.  Either way, i enjoyed it very much and the mac and cheese was the perfect rich foil to match the bite of the chili.  The Salmon was excellent, perfect cooked, nice sized fillet, and a great (I believe) mango salsa on top.  Another great dish.  The Salmon taco's were another hit, but the best was the Slow & Low Braised Short ribs of Angus Beef.  Very lean piece of meat, with excellent flavor, and it was as it should be falling off the bone.  Extremely tender, and just wonderful.  The rich Mole sauce it was served in was a great compliment to the meat.  This was loved by everyone at the table.  The mashed potatoes it was served with had perfectly cooked still crunchy corn inside and I enjoyed the textural contrast very much.    Although we did not order it, it was nice to see Chilaquiles on the menu, which is essentially a thrice cooked tortilla.

Despite the waiting a few times for the waitress, she was friendly and helpful with suggestions, and the rest of the staff was very nice.  The food as mentioned was excellent, with only the corn being a miss.  It is a tad pricey, however  I will absolutely be back and i would highly recommend giving it a visit.

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.

Pomme Cafe

4/5/2011
I hate to downgrade a local place, especially a place that has excellent Jazz weekly, but the food here is very hit or miss.  Every time I go, and I've been about 6 times over the last year we seem to get something great and something bad.  The place never fails to deliver something we don't enjoy.  Recently I went for dinner and had the exact same experience.  The foie gras appetizer was incredible.  I thought it was well paired with the jam of apricot I believe, and the crispy toast.  I'd go out of my way to check out some live jazz and order this appetizer, it was amazing!  However the beef bourguignon was bad.  It has zero sauce, over dry pasta.  Really confused but that, I've never seen a beef bourguignon by this dry, it was as if it was not even cooked in red wine.  This was a bad, boring, dish that makes me wonder why a chef would even serve it.  They were also out of about 5 items on the menu, which is never good when you are busy.  The ambiance is excellent, I love how they decorate the place and how low they keep the lights.  Go for the jazz, drinks, and foie!

5/3/2010
I've eaten here 3 times recently with family and have had a very good meal every time, although not without a few issues.  I think they may still be trying to work thru the kinks, for example the food can sometimes take a while to arrive, however I get the impression that's most if cooked to order (even I think the Beef Bourguignon) so a wait is somewhat expected.

I've had the Escargot a few times, probably my favorite dish here.  Very tender, juicy snails in a rich butter sauce.  The first time I had it the sauce was almost milky, which was different and tasty.  Then the next 2 times I ordered this dish, it was mostly butter, which is nice, but not what arrived the first time.  Perhaps the milk solids has started to separate on the first dish.  Either way, not very consistent.  The cheese plate is good, although not every cheese is French nor local (Manchego for example).  The French onion soup is good, kinda standard, not particularly memorable, but they do use a good gruyere cheese on top which is always nice.  The bread they serve with the meal is excellent, fresh, grainy, with a soft whipped butter that is always room temperature so you can spread it, which I always nice.

For entrée's I've had the lamb sandwich (decent lamb, oily sandwich, strange unrecognizable flavors, decent dish); the Pate sandwich (dry, boring); the Beef Bourguignon (excellent, highly recommended, great portion, wonderful flavor, tender, medium lean meat); the salmon w/Israeli couscous (eh, the salmon portion was very small, thin, and cut from the end of the salmon, so no matter how light they cooked it, it was overcooked in just a few minutes, the blood orange sauce was excellent but tasted nothing like blood orange and I honestly thought I tasted peanut butter or something nutty, the couscous I did not like at all, odd flavors, although it did go well with the rest of the dish); the lamb (perfectly cooked, nice size portion, not enough sauce, not enough flavor; the Soft Shell crab (last weekend it was served with I believe fava bean falafel, which is strange as it's a fried dish with a fried side, not a good idea; I had it this last weekend, very tasty, 2 large crabs).

The mac & cheese is waaaay to small a portion and was bland.  Overall I've enjoyed the meals I have had here, although not much is very memorable.  I do recommend this place as the service is great, atmosphere is nice, prices are decent for the quality of food and the food overall is very good.  The music is too loud usually but they don't mind turning it down if you ask.  I'll be back, great to have a place like this in the area.

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.

