OH-MY-GOD! That's what I thought every time I took a bite of my dinner out there on the terrace of restaurant Gastroteca Astoria in LIC, Queens. We ended up there when we went for our where-shall-we-go-have-dinner-today walk. And boy am I glad that we did. It was such a nice night so we decided to go sit outside. Although the inside of Locale looked great aswell (think bistro style).

Our whirlwindwaitress Ana from Canada - she came to New York for the theatres and I would not be surprised if she becomes a Broadway Star one day - wasn't a real big help when it came to choosing what to have. Because after 5 suggestions it turned out that everything on the menu was her "favourite". Which I can now actually understand. Because what I had - crostinos followed by the crispy gnochi - was oh my god - soooo good!

However, next time I'll have to try the meatballs. Locales signature dish, according to the guy who parked his dog to the fence, went inside and sat at the bar. I thought he wanted to watch "Little Rascals" - the black-and-white movie they were showing on the big screen behind the bar that week. But when he walked back out he pointed at the bag he was carrying and said "meatballs-to-go and to die for".

Gastroteca Astoria is located at 33-02 34th Ave. in Astoria (Long Island, Queens). Only a 10 minute walk from the Paper Factory Hotel and real easy to reach from Manhattan. Just take a taxi or the N or Q to 36th/Broadway.