BY BRADLEY HAWKS When HinoMaru first opened on Ditmars just about a year ago, it caught the eye of noodle enthusiasts everywhere, especially considering the lack of slurpable options in western Queens. Featuring a menu focused around eight regional ramen preparations, Chef Koji Miyamoto’s soup broth simmers with pork bones for nearly 12 hours. The [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS “The pizza was invented in Naples, and then we developed it in the north,” grins Daniele Barbos, executive chef and pizza maker at Basil Brick Oven Pizza, who first began cooking in 1986 for the Alpini, Italy’s elite brigade of mountain soldiers. The wood-fired oven is kept blazing between 850 and 900˚F, [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS A love affair with Astoria’s food scene would be incomplete without an appreciation of the neighborhood’s rich Greek tradition. Bringing that tradition into a contemporary light comes Thymari. The menu at Thymari, which means thyme, is peppered with the standard glossary of Greek cuisine: dolmades, feta, saganaki, spanakopita, and kalamata. But the [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS According to Merriam-Webster, a kickshaw is “a fancy dish; delicacy; trinket; gewgaw.” While the name The Queens Kickshaw undeniably denotes its location, the double entendre also implies a collection of exquisite and rare morsels fit for royalty, which this café-restaurant certainly is. With one of the most carefully-edited food and beverage menus [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS East Ocean Palace in Forest Hills offers fantastically authentic Cantonese dim sum on the weekends, when Flushing and Chinatown seem too far away. An interactive (if not sometimes athletic) dining experience from the moment you step foot in the entryway, stacked aquariums in the waiting area create a compartmentalized mosaic of oceanic [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS On any given Sunday in Astoria, upwards of 50 guests huddle in the entryway to Queens Comfort near the Big Chief smoker, or perch on swivel stools at the former diner counter. They’re waiting to jigsaw their party into the long communal table, reminiscing while Hulk Hogan battles on WWF reruns, gawking [...]
BY BRADLEY HAWKS Culinary and cultural explorers have fallen head over heels for the legendary hand-stretched noodles and tangy cumin lamb sandwiches at stall #36 — that is the Xi’an Famous Foods counter tucked deep within the subterranean labyrinth of the Flushing Food Court beneath Main Street. Recently, David Shi and Jason Wang — the [...]
The menu at Flo Lounge Restaurant of Astoria is eclectic, including everything from spinach pie to sushi to marinated skirt steak, from the Mediterranean branzino to the 16-ounce rib-eye steak. And there is a pasta menu which includes classics such as penne a la vodka and simple customer favorites, such as the cappelini. The drink [...]
BY ANTHONY O’REILLY A Queens bar was voted “The Best Beer Bar in New York City” by RateBeer.com. Alewife, located at 5-14 51st Avenue in Long Island City, just announced the honor on January 31 on its website. “An amazing feeling spreads through the halls of Alewife, one of joy, pride and gratefulness,” the bar [...]
Christos Steak House in Astoria is the essence of traditional American cuisine, complemented by an assortment of Mediterranean influences. Prime aged steaks, succulent lobster, an impressive wine list and surplus of inventive sides make this eatery a “must try.” Begin your meal with the octopus – charred, served with sweet roasted red peppers and capers. [...]
