99 cent pizza

The “99 cent pizza” franchise has a few locations in Manhattan, and opened its Sunnyside location only a few months ago. It’s on 49th street between 43rd Ave and Skillman Ave. The Manhattan locations often have huge lines, but I doubt that’s a problem here, and in fact when I went there around 6pm today, I was the only customer.

As advertised, single cheese slices are just 99 cents. They are slightly smaller than a typical pizza slice, but it’s still well worth it – they are actually of high quality. There are a few toppings you can add – for 50 cents each. Aside from pizza and sodas, there is nothing else available.

There is no discount for ordering a full pie, but at just $8, it’s still much cheaper than any competition (except, perhaps, chains like Papa John’s). Extra toppings on the full pies are $2 each. You can also get a 2 liter bottle of soda for an extra two bucks. The pizza is definitely worth the price. I didn’t really like the crust though (but my dog did!)

Donato’s

After over 5 years of living in Sunnyside, I finally went to dine at Donato’s Italian restaurant, on the corner of 39th Ave and 51st street (almost in Woodside territory). For some reason I always envisioned it as merely a “pizza joint with waiter service”, but I was happy to discover it’s actually a full-fledged Italian restaurant; but yes – you can just grab a slice of pizza there as well.

Donato's

There is plenty of nice white-tablecloth seating inside, as well as some outdoor tables (around the corner, which is why you can’t see them here). There is even a parking lot a couple blocks away were patrons can park if there is no street parking nearby. You can also just grab pizza slices and a few other things for take-out.

 

Complimentary bread

Soon after ordering, the waiters brought a complimentary basket of bread (there was more stuff in there – I just forgot to take a picture initially). We ended up going through most of it as it took quite a long time to get our food. The menu is very extensive, but the waiters were really pushing for the daily specials (which we didn’t end up ordering), so I have a feeling that’s what caused the lengthy cooking time (they had to start from scratch).

Chicken cacciatore

The main entree menu is divided into a few main sections: pasta, poultry, veal, and seafood. The poultry menu is generally the most affordable (even more so than pasta, surprisingly). And yes, it’s also possible to order personal pizzas, large pizzas, and various types of heroes. This chicken cacciatore ($14) comes with a rich sauce filled with peppers, mushrooms, and onions. I was very pleased with this dish – the chicken was succulent, the sauce wasn’t overwhelming, and the portion size was just right. Highly recommended.

Side salad

Each entree comes with a choice of side dish – spaghetti, rice, or salad. I obviously chose the salad. It was good, but nothing to write home about. The spaghetti would have probably been a better choice, but I wanted some greens in my meal.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

This Shrimp Fra Diavolo dish, served over a bed of spaghetti, was tasty but surprisingly expensive at $22. First, note that the prices on Donato’s website are apparently no longer accurate. And it doesn’t even come with a side dish.  The dish is supposed to be somewhat spicy, and when the waitress asked if we did want the spice, we said yes, but then the dish they brought was not spicy at all. My advice is to stick to the traditional poultry dishes, or the pizza.

Tapenade Bistro

Sorry for the long break between posts, but I am starting to run out of good restaurants to go to. Recently we did pay a proper visit to the new Tapenade Bistro though. If you recall, I did go there right before they opened, but at the time they only served some Italian pasta dishes, not their regular menu. They still don’t have a liquor license, so it’s BYOB at no charge, and we did in fact bring a bottle of wine with us.

Tapenade bistro

Run by the former owner of the now defunct Bliss Bistro Tapenade offers dine-in French fare. There is plenty of seating, although some of the 2 person tables are right next to each other, making it feel a little cramped. The TV in the corner also distracts from the ambiance. It’s also a bit dark in there, which is why I must apologize for the low quality of the photos below. One more thing to mention is that the wait staff is excellent!

Lobster bisque

I started off with the lobster bisque ($6.50) It came in a huge bowl, but it was shallow and the amount really wasn’t all that much. It was good, but a bit too fishy. “But lobster is seafood!”, you retort, “it should be fishy!” Well, yes, it’s seafood, but it’s not a fish. There is a distinction. Overall it was still good, but certainly could have been better.

Escargot

The escargot (snails) appetizer ($6.50) was a better choice than the bisque. Still, the snails were a little bland, and not as good as the ones from Bliss 46 Bistro. In general, I think the food at the other new French restaruant is better. They have the head chef from the old Bliss Bistro, whereas Tapenade just has the owner.

Grilled Tuna

The grilled tuna dish ($16) is cooked to order, and although this one looks thoroughly cooked from the outside, it’s deliciously pink on the inside. It came with potatoes (at the bottom) and some green veggies, which definitely complemented the tuna well. The fish itself was good, but again, I’ve had better.

Duck confit

The elegantly arranged duck confit ($14) was cheaper than the tuna, but in my opinion of higher quality overall. Sometime the duck can be gamey, but that wasn’t at all the case here. Would definitely recommend this dish.

Creme Broulle

We opted for the rate dessert tonight, and shared this creme broulle ($6). It was delicious! There are a few other desserts available in this price range as well.

La Pollera Colorada

Although it’s very close to my house, I’ve only been to La Pollera Colorada once before, for a few years ago for brunch. Tonight we decided to go back for a take-out dinner. The Colombian restaurant (which also has plenty of seating and waiter service), is located on Greenpoint Ave between 41st and 42nd streets.

La Pollera Colorada

The extensive menu, which has daily specials, includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner specials, and they also do serve alcohol. Although the sign outside emphasizes chicken (pollos) the majority of dishes is actually beef-based, although there is also a seafood section. Ironically, the chicken section is the shortest.

