3E Taste of Thai

If you like your Thai food with a side of smooth R&B music, then 3E Taste of Thai is the place to be. Where the popular music of choice in Astoria is Euro-club beats, Taste of Thai offers a more soulful approach to your dining experience.

Located on Broadway between 35^th and 36^th Street, the restaurant consists of a dimly lit bar area and dining room. The ambience caters more to the young, and seems like a popular group date spot, with many tables set up to accommodate groups. Having visited Taste of Thai on a Friday night, what started as two filled tables later turned into the whole dining room filling up, with a wait forming in the foyer of the restaurant.

3E Taste of Thai Bar + Dining Area

My companions and I started our meal with the Crab Rangoon and Shrimp Co-Nut. Our entrees were the Chicken Pad Thai, Delicious Beef Cashew Nut, and Chicken Healthy Ginger. Although the authenticity of Crab Rangoon in true Asian cooking lends itself to be disputed, the Crab Rangoon at Taste of Thai was excellent, with a perfectly crispy wonton wrapper surrounding warm cream cheese, imitation crab meat, and scallions. The sweet dipping sauce served with it only accented the flavor of the cheese. The Shrimp Co-Nut consisted of butterflied shrimp in a coconut and almond crust served also with sweet dipping sauce. The shrimp was juicy and fresh, and the coconut and almond breading added a sweet and deep flavor. A round of Thai Iced Teas provided a sweet and milky refreshment to our taste buds.

Crab Rangoon

Shrimp Co-Nut

Thai Iced Teas

The Chicken Delicious Cashew Nut was the favorite dish of the night. Served with a blend of carrots, onion, bell peppers, celery, and cashew nuts in a dry chili paste, this dish was full of rich flavors from all the vegetables and chili paste. The cashew nuts added some base to the seasoned dish. All in all, it was a solid entrée that I would come back for.

Chicken Cashew Nut

The Chicken Pad Thai left more to be desired. Having eaten my fair share of Thai food lately (Thai Pavilion, Leng), the Pad Thai at Taste of Thai missed the mark. The mix of rice noodles, bean curd, egg, peanuts, and bean sprouts had a bitter after taste and lacked the flavor pad Thai is known for.

Chicken Pad Thai

The Chicken Healthy Ginger came with stir-fried pineapple, mushrooms, onion, celery, cell peppers, and onion, with fresh ginger. The dish was tasty, and the fresh ginger gave the chicken and vegetables a refreshing kick.

Chicken Healthy Ginger

For dessert, we shared the Fried Banana Ice Cream. The banana came served as four pieces, each covered in a rice sheet, spring roll style. The deep-friend pieces came with vanilla ice cream topped with coconut shavings and honey. The cold ice cream accented with coconut mixed with the warm banana was nothing short of delicious. My one comment was the rice sheet was so thickly and tightly wrapped around the banana that I had to bit through many layers of this sheet until I tasted the fruit. I would have preferred a looser and thinner layer so that I could taste the fruit more.

Fried Banana Ice Cream

While Taste of Thai lacks the ambiance I normally prefer, it features some great dishes that I looked forward to ordering and trying again. It is not the best Thai restaurant I have been to, but it has dishes I enjoy. And at prices barely reaching $10 an entrée, this makes a great low-cost option for Thai food in Astoria.

Bugatti Cafe

I had always been intrigued by Bugatti. Situated on an ever-growing food corner, Bugatti neighbors local favorites Pachanga Patterson, Bareburger, and Il Bambino on 31^st Avenue, with Italian food rivals Bartolino and Portalia on Broadway. Bugatti characterizes itself as a more upscale Italian eatery, seen in its dark wood décor and offering of valet services. My relationship with Bugatti started off on the wrong foot. Having purchased a Groupon to try out the establishment, I was told by one of the wait staff that they would not accept my Groupon on the Friday night I was trying to book, even though there was no mention of this restriction on the Groupon. Conversations with Groupon resulted in this restriction being lifted, but reading Yelp reviews of other Groupon users painted a less than stellar dining experience. Numerous reviews stated that when using their Groupons, patrons were treated differently, charged unfairly, and had an overall negative perception of the restaurant. Unfortunately, it seems as if Bugatti does not understand the point of this service. Yes, restaurants may not see a profit from diners using a Groupon, but the use of this service and other similar services is to gain repeat visits and therefore, more customers. Restaurants that fail to recognize this only end up hurting themselves more when they offer a disappointing experience.

The interior of Bugatti Café features dark wood paneling, with an exposed brick wall and mural covering the main wall. Bugatti has a full bar, located to the right, and has outdoor seating for the warmer months.  Stereotypical Italian music is generally heard to passerbys, but on the evening of my visit, the music choice was the Buena Vista Social Club. While the music isn’t blasting like many other places, it was a bit loud.

interior

interior

interior

Our server was friendly, which helped ease my reservations about the place. A basket of crusty bread was set on our table, served with some roasted zucchini and garlic in olive oil. The bread was fresh , and paired with the vegetables, was a perfect prelude to our meal. For our dishes, my friend and I ordered the Taglierini Con Pesto e Gamberetti and the Nodino di Vitello. I had wanted the Branzino (striped bass) entrée but it was sold out when I ordered. For a starter, we chose the Burrata.

complimentary bread

The Burrata is described as an imported cream-filled Mozzarella served on vegetable caponata and tossed pignoli nuts. This dish blew me and my friend away. A generous pouch of Burrata lay atop a medley of warm chopped vegetables and a bit of fresh pesto. The Burrata was so rich and so fresh, I have never tasted a Mozzarella like it before. Eaten with the seasoned vegetables further brought out the buttery flavor of the cheese. The Burrata is a winning dish at Bugatti, and one that I will be back for.

