Tag: #travelblogger

Our dinner at José Pizarro Restaurant in London

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If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am a massive foodie. I love going out to the new restaurants and discovering hidden-gems on the dining scene. I recently joined my husband for a dinner-date at José Pizarro restaurant and today I would love to tell you about my experience.

Location:

José Pizarro has 3 restaurants in London:

  • Pizarro Restaurant near London Bridge;
  • José Pizarro Restaurant near Moorgate station
  • José Tapas Bar near London Bridge.

As I work near Monument, we decided to visit Pizarro restaurant on Bermondsey Street which is a short – 10 min walk from the London Bridge station.

Atmosphere:
Pizarro has a stylish décor and an informal atmosphere.

Diners are able to select their seats next to the window overlooking a picturesque church of St Mary Magdalen, at the bar, at the long communal table or the classic tables if they fancy a more intimate dinning experience. As we were on our dinner date, we decided to have a quiet table at the back of the restaurant which was overlooking an open kitchen so we could admire the chefs preparing our tasty dishes.

The menu:

The menu at Pizarro restaurant offers its diners a selection of tasty small and more substantial Spanish dishes, made using the seasonal products which can be served as starters and mains or as tapas for sharing.

To start with, we ordered a few tapas dishes to share from the Pica Pica and Starters menu:

  • Jamón Ibérico
  • Mushroom Croquetas
  • Butifarra negra & pulpo
  • Citrus prawn fritters

All of our starters were great but I absolutely loved the mushroom croquetas. They were the best croquetas I’ve tasted in a long time. You definitely need to try them when you visit Pizarro.

For my main I decided to have a fish of the day – Pescado del día – scallops with some aubergines. They were mouth watering and the flavours of cod and side worked perfectly together.

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My husband had a Castilian leg of suckling lamb with some mojo rojo and chickpeas. It was extremely tender and the portion was generous.

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Once we were done with our mains, it was a time for my favourite part of any meal – our desserts. I decided to be adventurous and ordered some cream cheese ice cream accompanied by some blackcurrant and camomile syrup. It was certainly different and not what I expected!

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My husband was less adventurous and just ordered some classic ice creams and enjoyed them.

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Overall experience:

We both enjoyed our dining experience. I my opinion, Pizarro is definitely one of the best Spanish eateries in London and it offers some great traditional dishes with a modern twist. The restaurant is perfect for a romantic dinner for two or a casual meeting with friends over some delicious tapas and quality Spanish wine. Throughout our meal the service was attentive and the waitress made sure that we had a wonderful evening. The restaurant is also conveniently located (especially if you travel to or work in the City of London) so I would definitely visit it again soon!

Website:
For more information and to book visit:

https://josepizarro.com/pizarro-restaurant/

Address:

194 Bermondsey St,

London

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I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Venice, Italy

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This week I would like to tell you about one of the most romantic destinations in the world-Venice. I love Italy and it is definitely one of the cities you need to visit at least once in your lifetime.

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Venice is located in northeastern Italy and is sited on a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is known for its beautiful setting, architecture and artwork. Both the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

I’ve been to Venice 3 times. My latest visit to Venice was in June and summer brings some of the most daunting crowds… nevertheless there’s a reason why they come: you are never more than a bridge and an alley away from beautiful palaces, squares and monuments.

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Venice has a very lively neighborhood full of restaurants, wine bars and famous Italian gelaterias. I adore Italian food so I am always looking forward to trying some local food. Main squares (especially St. Marco Square) are quite pricey and you might end up paying 4-5 times more than in the other parts of Venice so I would always advice to check the menu and prices if you are on a tight budget. You need to be also aware of the ‘coperto’ charge-it is basically a fee for sitting down in the restaurants. We ended up paying 30 Euros for a bottle of water and a beer as we weren’t made aware of this fee…

Unquestionably, it is a great destination for a short break but you should go there for a minimum of 3 nights to see all the famous sites.

Time to start thinking, who would you take with you?

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Cambridge, UK

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A few weeks ago, I was on a business trip in Cambridge.

