Ramro

We've had taco momos and momos wrapped in a paratha, but we’ve never encountered a momo quite like the one at this tiny restaurant in Astoria. Small, delicate, and stuffed with herby confit duck, it's a dumpling that could only have been dreamt up in Queens—and just one of several things at Ramro that blend global influences without feeling gimmicky. At their best, the dishes here hit a groove of unexpected combinations. But even when the food feels occasionally like a work in progress, Ramro is the kind of earnest, ambitious restaurant you want to root for.

Ramro began life as FoodStruck, a takeout window with messy-delicious late-night food that made it a beloved neighborhood stop for anyone getting off their shift after midnight. But you won’t find pulled pork sandwiches dripping with calamansi honey, or dirty fries loaded with beef and cheese here anymore. Now it's open only three nights a week, with neon glowing in the doorway, tealights flickering on the tables, and a playlist that vacillates between old-school hip hop and contemporary R&B. From the four-seat counter overlooking the tiny kitchen, you can see two chefs carefully wiping drops of soy off plates of mushroom skewers.

photo credit: Ramro

The chef's counter bar has about four seats.photo credit: Andrea Grujic

Skate wing with lemongrass, ginger, and kosho.photo credit: Andrea Strong

Red snapper crudo with kohlrabi pickle.photo credit: Sonal Shah

The menu draws on the staff's Filipino and Nepali roots, with the polish of the restaurants and wine bars where they built their careers. Dishes like a red snapper crudo demand such close attention that, after we ate the fish, we drank the citrusy liquid straight from the bowl.

For your first visit, come during Happy Hour on Friday and Sunday, when their shochu and sake cocktails help ease into (or out of) the weekend. The menu of drinking snacks—like those momos and some pudgy beef longganisa—supplements repeat-worthy a la carte plates of pork-filled pithivier and cauliflower with walnuts.

The tasting menu starts with three small bites.photo credit: Sonal Shah

A vegetarian course from the tasting menu.photo credit: Sonal Shah

Basque cheesecake with butternut cream and an espresso martini.photo credit: Sonal Shah

Eden cheese ice cream.photo credit: Sydney Sweeney

Things feel a little stiffer during their $99 tasting menu offered on Saturdays (there's also a $89 Sunday prix fixe option). The six courses include some highlights—that crudo, for example—but other dishes are unnecessarily restrained, like half a roasted baby beet atop some butternut puree in a pool of nage made from reduced vegetable scraps.

Ramro could benefit from a little splash of the chaotic abundance of its former incarnation. But for a restaurant that’s practically the size of a subway car, this place dreams big. And, for the most part, they pull it off.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Ramro

Drinks

While they wait for their full liquor license, Ramro does some very inventive things with wine, sake, and shochu, like making their own “Rampari” infusion as a sub for Campari. We like their quirkily named, frothy cocktails. We also like that a couple of them cost $7-9 during Happy Hour (until 6:30 on Fridays and Sundays).

photo credit: Ramro

Momo

Available during Happy Hours, you’ll get two duck confit and two chicken momos. They’re exquisite, and the red chutney they’re served with is properly zingy.

Beef Longganisa

Also on the Happy Hour menu, these two little skinless sausages vanished from our plate in seconds. Pudgy and delicious. Get them if available.

Walnut Cauliflower

We rarely ever order cauliflower, but please order this plate of textural delights: the vegetable is sticky and crisp in all the right places, with the added crunch of candied walnuts. As a vegetarian option, we prefer this over the cuter-looking skewers of shimeji mushrooms.

photo credit: Andrea Grujic

Porc Pithivier

One of Ramro’s signature dishes, this is a nice little pastry, though the star is the fatty pork inside. It makes us want to go back to try their pork belly dish, which comes with duck skin and is served over rice.

photo credit: Sonal Shah

Calamansi Ice Cream

If you ooh and aah over your food loudly enough, they might send out a little extra something—which is what happened with this little dish of stunning calamansi ice cream. Like lemon curd and marmalade mixed together in a sweet, frozen form, this also had some crunchy rice puffs, and was suspiciously creamy (they mentioned bananas might be involved).

photo credit: Sonal Shah

Silvanas

A crunchy meringue and buttercream confection from the Philippines, this dessert is for serious sweet tooths, and best for sharing.

photo credit: Sonal Shah

Tasting Menu

If possible, sit at the counter to watch the chefs construct each course. We loved how deep some of the flavors are, like the fumet and fermented black bean sitting under our monkfish, and the red snapper crudo swimming in a spicy mix of dalandan kosho and dalandan vinegar, with pickled kohlrabi. A few things didn’t quite come together, though, like a half duck breast inasal, which was perfectly cooked but felt awkwardly paired with a small puri, and a pile of finely julienned atsara.
Some drinks are included, like a fortified wine aperitif, an espresso “martini” with a whiff of orange blossom that comes with a dense Basque cheesecake, and a blueberry wine digestif at the end. They’re all tasty and make the $99 tasting feel like a great value. It’s a nice experience for food nerds. In case you’re hungry after, Franky's is right around the corner.