Astoria Seafood

The freshest fish needs the fewest garnishes. Lemon is good, maybe some parsley. Both are readily available at Astoria Seafood, where diners bag their own seafood before the cooks grill or fry it. Porgies and whiting, left whole, are among the low-cost options; plump, sweet sea scallops are a step up; and there’s hulking swordfish steak alongside immense, shell-on prawns from the Mediterranean. There’s garlic bread for dunking whatever juices are left over, and a mild BYOB rowdiness that comes from convivial rounds of grappa, ouzo, and Michelob. Repeat visits suggest that, à la Di Fara Pizza, long waits are common, but people remain generally cheerful. Fun, maybe even more than the high-quality fish, is in fact the common denominator here.