An Afternoon in Maspeth
I was out in Maspeth the other day and decided to take a little time after work and see what food delicacies I could find. I had only walked a block when this awesome looking old school Italian market basically jumped out at me.
Iavarone Bros. looked like to had all the makings for a rocking deli and I was right.
Right inside is the display case with a huge selection of classic Italian prepared foods- rice balls, chicken parmigina, lasagna- you name they had it.
Over in the side case were sausage rolls, shepherds pie, and bread pudding. Not to be out done by the awesome looking penne with vodka sauce and some mussels in white wine.
It was a hard decision but I ended up trying out three things- chicken parm, pasta carbonara and the chicken special of the day.
The Chicken Parmigina was amazing!! Nice crispy oregano breading with a slightly sweet and tangy tomato sauce and some ridiculously fresh mozzarella. This was everything Chicken Parmigina should be but so often isn’t.
The Pasta Carbonara was good as well with peas and pancetta inside. Although the neon orange sauce did throw me a bit.
Last but not least the chicken of the day- General Tso’s! I had to get this just because I thought it was funny. Chinese food in an Italian deli?? It was just some fried chicken chunks in sauce but honestly it was really tasty. Much less greasy than from Chinese take out and with some nice pieces of white meat.
I didn’t even get to delve into their amazing meat and cheese department filled with gorgeous cuts of porterhouse and fresh balls of smoked mozzarella. I’ll have to come back for that another day
After my food tour of Iavarone Bros I wandered past Rosa’s Pizza and look at glace at their Grandma slice. However my stomach was couldn’t handle another savory bite- I needed sweet. So over I went to Isabella’s across the street.
How can you not be lured in by signs of whoopee pies and sidewalk chalk! Much like Iavarone Bros it has a homey, old school feel inside and offered so many different flavors of ice cream and icees I felt a little overwhelmed.
Finally I settled on a Child’s size scoop of Butter Pecan for $1.00.
Why can’t there be scoops of ice cream in Manhattan for a dollar? This was the perfect amount of buttery rich ice cream with just a tad too many pecans (but whose complaining about that).
I was stuffed after that and finally wobbled my way over to the bus and hitched a ride home. I really had a nice little tour of Maspeth and vow to write about Queens more often. There’s so much to been seen in this borough and I really haven’t highlighted it enough.
Iavarone Bros. looked like to had all the makings for a rocking deli and I was right.
Right inside is the display case with a huge selection of classic Italian prepared foods- rice balls, chicken parmigina, lasagna- you name they had it.
Over in the side case were sausage rolls, shepherds pie, and bread pudding. Not to be out done by the awesome looking penne with vodka sauce and some mussels in white wine.
It was a hard decision but I ended up trying out three things- chicken parm, pasta carbonara and the chicken special of the day.
The Chicken Parmigina was amazing!! Nice crispy oregano breading with a slightly sweet and tangy tomato sauce and some ridiculously fresh mozzarella. This was everything Chicken Parmigina should be but so often isn’t.
The Pasta Carbonara was good as well with peas and pancetta inside. Although the neon orange sauce did throw me a bit.
Last but not least the chicken of the day- General Tso’s! I had to get this just because I thought it was funny. Chinese food in an Italian deli?? It was just some fried chicken chunks in sauce but honestly it was really tasty. Much less greasy than from Chinese take out and with some nice pieces of white meat.
I didn’t even get to delve into their amazing meat and cheese department filled with gorgeous cuts of porterhouse and fresh balls of smoked mozzarella. I’ll have to come back for that another day
After my food tour of Iavarone Bros I wandered past Rosa’s Pizza and look at glace at their Grandma slice. However my stomach was couldn’t handle another savory bite- I needed sweet. So over I went to Isabella’s across the street.
How can you not be lured in by signs of whoopee pies and sidewalk chalk! Much like Iavarone Bros it has a homey, old school feel inside and offered so many different flavors of ice cream and icees I felt a little overwhelmed.
Finally I settled on a Child’s size scoop of Butter Pecan for $1.00.
Why can’t there be scoops of ice cream in Manhattan for a dollar? This was the perfect amount of buttery rich ice cream with just a tad too many pecans (but whose complaining about that).
I was stuffed after that and finally wobbled my way over to the bus and hitched a ride home. I really had a nice little tour of Maspeth and vow to write about Queens more often. There’s so much to been seen in this borough and I really haven’t highlighted it enough.
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