Bear

Fantastic tastes from the dishes we had. Fulfilling kasha was served alongside a perfect piece of chicken kiev, The perogies overfilled with delisciousness. Brunch is good value for the dishes served. The offering is different than what you’ll see at other places, Worth the walk a bit from the beaten path but it’s not that far.
The infusion I had was great. Just the first down the list, the Hot pepper mess infusion had all the tastes of a bloody mary without any filler, just spicy/​vegetal. Then I ordered a Baltika Beer, the price was too much, $ 9 this should priced to bring people in not turn them away. I used to be able to get Baltika 9 for $ 1 at the local grocery. A hard to find import does not necessarily make for a $$$ beer price. I’d much rather pay $ 9 for 10 oz. of a locally brewed triple.
Nevertheless, I’ll be back for the infusions and the pickle plate. I’ll drink the cheap beer at home.

This was one of the worst meals I’ve had in the area. I was so psyched to come here and have their «Russian ramen» but every dish fell short and the bill ran high. So sad.

I came here awhile back with my fiancé after we had gone kayaking together nearby at Socrates Sculpture park. We weren’t starving but we were really thirsty and had the munchies. He ordered an iced coffee, a corn on the cob and a salad. I ordered a Russian beer and an order of their deviled eggs.
Their coffee is actually really good. Nice flavor and well-​brewed. His salad was fresh, had mixed greens and was a decent portion. My deviled eggs were actually quite good. Not over-​seasoned and tasted light but delicious. Not the best I’ve ever had, but I would get them again. The corn on the cob came with salt, pepper and powdered parmesan cheese. He was happy with it… so I guess it was good, lol.
Our waitress was friendly, efficient and really sweet. Definitely good customer service and the atmosphere here is actually really cool. Too bad this restaurant is so far from the busier part of Astoria…
Although it’s been quite some time, we’ve talked about going back and trying out dinner or brunch here. I look forward to returning!

both the service and food are pretty good. fresh ingredients, portion is generous.
the location is far from public transportations and the populated area, I’m a little worry that this place might not survive long, also the environment has a lot to improve.

So, a Sunday afternoon want to watch some football and have a beer we came accross this resturant and notice these two people talking in front it must have been around 3ish.
I asked if it was open and it was just in time the lady replied. Later to fine out she was the chef. I do recall reading a piece in The” Lic” magazine about her accomplishments as a chef. Pretty good my add.
Ok so Décor — its modern and euro look
Chef/​waitress–
She was very pleasant and welcoming. Put the game on for us.
Food–
Starters we had a app of potatoes and a duck sauce. Not the packaged duck sauce the actual duck meat with a gravey on the potatoes. The «duck sauce“was delicious accompanied pieces of bread. Yummy.
I had salad mix greens with catfish fried and a sesame dressing which was delicious. My palate was full of flavors.. Yum
Boyfriend, had a burger with Fries. He enjoyed it but said he would have preferred if there was more flavor on the meat.
Overall, it is a hidden» Gem “. We enjoyed it.

Very dull environment; the furniture looks like an eclectic collection from Chinese take-​outs. The Bloody Mary, which is so touted by some of reviews, is just watery tomato juice with vodka. On the food front, my $ 15 eggs were watery and cold, with some heated up deli sausage and some mustard spread on the side of the plate for «décor». On top of everything, they don’t accept credit cards — like a $ 50 brunch for two is not greedy enough.

My wife and I have been here a number of times and will continue to go back. The food is delicious, especially the dumplings. They have some really great cocktails and some unique vodka infusions that are definitely worth trying. It’s a lil off the beaten path but it’s worth the trip and is a refreshing break from the usual suspects on Broadway and 30^th Ave.

My favorite neighborhood restaurant. It could be the $ 5 tuesday cocktail specials, the inventive appetizers, or… let’s be serious, the DUMPLINGS (mainly referred to as «pelmeni»). An amazing variety of flavors… oil, vinegar, and scallion, pan fried jalapeño with sour cream, and so on and so on. This is our go-​to restaurant. Plus, the siblings that run the restaurant are super friendly.

First it took forever to get the appetizers. We ordered chilled beet soup and a cod liver crostini. The cod liver was served in a can it originated from and for $ 9 was a total rip off. The dumplings were really good, but the port brat was terrible. It came from a cheap store, I ‘d say no more than $ 4 per pound and was resold to us for $ 18. This is not even a restaurant I would say. The beers were overpriced, not chilled, and in general lack of service and dirty seats were not impressive.

