A modern Dominican restaurant and lounge has opened in Astoria with creative flair. Its mofonguitos, mini versions of the mashed plantain dish, are layered with a slab of crispy fried pork belly and drizzled with a cream sauce; and mac and cheese is served with a choice of pernil or ropa vieja. Weekend evenings turn up with blue and green lights that rotate around the open dining area, and the large banquettes in the back are packed.

A vestige of the Korean American presence remains alive in downtown Flushing with the opening of Bunsik. The new restaurant doles out generous portions of Korean street food. Here, nearly every table has an order of rosé tteokbokki: chewy cylinders of tteok and sheets of fish cake slathered in a sauce of gochujang and cream. The various versions of kimbap are filled with more fixings than rice. Order the kkaenip (perilla leaf) as an add-on for a slightly vegetal finish. The ketchup bap omurice will make any Korean adult’s inner child happy.

Foodstruck has pivoted to Ramro, a restaurant from Ravi Thapa and Raymund Embarque, alums of Momofuku Ko, Jua, and Oxalis. Unlike the more fast-casual Foodstruck, Ramro’s dishes include items like walnut cauliflower, skate wing with lemongrass and noodles, and cheddar Parmesan ice cream for dessert. Most of the menu is a la carte, but there’s a tasting menu option at the chef’s counter.

The team behind Ye’s Apothecary and Blue Willow debut a lushly designed Hunanese-Sichuan restaurant and baijiu bar in Long Island City. Business partners, Mandy Zhang and Vincent Lin, are particularly proud of bringing in Hunanese techniques of pickling, firing up the wok at super high temperatures, and using lots of chile peppers. They’re well represented in dishes like the brine rice noodles with sliced beef, sour string beans, and pickled chiles; Miss Lou’s beef stew with slices of tender, fatty beef alongside pickled cabbage, and enoki mushrooms in a rich and sour broth; and the century egg claypot, where century eggs are mashed with eggplant and green chiles.

A Jackson Heights mini mall is now home to a Mexican pizzeria. At El Mercadito, Mexico City-born Hilario Morales, who’s also behind Homemade Taqueria, uses the thin crust pie as a deliriously extensive canvas for Mexican dishes. An al pastor pizza is topped with chipotle sauce and fresh pineapple; a chile relleno pie has quarters of the stuffed pepper laid out among roasted poblanos; a birria pizza is dappled with avocado sauce. Mexico City-style fried quesadillas, flautas, and taquitos round out the menu.

News of Takesushi’s closing went viral last fall, but it has reopened inside Bon Cafe et Restaurant just around the corner from its previous location. “So many people call me and asked me to open,” says owner Robin Kawada, who’s been distributing fresh seafood from Japan since 1975, and making twice monthly visits to Japan to source his sushi in Sunnyside. He says he’s training every morning to get back to that travel frequency once he throws his grand opening party in September. In the meantime, expect local seafood as well as special deliveries from any of his friends who visit Japan. Kawada still has a guy at Japan’s Toyosu Market who packages up his unique merch. The lunch sets are delightful, and can include soft shell crab and chuturo, a buttery, fatty tuna.

A $20 AYCE sushi, udon, and mochi ice cream spot ($30 for dinner and weekends) is buzzing among Astoria locals. Cross off items from the vast menu as you eat. Certain portions may be small to prevent waste. It might be your first time seeing a zucchini tempura all alone on a plate; good thing you can order more. The seafood isn’t omakase level, but it makes for a solid neighborhood spot, where you can indulge in dragon rolls and ikura. Colorful wallpapers, paper parasols, and lamps cover almost every surface area of the space. Prepare to wait at peak times.

A tropical chic restaurant debuts in Rego Park with hearty Indonesian and Malaysian fare. It’s not so much fusion, two distinct menus (and chefs) offer the traditional dishes of each cuisine. Surabaya, Indonesia native, Joana Cravianho, formerly of Bamboo Ya and Awang, offers up roti canai with hot fluffy roti; chicken satay with rice cakes for sopping up the flavorful peanut sauce; and a multi-faceted noodle dish with ground chicken, slabs of barbecued chicken, meatballs, fried wonton, and bok choy. The Malaysian menu includes nasi lemak with curry chicken and four versions of vegetable belacan.

Grill and simmer the meal of your dreams at the city’s newest Thai mookata parlor, a paradise of all-you-can-eat Thai barbecue and hot pot. Cook from an endless spread of vegetables, noodles, and meats like cilantro-marinated squid and chile-seasoned pork belly. Don’t know how to cook them? No worries, says co-owner Raweewan Chen. Employees are on deck with tips, as well as constant refills of chicken bone broth for the hotpot and new pans to grill on. Make room for hot snacks like creamy tom yum soup and pad krapow gai, in addition to desserts like grass jelly and jackfruit over shaved ice and mango sticky rice.