Most of the Greek restaurants in Astoria serve special-occasion dishes — like grilled lamb chops and octopus — that the neighborhood’s resident families can’t easily cook on their own. But this new restaurant brings back the concept of Sundays at grandma’s with homey comfort foods with a sophisticated touch, according to the owner, who’s from Athens. Get the Dakos salad with carob rusks for sweetness, rustic croutons, tomatoes, and cheese, or a beef shoulder that’s braised for hours. The space is charming, as the owner’s put his carpentry skills to use here, having made all the tables himself. On weekends, the enclosed back patio gets packed for brunch.

The halal food paradise of Astoria’s Little Egypt keeps growing. With the latest addition to the scene, pharmacist-turned-restaurateur Dr. Abdel Alileala is bringing family-style Egyptian dishes not often seen in New York. The koushary is a carbaholic’s dream: a mountain of layers of macaroni, spaghetti, rice, lentils, chickpeas, and fried onions. It’s served with a garlicky hot sauce and a tomato sauce. A fragrant rice and meat mixture gets seasoned with a dozen spices like paprika garlic, and cumin before filling the cabbage dolma and mombar (sausage). And its namesake feteer is everything you would expect — crispy, layered, and buttery with assorted filings.

Walk past the host stand into a cavernous room, and find yourself with a menu that stands out from many other Thai restaurants in the city. Here the som tum comprises a tangle of deep-fried slivers of papaya and carrot served. A baked parcel of rice mixed with sweet pork sausage, scallop, and shrimp has the herbal flavor of the lotus leaf it's wrapped in. Crunchy banana blossoms get fried with red curry and served with a chile dipping sauce. 

While locals have feared that Queens’ Koreatown is on the decline due to decampments of retirees to Long Island and other states, as well as low Korean immigration numbers in general, this new gukbap spot is making a statement. That Queens’ Koreatown is holding on. And that there’s still a strong valuation of real, traditional, old-school, Korean mom-and-pop-style food and hospitality. It specializes in gukbap — about ten versions of hot, bubbling soups served with rice and banchan (at no extra cost). And each one tastes like what it should taste like. That includes a beef soup that customers say rivals Ok Dong Sik’s. And a soondae gukbap simmered and strained for hours to eliminate any gamey aromas (one of the key metrics that Koreans use to judge this kind of soup).

The owner of the original Witch Topokki in Flushing has flipped the restaurant into a soondooboo house called Seoul Tofu. It spotlights 13 versions of the hot, bubbling stew — like kimchi with pork, crab on the shell, and ground perilla seeds. And they all come with a spread of banchan that includes a delectable fried croaker. The main draw is a beautiful sotbap — a rare blend of premium rice grains featuring black rice — for a nurungji (scorched rice) experience that brings on Korean childhood nostalgia. Scoop out the rice to eat with your soondooboo, making sure to leave the cherished layer of scorched grains on the bottom. Then let the servers pour the hot barley tea inside to max out the nutty, umami flavors.

Fans of the popular Chinese-style cumin and chile-spiced barbecue skewer carts in downtown Flushing can now enjoy them off of a huge menu in spacious interiors at a Murray Hill shopping plaza. Luogong offers Chinese and Korean dishes but stick to the skewers. They’re grilled in a self-operating contraption that spins the skewers for an all-around char. The skewers come in about 20 variations from pork belly-wrapped enoki mushrooms to steak and scallops, but the must-get is the plum-marinated lamb skewers served with a lovely, tangy herbal sauce.

This handsome new restaurant offers Nepalese food from the central Katmandu Valley, featuring food of a people known as the Newar, which includes set meals featuring pulverized rice called samay baji, as well as dishes showing Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese influences. There’s also a separate section featuring street snacks from Lakeside, Nepal, which run to fried chicken and toasted soybeans. Full bar.

The new owners of the long-time Dosa Delights have opened an elegant Indian restaurant with wine service in Jackson Heights — really, a sign of the times (or a sign of gentrification) here in Queens. The menu is solid with coconut fish Chettinad, saucy chicken Angara kabab, and plenty of lobster and shrimp dishes.

This takeout joint cooks some of the best chapli kebabs: Whether you go for the chicken or beef chapli patties, the meat is soft and flavorful with coriander seeds and a spicy kick. The exterior sports a crispy char akin to a well-grilled smash burger patty. Order them as part of a rice platter, salad, wrap, and even a mac-and-cheese chapli bowl. They all come with assorted fresh and pickled veggies. The lamb chops and chicken tenders also reflect culinary finesse from the team that’s also behind Halal Boyz next door.

The California-based chain has opened its first New York outpost out in Bellerose with an infusion of Indian spiced pizzas — the latest in a string of openings that includes Omar’s in Brooklyn and the Onion Tree in the East Village. At Tandoori Pizza, there are eighteen versions: mix-and-match base sauces like spicy curry, makhni, malai, and creamy garlic with toppings like lamb kabab, curry chicken, and paneer in small, medium, and large sizes. The achari gobi comprises thin slices of cauliflower on top of mozzarella, red onions, diced tomatoes, and creamy garlic sauce. The curry chicken pizza is higher on the spiciness scale.

This sibling to Rolo’s has transitioned from a cocktail bar with food to a sit-down restaurant serving excellent modern Mexican American fare from chef Yara Herrera, an alum of Spago, Momofuku Ko, and Xilonen. The aguachile is served with a bright vermilion broth spiced with habanada peppers. The pork ribs al pastor are tender; the skin on the achiote-marinated branzino is blackened and crusty; and the roasted beets and ayocote beans salad features watercress shoots as a grassy complement. And if you spot something that looks like chicken tenders, that’s golden-fried Oaxacan cheese served with tomatillo salsa. Dishes rotate.