Omonia Cafe - My Big Fat Astorian Brunch

Omonia Cafe - 32-20 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11106

718.274.6650

N/W Train to Broadway

Crystal and I scoped out the amazing brunch deal at Omonia last week and this past weekend I went over there to check it out. The special consists of coffee/tea/juice, an entree, dessert and a morning cocktail for just $12.95. Incredible but is the food good? I give it a confident yes...check out my commentary below.

Atmosphere:

A trademark of the neighborhood, Omonia has been in existence since 1977. It's famous for elaborate Greek desserts--so much so that it baked the wedding cake for the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. They proudly display this accolade in their window--a worthy bragging right in my opinion.

Omonia has recently gone through a redesign and the decor is now cheery and contemporary. I have to admit that I used to stay away from this place in the past because of the smokers--despite the law, you could find an occasional smoker in the main dining room and that just ruined my appetite. But I'm happy to say that this is no more and Omonia is now a lovely, clean and smoke free environment. The space is open and very colorful. A tad on the cheesy side but still endearing and really friendly. We sat in the covered area near the windows, which is opened up in the summer. It made for a fun experience and made us feel in the center of the action.

Food:

There were so many choices to make for brunch--between all the entrees and desserts, everything sounded so appetizing. My cousins Tibor and Stephanie (and I) all ordered the Strapatsada and Dan got the Western omelette. Both were generous sized dishes and their taste was delightful.

Strapatsada: To give this dish a nickname, I'd dub it the "Grecian Scramble." It consisted of rustic scrambled eggs, feta cheese, tomatoes, olives and Mediterranean seasoning. A side of grilled pita accompanied this beauty and all three of us finished it to the last bite. Unlike some scrambled egg dishes which could be bland, this was anything but--and what I think made it awesome was the fragrant seasoning and the sauce. I certainly tasted oregano and a tomato-based sauce which hit the spot and made this dish ethnic.

Western Omelette: This sounds too ordinary right? I thought the same and personally didn't even think about getting it at a Greek place. Dan was really happy with it though and I could tell you why. I think the trick was that all the ingredients were fully integrated into the egg. And as you see from this picture, there were huge hunks of onions, peppers and ham nestled in every nook and cranny of this thing. I tasted it and it was right on--my favorite part being that it was slightly well done, giving the outside a yummy brown crust.

The Desserts: I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed in this area. The desserts we ordered were just OK, aside from Tibor's flan, which he loved. My Baklava was on the dry side, Dan's Black Forrest cake was bland and Stephanie's Amygdalou was just not what she was expecting--too nutty! To be extra gluttonous, we also ordered the DaVinci crepe. This, unlike the other desserts was spectacular--maybe because it was on the entree menu. The whipped cream was really fresh and reminded me of the fruit cup topping from my childhood in Europe. The filling was also luscious and creamy--with strawberries and silky Nutella. How could you go wrong?

Service and Cost:

We were very happy with the service and our waitress was friendly and kind. She gave us recommendations and even laughed with us when we tried to pronounce some of the hard-core Greek dishes. Overall she was a good sport and a pleasant server.

The cost, you already know is dynamite. $12.95 will get you a coffee/tea/juice, an entree, dessert of choice and a morning cocktail such as a mimosa, bloody Mary or a screwdriver.

3 Mmmms