Corfu Grill

This is a small, cute restaurant with decent food for the neighborhood. The entrees come with a nice sized greek salad, pita with tzeziki, rice, potatoes and beans- so you will be sure to have leftovers. Most entrees are around $15. My pasticio was very good, while my friend's grilled octopus was chewy and needed lemon or something. Our waiter was really sweet. Would go back.

7017 Austin Street

Cafe Arzu

This place is kind of a dump... But the food is homemade and quite good. It serves kosher Uyghur/Uzbeki/Buhkaran cuisine. The lagman soup is great and has noodles that you can taste are homemade- I love that. The samsy had a questionable meat filling; I probably should have gotten the pelemini. Cheap, tasty kebabs. I want to go back and try more. Its a small menu, so it would be easy to try most things on it in a few visits.

101-05 Queens Blvd

Nick's Pizza

This is great brick oven pizza pies. Quality cheese and sauce, crust a little too crispy for me. Cute atmosphere, good service. An easy choice for something quick in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come to Forest Hills for this pizza. Also there is a great little bakery next door.

10826 Ascan Ave

Pinang Malaysian Restaurant

This is a great alternative to all the thai options around here. The food is more interesting and so flavorful. They have many choices with veg/tofu options for a lot of the dishes- noodle dishes, curries, etc. The roti canai is prepared so well; I love the chunks of potato and chicken in the sauce. The honey squid is intense, I recommend it as an appetizer. The beef randang is on the menu somewhere, its very good and extremely filling- similar to the dish at fatty crab. The restaurant itself is very cute. Parking is a bitch in this area, and the valet service comes in handy.

11110 Queens Blvd

Knish Nosh

Yummay knishes! The original kosher knishes of my youth. A regular potato with mustard is so satisfying and comforting. They also have knish wraps- which isn't a wrap at all, its an elongated knish with a different filling ex: the pastrami is filled with something that resembles corned beef hash, filling and good. The pigs in the blanket are good too. Its a proven fact that pigs in a blanket are a favorite food of most jews. The bakery next door is amazing.

100-30 Queens Blvd

Cheese of the World

This place has amazing cheese. It is such a breath of fresh air (or rather smelly cheese breath air) in a neighborhood lacking fine food options. This family owned establishment has been around forever; I was coming here in my stroller. The employees are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, always ready to give suggestions and samples. They will point you in the direction of something different from your ordinary faves- i.e. no manchego for me. They sell other gourmet options to go with your cheese, like olives, cured meats, and crackers.
The cheese can end up being a little pricey, but its so worth it.

7148 Austin St

Ivo & Lulu

I can't relate to any of the negative reviews about the service here. Yea, the place is tiny, but privacy is overrated. Two of us were there around 730 on a Friday and there was plenty of space (we had a reservation) but by 8 it was starting to fill up.
We ordered the escorgot as an appetizer, but for some reason the adorable waitress heard mussels. She apologized, they were on the house, and then sent us the escargot. Turns out the mussels were way better anyway. The sauce was addicting, whereas the sauce for the escargot was overpowering and salty.
Our delicious bread was refilled for us. The waitress uncorked our byo wine- no corkage fee, how can you not love that.
The smoked duck was perfection with a smokey, bacon tasting skin, tender meat, and well balanced sauce.

558 Broome St

The Thirsty Scholar: sniff sniff

Is it just me, or does this place smell like... balls. On the occasions that I have been to this establishment there has been a clear testicular odor throughout. That would be the major negative over here. The major plus though, is the hot toddy drinks! YUM Perfect solution if you have a cold; you can warm the chill in your bones, booze up, and hopefully your stuffy nose will thwart the sack scent.


155 2nd Ave

The Snug

Nice local bar. It had just the right amount of people when we went. There is a dart board, should that interest you. Just don't get too drunk and forget to give back the darts and get your license, like we did.
I think this place stands out for the clean bathrooms and 11oclock happy hour. There was one guy standing around whose job it was to make sure the bathrooms were spotless. Much better than having an annoying bathroom attendant who hands you a towel and expects a tip.
They also have there own Snug beer on tap which was pretty good but way way more expensive than Rudy's brew. I was still impressed by this bar and think it is a spot worth returning to over some of the other bars in the area.


751 9th Ave

Excellent Pork Chop House

Located on tiny doyers street, this would be a really hard place to just stumble upon.
When I have ordered to-go, my food was handed over to me promptly.
The pork chop, packaged questionably in a small brown brag that ended up soaked in grease, was in fact excellent though it doesn't look like it would be. The wontons in spicy oil were so flavorful and texturally pleasing. they definitely seemed freshly home made. It was just 6 dollars for what I ordered. Have done the repeat visit to this spot.


3 Doyers Street

Food Scavenger Hunt

Did not come even close to winning, but thats ok, it was fun!

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2009/03/the_greatresult.html

Ping's

Ping's is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants. Perfect for family celebrations and for jews to eat at during Christmastime. I have never been there for dim sum- only many many family dinners. The menu is extensive, with amazing and sometimes
scary combinations and handy illustrations.
Things that I order regularly: calamari, seafood birds nest, sizzling stuffed tofu and eggplant, prawns with fried milk... Actually, lets pause to talk about this dish- fat juicy prawns, broccoli, some kinda savory white sauce and fried balls with sweet custardy milk inside- little clouds of heaven that I fell in love with as a child.

I once was fortunate enough to be dining during the banquet of a Chinese wedding and got to enjoy my food while serenaded karaoke style.

When celebrating birthdays here, the staff has an absurd birthday song recording they play over the speakers as they sing to you.

Anyway- fresh, family style dishes- coming here regularly means having your set dishes you must order because you crave them and having a billion more choices to try something new.

8302 Queens Blvd

Uncle Nick's Ouzaria Greek Tapas

Fire is fun, cheese is always good, and flaming cheese is just beautiful, I had to order the saganaki even though it pained me to compute the caloric intake. I also really enjoyed my calamari in garlic sauce: extreme garlic action, the kind that makes your pores smell like garlic for a few days- yum yum yum. The grilled swordfish was a little plain. We had a nice bottle of Greek wine. It might get a little pricey if you try to fill up on the smaller dishes; the larger entrees are priced fairly though one may not fill you up on its own. Its a cute place even though the tables are on top of each other. The service was very fast and we even got complimentary shots of dessert wine.


749 9th Ave