Winegasm - A Group Tasting Worth Repeating

Earlier this week, Meg, Sooz and I went to Winegasm for a generous tasting of wine and food, suggested to us by its owners. An incredible time was had by all and we'll surely keep this place on our list of favorites. The wine choices were impeccable and the small plates of food were divine. Meg, Sooz and I split everything, which was the way to go--we ate in small portions and sampled a lot. Below you'll find some of the delicious grub we tasted and I'll let Meg and Sooz cover off the wine in a later posting. Enjoy!

Gasm Dip - This caught Meg's eye immediately and it consisted of a puree of beans, carrots and truffle oil with melba chips. It was tasty but definitely not my favorite thing here--partly because of the strange flavoring. I thought that I tasted tarragon or some sort of licorice spice, which I wasn't a fan of. Meg and I were saying that we prefer the carrot dip at Mundo.

Bacon Wrapped Prunes - This sounded amazing on the menu and it's one of my standouts of the night. The exterior was crunchy, smoky and salty from the bacon while the inside was ooey, gooey and sweet from the prunes. It tasted like a dessert and a tapa in one! I highly recommend it, especially if you're drinking red wine.

Fresh Crab Cakes with Arugula Salad - These were suggested by Winegasm and we absolutely devoured them--the crabmeat was super fresh and flavored with lemony parsley and red peppers. The crab cakes were bite sized and their flavor was enhanced when dipped into the spicy mayo and vinaigrette dip. The arugula salad was a nice touch too, providing zest and freshness to the dish.

Molten Lava Cake and Orange Chocolate Mousse - We needed to cap off our night with something sweet and chocolatey so we selected these two favorites. Both were amazing and beautifully presented. The Molten Lava cake was garnished with silky raspberry sauce--it was so soft and rich inside that we had to switch off between that and the mousse. The mousse was also fabulous, with a tart orange flavor from the Grand Marnier. It was garnished elegantly with orange peel and creme fraische. Both desserts were beautiful, decadent dishes that should be tried at least once.

To view some of the other goodies we sampled, click here for a full review.

Winegasm - 31-86 37th Street, Astoria NY 11103
718.932.3331
N/W Train to Broadway
www.winegasmeatery.com

My 2 Cents About Akti

Thanks for that segway Flooz. Akti sure is delicious and after much waiting for it to open, we were glad that it delivered on all counts--atmosphere, service and of course the food.

Our experience started pleasantly. We were seated at an outdoor table in a sunny spot. Something different that I've never seen was Akti's ordering method. Here's what goes down: 1 menu, 1 dry-erase pen and 1 unanimous decision has to be made. It was fun because we got to chat about our items of choice, marked up our menu and then handed it back to the waitress--painless and in fact enjoyable.

The food was somethin' else. I sometimes feel unsure about new places that have no cred yet but Akti built a great one in my book right away. We ordered several small mezedes (appetizers) to share and one larger fish entree. I recommend dining in this fashion because it allows you to try a lot of different delicacies. Here's what we ordered:

Roasted Pepper and Feta Cheese Spread - One word says it all--awesome. While this dip had spice, it was not too intense and we continued eating it throughout our meal and paired it with our other dishes ($7).

Grilled Haloumi Served with Tomato and Pita - Another fun starter, this one had an incredibly fresh taste from the tomatoes, lemon and parsley. The cheese itself was pretty light and had gorgeous grill marks. If you're picky about your cheeses, don't be shy to try this one, it's definitely not a smelly, pungent one ($9).

Zucchini Croquettes with Tzatziki Sauce - This was my favorite dish because I have a soft spot for fried foods. But even though it was crispy, it wasn't too oily and the tzatziki gave it a very cool, refreshing taste. The portion here was generous, providing great value for an app ($9).

Grilled Octopus - While not my favorite Akti dish, Flooz and Meg seemed to enjoy it. I thought it was a bit chewy but otherwise you could tell that the octopus meat was good quality ($12).

Grilled Porgy - A beautifully grilled white fish. While it was rustic looking--head, tail and bones in tact--the meat was so tender and cooked perfectly that we destroyed poor fishy to the bitter end. This is a large plate and sharing it was a great idea--I certainly couldn't eat the whole thing myself. It also came with a side dish of choice and we got the seasoned Greek fries (Market Price).

We ordered some fine Greek white wine to go with our seafood. Our gracious waitress recommended a delicious fruity option for only $24/bottle. She was familiar with it and mentioned that it came from the Greek region of her hometown. We were each able to get 2 full glasses out of it and were quite satisfied. Try Akti out for yourself and let us know what you think.

Akti Seafood Restaurant - 34-19 30th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11103. 718.721.3530