An Old Favorite Revisited

When my husband Stu and I were dating, we dined at a restaurant in Astoria, Christos, which had been touted as a great steak house of the caliber of Peter Luger – my all-time favorite place for porterhouse.
After a recent return visit, I’m happy to report it’s as good as I remembered, and even better than my old favorite because, in addition to a mouthwatering steak, there are many Greek touches that add a wonderful pizzazz to the food.
The warm wooden interior has subtle lighting that makes it romantic but also bright enough to read the menu! There is a large bar area with tables for those who want to come in for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres or are waiting to be seated. The main dining area has well-spaced tables so I didn’t have to listen to other peoples’ conversations.
There is a back room that is perfect for parties of up to 35.
We began our meal with a wide selection from their appetizer menu. Fortunately, we were a group of six people so we were able to share several of the selections.
My favorites were the perfectly prepared grilled and fried octopus and the saganaki pan fried valhotyri cheese, but I recommend the trio appetizer tasting for $14. You can choose three items from a choice of meat, fish or vegetables. I liked the spiced lamb roll with roasted pepper yogurt. My fish choice was the mini crab cakes with lemon rémoulade, and for vegetables, I loved the wickedly rich Roquefort crusted broccoli.
There are choices of salads too, and we had the classic Greek salad and the Christos sliced tomato and sweet onion salad with grated manouri cheese. I commented to the waiter that it’s not tomato season but the ones on my plate were deep red and delicious. He said all the produce is bought from the best purveyors, and the taste told me it’s the truth.
By now I could have gone home satisfied, but how could we not find room
for what we came for – great USDA prime steak. By the way, they age the meat themselves for 21 days in a temperature-controlled room. The meats can be bought from their shop.
Now on to the piece de resistance – the Christos’ signature porterhouse. The portion we had was large enough to be shared by five people, but we also had a 24 oz rib eye that was also perfectly cooked, charcoal black on the outside and tender, juicy pink inside.
For side dishes, we had the most outrageous mashed potatoes mixed with lobster meat and presented in a lobster shell. It is a beautiful presentation and a not-to-be-missed treat. Of course, there is the mandatory creamed spinach and my favorite, sautéed spinach and feta cheese. Potatoes come five different ways, and there are also pasta side dishes.
For seafood lovers, there is jumbo shrimp, grilled wild salmon and lobsters – steamed or broiled. There is also whole fish sold by the pound, based on market price.
My choice of dessert was an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.
Yes, I was grateful to be back at Christos, and I’m not letting too much time pass before I return. Try it, you’ll love it too!