eateryROW: FOREST HILLS

BAMBOO YA

• 69-12 Austin Street

• Forest Hills, NY 11375

(• 718) 265-8388 •

The first thing Bamboo Ya did upon taking over the location was a complete and utter gut-job. Nothing of the old floor-plan remains. In fact, the new space seems to be twice the size, stretching so far beyond the old walls of Bann Thai that one could think it tunnels under the LIRR tracks. The interior is clean and bright and modern and new and has six seating options: bar, sushi bar, window area, dining room, booths, and Japanese booths. Lutsy and I chose the booths. Then I noticed that they were right on top of the bathroom. Oh well.

Did I mention that the restaurant is bright? It's bright. Very bright. Clearly, fifty ceiling lamps weren't enough to ward off the vampires, so every table gets its own pendant. You could dine in sunglasses, I kid you not. This might be great for families with kids, but it's about as romantic as an airhorn. Speaking of noise, there's no music. Luckily, the other patrons (if you don't count the bar areas, Bamboo Ya was a little less that half full on a Saturday) were talking loudly enough to create some privacy, but once they go home, your conversation will be the only thing breaking the silence.

Lutsy and I decided that there are plenty of other places to get sushi within a fifteen minute walk, so we stuck with the hot food options. Every entree comes with a Miso Soup or salad and we got miso soup. I'll say this right away, it was good, easily the best miso soup in the neighborhood. Very rich, almost heavy with plenty of little bits of greens and tofu. For our appetizers, Lutsy ordered something that looked pretty unique, Duck Nachos, while I went with Barbecued Squid. The duck nachos were actually pretty good, with rice chips and relatively lean duckmeat. The one downside is that it's mostly a salad and once you get past the goodies on top, it's all lettuce. My squid was decent, but I've had better. The portion, as you can see, was a good size, but the meat was a little tougher than it should have been and the glazing was a little too thin. As a result, it was a little bland. In a very un-diner-like fashion, it was beautifully plated, and I threw a pic of it up on my Instagram feed (which you should follow here).

For her entree, Lutsy got the Chicken Teriyaki, which she enjoyed more than I did. It comes on a sizzling cast iron plate over some broccoli and with a little bit of corn. Chicken teriyaki is generally hard to mess up, and this was perfectly fine by diner standards, but the chicken was way too dry for my liking. I ordered the Saki-Miso Glazed Salmon, which was both good and terrible. Although the salmon could have used a little more glazing. it was moist and flaky, and it was not a small portion. They didn't skimp on the filet. However, while the salmon was hot to the point of being scalding, the vegetables that you see pictured underneath it ranged from lukewarm to refrigerator-cold. It was very clear that this dish was not prepared from scratch at the same time, but pieced together from whatever had already been cooked earlier. Not cool, Bamboo Ya. Not cool. Unless we're talking about that potato, which was, in fact, quite cool.

This kind of sloppiness was a consistent theme of the evening, as not a single dish arrived with any of the others. The entrees were served about seven or eight minutes apart from each other and the appetizers were served five or six minutes apart. Even the miso soup wasn't delivered together, with the waiter dropping off one, then running to the kitchen to get the next. Lest you think that this was just our table, I was watching other patrons and everybody got their meals served one dish at a time. When we asked for the check, the waiter wandered off never to be seen again and we had to ask another someone else, who literally provided it within ten seconds.

We didn't drink anything and the whole meal cost about $60, plus tip. I might come back one day to see how the sushi stacks up against the competition, but I wasn't terribly impressed overall, and the fact they've had a location in Rego Park makes this all the more surprising, as this isn't their first rodeo.

