I haven’t done a restaurant review in awhile, not for lack of trying. Lunch today at Mission Sandwich Social and a dinner at Telly’s Taverna, in Astoria, has ended the dry spell. Finally!

The Mission sandwiches are amazing and quite substantial . Each sandwich will comfortably feed two people. ( Adam and I struggled to finish each of ours. I gave up!))

The subs are served on fresh baked, San Francisco-Style Dutch Crunch bread and packed with the finest, freshest ingredients. According to the chef, Brian Tsao, “I’m on a mission… to bring big, saucy subs to the heart of Williamsburg Brooklyn… and am “obsessed with unexpected, over-the-top flavor combinations…”

The sandwiches are pricy for one, but not if shared.

Telly’s Taverns in Astoria was another surprise – also pricy – but perhaps best saved for that special occasion. (We celebrated a family birthday.) They specialize in Greek food, and everything is also the finest and freshest. Some of the dishes we enjoyed were grilled octopus, three dip combination served with warm pita bread, a Greek salad, fresh cut fried potatoes, fried cheese, as well as grilled fish and meat. Their extensive menu also includes spinach pie made to order. (Next time!)

The next time! Everything was so delicious, we returned for another dinner deciding to try new dishes on the menu. This time we ordered fried zucchini (thin zucchini slices covered in a paper thin coating), freshly made spinach pie, grilled salmon, swordfish kebab, and for dessert fried dough with honey and cinnamon (a type of donut) and the best Baklava I have ever eaten (more filling, less puff pastry). Again, dinner didn’t disappoint!