Cambridge is a city in the county town of Cambridgeshire in England.  It is located around 80 km north of London and in 2011 its population was slightly over 123,000 including almost 25 thousands of students.

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Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology industries including software and bio-science and many start-up companies spun out of the university.

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More than 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. 

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There’s lots to see in this beautiful city-here is a short list of my suggestions:
  1. King’s College Chapel;
  2. Fitzwilliam Museum;
  3. Mathematical Bridge;
  4. Cambridge University Botanic Garden;
  5. University of Cambridge.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Vilnius, Lithuania

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I have recently visited Vilnius and stayed there for 3 days with my husband.

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Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. It contains one of the largest surviving medieval quarters in Europe.

It is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Old Town contains almost two thousand medieval, gothic, renaissance, and baroque buildings.

Top 5 ‘must-see’ places to visit are:

  • Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania – the former political, diplomatic, cultural centre of the State.
  • Gediminas’ Tower of the Upper Castle – An observation deck on the top of the tower is the best place from which to appreciate a magnificent panorama of Vilnius.
  • Cathedral Basilica – The Cathedral of St. Stanislav and St. Vladislav is the most important place of worship for Lithuania’s Catholics, and the venue for the country’s main Christian, for, and national festivities.
  • Gates of Dawn – The Gates of Dawn is one of the most visited shrines in Vilnius that is famous not only in Lithuania but also abroad, worshipped by the representatives of other creeds too. This is the only surviving gate of the first original five gates in the city wall that was built between 1503 and 1522.
  • Church of St Anne – The church of St Anne is a masterpiece of the late Gothic period.

We really enjoyed our stay in Vilnius. It is definitely worth visiting if you decide to travel to Eastern Europe.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

 

Dinner at Cinc Sentits Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain

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Last month, I was with my husband in Barcelona in Spain to celebrate his 30th birthday. During our last day in this beautiful city, we booked a table at the famous local restaurant – Cinc Sentits. It made me question what do I consider to be the perfect dining experience? For me it’s firstly great food then service and lastly the atmosphere. Cinc Sentits definitely exceeded my expectation and I can definitely say that our lunch there was the best meal we had whilst in Barcelona.

I loved the restaurant philosophy which follows the Catalan proverb:

‘He who eats well and drinks well, does everything right’. 
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Location:

The Cinc Sentits restaurant is located in central Barcelona very close to Universitat tube station and is around 10min walk from the Placa De Catalunya.

Atmosphere:

The decoration of Cinc Sentits restaurant is modern and elegant.

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It is run by a Michellin star chef – Jordi Artal who aims to share a vision of modern Catalan cuisine with its dinners. His goal is to create memorable gastronomic experiences designed to engage the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.

From the moment we arrived, the waiting staff at the restaurant were all knowledgeable, warm and inviting. There was some quiet music playing in the background…

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The menu:

Cinc Sentits offers 2 testing menus (4 and 6 dishes) which are inspired by the freshest ingredients currently in season, as well as Catalonia’s culinary traditions.

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In addition, diners have an opportunity to select a pairing of wines that have been carefully chosen to harmonize with the flavours and aromas of each course. All the wines in the restaurant pairings are exclusively Catalan and Spanish.

What these menus have in common is that they change seasonally and they are the same at both lunch and dinner, so the dining experience is identical. Before we started, we were asked if we had any allergies and our waitress explained that every course we’ll  receive will be a surprise. As we had a flight to catch, we decided to try a testing menu 4 with a pairing of some carefully selected wines. Our waitress explained that we will get:

  • 5 tapas dishes
  • 1 starter
  • 1 fish dish
  • 1 meat dish
  • 1 pre-dessert
  • 1 dessert

I love being surprised and Cinc Sentits offers its dinners a really unique experience where you do not exactly know what you will get for any of the courses until they arrive. I really enjoy this concept as it stimulates conversation and the discovery part enables your senses to bring back some food memories or discover some new textures.

Whilst we were waiting for our food to arrive, we received a delicious shot based on maple syrup, cream, cava sabayon and sea salt. I am not much of a drinker but I really enjoyed it.