FOREST HILLS BIERGARTEN

• 117-18  Queens Boulevard

• Forest Hills, NY 11375

• (718) 263-9754 •

Once upon a time, back in the Gilded Age, beer gardens were a big thing here in New York City. They dwindled away over the decades but suddenly, now that we're in a new Gilded Age, they're back! Seemingly, they've sprouted up everywhere, even as pop-ups in unused summertime parking lot. The closest that Forest Hills has had to one would be the Finback Brewery tasting room. Failing that, denizens of our fair hamlet would have to trek out to middle-of-nowhere backwaters like Brooklyn and Astoria. Thankfully, the fine folks at Cobblestones, the Queens Boulevard pub about three-quarters of the way between Continental Avenue and Union Turnpike, decided to right this particular wrong.

The Forest Hills Biergarten isn't the biggest beer garden in the city, but it's hardly the smallest, and it's a right proper one. There are murals and greenery. Long tables dominate the seating. There's a waterfall wall made from beer taps. Along with the food menu, the bulk of the beer is German or Oktoberfest themed. There's a bean bag toss, a six-foot tall Jenga block set, and a bunch of table games for people to play with. Forest Hills is a demographic melting pot and the customers that I saw were of every race and age. The beer garden was loud and lively without ever getting loud and obnoxious. You could have a conversation. Lutsy and I showed up around 9pm and got a seat right away, though there were precious few left.

Lutsy ordered a wine cocktail; some kind of frozen margarita type thing that was sweet and fruity. Very girlie. I ordered a liter of Hofbrau Oktoberfest that was the size of my head. Very manly. She did her nails and I beat my chest while we went over the menu deciding dinner. The food, as I stated, was very beer-garden-y. Bavarian pretzels and bratwurst and so forth. Having never eaten at Cobblestones before, I can't speak to whether this was their regular menu. Feel free to leave a comment if you know. In the end, I chose the Chicken Schnitzle Club Sandwich, which came with pickles and German potato salad. Neither Lutsy nor I expected the potato salad to be warm, but no biggie. It was pretty good. As was the sandwich, and I inhaled it much faster than I expected.  Lutsy chose the more pub food traditional Buffalo Chicken Wrap. Not exactly currywurst with spaetzle... but whatcha gonna do? She liked it and the fries that it came with, and would get it again. Her one nit to pick, the one stick in her craw, was that it was too small, and looking at the photo anew, yeah. It's small.

The Forest Hills Biergarten is a great addition to the neighborhood. The beer list doesn't pay much, if any, attention to the craft microbrews that have taken over the scene in recent years and the food is basically bar food, but that's the point. This is a beer garden. You go to have fun, drink, eat, play. There are games and TVs and pretty much anyone can go and feel at home. Go for a not-romantic date night or with your buddies or with the kids. I can say very honestly that the Forest Hills Biergarten might have the most social atmosphere of any place in walking distance. And I walk long distances.

Just about everything on the menu, from the food to the drinks ranged in the $10-$15 zone.

Just an FYI. the entrance is not through Cobblestones Pub, but around the corner and down the side street.

RIMTIN

• 104-02 Metropolitan Avenue

• Forest Hills, NY 11375

• (718) 674-6503 •

Where once sat Queen's only Michelin-starred restaurant, Danny Brown, now sits Rimtin, an upscale but casual Mediterranean spot. Open for about a year, Rimtin is long past the point of finding and ironing out any opening-day wrinkles and sculpting the most appropriate menu. Lutsy and I have had it on our shortlist for quite some time, and we finally got around to going. And I wish they had hired me on as a consultant first. 

The interior of Rimtin is a decidedly nice one and on the surface, they would appear to have done everything right. But there are all of these tiny mistakes that add up and are especially odd given how this isn't the owner's first restaurant. Rimtin only just got a liquor license, so there's no wine list. They just ask you what varietal you'd like a glass of. That's fine, but it's been a year and the central design element is a big fancy bar area. There's no website, which would be fine fifteen years ago, but is just bizarre these days. There isn't any music playing, so unless the whole place is busy, your conversation is projected for all to hear. The bathroom is clean, but once you pay attention, you see that it's been painted very sloppily. In the dining area, the left side of the room has bright lighting while the right side is shrouded in darkness, which is completely nonsensical. For some reason there's a television on the back wall, which I suppose could be for... I dunno, ESPN?

