We’ve been frequent shoppers at Murray’s Cheese for our normal night in eating cheese and charcuterie. This location in Long Island City also has a restaurant part of it. I’ve taken a few glances at the menu, and there were some individual things that caught my eye. Fortunately, it was a lazy Saturday, and it was raining. This would be the ideal night to try this place out. We were able to walk in without reservations at 4:30 PM on a Saturday 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.

The Kyuramen restaurant chain has been slowly making its way throughout the greater NYC area. They just opened a location out in Long Island City which is not too far from where we live. This restaurant had construction signs early in the pandemic and just never opened until now. We thought we would be able to get seated right away on an early Sunday afternoon, but they checked us into Yelp and we had to wait around for about 15 minutes for a table of 2.

My partner was craving for lomo saltado, and they found this on Yelp. I mentioned to them that we had ordered this via Seamless before, but nonetheless we decided to check out this place in person. They actually have 2 locations near us: either in Astoria or in Sunnyside. The trains towards Astoria are just atrocious on weekends in that there’s like a 15 minute delay between trains. Going on the 7 train would have netted us better towards Sunnyside.

Carla is a local neighborhood restaurant close to Long Island City and Queensboro Plaza. At first glance, the restaurant’s menu seems very basic, but sometimes I think this could be misleading. I had been periodically glancing at the menu, and I noticed it changing every so slightly on a monthly basis. Since we had a lazy Saturday, we decided to try this place out. The restaurant’s motto is all about good vibes.

Zaab Zaab is a highly rated New York Times restaurant that serves North Eastern Thai food. We have been trying various Thai flavors that are very different than your typical Thai restaurant. I’ve noticed that these North/Eastern restaurants tend to have much more bolder and spicier flavors that are a bit more adventurous than what you’d normally expect. This is located fairly close to the 7 or E train by exiting off Jackson Heights / Roosevelt Ave.

When I first saw the word “sobremesa”, I instantly thought of dessert since that is what it means in Brazilian Portuguese. This restaurant is more of a taco place and is relatively new in the Long Island City neighborhood, and it’s located in a barren neighborhood with a bunch of empty warehouses. Surprisingly, there was a beer place opened next door, and there was an outside picnic area where people can enjoy their tacos in a social environment.

The summer heat is starting to come to NYC, and it makes everyone including me feel especially groggy. This was also a lazy weekend since we’re mentally preparing for the humidity to rapidly increase. Fortunately on this day, it was not too bad. Instead of ordering for delivery, my partner wanted to travel to eat Thai somewhere. We centered on the Woodside area since we had visited before at Thailand’s Center Point.

I’ve somehow gotten my partner to enjoy pasta a bit more. Some sacrifices have to be made such as looking for lasagna, but it’s worth it. I have to thank Tony Soprano and how he always made Italian sandwiches and pasta look so delicious. We had to stop by the pharmacy, and nearby was this incognito Italian wood fire pizza place. We were able to walk in without reservations on a Saturday evening around 5:30 PM.

Having been to Sweet Chick before in North Williamsburg, I vaguely remember this place having pretty good crust. I often get Pies N Thighs confused with this. In Williamsburg, there’s always a line outside, so when we walked by here with no line, we decided on a spur of the moment to try this out. When you sit at a table, there is a QR code that you can scan and even place your order.