Sugar Freak

Sugar Freak has been a long time in the making, with owners Michele and Al signing the lease for the 1,000-square-foot restaurant in 2009, with a longer than usual soft opening in June of 2011 and a grand reopening in September of that year. The restaurant derived its name due to the owners’ original concept of opening a dessert shop, which then grew to become a restaurant dedicated to New Orleans’ home style Cajun cooking.

I was lucky enough to discover Sugar Freak for dinner on the first night of their soft launch, and I have to say they’ve come a long way since their beginnings. The menu has gone through some changes and additions, the staff has grown, and the service has improved.

Sugar Freak from the outside

The décor at Sugar Freak is nothing short of beautiful and unique. Patchwork quilted pillows – each one unique - line the backs of the booth seating, with exposed brick walls and pipes lining the ceiling. The restaurant has a very warm, Southern hospitality feel to it. You feel as though you are in someone’s (beautiful) house (or the pages of the Anthropologie catalog) rather than a restaurant on 30^th Avenue. The extra thought that has gone into each detail is appreciated, from the aluminum split can candle holders, to the Mason jar salt and pepper shakers and the sponge painted paper towel holders on each table. The bathrooms are equally attractive, made entirely of wood and featuring tin pail sinks.

interior

interior

quilted pillows

interior

interior

interior

interior

bathroom interior

bathroom interior

interior

On a recent visit, my friends and I ordered the Deviled Eggs and the “Debris” and Cheese Fries as appetizers. The Deviled Eggs are not your grandma’s holiday party hors d’oeuvres, unless your grandma happens to add some jazz to this traditional staple. Sugar Freak’s Deviled Eggs come in batches of four, with the flavors being spicy crab, shrimp, crispy fried chicken skin, and bacon, egg and cheese. This playful twist on a rather simple dish was delicious. The “Debris” and Cheese Fries is described as beef gravy with tender beef “bits” and Cajun cheese sauce topped with jalapeno peppers. When we got the fries, we thought the chef forgot to include the gravy. It wasn't until we were almost done with the fries did we see the thin layer of gravy on the bottom of the basket, without the beef bits described. This aside, the Cajun cheese sauce and what we could taste of the gravy was very rich and tasty, and went great with the jalapeno peppers sprinkled on top. Though we did not get them this time, we had the Crayfish Boudin Balls on a previous visit. Perfectly fried, these balls are a house favorite.

Deviled Eggs

"Debris" and Cheese Fries

For our main dishes, my friends had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken (All White) and the Grilled Chicken Po’Boy , while I opted for the Jambalaya, consisting of Louisiana-Creole seasoned rice with chicken and Andouille sausage.  The Jambalaya was well-seasoned, and had a hearty kick to the dish. The spices were rich and I enjoyed the little bits of crispy celery pieces throughout. The sausage and chicken were tasty, although the chicken was not as plentiful as the sausage. The first time I got this in the soft opening, I fell in love with the flavors of this dish and found it be one of the best comfort foods. I found the portion to be bigger on this most recent visit, and also found the rice a little bit dry.

Jambalaya 

The Buttermilk Fried Chicken left a lot to be desired. My friend found the chicken flavorful, but dry and lacking the greasy indulgence associated with fried chicken. This came with a side, and my friend opted for the tasty Red Beans and Rice with Smoked Sausage.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken w. Red Beans and Rice

The Po’Boys are served on Gambino’s French Bread from New Orleans, and topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and served with fries. The Grilled Chicken on my friend’s Po’Boy was a little greasy, but overall the Po’Boys are a solid hit at Sugar Freak.

Grilled Chicken Po'Boy

Sugar Freak no longer has a dessert menu, but the desserts for the day are read aloud by the waiters. On our visit, Sugar Freak was serving their Popcorn Pudding, Caramel and Chocolate Bread Pudding, Bailey’s Bread Pudding, and Pineapple and Cherry Crisp. We ordered the Caramel and Chocolate Bread Pudding, which was moist and wonderful.  I was lucky enough to get a sampler of all three of their desserts at the time on my first visit, due to a longer than usual wait for a to-go order, and they were all equally delicious.  While their desserts are tasty, it strikes me as odd the owners decided to stick with Sugar Freak as a name for their establishment.  

Chocolate and Caramel Bread Pudding

Sugar Freak is a unique restaurant for Astoria, offering delicious New Orleans-inspired dishes in a fun and beautiful setting. It is one that I will continue to visit whenever I’m craving some South in my mouth. 

Queens Comfort

Queens Comfort popped up on my radar this past May, when a New York Times article highlighted various culinary hotspots in the up-and-coming food scenes of Astoria and Long Island City. Before ever visiting it, I was immediately drawn to two things about the place: the distinguished look of the restaurant and the accompanying vibe, and their menu that changes daily. Having a menu that constantly offers new food choices is no easy task, and I was intrigued at the dedication that must go into coming up with new, different food options so frequently. I also appreciate the physical restaurant itself – the exterior looks like it could be someone’s house, with a “Queens Comfort” sign hanging outside one of the two windows, and a bench in front of the other. The inside of the establishment is not big, but it is not cramped either; smaller, four person tables line the perimeter of the room, with a bunch of these smaller tables forming one long table stretching throughout the middle, making it perfect for larger groups, or intermingling of smaller ones. Additionally, there are individual seats on the counter. It is a cozy, comfortable dwelling, which pairs well with their name and comfort food offerings. The interior is decorated like someone’s personal living space as well – a projector plays movies on a projector screen, with shelves of movies one can choose from within reach. There is a bowl of candy near the entrance, along with a guestbook.  And the mugs for coffee and tea are a hodgepodge of collected mugs like one would have in their own cabinet – my friend got a Florida mug with postcard images of seashells and aquatic life.