Once we placed our order the waitress, who was extremely nice, brought out a warm basket of delicious bread and some olive oil, which was promptly devoured. We ordered two appetizers to share, Stuffed Grape Leaves and Zucchini Pancakes. The grape leaves were a must-order. Once I saw them on the menu there wasn't even a conversation to be had. And they were good. Very good. Sweet and light, with a little tartness from the lemon juice, I can safely say that they were a good choice. Far and away better than anything you'd get at a supermarket. The zucchini pancakes were also good, but not at the same level. They were a little too charred for my taste and relied too heavily on the yogurt sauce to have much flavor. But for a fried dish, they didn't feel fatty and I enjoyed the illusion of eating something healthy.

We both opted for lamb entrees, as lamb tends to be a bit more rare on restaurant menus. I really don't understand this, as Americans love beef, and lamb is quite beefy, but such is life. Lutsy got the Adana Kebab, a pair of ground lamb cylinders served with a scoop of rice pilaf, a small side salad, a grilled pepper, and half of a grilled tomato.  The other half of that grilled tomato found its way onto my plate, the Lamb Shish, which is quite literally the exact same dish but with cubed lamb instead of ground lamb. The adana kebab was too dry, which resulted in a rather flat taste, so I don't really recommend that one. The lamb shish (kebab) was, on the other hand, quite good. Tender, medium rare, flavorful.

Both dishes had an optional side of yogurt, which we both went for. I shit you not, Rimtin gives you what appears to be two cups of yogurt. Therefore, our meal included four cups of yogurt. Unless you plan on taking it home to throw granola in come morning, I highly discourage ordering this particular supplement.

We both enjoyed our experience at Rimtin, and I fully plan to return and try the chicken and other dishes offered here, but this leads me to my final critique. I know that when I do so, I'll get a small side salad, a tomato, a pepper, and some rice pilaf. And that's fine. But it's not better than fine and it will never be better than fine. Because it's lazy. Am I asking too much because this is Queens, not Manhattan? No, and fuck you for saying that and fuck you for giving outer-borough restaurateurs reasons to go to Brooklyn instead. 

In the end, I like Rimtin and they can expect to see more of my money in the future. They're a comfortable spot with lovely staff, a decent kitchen, and they are relatively inexpensive. But I'd like to see some imagination on the menu, to be handed a decent wine list, to hear some music on the speakers, and maybe one day they can get around to fixing the lighting.

Expect to pay around $10 for an appetizer and $20 for an entree, on average.Rimtin is not on OpenTable.

NUMERO 28 PIZZERIA

• 107-12 70th Road

• Forest Hills, NY 11375

• (718) 544-4600 •

If there's one thing that this blog advocates for, it's for the inclusion of more restaurants to the area. Good ones. Fun ones. Cool ones. Ones that might make people in Manhattan or Brooklyn go "hey, nice." Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Numero 28 Pizzeria, the rather highly regarded minichain that sells upscale wood-fired pizza recently opened a Forest Hills location and I decided to go... four times.

Numero 28 is sort of like a cross between the gastropub feel of Station House and the Italian restaurant feel of Tuscan Hills with a thin crust pizza menu a la Nick's. The exposed brick walls, Edison bulbs, and glowing ball table lamps are youthful and cool, but the dark woods and red leather seating along the wall between the bar and the open hearth wood-fire oven lends an upper-class atmosphere to the place. As a result, Numero 28 is able to appeal across age demographics, alienating no one but those with little kids.

