Balu

Décor is really nice. Wine was good and not too pricey.
I heard this place closed down… ehhh, it won’t be missed.

I believe Balu is now closed. Perhaps renovating, but definitely closed for now.

I had Sunday brunch with my roommate and friend. It has a nice décor, friendly staff and food.
$ 12 for coffee, bellini, muffins, and a main dish is a pretty good deal. I did think they did skimp out on the alcohol though as I didn’t really taste much. And it failed the litmus test. Even after I had two, my Asian glow did not appear.
As much as the staff is friendly, I like fast service which annoys me about Astoria. The service is a bit too relaxed for my liking as I like the food come out asap.

Please note that this review only covers Sunday brunch at Balu.
I agree with the previous reviewer Kouichi that $ 12 is a good deal for coffee, bellini and a main dish. The thing though is that there are other restaurants in Astoria that offer the same deal and does it better.
What attracted me to Balu was the décor, so they do get high marks for that and for the attentive staff. I ordered Eggs Bennie and found that the salad was wilted, the potatoes too greasy and the mimosa as well as the bellini were not even serve chilled. Both the bellini and the mimosa were too sugary and lacked the required alcohol to be properly called as such. To my mind, they could have just made one decent drink accompany the brunch instead of having unlimited drinks that consisted of juice and sugar. The muffin that they placed on our table was dry and unappetizing.
As I’ve said, the review is only limited to brunch and I am willing to give Balu another chance. Besides, who knows maybe they were having an off day and on any other day I would have had a better experience.

Brunch in the early afternoon on a Sunday. It took nearly half an hour for the waitress to even take our drink orders. And the hostess was standing right there and did nothing, even when we asked if she could track someone down to get us drinks. It seemed her job was not to host but to hand out menus and look pretty. We were moments away from leaving to go to my old standby, Brick Café, when the waitress finally came. But so much for the free refills. They never did. We couldn’t even get our check in a reasonable period of time. Food was ordinary, but I guess that’s what you get for a prix fixe at that price. Anyway, I won’t be coming back, at any price.

Great place.
Nice modern décor, attentive waiting staff and great food and drinks.
In my opinion, the best coffees on the strip are available here. Wide selection of food — perhaps even too big a selection! The $ 12 brunch is usually pretty good, although I am sure the mimosa’s have no alcohol — oh well, an’t have everything!
For me, the best café on 30^th Ave.

Beautiful space, very nicely done — both inside and outside seating. The service is very prompt and attentive — we had a delightful waiter, very friendly and with a sense of humor, always a nice plus.
They have a large menu, with Greek appetizers and salads — good drink selection. Very nice addition to 30^th Avenue, though not so new these days — it is very nice though!

Yummmm. Giving this one three stars just ’cause it doesn’t really stand out that much from the whole strip of euro-​cafes on 30^th avenue. I came here the night I moved into my apartment a few blocks away. The food was fresh, tasty, and pretty cheap for the quality and ambiance.
Very laid back atmosphere, great to just sit and relax, eat some food, have some good drinks. The service was very attentive and I felt like it was a good place to bring friends or even a date. Overall, great restaurant and a good place for a night out in Astoria.

I guess I was lucky because the service was excellent. I even tipped over 20%, which is very rare.
Water came early and often, the waitress was friendly and down to earth, and she updated us about when the food would be arriving.
The décor is beautiful, the outdoor chairs were comfortable, and the bathroom sink faucet looks like a piece of art.
Unfortunately, there were a few downfalls that keep this from getting five Unilocal stars:
The salad that came with my wrap looked good, but the flavors were weird. The wrap itself was good, but somewhat small for the price, and the peppers had an odd texture and flavor.
They have their own plastic bags for taking food home, which is a nice touch. It included their menu and coupons. I think I’ll be back.

Went here for dinner with my girlfriend last night. Had really nice, attentive service from every staff member we were in contact with. We started with the ceviche, which was yummy though a tad spicy for people who aren’t fans of spicy food. The grilled vegetable salad had a really nice presentation and tasted great. Taking the cake though was the sesame seared tuna and wasabi mashed potatoes which were cooked to perfection. The atmosphere was really nice, though at times the music got a little loud but was balanced for the most part. Prices were a little higher for Astoria, but the quality of food and service made it worth it. A great place for a date night.

There are so many other good places to eat that it’s very unlikely that I’ll come back here. The food is okay good. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to remember either. They do have the best peach bellinis that I’ve ever had. The other nice touch about the brunch here is that you’ll serve you a freshly baked warm blueberry muffin. I’m 100% sure the muffin is from a Jiffy mix, but still a warm muffin is never a bad thing.

Just go to Grand or Flo

I can’t decide how to feel about this place. I’ve only been two or three times, all for nightlife, not for food.
1. The first time was a total accident. We were checking out 30^th st with a bunch of friends from out of town. The glowing light and white flowing fabrics drew us in– we were suckers, but it turned out well! It was a holiday weekend so everyone else in Astoria had skipped town which allowed us to sort of take over. The beers were only $ 5 each, and the bartenders hooked it up big time… that was a 5 star night.
2. The 2^nd time we went with some of the same people and a few others during baseball playoffs. They have three+ TVs in the place so we figured we’d ask to check the score. The girl behind the bar wigged out and was a total bitch about it, refusing to help us out. Then later on she tried to charge us for a bunch of drinks we never had… ugh. Terrible evening.
3. This last time was with the boyfriend after a movie. We stopped in for a few drinks, hung out for a bit and left– nothing major, but the service was okay (though a bit slow) and the beers were still cheap.
All that said, I’ll probably stumble in again… damn those pretty blue lights…

The decoration was amazing… I would of never imagined I was in a small place in astoria. I would of thought I was out in a Miami Upscale lounge. I loved the lighting, the white couches. soo chic and upscale.
The food was dissapointing. we Had dinner for three, the bill came up to 104 and after that we had to go get some fast food because we were still hungry. I ordered a skirt steak, and they gave me the smallest piece of meet ever… and a small amount of mashed potatoes. The drinks were really good. My friends loved their milkshakes and their cocktails. I would def. return for the drinks and to hang out. but not for food

The scene is still hot, but the service and food quality have definitely fallen. Have been to Balu now several times and consistently have poor service. Hopefully, this improves, stat!
Balu is a good place to go for drinks and snacks when you have plenty of time on your hands and are with a relaxed friend or two.

