Mombar

I don't like to pimp Astoria much on this blog. It's my neighborhood, and I am protective of it. I don't want hipsters moving here, though I know they've found the place and I'm not fucking happy about it. The thing that will immediately ruin a good mood is to see some poser asshat with emo stars tattooed on his neck and a Che Guevara shirt running around my lovely, wonderful, diverse ethnic 'hood. I know Mike and I are guilty of being transplants and homogenizing the neighborhood but we WANT it to stay the same. We want the tacky Greek cafes and ladies with 8 inch long nails running the joint. We love it here. It is our home. If I ever see a Banana Republic or a fucking Pottery Barn around here I might puke. Keep that shit in Brooklyn where it belongs, please.

However, I can't talk about Astoria without talking about the food. Oh my God, the food. Truth be told, we don't even go to Manhattan much anymore because we can eat just as well here for half the price. We have one of the top rated Italian restaurants here and the top rated Thai place is just a neighborhood away.

One of our very favorite restaurants is the amazing Mombar. It's an Egyptian restaurant tucked away the upper corner of Steinway Street near Astoria Boulevard, a hefty walk from any train. It's this unbelievable place, completely unlike any restaurant I've ever been to. It looks like the inside of an Egyptian bazaar, all intricate fabrics and mosaics and copper pots. The best part, though, is the food. There is one chef, and an open kitchen. You can see the food being painstakingly prepared by the amazing chef, Moustafa. We've eaten there about 6 or 7 times now. The food is amazing. Fried filo dough bread with a thyme olive oil, cooked whole striped bass, lamb tagine to die for, mussels with a spicy tomato sauce, stews, delicious lamb chops, hummus, you name it. They've got it all. The dishes take a long time to prepare, but it shows. The dishes are always fresh, hot, delicious, and best of all, infused with the skill and passion of a chef who really cares about what he's making. On top of that, he's so so nice. He actually waited on us tonight because he was short a staffer. He read us the specials, brought us drinks, and checked up to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. I loved how his face lit up when we could barely talk because we were cramming food in our mouth at a breakneck pace.

Being the little internet lover that I am, I decided to google the place, and I found out that the beautiful dining room and the mosaics were all decorated and made by Moustafa himself. Apparently, it took him seven years to finish while he ran a copy machine repair shop to finance it. SEVEN YEARS. When I think of that kind of time, I get woozy. What have I been doing for seven years? Have I committed to anything for seven years? Loved something enough that I'd toil and slave creating something amazing that would be my life's work at the end? I admire anyone who can spend seven years doing anything. Kudos to Moustafa. The place is awesome. You can feel the love of that seven years in the food, and you can see it in every meticulously placed tile. If any of you come around my way, I'll take you to see it. See some pics below!