On none of my four trips to Numeo 28 did I order standard Italian entrees, so if that's what you're looking for a review of, then I hate to disappoint you, but you're gonna be disappointed. I did, on the other hand, try two of their appetizers and both were very good. The first appetizer, the Polpo Alla Griglia, a grilled octopus leg with Brussels sprouts over a butternut squash puree was more than very good. It was amazing. It was tender, lightly charred, exploded with flavor, and both Lutsy and I absolutely loved it. The other appetizer I tried, on a subsequent excursion with my parents, was the Sicilian Rice Balls. The rice balls, which are filled with a meat sauce and mozzarella cheese, are about halfway between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball,  come in a group of three, and are served in a little bowl of sweet marinara sauce. We all liked them very much, and I'd certainly get them again. My parents were happy to have tried them but weren't swooning. "I prefer the ones we had in Sicily," my mom remarked. First world problems notwithstanding, I predict that you'll enjoy them.

In no particular order, I tried seven pizzas from Numero 28. All were good even if I didn't like them. Case in point, the Marinara pie was particularly awful, but that's my fault because I was a schnook and didn't read the description. Others out there might say "hey, this is loaded with anchovies and capers and doesn't come burdened with pesky cheese? Who could ask for more?!" That said, I'm sure it was a good pizza. It's just that I'm the wrong market for such a dish. On the other side of the spectrum, the Numero 28, a white pie with speck and mushrooms, was insanely good. I wish they made a red pie version because, at the end of the day, red pies are where my heart is. Speaking of white pies, aside from the Numero 28 the white pies, across the board, were weaker than the red ones. The Salsiccia e Friarielli pie, which comes with spicy Italian sausage and broccoli rabe (gotta have my dark greens), and the Pere, which is a Gorgonzola pie topped with walnuts and thin spices of pear were both just okay. The Salsiccia was understandably bitter, but also kinda dull. I'd absolutely get it again, mind you, but I'd want to get it with a companion who is ordering a red pie so we could split the two. Meanwhile the Pere, which one would expect to be sweet, wasn't. Indeed, it was somewhat bland. I really can't recommend the Pere, but Numero 28 can fix it by adding a drizzle of honey and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. THEN I think it'd be great.

The Margherita pizza is the closest to a standard plain pie that I saw on the Numero 28 menu, and it's not going to disappoint you. The marinara is sweet, there's just enough fresh basil to give you that amazing aroma without turning the pie into smelling like a dry goods store, and they don't skimp on the cheese. Skimping on the cheese is the biggest threat to a good margarita pie and Numero 28 loads the pie down with fior de latte (the go-to cheese on most of their pizzas). If you want something with a little bit more oomph, the Fricchettone and Rustica pies are great. The Fricchettone is loaded up with kale, sausage, basil, and two kinds of cheese and honestly is just heaven on a plate. The similarly optioned Rustica uses green pepper, which I thought made the pizza a little less complex and interesting on the tongue. On the plus side, it's easier to pronounce, especially after two glasses of malbec.

Having now sampled a rather large swath of Numero 28's pizza menu, I can state unequivocally that they know what they're doing. The pizza is most similar to Nick's in theory, but not in practice. Nick's is where I'd go for a more traditional pie if I want that pie in this style. Numero 28 is more specialty-focused. There's no basic cheese pie; no pepperoni pie; no plain white pie. And while they have a "toppings" list where one could presumably build the pie of their choice, since there's no basic cheese pie to build it on, the toppings section seems like a waste of menu real estate. Plus, as I alluded to before, Numero 28 isn't really kid-friendly. I'm not saying that they'll kick you out, but Nick's with it's bright lights and big booths is way way better for families with children.

Side notes to the management: please lose the TV over the bar. NASCAR and negronis do not mix.

Each individual pie is about 12 inches in diameter, which is enough for one person to eat without stuffing themselves to bursting, and costs an average of $17. They also make pies for "couples" that are bigger, and "family" sized pies that are about a yard long.