Our first course consisted of 5 tapas dishes:

  • Iberian Jamon de bellota;
  • Grilled vegetable flatbread with olive oil ‘caviar’;
  • Freshly shucked baby clams with Cinc Sentis secret sauce number 3;
  • Salt-baked potato, bonito tuna belly, carrot & green bean puree
  • Anchovy with quince paste and pickled pepper.

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They were all mouth-watering and delicious. This course was accompanied by some Cinc Sentits Vermouth wine which was full of aromas and nicely complemented our tapas.

Next, we received our starter-a dish called ‘ Land and Sea of Catalonia’ which was based on some baby peas, pea shoots, pea essence, black truffle, anise sea urchin, razor clams, green apple and ice plant. It was really enjoyable.

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Moving on, we received some wild turbot-it was divine.

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This dish was accompanied by some Contino Blanco 2015 wine.

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This dish was followed by a smoked hen’s egg with crisp thyme brown butter breadcrumbs and pickled onion.

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It was accompanied by some Pre Pairal 1999 wine which worked perfectly with it.

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Next, we received some our main showcasing different parts of duck: duck breast with sauteed pear, duck leg with some red wine gel and pistachio in addition to some roasted duck wing and neck pancake with some pear chutney.

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It was my favorite dish which was simply amazing! It was accompanied by some Magnum Acos 2007 wine.

For our pre-dessert, our waitress brought us some ‘lemon textures’ consisting of some lemon sorbet, lemon cake, lemon meringue and vodka ice sorbet to clean the palette. It was very refreshing.

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If you regularly read my blog, then you will probably know that I have a very bad sweet tooth. As soon as I saw our dessert which was restaurants interpretation of a famous Ferrero Rocher, I couldn’t wait to try it.

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It was simply delectable and was based on some toasted hazelnut mousse, candied hazelnuts with yogurt powder and tangerine sorbet. Our dessert was accompanied by some Moscatel Montegudo wine.

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As a final temptation, just before we asked for our bill, we received some signature cheesecake with carmelised apple and white chocolate. What an amazing, unexpected treat!

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Overall experience:

We both loved every minute of our unique gastronomic experience at the Cinc Sentits based on sampling and discovering some great locally sourced food. Each dish was beautifully presented and made from fresh seasonal foods. In addition to the food, the service was very knowledgeable and welcoming and the restaurant is centrally located so I would definitely visit it again when I am back in Barcelona.

Website:

For more information and to book visit:

http://cincsentits.com/en/

Address:

Carrer d’Aribau 58,

08011 Barcelona, Spain

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Our dinner at Informal Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain

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As you are probably aware, I love travelling and I am a massive foodie. During my recent trip to Barcelona, I visited lots of local restaurant and bars but only 2 of them really stood out from the rest. Today, I would like to tell you about my experience at Informal Restaurant in Barcelona.

Location:

The Informal Restaurant is located in the Serras Hotel in Barcelona. It is situated in a famous Bari Gotic area, just a few minutes away from Barceloneta station. It is a 7 minute walk from Las Ramblas.

Atmosphere:
The whole hotel has a minimalist, modern decor with its linen fabrics, neutral colors and use of materials like iron and wood that connect it to the surrounding marina. As soon as we entered the restaurant we were welcome by a friendly hostess and introduced to Rodrigo who was our waiter throughout the evening. There was a relaxing music playing at the background. In the middle of the restaurant there was an open kitchen and grill which was great as you could admire your food being made.

The menu:

The menu at Informal Restaurant is developed by Michelin Star Chef Marc Gascons who focuses or Catalan and Mediterranean specialties. He aims to provide its dinners with a delicious selection of dishes made using locally sourced products from land and sea.

The restaurant offers a nice selection of dishes but we decided to order from ‘Menu Experience: Picasso’.

To start with, we ordered a few tapas dishes to share:

  • some homemade toasted flat bread with tomato and extra virgin olive oil;

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  • salted anchovies from L’Escala with olive oil and pepper;

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  • mixed salad of green beans, green peas, Iberian ham and black truffle;
  • steamed artichokes, bulgur, celeriac, orange vinaigrette and black truffle;

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  • patatas bravas;
  • free-range chicken roast croquettes.