Queens Comfort exterior, by night

window number one

window number two

projector screen playing a Halloween movie

middle table chain + counter area

Queens Comfort is unique for Astoria. Besides having an evolving daily menu, they are also BYOB and specialize in southern comfort food. Although not the healthiest of places, Queens Comfort aims to evoke nostalgia through their food, using kid-friendly ingredients such as Eggo waffles for their fried chicken and waffle dish, Honey Smacks cereal sprinkled on salad, Oreo doughnuts, and a PB&J Burger, with Skippy’s peanut butter and grape jelly spread on a beef patty.

My friends and I found ourselves at Queens Comfort on a Tuesday night, a bit later on in the evening for a late dinner. Having checked out the menu online, I was excited to learn that they had two types of mac and cheese as appetizer dishes that day: a scallion mac and cheese, and a bacon mac and cheese. As I was ordering the scallion mac and cheese, I was told by the waitress they had run out. I was really looking forward to this and had it in my head I was going to have it there, so I was a bit disappointed to find out so last minute that they had run out for the day. I also had a question about the meatloaf sandwich, and learned they were out of that as well.  Our group decided on the fried green tomatoes with ranch dressing, and the corn with Parmesan cheese and sriracha sauce drizzle for our appetizers. For our main dishes we had the Animal Burger, the Fried Pickle Burger, and the Pulled Pork Sandwich. All three came with fries, and ran for $12 each. 

The fried green tomatoes were a delightful surprise. Considering they were covered in a thick coating of breadcrumbs and fried, they were light and not soaking in oil upon their arrival. The tomatoes were fresh and perfectly coated and seasoned in the breadcrumbs. I was expecting the generic store bought, thick ranch dressing to come with it, but was pleased to see a lighter, homemade ranch sauce arrive at the table, which did not overpower the taste of the tomatoes. 

fried green tomatoes w. ranch dressing

fried green tomato

The corn was equally delicious, with the taste of the cheesy Parmesan mixing with the kick of the sriracha sauce and the sweetness of the corn harmoniously.

corn w. Parmesan + sriracha

Our waitress did not ask us how we wanted our burgers cooked, which caught me by surprise and also made me nervous for what was going to be on my plate. Being picky about my meat and how it is cooked, I was relived upon biting into my Animal Burger to notice that it was cooked perfectly – medium well with no pink on the inside, and a bit of char on the outside, just how I like it. The burger itself was delicious – I was really impressed by the juiciness and flavor of the meat. It was a great burger. The Animal Burger consists of caramelized onions and “animal sauce.” Not knowing what this animal sauce was, I figured it would be some blend of mayo and ketchup, which I believe it was. I enjoyed my burger wholeheartedly but was not impressed with the fries, at all. After eating a few of them, I gave up on the spuds. They were overwhelming soggy and limp, and so saturated with oil that many of them were translucent. They were also lacking seasonings, and not hot. I love fries but only when done right, and that to me means crispy, fresh, hot, and salted. Queens Comfort fries lacked on all fronts. And it wasn’t just mine – the fries that accompanied the Fried Pickle Burger and the Pulled Pork Sandwich were the same.

Animal Burger

The Fried Pickle Burger came stacked high with freshly fried pickles and Dijonnaise sauce. Fried pickles are a bit tricky since the fried coating usually slips off the pickle, but the crunch and the accompanying sour bite of the pickles synced with the juicy beef. The Pulled Pork Sandwich came topped with fresh homemade coleslaw. Additionally, my friend ordered a homemade lightly sweetened iced tea which was, as the description stated, perfectly sweetened with just a subtle hint of sugar.

Fried Pickle Burger

 Pulled Pork Sandwich

Next came dessert. One of our main deciding factors on coming to Queens Comfort that evening was seeing that they had Pumpkin Butterscotch Bread Pudding on the menu. My friend is a fiend for bread pudding, and the sound of this got us all excited for dessert. As our waitress came over to take our dessert order, and as the word butterscotch left my friend’s lips, our waitress informed us they were also out of the bread pudding for the evening. Our other options were the Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts and Pumpkin Pie. We ordered those, along with a Stumptown coffee. Yes, Queens Comfort serves the fan favorite Stumptown coffee, which is hard to find in this neck of the woods. The Pumpkin Pie was okay, but had no particularly special flavor. The doughnuts however, were awful. Both our doughnuts were hard, dry, and stale, and tasted as if they had been sitting out from the day before.  I knocked my doughnut a few times on my plate to hear a knocking sound, with sprinkles of the sugar and cinnamon coating falling on my plate. I unfortunately could have gotten fresher doughnuts at Dunkin’ Doughnuts.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut

Pumpkin Pie

I would go back to Queens Comfort, but under certain conditions. I would definitely aim to get there earlier in the day, before they run out of some of their dishes.  Next time I order dessert, I’d ask when the dessert was made. As for the soggy fries, I do not know if that would change depending on the day, or if that is how they are made intentionally. I know some people like soggy, oil drenched fries, but I certainly don’t.  Our server was not very attentive, and lacked to tell us what was done for the day until we ordered it. I understand that due to the nature of their menus, they do not have big batches of dishes, and run out of menu items fast. But what bothered me about our server is instead of telling us upfront “we are out of x-y-z” she waited all three times until we asked about or chose to order certain dishes before telling us they were out. It is also cash-only. These issues aside, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Queens Comfort and am curious to try their other offerings. I like that it is BYOB, and that their menu has some really unique items you cannot find elsewhere in Astoria.  I am fond of Queens Comfort's laid back vibe, and think it has a lot of potential to amass a foodie following here in Astoria and other parts of Queens.