XIN TASTE LAN ZHOU HAND PULL NOODLE

• 72-38 Austin Street

• Forest Hills, NY 11375

• (718) 520-5199 •

A late lunch brought Lutsy and I to Xin Taste a few days ago. We wanted cheap, good, fast, and not burgers. Neither of us had been to Xin Taste, the pulled noodle spot on Austin Street. Pulled noodles have become quite the trend in the last year, with restaurants popping up across the city; Chinese cuisine's answer to ramen. It makes sense. I won't get into politics, but life ain't cheap. Hence, the rise in demand for dining options that are. Enter Xin Taste. Huge portions and not a burger in sight.

Xin taste is small. It has just a few tables and one long counter. If you're like me, your inner nerd emerged began and you immediately thought of Blade Runner. If only it was pouring rain, pitch black out, and the cars flew. Definitely grab a seat along the wall, watch the chef through the window make the noodles from scratch and whip them like jump-rope stretching them out, and enjoy the coziness of eating at the only noodle bar in the area.

Lutsy and I both ordered soups with thin noodles. She ordered Roast Pork La Mein Soup, and I ordered the House Special La Mein Soup. All of the soups come with your choice of beef broth or clear broth. "The clear broth is pretty tasteless, but the vegans like it" said the girl taking our order with a no-accounting-for-taste look on her face. "Sometimes, they even just ask for plain hot water." I told her we'd go with the beef broth.

The soups both came loaded with cilantro and scallion and with a hard-boiled egg and some additional veggies. Throw in some hot pepper or vinegar and let your sinuses open up while you smell that deliciousness. The bowls are big. I'd say you get a solid quart's worth for your money. The main difference, if not the only difference, between our choices was the meat. The House Special comes with a variety: spare ribs, roast pork, roast beef, and sausage. I was most surprised by how good the sausage was. And if anyone ever asks you if you should throw your spare ribs into a soup, you now know that the answer was yes. The one downside was that the cuts are cheap and by the time the soup was done there was a little collection of fat or bone or cartilage to throw away on the side of the tray. All the same, this was a great bowl of soup. I couldn't wait to return.

So I did. I came back a few days later by myself to try a stir fry. I chose the Roast Pork Dao Xiao Mein (the wide noodle). Again, the amount you get is massive. The couple next to me, as they were leaving, remarked how full they were and probably won't need anything else for the rest of the day. This is clearly a common response. The wide noodles are thick and doughy and they stick together into delicious globs. The meal is essentially a stew. It's thick and syrupy. There were mushrooms, tomato, bok choi, and sprouts along with my roast pork, but not nearly as many as I would have liked. More vegetables are always a plus in my book, especially with a dish as starch-heavy as this. That doesn't mean it wasn't good. Even though I preferred the soup, and will likely stick to soup at Xin Taste from now on, I all but licked my plate clean.

"So how is this soup different from ramen?" Lutsy asked as we left. Well, I told her, it's hard to explain but you'll see for yourself when Tamashii opens up down the block.

Each bowl of soup or stir fry dish ranges from $10 to $13.

TUSCAN HILLS

110-60 Queens Boulevard

Forest Hills, NY 11375

(718) 487-4500

"Arrivederci Ovo Sodo," was what I thought to myself as I stepped into Tuscan Hills' new location. Ovo Sodo, Tuscan Hills' more casual sister, was my favorite Italian restaurant in the zip code that didn't have "Tazzina" in its name and I was sad to see it go. It was bright and airy and relaxed, had a great brunch, and, most importantly, made the "OvoSodo" Pizza. But a lack of packing in customers meant that Ovo Sodo was not long for this world. Meanwhile, Tuscan Hills wanted a better location. As it turns out, being smack halfway between Continental and Union Turnpike was less than ideal.

I had hoped that the new Tuscan Hills would absorb some of the Ovo Sodo elements (both design-wise and menu-wise), but that was not the case. It's all but a carbon copy of the original location; its decor is darker and subdued. More romantic and has that more traditionally Mediterranean look. If Ovo Sodo was where you would meet your girlfriends to split appetizers and gossip, then Tuscan Hills was where you would take your girlfriend on her birthday.

