La Mariposa Eats: Queens Comforts Me

If you are ultra-careful about what goes into your tummy, if you are looking for lots of green veggies or fruits, or you are on a diet of whatever sort, please do not eat here. Leave it for those who enjoy eating!

Everyone else, I'd like to talk to you about Queens Comfort. I've been there numerous times since my first lunch there in March, and have gotten takeout a few more times as well (I gotta have those chicken fingers!!!). I can honestly say that I have never had a bad meal there, I have never had a bad experience. I always have fun and feel, well, comfortable there.

The staff is remarkably nice. I say "remarkably" because New York is a city where some people, especially those at trendy and/or cool restaurants, feel like it is their divine right to be assholes. Seriously, I cannot tell you how important it is, at least to me, that I dine in spots where people are awesome. It is my new rule to only eat in those places. Thankfully, Astoria has a few of those kinds of places, and I find it quite unnecessary to leave Astoria unless I have to go to work. And here, a special shout-out to Comfort's chef/DJ, who makes delicious food, plays awesome songs (I once heard King Creole and the Coconuts there as I chowed down on one of the best lobster rolls I've ever had), and always has a smile and time for a chat. And JA's small talk.

My favorites are the Cap'n Crunch Chicken Fingers with a fabulous red chili bacon caramel sauce concoction on the side, the meatloaf sandwich, the BBQ sandwich and of course, brunch. A positive note - they use Martin's potato rolls for their sandwiches - the way it should be. The bread puddings, both sweet and savory, are delish, and homemade by the chef's sister. One standout dish I had that I haven't seen them offer again (sad face) is the duck sandwich. I swear, I have never had more tender, juicy duck meat, even at places where duck is their business, like Chinatown. Turns out the Comfort cooks spend some ridiculous amount of time slow-cooking the succulent meat. And that is something I really appreciate about Queens Comfort - the effort that goes into preparing their food, and it's mostly, if not entirely, homemade.

The dishes get creative too. Just yesterday, I had duck confit with a poached egg and cherry hollandaise sauce atop a hash brown. Best eggs benedict ever. EVER. Silly me ordered a side of the breakfast sausage because I was somehow worried I didn't have enough meat. But I inhaled those too. They were just too good to leave behind.

Yes, please do note that there is a lot of meat and pork on the menu. However, JA, who does not eat pork, red meat, dairy or eggs, always finds something to eat and love here.

The menu rotates, but there are some dishes, like the chicken fingers and disco tots (next on my list), that thankfully stay on the menu.

The ambience is casual and fun, just like home, and there are obscure movies playing and books and videos too. They have a wall full of pictures of Astorians as babies.

Queens Comfort is really a delightful place to go for any meal of the day. I would make JA go get take-out from Queens Comfort tonight, but they are not open on Mondays. There's always tomorrow. Look at the pictures below and try to tell me you don't want to ditch work and go there now......

Queens Comfort is located at 40-09 30th avenue (corner Steinway street). Please note that brunch gets very crowded, and rightly so - if you don't like to wait, best to move out of NYC rather than give Queens Comfort anything less than four or five stars on Yelp because you had to wait. I'm just saying.