2007 December « WeCouldEat @ the GrubHub

A 3 Bar Day

December 13, 2007 — spud

Indigo
2850 31st Street at 30th Ave, Astoria

Sunswick 35/35
35th Street & 35th Ave, Astoria

Sparrow
24-01 29th Street (across from Beer Garden), Astoria

The Astoria Crew decided to head out to see The Golden Compass last Sunday. We had all passed His Dark Materials around for the past year or so and had enjoyed reading the series immensely, so we were all overjoyed when we saw that the movie adaptation was coming to the Astoria Kaufman Theater. Of course, being typical foodheads, we had to go to brunch before the movie. We decided to try Indigo, a bar/restaurant that Scott and I had walked past a couple of times and noticed that they had a really great brunch deal. You can choose from 15 Brunch items, ranging from omelets/eggs benedict/huevos rancheros to pancakes/waffles/french toast to a burger and salads. The best part being that the $12.95 deal also included 2 drinks of your choice (mimosas, *mmmm*bloody mary’s, belini’s, coffee, or fresh juices). Ultimately, the food was quite tasty and included fresh homefries, which I think lacked a bit of flavor, but then again, my pen name is “Spud” so you just imagine the high standards I hold for potato products! The drinks were strong and tasty and the outdoor seating area was delightful, although could be a bit loud, mainly because the acoustics caused the conversation to bounce off of the walls. We left with our bellies, and wallets, full.

After the movie, we were walking by a Bar called Sunswick 35/35 and we realized that we had heard through the rumor mill that they had Lambec on tap. If you haven’t tried this great Belgian beer it is a must-drink. It comes in raspberry, peach, cherry and green apple and it is absolutely wonderful. Even if you are not a fan of beer, I guarantee that you will love this stuff. Anyways, we went in (minus Litza, whom is far more impressively motivated by “hot yoga”) and we were immediately drawn to the warm presence this bar emanates. There was a Christmas tree in the corner adorned with lights and sofas with a roaring fireplace behind it. It was so comforting that even though they had *gasp* tapped out of Lambec on this visit, as soon as the Orthodox Jewish men left the corner with the Christmas tree, we descended to the couches and drank ourselves into a bit of a drunken stupor.

We finally realized that we needed more food, so we made our way back to our neck of the woods and went to another bar called Sparrow, right across the street from the Beer Garden. We have been here a few times before, but had never tried the food. We all ordered burgers and fries and Alexis had the chicken sandwich. It is great bar food…..the meat was salty and the cheese offerings were interesting; I think all of us chose the Gruyere. The fries were topped with fresh rosemary and thyme and were salted to perfection, although a bit soggy. The atmosphere is warm, with a dark interior and candles lit surrounding all of the tables. It is a great option for small groups and they are very accommodating.

After all of this, we went home and made chocolate chip cookies…..what a wonderful Astoria day!!

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Overrated Astoria Asian

December 13, 2007 — wecouldeat

JJ’s Asian Fusion
37-05 31 Ave (37-38 St), Astoria

We love the restaurants in Astoria, meal for meal it can stand up to nearly any neighborhood anywhere. Once in a while, however, a restaurant outside of Manhattan can be a bit overrated by Zagat’s and other guides, most frequently in the suburbs. This was certainly the case with JJ’s Asian Fusion which has been receiving high praise for years. The 2008 Zagat’s calls it “a contender for the best Asian food in Queens award” and gives it a 25 food rating! That is extremely high and to put it in perspective is equal to or higher than every BBQ, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Southwestern and Spanish restaurant in the entire survey, the only steakhouse that tops a 25 is Peter Luger’s. So while JJ’s was fine and certainly not bad in any way, it could never live up to its hype. We had the edamame potstickers and a bunch of standard sushi rolls, but nothing really impressed us as delicious or even very unique, other than the potstickers, which were pretty overrated as well. The other thing that sticks in our craw about JJ’s is that it is in no way Asian fusion. It was a standard Japanese menu with the additions of fried rice, dim sum and a few other basic Chinese dishes. Fusion should mean that a variety of flavors from different ethnicities are combined in a single dish. JJ’s could learn a lesson from real fusion restaurants like Spice Market and Sushi Samba, which both are fantastic and get a 22 food rating. So go to JJ’s if you are nearby and want a decent meal, just don’t believe the hype and expect a life altering experience.

Watawa
36-98 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria

We actually like Watawa, another Astoria Japanese eatery, better than JJ’s. It is not even in Zagat’s, but is a real neighborhood no frills Japanese with an unbeatable lunch deal of three rolls with soup and salad for $10. We have been there many times and have found it solid and reliable with a standout shrimp tempura roll. It is not the best sushi on the planet, but is quiet and only known in the local area, and that’s the way we like it. Similar to pizza and Chinese, I feel that everyone has a local favorite place for sushi. This is ours.

Posted in asian, astoria, japanese. 1 Comment »

Whoa-bogogi!

December 5, 2007 — spud

Shilla
37 West 32nd St, NYC

Last night we made a trip down to K-town to celebrate our friend Jinnie’s Birthday. There were 12 of us who braved the ridiculously frigid weather to try Shilla, a new Korean Bar-B-Q restaurant on W. 32nd Street.
This was my first Korean Bar-B-Q experience, and it certainly didn’t disappoint! The best thing about Korean food has to be all of the small plates of vibrant, spicy food that they bring out at the beginning of the meal…..and, of course, we were lucky enough to have Jinnie be able to order for us. So we had an extravaganza of all sorts of interesting appetizers: A seafood omelet with scallions which was delicious, beef dumplings, shredded raw strips of meat with sweet apple, and the million other little dishes of food. An egg souffle that was salty and peppery, kimchee, spicy zucchini, fried egg-battered zucchini, small, chewy fish, tofu, a waldorf salad of sorts, raw garlic and spicy fish paste. They brought out spicy salad and then the Bar-B-Q began. Plate after plate of meat was grilled right in front of us and we wrapped the sweet, salty meat in lettuce leaves with garlic and fish sauce. It was incredibly tasty!
We also had bi bim bop as well as a spicy octopus dish. We talked about how exhausting it must be to be the dishwasher, due to the never-ending supply of small plates we were eating off of.
Finally, after we were completely stuffed, and kind of drunk, we finished the meal with fresh, juicy pineapple. I believe that this place definitely deserves a Golden Bonzone, because although it lacked some atmosphere, the food was amazing!! Just beware, you need to order a minimum of two plates of meat in order to be served bogogi, and each plate runs about $22…..I think this place works best with a large group of people!!