Kellari’s Parea

I routinely receive emails requesting that I come to such and such restaurant for a tasting, but I usually do not accept… because a lot of times they are irrelevant to this blog (really far from the beaten path/hard to get to; too expensive for me to recommend even if it is amazing; or just plain looking for me to rave about their place without really believing in their product – yes, this happens, after I respond that if I go, I reserve the right to not post if I don’t want to, and if I do post, I [...]

A Walk down Austin Street in Forest Hills

Let’s take a walk, shall we?
On any given Sunday, I take a walk up to Austin St. in Forest Hills for a few reasons.  Partially to get some exercise and fresh air, partially to check out what’s new in the area, and partially just for the heck of it.  It’s a nice brisk walk and there’s always something to buy! 

First stop is always Sakura-ya, especially if I haven’t eaten lunch yet.  I like to wander around inside and browse the Japanese market for all sorts of goodies, most great for bento.  They have a small section of bento [...]

Corfu Grill

A few weeks back, my friend Izzy and I met up for dinner after not seeing each other for months.  It happens often with us; we’ll email a lot for a few weeks, then life grabs hold and away we go… then months later, one of us will think to herself, “Oh hey, what’s she doing…” and then we’ll meet up.  I can’t say it’s always like no time has passed, as we get older, things do change, but I can say that I always have a good time, and I value her friendship, especially insomuch that out of everyone [...]

Restaurant Week Special Edition: Thalassa

Thalassa crossed my radar last Restaurant Week when a few friends wanted to try it. Unfortunately, due to conflicting circumstances, we didn’t go; then, a few months later, a coworker who was born & raised in Athens went and liked it, so it shot to the top of the list. So this RW, my coworker wanted to go… and off we went.

lamb “ravioli” – my coworker and friend both were only meh on this

“octopodi” special appetizer $7
this was really good, surprisingly fresh and crispy on the outside

tuna “carpaccio”
I liked this dish a lot; you can’t see it but there are [...]

Byblos (Lebanese)

Despite eating more than my fill of kebab in Turkey & Greece, Byblos- a Lebanese restaurant – caught my eye when I saw the many positive reviews on MenuPages.  I was curious to see how good their lamb would be in comparison to Greece/Turkey, though I had a good idea it wouldn’t be as good, perhaps it would come close. 

For those of us who were early/on time/not quite that late, they’d placed on the table some pickled vegetables and some flatbread.  The pita was thin and delightfully chewy, but cold and not that interesting, unfortunately.  We decided to order [...]

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