We are coming back to Astoria in March. Our agenda includes Sweeney Todd and Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabakin. We are free Saturday night March 11 and/or for lunch March 12. We are staying in Astoria and are wide open to suggestions. Seafood & veggie-heavy are preferred.
We have a birthday dinner in NJ to go to on March 11th, but lunch on the 12th seems good. I certainly wouldnt mind a return trip to Hamido, but we’re pretty open.
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Abu Quir is also great.
Looks likely that I will be packing up my office that weekend and moving out on Monday, but if something changes, I’ll let you know.
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Flying out that weekend, hope you and Kay have a great time!
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dang! sorry to miss you and kay, we’re out of town that weekend, def next visit!
Our next trip is in May, Mother’s day weekend!
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Is Sunday lunch at Abuqir still in the cards?
Yes. We up for it. Steve and Ginny can’t make it.
I will be out west. Timing for some reason seems so hard for me for the NYC get togethers.
I have a conflict on Sunday, so I’ll have to miss the lunch.
Well, Dean, if it’s going to be just you, and Kay, and me, perhaps we can make a mini-crawl of it and get a little falafel beforehand, and some basbousa, kanafa, or mahalabiya afterward.
We have all afternoon to fill. Need to hit subway by 5pm.
We are not doing sugary desserts right now, but i am sure we can figure something out.
Before our March 12 lunch at Abuqir, in Astoria, Dean, Kay, and I had planned to visit El Mariscos Submarino, in Jackson Heights, but the doors were still shut at this Mexican restaurant 15 minutes after their posted noon opening. (We suspect that someone forgot to “spring forward” on the first day of Daylight Saving Time.) Instead we walked to Warique, a Peruvian restaurant nearby, for their house-special ceviche (the shrimp, unfried squid, and corvina are not so apparent) and a platter of mussels.
After a few intermediate stops, we did eventually sit down at Abuqir Seafood, or actually in the enclosed dining area outside; at 3:00ish on a pleasant-for-March Sunday, the small indoor dining area was packed. Shown below: eggplant; grilled squid, scallops, and octopus (we got the very last tentacle); sautéed clams; and baked black sea bass.
Abuqir only offered two vegetable sides, but the eggplant Dean chose was excellent. I think he was leaning toward raw clams, which probably would have been the better choice. Dean also asked at the counter for cuttlefish, and we received squid instead, but this was excellent too -— as tender as can be.
Afterward, Dean and Kay headed off, with their luggage, for their train back home. Any further eats I might have enjoyed in Astoria belong to some future post.
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Fuller and more informed and even more excited about food! Thanks Dave.
I really liked the clams myself even if a little chewy. But each dish was well seasoned and both the clams and squid had a natural sweetness and the squid was cooked perfectly.
But as good as the seafood at Abuquir was, the Peruvian food at Warique was even better! It just hit the spot. The tigre de leche was more balanced than most I have had. And each separate element was perfectly cooked. Even the slice of sweet potato was at an exact point of lusciousness. And the mussels were a kick of flavor and fun. The other table seated ordered tasty looking tortas and I smelled the whiff of really good chicken. I can’t wait to go back.
Plus there are two spots I can’t wait to go back to, but we did not get to try due to time limitations and their being very busy.
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Sorry to have missed this, guys, the food looks delicious!
Next time i hope!