Lutsy and I were led to a seat by the window where I patiently waited until the table in the middle of the photograph above this paragraph emptied and was reset so I could take a decent shot. As we drank our wine and poured over the menu, I found myself straining to find something to order that seemed unique to Tuscan Hills. Prosciutto wrapped asparagus doesn't make that list and Lutsy and I have learned that fried calamari should be reserved for New England bars, covered in jalapeños, and served alongside a hoppy IPA. So, in skipping the old standbys, she chose the Rustico Bruschetta, a mushroom bruschetta with mozzarella and truffle oil, and I ordered the Fagioli All Uccelleto, a braised and crusted spicy sausage over cannellini beans and cherry tomatoes.

Sadly, the bruschetta was a miss. Serving it on a small cutting board was cute and certainly "rustic", but serving it on a few leaves of lettuce was somewhat pathetic and sucked all of that rustic cuteness right out the door. "You gonna eat your salad?" I said after the dish was finished. Lutsy did not reply. Still, we didn't come here to gripe about poor garnish choices, we came to eat, and this particular bruschetta made us wish that we had eaten something else. I can't beat it up and claim that it was inedible, because that's far from the case, but it was dry and bland. The dish needed something else, like a cream sauce between the mushrooms and the cheese. Something to moisten it up. On the other hand, the sausage was very good and much larger than I was expecting. If all you want for dinner is an appetizer, this is the one to get. The sausage, as expected, had a little bit of bite to it, and it paired very well with the almost creamy beans and tomato. Add in the lack of unnecessary lettuce leaves and it's win win win!

For the main course, Lutsy was debating between the lasagna and the Pici Alla Fondelli, fettuccine with olives in a wild boar meat sauce. The bold font might have given it away but she opted to try the lasagna another time and chose the pici alla fondelli. This was the better of our chosen two entrees. The fettuccine was phone-book-thick; they say it's fresh-made). The meat sauce was delicious, and I think there should have been more of it. Wild boar in general is a bit like a gamey cross between pork and beef, and this was no exception. So if you're a meat sauce fan, enjoy wild boar, and like having every third bite explode with the bitter tartness of an olive, then I highly recommend this dish.

Initially, I was planning to get the wild boar as well, but in order to sample more of the menu, I went for the non-pasta option of the Pollo Al Peperoni, a massive, pounded flat chicken breast with mashed potatoes in an onion pepper cream sauce with balsamic drizzled on top. When one flattens a piece of meat like chicken breast, because it's so lean, it's hard to keep it from drying out when it cooks. As a result, the chicken was not as moist as I would have liked. But the sauce, which was rich and thick and filled to bursting with flavor, more than made up for it. Add that heavy sauce to the very thick mashed potatoes and you have leftovers coming home with you. The portions at Tuscan Hills are not small.

We thought about dessert, then decided on going to Martha's instead, possibly meeting up with some friends who had basically been locked out of their apartment and were holed up waiting with some cake. But the friends left before our meal finished and, stepping outsidem we remembered just how cold 14-degrees actually is. So we went home, as dessertless as an Atkins diet plan.

If you liked the old Tuscan Hills, then you'll like the new one. It's a total fold-over from the original location, but this spot is less cramped. I hope that they bring back the build-own-pasta that they used to have (unless I just made that up, in which case they should add it to the menu), and I hope that they resurrect the pizza menu from Ovo Sodo, especially the  OvoSodo pizza, because that pie was perfection. In the end, Lutsy and I had a good time. The staff was very friendly, the wine pours were large, and the service was pretty good. The food was good, though I regret to say not amazing. There's an intimacy to Tuscan Hills that very few restaurants in walking distance have, save Jack & Nellie's and Reef and I'm sure that we will be back at some time in the near future. There were more hits than misses, and the prices (while not low) are decent. As a neighborhood Italian restaurant goes, it's a good spot.