We’ve seen this restaurant Hamido Seafood on social media all over the place. Like many Astoria restaurants, they pride themselves in having the freshest seafood, and they are somewhat close to Taverna Kyclades down the street. We went to the original Hamido Seafood restaurant at 4 PM on a Saturday late afternoon, and we were lucky to be seated right away before the crowds came. They are located very close to the N/W train off the Ditmars train stop.

Whenever we go to Food Bazaar, we always frequent the area right across Northern Blvd to see what other restaurants might be decent. Some highlights around here include: [Pig Beach BBQ]({{ relref “pig-beach-bbq” }}) and SVL Souvlaki Bar. I saw that there’s this little quaint Spanish restaurant Cafe Olé even closer to the market, so we checked this place out. We were able to walk in without reservations around 3 PM on a Friday afternoon.

We tend to go to Food Bazaar on the outskirts of Long Island City often, and the easiest way to get there by train whilst having dinner options would be to exit off Steinway St in Astoria via the M/R train. This area has a mix of random restaurants ranging from national chains like Applebee’s to Mediterranean and Latin options. This restaurant is literally right across street from the subway entrance, so it was very easy to access.

We have been here before prior to the pandemic when it was a weigh by the pound buffet-style. My partner took me here once because they had been here before several times and said it was their favorite. However that one time, I didn’t really enjoy it because the meat was all overcooked, and the rest of the sides were very mediocre. They agreed with me and were surprised by how mediocre it was on that day.

This Peruvian restaurant was also on my partner’s list of cheap eats to try. The menu was quite similar to the prior Peruvian restaurant, Caravan Chicken we went to a few weeks ago. It’s conveniently located off the Ditmars N/W train on Ditmars itself. We arrived here at 7 PM, and there was no line nor patrons inside. We were not sure what to make of this considering how much we enjoyed the last restaurant.

Lately, we’ve been looking for budget type of restaurants outside of the main areas of Manhattan. This restaurant came at a suggestion from my partner’s friend. It’s located pretty close to us on Broadway in Astoria and fairly close to the N subway. It really is a no frills restaurant with a lot of local take out and dine-in traffic. We arrived here around 5 PM on a Sunday evening, and finding a seat for 2 people was pretty straight forward.

This area of Astoria is not in the heart where Ditmars and Broadway are, but rather on the cusp. There are a lot of different restaurants around that are not overly busy, so it’s easy to get a seat on most nights. We decided to stop by this new-ish BBQ restaurant on our way to the market. Pig Beach actually has alternative locations in Miami and in Brooklyn, and it has its own unique BBQ zest to its mix.

Astoria has a lot of nice gems for affordable prices. My partner wanted to do a nice walk and try out this restaurant per recommendation from their friend. At first glance at the menu, I was thinking this seems kind of ok. I had already done the artisan pizza several times, so my expectations were pretty low. I read many reviews, but I was skeptical because they were all pretty positive.

One of the really cool things about the Astoria neighborhood that is different than Manhattan and maybe Brooklyn, is that Japanese food is reasonably priced compared to the other boroughs. I am thinking part of the cause is because of the density of the Asian demographics in the area and having to be competitive with other neighborhood restaurants. This particular restaurant was just a few blocks north of Suzuki Shokudo.

Every few weeks, we make a market run, and we pass by this small area in Astoria that is relatively close to the market. Nearby, they have a few chain restaurants as well as some NYC specific restaurants. This Mexican restaurant seems to always be happening, so we decided to give it a try this time around. They have a ton of tables, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem securing an indoor or outdoor table.