Meson Asturias, for the Gallego in you! (Dessert before dinner Valentines Day Write-off)
Feb 15 '01
The Bottom Line The food here was better than most of what I ate (at restaurants) while I was IN Spain, so I definitely recommend the restaurant.
Meson Asturias is a Spanish restaurant in Jackson Heights (Queens) specializing in the cuisine of Galicia (North Western Spain.) It is at 40-12 83rd Street, and the phone # is 718-446-9154.
My friends had asked me to choose a restaurant to celebrate my birthday (which is within a few days of Valentines Day.) Although I usually try to avoid eating out ON holidays due to bad experiences with service, I figured that it was worth the risk because I wanted to try Meson Asturias' fixed Valentines day (complete)dinner ($22). When I called to reserve I was told that since Valentine's Day is a weekday a reservation was not necessary.
First of all, between getting a bit lost and finding parking, we arrived later than planned. We were told it would be a half hour wait. We waited near the bar for about that long. They had a tapas menu at the bar, and had salted peanuts out (which is a tactic to get you thirsty so that you order drinks.) I saw them opening a bottle of cava (Spanish Sparkling wine from the Cataluna region) so ordered a glass ($5), which was quite good.
I had a flan at the bar while we were waiting. Since this review is part of the dessert before dinner write-off. I could already tell that service would be rushed due to the Holiday so figured that this wasn't the day to deviate from the norm too much when we actually reach out table. The flan was good, and was served with whipped cream.
The service was a bit harried from the moment we were seating, but it was a Holiday after all, so that is expected. I did find my Spanish appreciated (although I could have ordered in English) so I pretty much ordered in Spanish with two out of three waiters we had.
The fixed menu included an appetizer (garlic shrimp), soup (crab bisque), an entree (Paella, steak in red wine sauce, fish fillet), dessert (bread pudding, vanilla cake, flan), cava, and coffee. There were also 8 or so a la carte entrees listed. What I had wanted to order (entrecote al cabrales, which is steak in a blue cheese sauce) was not on the Valentines Day menu.
We ordered Jamon Serrano ($10) from the tapas menu to start, and it was the best serrano ham I have had outside of Spain. The garlic shrimp was delicious. My friends were scooping up the garlic sauce with their bread. The crab soup was creamy, had bits of crab, and was quite good.
The paella was truly excellent. It was one of the best paellas that I have had in a restaurant anywhere (including Spain.) It had clams and mussels in the shell, squid rings , shrimp, chicken, and sausage. The seafood mixed grill (parillada de mariscos) was amazing. It had lobster, clams and mussels in the shell, whole squid, fish, and shrimp. The squid was amazingly tender, and definitely the best squid I have ever had in a restaurant. The steak in red wine sauce was cooked to perfection, and the wine sauce was very tasty.
We had a round of flan for dessert (since I was the only one who had it at the bar), more cava, and coffee. I ordered a cafe solo (black) for myself, and cafe con leche (with milk) for my friends. The coffee was good, although I expected mine to be a bit stronger.
Rating: Five stars for food. To be fair, I have to go back to the restaurant on a non-holiday to rate the service.
A guitarist played for a while, which added to the atmosphere.
BTW, I do not believe that paella is on their regular menu since it is a Galician restaurant.
Write-off participants: Epicure, Kboo,
Smiles33, ZzJulia, JerryLA323, and Ifif1938.
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Epinions.com ID:
JasonNYCity
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Location: New York City (Queens), NY
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I am no longer on this site, although I am still food obsessed.
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