212 Taste In 718 Place
718 Restaurant
35-01 Ditmars Blvd., Astoria
(718) 204-5553
Cuisine: French Bistro
Hours: Noon-5 (lunch), 5:30-10:30 (dinner) Mon.-Fri.; noon-5 (brunch), 5:30-11 (dinner) Sat. & Sun.; tapas available until 2 a.m. daily
Parking: Street
Credit Cards: All Major
At the corner of 35th Street and Ditmars Boulevard, there is a decidedly Manhattan-style restaurant that has been a welcome treasure in Queens for the last six years.
Started by a crew of City restaurant veterans, 718 brings a slice of 212 to Ditmars Boulevard.
Walking in on a chilly Sunday night, we were delighted by the ambiance, which strikes you immediately. Low light, rich colored walls and comfortable banquettes in the front room invite you to sit and stay a while. Which is exactly what we did.
The menu is simple – a French bistro style with distinct Latin flavor. Scanning through the selections, we nibbled on some slices of crusty bread, cut on a bias, presented in a paper wrap like you’ve come to expect from European chips “fries.”
We placed our order, sipped our wine and looked at the dishes being brought to the tables beside us. One diner was enjoying the Roasted Chicken Breast, served with baby carrots, spinach, shitake mushrooms and a paprika sauce. She raved after the first bite, even offering us a taste.
But we were patient for our own orders, which arrived quite quickly. My guest had the Braised Short Ribs, served over slices of crispy polenta with a red wine reduction. The meat was tender and bursting with the flavor of the rich burgundy in which it had been cooked. The polenta has a snap on the outside with a smooth creaminess inside.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Crab Cake and Salmon Cake. Served on a rectangular plate, the crab cake sat atop tomato marmalade on one side and the salmon cake sat on a dollop of apple ginger mayonnaise on the other, In between was a baby spinach salad topped with julienne strips of apple. The overall taste was fresh, light and delicate – a change from the expectations of your standard, greasy crab cake or overly fishy salmon.
And the size met the description – these were appetizers, designed to prepare you for your entrees. Don’t think of sharing.
If the first course served to whet our appetites, the second was clearly intended to satisfy. My guest got the Roasted Duck Breast, served with a vanilla potato puree, shitake mushrooms and topped with a passion fruit-coriander sauce. The sweetness of the potatoes and slight bitterness of the sauce balanced the tang of the duck to create a harmony that swirled around the mouth.
I chose the Roasted Rack of Veal, served with Gratin Dauphinois and baby bok choy with a burgundy sauce. The veal was rare and tender; the potatoes were a bistro classic done to perfection; and the bok choy, lightly sautéed, added to the blend of flavors on the plate to serve almost as a palate cleanser between bites, making each rib and bite of the gratin as fresh as the last.
We topped off our meals with a delicious Homemade Chocolate & Banana Bread Pudding, garnished with chocolate sauce and a scoop of luxurious vanilla ice cream, as well as the Coupe Andrew, which was a grown-up version of an ice cream sundae. The chocolate ice cream was nearly gelato in texture, but richer than any that you can find in a store. The bread pudding, served in slices, was fantastic – or so I heard; my guest didn’t even offer me a bite, but merely chuckled to herself as she enjoyed it.
And that’s how we left – giggling a little, knowing that we had found a fantastic location where we could get a simple, moderately priced meal in a location close to home.