Love this place! A hidden gem in Astoria/​LIC area.
Their food is excellent — always delicious and fresh. Service is very attentive. Down-​to-​earth atmosphere.
If you happen to be here, try their pelmeni and Bloody Mary — amazing!
I suspect, because of the location, very few people know about this restaurant.
P. S. No credit card payments — make sure you have cash

Went here on a Wednesday night as my friend, a native Russian, has been wanting to try this place for some time. As you can gather from other reviews, price and portion size are common criticisms of this establishment. While there is something to be said for quality food in smaller quantities, I would argue there are certain expectations when this is the case. As such, I will use that to frame the context of my review, as the portions certainly seemed small, especially for the price.
The restaurant itself appears to be housed in a converted automotive garage. It is a rather lovely space with interesting seating. The front remains a retractable glass «garage door» that was open on the summer evening. While this is a nice touch, the place suffered terribly from any type of circulation if you were sitting inside. Some type of fan would have gone a long way to make the place more comfortable.
They have an interesting cocktail menu but we opted for beer. We asked for two Baltika and the waitress returned with one Baltika and a few other random beers as they only had one Baltika left. The beers were cool but not properly chilled and we were brought glasses right from the dishwasher, so they too were warm. Suffice it to say, it was not the most refreshing beer I have paid $ 9 for on a summer evening.
Now to the food… upon seating, we were notified that they were out of all pierogis and dumplings. I was both disappointed and perplexed as there were only two other patrons in the restaurant and these items seemed like staples of the menu. They were clearly the most approachable on a unique Russian/​European menu. We ordered a few share plates including the cucumber salad, Salo, poached potatoes, and eggplant spread. The cucumber salad was the best of the four, but at $ 7 for what couldn’t have amounted to more than ¹⁄₃ a cucumber in sour cream, it was arguably the most egregiously priced. The potatoes were the most substantial serving we received and well executed. The eggplant spread was also fairly substantial for the price and was tasty. However, the «grilled cheese» bread included tasted a lot like Kraft Singles. The Salo plate included a few pieces of Salo and looked rather sparse, but this was my first time ordering. My friend, who is more familiar with the dish, called it a rip off. All in all, the food itself was good but the portions left something to be desired.
Given the price/​portion they choose to serve, I believe they need to execute better on other areas in order to justify prices. The venue should have been more comfortable as it was just a bit too warm with the front open and the air was stale without any circulation. The beer absolutely should have been cold and the glasses should not have been warm. While the food is good, I don’t believe it is good enough to overcome the portions and other shortcomings in the dining experience. Unless you really want the cuisine, or can’t walk up to the main drag of Astoria, I would pass on this place.

If you are visiting Socrates Sculpture Park or Naguchi museum Bear is a very good choice & conveniently located close to both. I went for brunch and had exceptional experience. We ordered few things to share
Deviled Eggs, Mushroom croquettes, Fish & Chips! Truly enjoyed our drinks & food! It’s not crowded it’s pleasant and quiet spot!

Came here in a Thursday night… The waitress was absolutely lovely. The manti is fantastic ! Loved the salo as well

I’m a little worried about Bear. My boyfriend and I came here last night — a Friday night — at 9 PM and the place was entirely empty. Zero other patrons were dining the hour or so that we spent here, and I didn’t see any deliveries go out (not sure that they even do delivery). I want this place to stay open, at it’s less than two blocks from my apartment and the food is awesome, but I don’t see how that’s possible with an average of two diners per hour (possibly fewer). But it looks like the reviews have been saying similar things about the lack of patrons for the last 3 years or so, so who knows.
I ordered the traditional pelmini, which consists of dumplings, sour cream, and dill. Sounds quite simple, but it was amazing, and a decent portion. The sour cream was awesome and I loved the dill. Dill was actually all over the menu here, which I thought was great. The bf got another type of dumpling stuffed with lamb. The dumplings were bigger, but there were seriously only three of them (!) and the entrée was the same price as mine ($ 19). He was a little annoyed with the size of this «large plate», but he did think it was really delcious. We also got drinks. He had the house wine, which was $ 5 and tasty; I had a mint julep — also good and cheap ($ 7). The menu indicated that they do $ 5 cocktails on Tuesdays… maybe that’s when everyone’s coming here?
Aside from the food, the music’s really good, and the décor is modern. There’s no outdoor seating, but they leave the doors wide open on nice nights, giving the place an open-​air feel.