DiWine

I've been here about 3 or 4 times, its quite good.  Here are my 2 reviews:

1/1/2011

I was here the other night and had some food that tasted fantastic but suffered in the technique department slightly.  The Gorgonzola fondue was amazing in the flavor and very creamy rich cheese, but the bread was cold and not toasted  The cold seafood salad was filled with very good fresh seafood.  The way the squid was cut was unique.  Sliced very thin, fantastic texture, but the dish as a whole could have used a lot more flavor, some citrus or vinegar or something to take the dish to the next level.  The Datil (dates wrapped in bacon) was excellent but the bacon did not hold its wrap around the date, they need to cook it with a toothpick to keep it from falling apart.  This is a dish I always enjoy and they did it right with the texture of the bacon which was perfectly crunchy, and their own spin with a spicy sauce.  A nice variation on the tapas classic.  We enjoyed this very much.  We shared the Smokey Swine pizza, which was disappointing.  The bacon was not cut into pieces and was very difficult to eat on the pizza.  A bit too much cheese.  But lastly the crust was a bit overdone but the center of the pizza was very underdone.  I think the oven might have been too hot.  The last dish we had was the Foie Gras, which again was fantastic in the flavor department but the delivery was a bit off.  Again the bread was not toasted, which would have made it a more enjoyable dish.  But the Foie Gras itself was incredible.  Good mixed drinks too.  Overall I love the music they play and most of the food is very good.  Great friendly service.  I will be back very soon. 


5/24/2009
I live right around the corner from this, and i agree with the reviewer who said this block needed a place like this.  I'm sorry it took me so long to try it.  Wonderful environment, excellent food! The service was casual and friendly.  The ambiance is excellent, dim, lots of wood, dark and lovely.   They have an impressive wine selection, as expected, good prices too.

We had the Kampachi Sashimi to start, excellent fresh Tuna with what i think was spicy mayo, and a soy based sauce.  Very nice sized portion, excellent start.  We also had the 5 cheese plate.  This was very good, but non of the cheeses jumped out at me as being special, or something i could not just pick up at a decent cheese place.  Still, all the cheeses were excellent, especially the Port.  The fig on the side was a nice touch, another great appetizer.  

For the main course we shared a white pizza with fresh mozzarella, blue cheese, peppers and i believe oregano.  I've lived in Italy back in college for a few months so I tend to know what good brick over pizza is, this was not the best i've had but certainly an excellent pizza., prepared perfectly.  The flavors were fantastic, perfectly matched together.  The dough was flavorful and crisp.  At $10, the pizza's are a good size and very worth the visit.  Tiramisu and Cream Brule were both excellent as desserts.

2 Drinks, 2 Apps, 1 Pizza, 2 desserts came to $67.  The music was mainly folk pop, which does match well with the environment, although it can be nauseating at times.  Thankfully there was some Marley in the mix also.  I will definitely return, especially for the pizza!

Chirping Chicken

Most of this food is not good at all.  Under-seasoned, overcooked, bland food.  I've had the ribs, which were alright, not a lot of meat, on the small side, boring ribs.  The fried shrimp were terrible, don't order these.  For the sides it was all terrible.  The corn was extremely overcooked, actually i bet it was swimming in a warm bath for the majority of the day by the time they sent it over to me.  The rice was very bland, even for rice!  Mac and cheese, well you can guess, soft mushy pasta with a bland cheese sauce, same for the lemon potatoes, which although boring were the best of the sides i tried.  Overall, not a good value at all, and terrible quality.

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.

Renaissance Event Hall

Just 3 months old, Renaissance Steakhouse is a real gem in this area.  A really beautiful restaurant/banquet hall used for private events (weddings, etc) on the weekends as far as I can tell.  There is a nice balcony overlooking the dancefloor or you can sit in front or outside the restaurant also.  They are very new and are still working out some kinks but the food is excellent and the atmosphere matches.  I've eaten here twice and been really impressed with the food thus far.  It is cooked perfectly and decently priced.  Clearly they have a talented chef.  The menu is usually small and changes each time I go, but I like that, it shows me what is fresh and it is good to change things up.  It's not a typical steakhouse, they offer far more than just steak and seem to be heavy on the fish.  That said, the steak is excellent.  I've had the Filet Minion and the sirloin (blackened on our request) and they were both excellent, tasty, cooked perfectly, and lean.

