Food: ☆☆☆ ½

Service: ☆☆☆

Ambiance: ☆☆☆

Cost: $$

I recommend: Gouda, 

Queens Kickshaw is a rare find in a place like Queens. Located in Astoria, this high quality Coffee shop serves exquisite coffee and the most amazing grilled cheese sandwiches ever.

The feel of the place is very Brooklyn but as the owner says “many people walk in and are reminded of something comforting and familiar”. That’s what husband and wife team Ben Sandler and Jennifer Lim aim for. Their menu celebrates the diversity of the neighborhood they are located in.

Using only high quality breads from Balthazar Bakery, the rather quirky combinations of sandwiches created are really splendid. Take for example their Gouda sandwich, which has Gouda, Black Bean Hummus, Guava Jam and Pickled Jalapenos on Brioche with Green Salad & Jalapeno Vinaigrette – WOW!!! They do have an Achilles heel though – I don’t think their open-faced sandwiches quite make the yumminess cut yet. They are a little too dense and need fine-tuning.

Though Queens Kickshaw offers essentially vegetarian eats, one hardly even notices. What I love most about the place is that it is truly understated. It doesn’t claim to be anything – there are no blaring notices about how green they are, or how they source locally as much as possible or how good the quality of the ingredients they use are.

They don’t claim to be the “it” spot in Queens – a place that automatically attracts the bohemian artists or the cool hipsters or the die hard foodies like me.

What I love most about this place is that it just “is” – and what it “is” is something really unique!

Here is some of what we ate:

CHEDDAR & MOZZARELLA WITH TOMATO SOUP

GOUDA

FONTINA VAL D’AOSTA

BREAD PUDDING