Inflation Beaters: Pao de Queijo, Souvlaki Skewers and More in Astoria
Cheese Puffery Part II
A trip to Jack’s Shoe Repair in Astoria became the event around which I organized a search for a $5.00 snack—$5.00 being the magic price point I set when I started my NYC Snack Attack column for West Side Spirit/Our Town in 2007. I needed a complicated fix for two pairs of sandals, and my friend Johanna, who lives in Astoria with her collection of vintage sewing machines, knows quality craftsmanship. Jack is what one Yelp reviewer called “the best old-school cobbler in all of New York City.” Two blocks from Jacks was New York Pao de Queijo, what other Yelpers considered one of the top cheap eats in Astoria.
This small restaurant has an encyclopedic menu printed above its takeout window, albeit with no prices, which is awkward. But I’d come specifically for: the $5.00 basket of 7 mini pao de queijo the gluten free Brazilian cheese bread made from cassava flour and minas curado cheese, a mild Brazilian cows’ milk cheese. They come with a mini tub of “green mayonnaise,” and the combo of chewy cheese bread and piquant mayo, redolent of cilantro and laced with hot pepper, is perfection. Two women next to me were digging into ample portions of chicken that smelled gloriously garlicky and came with rice, beans and salad. Certainly, according to reviewers, the things that pack the biggest pow and wow are the pao, the Brazilian sandwiches and the grilled meat dishes.
King Souvlaki lures with the siren scent of charred meats, oregano and lemon.
King Souvlaki Skewers Inflation
Johanna can smell King Souvlaki’s enticing odor of roasting and charred meats as soon as she steps out her door onto 31st Ave, and she admits that hardly a week goes by when she doesn’t succumb to an inflation beating souvlaki skewer ($4.00). I planned to partake when it was time to pick up my shoes (Jack’s fix did not disappoint, by the way ,and was only $20.
Practically drooling in front of the King Souvlaki window, I couldn’t just get one chicken souvlaki skewer, I had to get a pork one and a small order of Greek Tzatziki ($1.00), that wondrous thick concoction made with yogurt, cucumber, olive oil and lemon. When asked if I wanted oregano, salt and pepper, I was surprised. Weren’t these crucial elements already in the marinade? But sure, I’ll have more! Taking respite from the heat , I brought my foil wrapped booty to Johanna’s air-conditioed apartment. When I laid everything out on a plate, I was shocked, in a good way. Each wooden skewer had SIX LARGE CHUNKS OF MEAT! Take that, inflation!! For a “flavorgasm,” I swabbed each piece of meat in the tzatziki. So good 😋
Sweet Treats on Astoria Streets
After leaving Johanna’s I stopped at Madame Sou Sou Café. This quirky French-spirited cafe has a wide array of cakes and pastries, savory items like quiches ($7.00) and “simit” (Turkish bagel) sandwiches ($7.75) and takes pride in its European coffee drinks ($3.75 - $5). While there is plenty of seating outside, the cafe is charming with one whole wall covered by an eclectic collection of dessert plates. Still full of souvlaki, I had a delicately flavored pistachio cake ($4.50/slice) laden with outsized currants. I took home half the cake as well as a croissant for “research” and was gratified by its flaky goodness the next morning. Note that Madame Sou Sou carries doughnuts from the Donut Plant and cookies from Sarabeth’s Kitchen as well.
Madame Sou Sou epitomizes Astoria’s laid-back multi-ethnic character. Owner Ahmed Hegazy is Egyptian, wife Effie , the chef/baker is an Ecuadorian who is an Astoria native. Effie took an intensive French pastry course at the French Culinary Institute but named the cafe after a favorite Greek Film, “SouSou,” about a poor woman who longs to be an aristocrat. I don’t know whether she triumphs, but the eponymous cafe succeeds in being a little pocket of Paris in the impossible (for me) to navigate streets, places, and avenues full of Greek, Egyptian, South American, and American hipster eateries.
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New York Pao de Queijo
31-90 30th St, Astoria
(718) 204-1979
King Souvlaki
31st St. & 31st Ave., Astoria
(917) 416-1189
Madame Sou Sou Café
31-05 33rd St., Astoria
718-710-6577
Café Boulis
30-15 31st Ave. (aromatically across from King Souvlaki!)
718-806-1014
I love sitting outside at this small Greek cafe listening to old men speak Greek. Food critic Robert Seitsema has praised Boulis’ “expertly made Spinach pies” and their “fresh to order loukoumedes.” The latter are pillowy fried dough balls dipped in honey ($4.00/6). I like the light, thin and only faintly sweet sesame cookies.
United Brothers Fruit Markets
32-24 30th Ave., Astoria
718-932-9876
When you’re in Astoria, beat inflation by loading up on produce at United Brothers or any of the smaller produce stands in the neighborhood. I brought home seven pounds of watermelon from United Brothers, because it was .79/lb (compared with over $1.00/lb at our local West Side Market!). I got 4 lemons for $1.00 at Lee’s Family Fruit, across from Jack’s Shoe Repair, compared with $2.40 (.60 ea) at WSM.
Jack’s Shoe Repair
25-40 Broadway, Astoria
718-726-7204