New Restaurant to Bring Swardfish And Branzino to Forest Hills View Full Caption

QUEENS — Forest Hills serves cuisines from around the world — from Thai and Japanese to Mexican and Italian — but it’s missing a seafood restaurant, the owners of a new eatery said.

“Reef,” scheduled to open on Wednesday on 72nd Avenue, between Queens Boulevard and Austin Street, hopes to fill the gap by serving a variety of fish and other seafood.

“I think it’s one of the best spots in New York,” said Sokol Kupi, one of the owners, about Forest Hills, where he has lived for about five years. “But it’s lacking a good seafood restaurant.”

Leslie Brown, president of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, said that the nearest seafood restaurant is London Lennie’s in Rego Park, although several restaurants in Forest Hills, such as Agora Taverna, a Greek eatery on Austin Street, also serve a variety of seafood dishes, Brown said.

Kupi said that the new restaurant, which can seat up to 70 people, will focus almost entirely on seafood dishes and the products will be bought fresh on a regular basis at the Hunts Point Fish Market in the Bronx.

Among seafood appetizers, patrons will find grilled octopus, baked clams and fried calamari.

Reef will also offer a number of raw fish dishes, including salmon carpaccio, tuna tartar, and striped bass crudo, as well as grilled whole fish, such as red snapper and Mediterranean dorado.

The prices for fish entrees will range from $19.50 for salmon steak to $26.50 for swordfish and $28.95 for Mediterranean sea bass (branzino), Kupi said.

There will also be several dishes to accommodate those who may prefer options other than seafood, including rib-eye and filet mignon.

The restaurant, Kupi said, will be open seven days a week, including for lunch.

“Reef” is located at 108-02 72nd Avenue in Forest Hills.