Vue Cafe- Long Island City, NY
You might have seen my initial review of Vue this morning on Joey in Astoria. The review below delves deeper into the menu. Overall my visit was a nice and relaxing experience that I'd repeat.
Food:
Chef Randall Benjamin offers up an eclectic menu of hearty meat and seafood dishes. A lot of warm comfort foods are featured and we took advantage of these at dinner. Here's what we tried:
Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs: A comfort food classic, we were eager to try it, especially because it also featured cheesy jalapeno poppers. The ribs were tangy and we particularly liked the pickled red peppers and onions on top. But the jalapeno poppers were by far a favorite--they had a super crispy exterior and a silky-smooth interior. There were two for us to enjoy, which was plenty for such an indulgence but we secretly hoped there would be more.
Lamb Chops with Zucchini Sticks: I consider a properly cooked lamb to be the measuring stick of a good Astorian eatery and this one didn't disappoint. The meat was soft and juicy and was especially nice to dip into the homemade tzatziki sauce. Pita triangles provided a bed for the lamb, absorbing all the scrumptious juices of the meat--a nice touch. The zucchini sticks were wonderfully crispy on top but unfortunately came dipped in the tzatziki, which made them a little soggy on the bottom. Aside from that they were incredibly tasty and Dan agreed.
Grilled Steak with a Potato Croquette: This was Dan's dish and he enjoyed it thoroughly. While he had to send the steak back because it was undercooked, it came back cooked perfectly and the waistaff was graciously accommodating. The fixins included grilled onions, peppers and green beans--together they gave the steak a welcome char flavor. The potato croquette was tasty but needed a bit more salt in my opinion. Overall--a nice solid dish.