Burrata

The Taglierini Con Pesto e Gamberetti consists of fresh taglierini pasta with grilled shrimp, basil, and pesto. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish as well  - the portion was perfect, and the pesto was homemade, and very strong. I love strong pesto, but after eating so much of it, it got a bit overpowering. The grilled shrimp was perfectly cooked, and truly grilled, as I could taste the smokiness on the seafood.

Taglierini Con Pesto e Gamberetti

The Nodino di Vitello is a pan-seared boneless loin of veal, served with fresh sage, thyme, and a dry white wine sauce. It comes with broccoli rabe and roasted potato slices.  This dish was heartily enjoyed by my friend. The veal was extremely tender, and the rich wine sauce paired well with the meat. The broccoli rabe and roasted potatoes were both amazing, and well seasoned, making this dish a very fulfilling meal.

Nodino di Vitello

For dessert, my companion and I shared the Nutella crepes, served as two thin crepes rolled with Nutella. It is difficult to mess up Nutella crepes, and Bugatti did a good job in presentation and taste, offering some walnuts mixed in .

Nutella crepes

The owner of the place was sitting at the restaurant while we were there, and did not welcome us or ask us about our meal.  I noticed she catered to the regulars, and made no effort to see how we enjoyed the place, which was a bit disappointing.

Groupon and management issues aside, I really loved the food at Bugatti. We were lucky to get a nice server, and enjoyed our meal. The ambience and typical clientele at Bugatti is not the vibe I gravitate towards when going out to eat, but the excellent food alone makes this a place I will consider visiting again.  

Astor Bake Shop

Grabbing a burger at a bakery may seem unusual to most, but at Astor Bake Shop, burgers, beers, wine, and a dinner menu accompany the macaroons, éclairs, and tarts that decorate the pastry counter. In fact, Astor Bake Shop may just as well be known for their burgers as their desserts, having graced reviews for their beef on Serious Eats and other blogs.

Located in a part of “Old Astoria” I had never quite ventured into, Astor Bake Shop is worlds away from the concentrated Astoria food scene dominating 30^th Ave and the surrounding avenues. Instead, the bakery is located in a quiet part of town, which adds to the charm of this quaint bake shop. The interior of the maroon paneled storefront reveals a fusion of bakery and coffee shop. Décor is minimal, letting the space speak for itself. A white tiled floor holds dark wooden tables, perfect for long hours of laptop work, or a meal amongst friends. The back of the bake shop houses all the bakery equipment and kitchen, while the front holds the pastry displays and coffee counter. Astor Bake Shop proudly serves Stone Street Coffee, which is a micro roaster based out of Brooklyn. Owner-chef George McKirdy brings with him impressive experience at NYC favorites Nobu, Butter NYC, and Café Boulud, to name a few.

interior

pastry counter

coffee bar

pastry selection

Having heard rave reviews of the infamous Astor burger, a group of friends and I decided to try Astor Bake Shop for dinner. The lunch and dinner menu at Astor Bake Shop is the same, and consists of burgers, sandwiches, mac and cheese, fries, and salads, with a few featured specials each day. Being a party of six, our group settled on four Astor Burgers, a Croque Monsieur, the Slow Baked Chicken Sandwich, and Garlic Herb French Fries.

The Astor Burger comes served with Astor Bake Shop’s coleslaw, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and the signature Astor Sauce, on a challah bun.  The burger lived up to its expectations, with rave reviews all around.  Suggestions for improvements were that the special sauce was too scarce and therefore, not very noticeable, and that the coleslaw on the burger was really cold, throwing off the temperature of the whole burger. The Garlic Herb Fries were a table hit, as everyone enjoyed the super crispy and  perfectly seasoned garlicky fries.

Astor Burger

Slow Cooked Chicken Sandwich

Astor Burger

My Croque Monsieur was filled with black forest ham and Swiss cheese, served on brioche bread. As a sandwich, it served its function, however as a Croque Monsieur, I thought it needed improvement. The sandwich to me was more a cheese sandwich than a genuine Croque Monsieur. I had the most amazing Croque Madame (which is a Croque Monsier served with an egg on top) once in a café in Paris, and have been desperately trying to find (or make) an equivalent here in the States without much success. When I saw the menu featured the Croques, I immediately knew I had to have it. Coupled with the fact that the chef-owner has a background in French cooking further sealed the deal. However the Croque Monsieur I had was more of a grilled cheese with ham, and one served limp and cold at that. The nature of the brioche bread itself doesn’t hold up as a bread that should be crispy and grilled, resulting in a soft, buttery sandwich. I thought it could have been served warmer, as it was cold when I received it, and it could also have been a bit hearty with more ham and cheese. Sandwich aside, my dish came with a side salad of shredded cabbage, almost like a cole slaw but without the mayonnaise. The dressing was tangy, and while at first it threw me off, I enjoyed it.

Croque Monsieur

While my friends and I were too full to order dessert, the pastries in the display case looked enticing. I would definitely go back to Astor Back Shop to try their popular brunch or stop by for some coffee and pastries. I loved the atmosphere of the establishment, and while its location is a ways off, it is worth the commute. Astor Bake Shop is the type of café where you can sit for hours undisturbed, enjoying your coffee and the calmness of the bake shop. It is definitely a refreshing change from the Euro-pop cafes lining 30^th Avenue that blast techno all day and night.