Still excellent. Still under the radar. GO GO GO before it’s no longer an option.
This might be the best meal you ever eat in Queens.

Well, their oven broke. The waiter was perfectly nice about it but Sunday brunch wound up taking 3 hours because he didn’t let us know the oven broke until about 2 hours in. And it kind of seemed like the waiter was the cook?
Anyways, I had the pierogi and eggs and they were awesome but because the oven broke, they couldn’t make several things on the menu. We were a group of 6, my fiancé had to get a substitute order since his initial order couldnt be made — said it was OK but just not what he wanted. Coffee literally took an hour to get and two of our vegetarian friends ordered the waffles and they said they were completely cold throughout.
I mean… I loved the bloody mary (especially for $ 1 on Sundays!) but pretty bad luck all around. At the end we paid $ 40 for 2 brunch entrees and 2 cocktails. Maybe I’d go back for dinner but probably not Sunday brunch.

My fiancé and I came here last weekend. It was a snowy and freezing night and upon walking in we were glad we took the journey. We both enjoyed everything we had. We started with wine and the marinated herring (I loved it!) and the Borscht (cabbage and beet soup). Both were delicious. We then had a duck dish and the chicken keiv. We enjoyed both again. The staff was very friendly. I am gluten intolerant and the waitress was extremely helpful and not at all annoyed (which I’ve dealt with many times). My fiancé finished with the chocolate cake. We also really enjoyed the ambiance. Overall, we will be back.

Came here the other week for a couple of apps, we have the two kinds of dumplings: Dumplings in Veal Broth with Scallions and steamed Vareniki with Cucumber Dip. o
The fried ones were very good, the steamed varenki were just OK, we also had the giant bloody mary which was OK, the best part of it was the egg and candied bacon.
It’s also cash only which they didn’t tell us and is not advertised anywhere. Overall this place was just OK.

I had the herring appetizer (nice herbs on it too) and a straightforward (but tasty) salad. He had the chicken sandwich. Everything tasted great and fresh. He noted the chicken was especially well cooked – not your everyday sandwich – and the bread was good too.
A great dinner while wondering around Astoria. (Good to check out if near Socrates Sculpture or Naguchi, etc.) Good looking, comfortable interior. Friendly service, though the food took a bit long to come to the table.
They have a good brunch deal on the menu, which I might try out in the future.

So… as much as I love this site– and I do love it so– I realize that sometimes it can lead you astray. I’d checked out the reviews for this place prior to going, and I’d noticed the dreaded 3 star rating it has gotten. So my first review was purely based on having drinks there, because I was skeptical about trying the food: «expensive» and «tiny». Then on a whim, I decided to try brunch there I figured as long as I wasn’t bringing a date, I could afford to splurge on myself.
So I enter, and again am grateful that this place is right around the corner from my house. Especially since I’m carrying a heavy bag full of Senior papers to grade. I get inside, and there is a small gathering of people at the bar in the back enjoying Sunday football and each others company. As er the first time, I’m greeted warmly by the chef. When I inquire about a table, she tells me that brunch had just ended, and they were cleaning up for dinner. But she give it a second thought and directs me to a table. Very nice. I sit and am brought all the necessary things for my table: water, bread, cutlery, and a menu. She discusses what she still has, and she gives me some suggestions. So since it’s NFL Sunday, let’s put it in those terms: so far the team is making no errors, and capitalizing on the other guys errors in my book.
S the food Everyone makes a comment on the «portions». Notice that. Because I tried the veal tortellini, and from the first bite I can’t wait to come back and try something else. The whole experience was suddenly «clear» to me: the décor, the welcoming manner of the staff, the music, the food. I was sitting in the lap of civility. Not she doesn’t want to stuff food down my gullet as though I was some sow being fatten for slaughter. There is enough here to not be hungry anymore, full no. Bloated, hell no. The dish is exclaiming: «This is a exercise in precision!»
I was worried from those previous reviews. I’ve been to places where you get «very» little to even gauge what the culinary experience was supposed to be really. Over before it started. Sitting there unsatisfied saying, «It’s okay really. Happens to a lot of chefs.» But as I walked home, I noticed how blue the sky was. Which is oft the inspirited feeling you get when you experience something exquisite.