The Filet Minion was really out of this word.  It was a filet, wrapped in bacon, topped with cheese (Roquefort perhaps, maybe blue I forget), fried onions and onion rings.  Overkill for sure, but fantastic flavors and textures.  The crispy onions and the soft caramelized onions are a great contrast, really work with the meat, cheese and bacon.  Yea this is a meal you shouldn't order more than say once a year, which may not be a problem, as it was not on the menu the 2nd time I visited Renaissance.

For appetizers I've had a salad, which was huge and very tasty.  The calamari in tempura batter was extremely tender calamari, not chewy at all.  Perfectly fried in a great tomato sauce.  Not a large appetizer and a bit steep for $11, but excellently cooked and very tasty.  My fiancé loved her Shrimp stuffed with crab with a lobster sauce.  Great flavors, cooked well.  The only problem is that it did not come with a side dish, yet the other entrees came with a side dish.  The last time I ate there I had the baby lamb chops.  Not a large portion but cooked and seasoned well, served with spinach.  Good dish.

Overall the service is a bit slow, but they are very nice and the food is just excellent.  The prices are decent, better than many steak houses in NYC.  Highly recommended for a great meal, but only if your not in a rush, this is dining.  They also have a nice bar, and show movies on Tuesday nights.

Gowasabi Astoria

Not great, but not terrible.  Went on Mothers day, and my mom loved it,although she is easy to please when it comes to food...  Personally I'd say almost everything was a decent to not so good.

Our waitress had no idea what she was doing, and was not listening at all.  I had to repeat a few things, and she ended up standing over me looking over my shoulder while i pointed to the menu... Even then she got a few things wrong.. Really bad service.

The miso soup was bland and it tasted fishy.  Strange miso, not so good.  The Shumia was the same standard stuff you buy in the freezer section.  This was ok but not hot enough.  We had asked for all the sushi together, which being in a sushi restaurant i expected to be served in some kitch boat or something, instead they put 3 rolls on 1 huge plate, and 1 big roll on another large plate.... So we each had to reach over a plate to grab the rest of our meal, terrible presentation...

The rolls themselves were not put together well at all, maybe that is what they are going for? Or maybe the sushi chefs are amateurs..  The spicy salmon tasted alright, the best roll of the 4 we had, but they cut it into 8 thin slices instead of 6 and the salmon was falling out... the spicy tuna was good, same problem thu.   The smoked salmon roll was mostly cucumber, but what salmon was there was not fresh even for a smoked fish.  We ordered some big role with about an entire eel on it... Sounded good, but by the time it arrived the eel was nearly room temperature.  Still a good roll, but unless its cut in small pieces and served hot from a toaster I shouldn't order Eel.  We ordered 2 pieces of White Tuna sushi to finish off the meal.  Of course what we got was 4 pieces of sashimi... This i enjoyed a lot, but it was cut way to large.

We waited forever for the bill but when it finally came we were informed that they have a special where you save 5% if you pay cash, which is nice.  So i paid cash and it was surprisingly inexpensive, it came to about $40.  The food and service was pretty bad, but its inexpensive.. So maybe if you went for some avocado or shitake rolls it might be worth it?  Not recommended.

El Mariachi Restaurant

My favorite Mexican place in Astoria, I would give this a 3.5 were it possible, but I'm always so satisfied that I'll bump it up to a 4.  The food is very good, taste fresh, huge portions and its cheap!  I've ordered in from this place a few times, but have yet to eat in the restaurant so this review is mainly about the food.

I really enjoy the tacos.  Queso is excellent, its grilled white cheese, i usually get it with guacamole.  Its a nice size taco with tons of flavor for 2.50.  The carnitas is very good.  Its lean, cooked well and tasty.  The rice and beans are very good, standard.  I've had the green and red tamales, they are excellent and taste fresh, with lean chicken or pork inside.  The nachos are standard, very good, and the chips were not stale, which is the norm when I get mexican in Astoria.  What we usually order are the Tortas.  They are HUGE, excellent value for $6-$7.  I enjoy the Piernas Torta, the spicy pork leg is very good.  Excellent sandwiches, big enough to have 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner.  Their fried shrimp is a dish I like very much, they use large shrimp, fried well in I believe breadcrumbs until crispy. 

If you are thirsty they have an excellent Mexican hot chocolate!  Its warm and perfectly seasoned, really unique hit sweet drink.  They also carry large bottles of Jaritos, Tamarindo is my favorite.  They are very nice over the phone and the food arrives very fast.  Huge portions and cheap prices, highly recommended for delivery!

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.