We came here around 8:30 PM on a rather cold Saturday evening. Typically there is a long line outside, but today people were crowded and bundled up inside. I put my name down for 2. The wait was approximately 40-50 minutes. We had contemplated leaving when we heard the wait time, but we decided to power through and wait. It was worth it.

On July 1, 2023, we visited this restaurant again, and it has moved from it’s previous location. For a table of 4, we just had to wait approximately 30 minutes on a Saturday around 7:30 PM.

Summary

I had been to this Michelin 1 star restaurant with a friend for brunch. We were underwhelmed as we’ve been to several Mexican restaurants in Southern California. My partner hasn’t tried this before, so I thought to give it another shot for dinner. Note that the restaurant does not take reservations. We were able to walk in at 5 PM on a Saturday evening and be seated indoors right away. Take note that there is usually a line outside because people want to wait for outdoor tables.

Summary

Where to start with this. I loathe cash only places considering the price of this is not exactly cheap.

The U & I bowl was really good but not for +$20. The bowl was rather small although the ingredients were pretty fresh.

The flying pig bowl was the biggest disappointment I’ve had. The broth was just OK. It’s subtly different than the normal tonkatsu style broth. I also opted for an ounce of the jamon iberico. I added an additional onsen tamago, which is basically a sous vide egg.

Summary

The place was pretty dead when I went, but the pizza was excellent. In some ways I actually liked this more than Lombardis.

Got a margarita pizza with pepperoni on it, and it was tasty.

Would love to go back and try their stromboli or calzones as well.

Overall Impression

It’s a nice addition to the sparse Long Island City neighborhood. The pepperoni pizza quality and ingredients tasted really good.

Had the churrasco here, and it was pretty good. The chicken and sausage was good. Make sure the steak is ordered medium rare. We ordered medium, and it came out borderline medium well. The caipirinha was really good too. Get the passion fruit and guava. Avoid the kiwi.

Known for their XLBs, it was pretty darn tasty. They also have stinky tofu too and it’s all pretty cheap.

Pastrami was ok. It was moist yet tips were dry. Food was cheap though, so might be good for lazy dinners. They have other things.

Decent ramen noodles. Soup was a little salty. The egg was disappointing.

Decent ramen. Got some super fancy ramen, and it was fat. Not the best though and it’s in a not so great neighborhood.

One word: cheap.