This place is ALL about the atmosphere. Fire and ice seems to be the theme– white couches, curtains, etc. contrasted by a fake fire «burning» on a flat screen behind a wall of water in the front and flames shooting out of flat pebbles in glass cases in the back. Very Miami-​like purplish lighting and a back-​lit bar complete the effect. I came here on a Saturday night for dinner with a couple of girlfriends, so I can’t comment on the nightlife, but for dinner it was pretty good.
Their red sangria is strong, but a little too sweet. (It tasted like they were a little heavy-​handed with the brandy.) The lettuce in my caesar salad was comprised almost solely of the ribs and light green part of the romaine, and was chopped up in tiny bits. There were large slivers of parmesan, 3 or 4 tiny but tastey croutons, and 2 anchovies criss-​crossed on top. I understand that caesar dressing contains these slimy little creatures and that they lend delicious flavor, but usually servers ask if you’re okay with their whole carcasses sitting on your plate in case you would like to spare yourself a gag reflex. I wasn’t given a choice in this case, but pushed the little guys to the side and chose to ignore their presence.
I got an appetizer as my entrée– Mexican eggrolls. These were absolutely delicious. They were just like Chinese eggrolls on the outside, but inside were stuffed with juicy pieces of chicken, cheese, onions, corn, and black beans. The guacamole they came with was nice and lime-​y, and the cilantro cream dipping sauce was clean and refreshing. We looked at the dessert menu, but nothing moved us. It also didn’t help that they were out of 3 of the 6 desserts listed…
Service was good; no complaints.
Honestly, this place is mostly style and not so much substance, but it made me realize how important atmosphere is in your enjoyment of a meal. The place looks fabulous (if you didn’t know you were in Queens you wouldn’t believe it!); now the food just has some catching up to do.

Their mojitos were disgusting. At first, we thought they made a mistake, so we sent it back and they gave us another one. It tasted like they used the wrong alcohol.
Their pasta was bland, flavorless, and seemed like it was microwaved.
The sweet potato fries were yummy.
If you want to just drink bottled beer and people watch, this is a great spot. Seems like the latest-​and-​greatest hangout in Astoria. It’s a beautiful space. FYI, they don’t let people smoke at the outside tables anymore.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would.
Unilocal newbies, please also note that the only 5-​star review this place has received is from someone who has only reviewed this one particular restaurant which usually means that it’s someone connected to the restaurant and their review cannot be trusted. I usually decide to try a place by only looking at the reviews from people who use this site regularly or other Elite Unilocalers, such as myself.
Now on to the actual review.
I decided to try this place with my boyfriend and two friends this morning after deciding we were sick of the mediocre food at Grand Café two doors down. We should have just trekked over to Locale. It took forever for us to get our drink orders. Two of us ordered mimosas at $ 9 a pop that were literally orange juice in a champagne flute. No bubbles. I ordered a mojito that was made with dark rum. It looked like a glass of water from the east river. They also charged $ 4 for a basic cup of coffee and my boyfriend also ordered a cup of tea ($ 3.75) with milk and honey which when he poured the «honey» into his tea, he discovered was actually maple syrup.
Now on to the actual food.
I ordered an egg white omelet that came as yellow as the sun.
My boyfriend, who’s a vegetarian ordered the eggs benedict, no meat, and there was certainly canadian bacon on it. Also, they clearly had no idea what a hollandaise sauce was. It looked like congealed French’s mustard. It was completely inedible.
Now, I don’t want anyone to think I’m one of those rude customers at a restaurant who sends everything back. That actually couldn’t be further from the truth and if only one or two of these things had happened we would have chuckled and continued about our meal, however all of these things added up to one colossally unsatisfactory meal so my friend asked for the manager who begrudgingly comped us our entrees so all we had to pay for was the drinks.
I WILL NEVER COME HERE AGAIN!

I guess this place is going through some growing pains judging on the mixed reviews. I’m going to have to go with 3 stars on this one. We went for brunch on Sunday (prime-​time) and it was fairly empty. The place is quite large and only about 3 tables were taken.
Things started out pretty rough — even though there were servers everywhere, it took us at least 3 requests to get water delivered. Then, 2 different servers came over to take our drink and food orders — after we’d already ordered with the first one. When the food arrived, it took multiple asks to get basics like ketchup and hot sauce. Looking around, we saw other tables of people getting up to ask for things also.
Despite the service, the food was pretty decent and reasonably priced. However, I don’t think I’ll be back.
Prediction: This will be one of those spots that shuts down within 1.5 years and then when people walk by and ask, «What was that place that was here?», the other person they’re walking with will respond, «Hmm, I don’t really remember, I hope a great new restaurant opens up!»

It’s been open for 3 weeks, but has filled up. During the early evening there are more servers than perhaps needed. But as the night goes on things smooth out and the place fills up. Drinks are great if a little pricey for the area. I’d say take a look at the crowd and the menu. If the prices and the clientele turn you off, walk away and go elsewhere. I loved the people watching, their frappes and my pizza. I took away a star because of the server mix up earlier which will smooth out with time.