Grilled chicken breast

This grilled chicken dish, #44 on the menu, costs $13. There are multiple chunks of delicious chicken, topped off with a plantain. In a separate dish, you get a lot of white rice and beans. There is also a small salad, which you will see in the next picture.

Mixed rice with chicken

The mixed rice with chicken is surprisingly only $8.50 (most of the entrees are above $10), and it’s absolutely enormous. We kept eating and eating and the plate still seemed full (we ended up saving most of it for tomorrow). It seems like half the content is yellow rice though, with the rest being chicken and a few peas and carrots. This also comes with a salad (fresh lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and onions), and a plantain. The container you see in the back that seems like it contains only lettuce is actually a full salad, but for some reason all the other ingredients are at the bottom. Overall my one complaint about La Pollera Colorada was the wait time, especially since the cashier initially told me it would be “less than 10 minutes” for my food to be ready, when in reality it too almost a half hour.

Mi Bolivia

After last week’s aborted attempt at dining at Mi Bolivia, we finally came here with some friends for lunch yesterday. The small dine-in Bolivian restaurant is located on 48th ave near 45th street.

Mi Bolivia

The restaurant really focuses on the saltenas (Bolivian empanadas essentially), and sometimes that’s the only thing they’re actually serving (even though the menu is ostensibly very extensive, featuring breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, as well as desserts).

Saltenas

Here are the famous saltenas, one beef and one chicken (those are the only two kinds available here). They go for only $2 each – it’s a great deal, as even just two can easily constitute a light lunch.

Eating a saltena

Our friend Alex demonstrates the proper procedure for consuming a saltena. The inside are filled not just with chunks of food, but also lots of very liquidy sauce. So if you just take a big bite, it’s going to spill out allover the place. The idea is to hold them vertically and take small bites starting from the top.

Inside a saltena

Here is a peek into the depths of the saltena. As you can see on the plate below, some of my sauce has already spiled out by this point.

Peanut soup

This huge bowl of peanut soup is listed as “Sope de Mani” in Spanish on the menu and goes for $6. It’s a huge bowl, and as you can see they even throw entire french fries into the mix. I am not a fan of peanut-based foods, but others testify that this soup is really good.

Avocado salad

Don’t order the salads at Mi Bolivia. They have an entire page in the menu with them, but the first two I tried to order were unavailable. I finally settled for this avocado salad, which is just a bland mix of avocados, tomatoes, and lettuce. And I really don’t understand the price – $6! I could have gotten 3 more of the delicious saltenas for that money.

Humitas

This humita is only $3  Inside the wrapper is a steamed corn pudding with raisins and cheese . It was sweet and quite good.

Biriyani house

We originally planned on going to “Mi Bolivia” on 48th ave today, but upon arriving we were informed they were only serving saltenas today, so we postponed that one till another day. So instead, we visited the small Indian\Bangladeshi restaurant Biriyani House, on 43rd st just north of Queens Blvd.

Biriyani House

It’s a small but ample place, with seating for a couple dozen people (bigger than it seems). They offer delivery, but there is a minimum of $25. There was a TV on the wall, showing some very dramatic Indian soap operas.

Papadum

I am very proud of myself for looking up that this crispy Indian bread is actually called Papadum. It came as a complimentary appetizer, with some chutney (one sweet sauce, and one pickled).

Vegetable samosa

An order of vegetable samosas is just $2 (for two samosas). They were very good, and even better with chutney.

Garlic naan

There is a variety of naan available on the menu. The cheapest is $1.50, and this garlic naan (4 pieces) was $2.

Boneless chicken Biriyani

Here is something I’ve never had before – the restaurant’s namesake, a boneless chicken Biriyani ($9). There are a few other meats available as well. It consists mostly of rice, with some fried onions, and what looks like an orange tomato, but what is actually… a hard boiled egg! Not sure what makes it orange – I guess some sauce they cook it in; it tasted like a normal egg though.

Chicken tikka masala

This is a standard chicken tikka masala ($10). It was good, but not exceptional. It also comes with a big side of rice (which you will see in the next picture), and its spiciness can be customized.

Salad

The Biriyani dish came with this side salad, as well as an interesting plate of limes, onions, and spicy (very spicy!) peppers, which looked a little deceptively like small string beans. Overall we had quite a feast (and ended up taking some of it home for tomorrow), all for a mere $25.

Tapenade Bistro preview

The owner of the defunct Bliss Bistro has just opened up a new restaurant on Queens Blvd (between 44th and 45th streets, on the north side). It’s also a French restaurant, although the chef is new. We stopped by this evening – the very first day they were open, although the real opening is tomorrow – tonight they were just serving some introductory wine and pasta dishes (for free!)

Tapenade bistro

The space looks decidedly smaller than at the old Bliss Bistro, but supposedly there is an outdoor area out back as well. There is a bar and a TV. We were seated right by the windows, where it was a little chilly. The table itself was the wobbliest table I’ve ever seen in my life! It was almost comical – it wasn’t just at the base that it was wobbling – it was somehow independently wobbling at the tops as well – it was a bit like eating on a ship during a storm.

Vegetarian pasta

I was a little surprised to see pasta, since it’s more Italian than French, but given that it was all complimentary tonight, it makes sense. This vegetarian pasta with a tomato sauce was delicious.

Pasta with ham

The other available option was the same kind of pasta, but with a different sauce, and some ham. I definitely preferred the vegetarian one. I am not sure if they will be serving these pastas as part of their regular offerings; maybe as side dishes? We saw a glimpse of the actual menu, and it looked to be filled with traditional French dishes, as well as some lunch fare (sandwiches, and even burgers). We will revisit Tapenade at some point in the next few weeks to do a real review.