Photo: Brian Alston, Pintrest
It’s pretty hard to get me to go to Queens. I dated someone who lived there years ago and I have to say outside of traveling there for sex, I don’t see many reasons to go. I am sure there are many unique dining options outside of Greek diners there. In the true spirit of exploring my city, I went & found my new reason to visit this borough.
Burnside Biscuits opened about 9 months ago in Astoria. The restaurant is southern inspired, serving all of the wonderful fried and butter soaked food that’ll kill ya. Their executive chef Jonathan Lemon has worked in Woodland in Brooklyn and Flex Mussels in Manhattan. The restaurant is both gorgeous and massive. It has multiple dining rooms and bars. The interior is beautifully polished with a hatched ceiling and colorful floor tiles. In the center you will find a giant wood burning brick oven.
The menu is expansive, with all the southern favorites. I was also pleased to see that among the heavy dishes are many vegetable and non-fried options. The stars here are the biscuit sandwiches, the fried chicken, and the multitude of charred vegetables you can order from the wood burning oven. You can order a quarter, half, or whole fried bird and it’ll be incredibly crunch, perfectly salted, and juicy. There are 7 biscuit sandwiches to choose from but my favorites were the blackened catfish, classic egg & cheese, or the hot fried chicken. As a side I was crazy about the pimento mac & cheese, and the chopped up biscuits baked in a bath of more pimento cheese. They also serve a killer platter of charred oyster mushrooms, brussel sprouts & fennel. My mouth is watering just remembering this wonderful meal. Here’s what we had:
CORNBREAD
OYSTER FRY - east coast oysters, cornmeal dusted, capers, parsley, lemons, smoked lemon aioli
MELTED PIMENTO CHEESE DIP - fried biscuits, chives
GENERAL BURNSIDE CHICKEN - crispy chicken, charred broccoli, hot bbq sauce, scallions
Whole fried chicken - biscuits
Fried chicken biscuit - cheddar and avocado
Cheeseburger - bacon & parmesan fries
BISCUITS - assorted jams
CRACK MAC-N-CHEESE - sharp cheddar, pimento, cornbread crumbs
STICKY BLACK JACK CARROTS - roasted and glazed, crushed chili peanuts, carrot puree
BROCCOLI ROAST - carolina curry dry rub, sharp cheddar, vinegar dip
ROASTED VEG MEDLEY - seasonal vegetables, flake salt, smoked lemon aioli
