Little Neck is now home to a cozy, fast-casual Hong Kong-style restaurant, saving locals a long drive over to Flushing or Manhattan’s Chinatown for some stick-to-your ribs Cantonese comfort foods. Yum cha snobs swear by Sweet Wonton House’s wonton soups (delicate dumplings filled with juicy chunks of shrimp bobbing in an unctuous bone broth), and dim sum options, where the siu mai and beef rice rolls are also popular.

Dar Yemma translates to “Mom’s House,” and this Astoria newcomer’s vast Moroccan menu of homestyle halal dishes has already garnered a local following. The restaurant specializes in tagines — there are six kinds, including lamb and kofta — and stuffed pies called bastilas. The chicken bastila is a sweet, savory, and textured parcel of saffron-seasoned chicken and spicy eggs, wrapped in a crispy warqa pastry shell and topped with fried almonds sweetened with orange flower water. As soon as diners sit down, there’s complimentary bread and an assortment of lentils and pickled vegetables.

This is the kind of place where glistening Cantonese roast meats hang by the window and beckon onlookers. Among the most popular items are the crispy, juicy roast pork and duck. Locals, especially those who want to avoid the crowded mains streets in downtown Flushing, go to Wang Wang Queens for the Chinese barbecued meats.

The 100 percent halal menu at Off the Bone in Bayside is a bit of a free-for-all that sprawls from crepes to boba, but stick to its specialty: the chapli, minced beef or chicken patty with Pakistani spices. It’s the foundation of their bestselling chapli platter with Afghan rice and the saucy double-decker burger teetering with two chapli patties and mozzarella sticks.

When in Bangkok is a destination for modern Thai food among a predominantly Korean strip of restaurants. Polly, the main server, steers diners toward the bundle of pad thai noodles wrapped in a light omelet; the crispy wontons stuffed with quail eggs; the fiery Zabb wings steeped in Thai chiles and herbs; and all the super tender iterations of pork. Make room for dessert. The mango sticky rice here is infused with pandan, and the coconut ice cream includesjackfruit, corn, and taro.

Chef Richard Chan has already made his mark on Flushing with his Singaporean restaurant Yummy Tummy Bistro (which closed during the pandemic) and the pan-Asian rice rolls spot Rolls Rice. Now he’s putting a modern spin on Singaporean hawker fare out of a new stand at Queens Crossing Mall’s food court. The menu includes Hainanese chicken and rice, Teochew braised duck, and oyster omelet alongside creations like deep-fried jiao-zi dumplings filled with spicy Malaysian curry chicken. Chan also plans to debut a breakfast menu soon.

Astoria locals can now get their hands on khao man gai, and Chick It Out serves its Thai-style chicken in three ways — poached, roasted and fried. Whichever poultry customers choose, the meat is layered on top of soft, ginger rice with a side of clear chicken soup. The counter restaurant accommodates a small indoor dining section surrounded by an Instagram-able mural of a blue-and-pink elephant in the back and vibrant yellow walls.

The fresh baked Turkish pastries are the go-to move at this new, cozy Turkish spot in Astoria filled with comfy pillows and intricate mosaic tiles. Order long, canoe-shaped pide flatbreads (with a choice of six fillings like ground meat), sesame simit, bagel-like acma, spinach-and-cheese borek, and pogaca cheese buns. Enjoy them as part of the Turkish breakfast platter or on the side of a lamb adana kebab dinner. Sunny days call for outdoor dining in the backyard.

At Cerasella (cherry in Italian), Salerno-born executive pastry chef Caterina Pepe, previously of Caravaggio in Manhattan, is rolling out classics you’d find in an Italian pasticceria. Her bestselling specialties include sfogliatella (a delicate, hundred layer pastry dusted in confectioner’s sugar with hot custard that’s delicately flavored with candied orange) and a pear ricotta torta (featuring sponge cake made from pistachios and hazelnuts). The other sweets on sale here are also available at her husband Luca Schiano’s savory southern Italian street food-focused Cerasiello (meaning pepper), located a straight one-and-half-mile shot east.

A casual Mexican spot is now doling out nachos, tacos, burritos and quesadillas in Long Island City. Taco bestsellers include the birria, mushrooms al pastor, and fried cauliflower with salsa macha (a heady combination of chile de arbol, chile Guajillo, peanuts, and sesame) from Mexico City-trained chef Carlos Salazar. Sobremesa shares an outdoor patio with the adjacent Iconyc brewery, where customers can easily pair their tacos with just-brewed beers. Take advantage of their weekday lunch specials — two tacos and a drink for $10 — from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Zaab Zaab opened in Elmhurst with northeast Thai Isaan dishes from chef Aniwat Khotsopha. Eater critic Robert Sietsema paid an early visit and recommends the duck larb and mieng pla plow (a whole stuff and grilled tilapia). Isaan food is typically served with lettuce leaves and herbs like cilantro and dill, but Zaab Zaab is offering rarely seen ingredients like sadao, or Siamese neem, and phe kaa, or blue tongue. Both are bitter and act as a foil to the spicy and sour fish sauce-forward flavors of Isaan.