For my main I decided to have a roasted monkfish with peas, squid and chicken juice. It was mouth watering!

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My husband had some succulent veal with potato parmentier and some seasonal mushrooms. His meal was simply amazing and he thought that it was the best veal he’s ever eaten which is a big statement to make as we eat out at least twice a week.

I love desserts and I was looking forward to trying some of Informal Restaurant’s roast apple dessert with puff pasty, pine nuts and lemon cream. It was delicious!

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My husband ordered some chocolate ice cream and gnache with olive oil and salt. It was a perfect combination of sweet and salty experiences in one dessert.

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Overall experience:
We both enjoyed our dinner at Informal Restaurant. Chef Marc Gascons offers its diners a great selection of some of the best best local food with a modern twist. Throughout our meal the service was friendly and attentive. They made us feel relaxed and welcomed. The restaurant is also very conveniently located so I would definitely visit it again next time I am in Barcelona.

Website:
For more information and to book visit:

https://hoteltheserrasbarcelona.com/en/informal.html

Address:

Carrer de la Plata, 4,

08002 Barcelona, Spain

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Reading, UK

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I travel to Reading regularly on business so today I would like to tell you a bit more about this town.

Reading is a large town on the Thames and Kennet rivers located just 25 min away by fast train from London Paddington. It’s known for the annual Reading Festival and it’s shopping district at the town centre. There are also a few monuments and museums in there including the Reading Museum which contains exhibits on the town’s history and displays a Victorian replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Here is a short list of my suggestions of places worth visiting:

  1. Reading Museum:

reading museum     2. Basildon Park:

basildon-park-front-of     3. Reading Abbey:

Reading Abbey   4. Museum of Berkshire Aviation:

mus_new   5. Riverside Museum at Blake’s lock:

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I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday Destinations: Bruges, Belgium

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A few weeks ago, I took my husband to Belgium for 4 days break to celebrate his birthday. During our stay we spend most of our time in Brussels but we also went on a day-trip to Bruges.

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Bruges is Belgium’s most perfectly preserved medieval town and its stunning architecture attracts over two million visitors every year. If you Belgian fries, waffles, seafood and beer then you should definitely make your way there.

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the northwest of the country. The historic city center is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. The city’s total population is slightly over 120,000 of whom around 20,000 live in the city center.

There’s lots to see in this beautiful city often referred to as the Venice of the North.

Here is a short list of my suggestions:

  1. Belfry and Halle;
  2. Markt;
  3. Town Hall;
  4. Groeninge Museum;
  5. Church of our Lady.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Singapore

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I have recently returned from my honeymoon and today I would like to tell you about the first destination I visited-Singapore.

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Singapore is the world’s only island city-state that is based one degree north of the equator, south of the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia’s Riau Islands to the south. It is known as a global commerce, finance and transport hub.

What I found inspiring is that most Singaporeans are bilingual. There are four official languages on the island: Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English.

We decided to see what the city has to offer by taking a bus tour and although, it is a nice, modern city it doesn’t have much heritage.

There were 100s of shopping malls so if you are planning to go on a shopping trip then you could add Singapore to your destination list. The prices of most items are higher than in UK though so change the exchange rate before you splash your cash 🙂

 

The highlight of my visit to Singapore was our visit to the Botanic Gardens. They were beautiful and I had an opportunity to walk in the rain-forest that is located in the middle of the city.

Top places that you should go to whilst in Singapore are:

  1. Botanic Gardens
  2. National Gallery
  3. Gardens by the Bay
  4. Singapore Zoo
  5. Little India

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I hope you enjoy reading this post!

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Pauline

Shopping in Queens Centre– the most diverse borough in NYC

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As some of you know I love shopping. I was in New York City over the Thanksgiving period and as a result I was able to do some Black Friday shopping. The options on where to shop whilst in New York are all but limitless. New York has some of the best department stores in the world, including Saks, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s and countless Fifth Avenue boutique shops. I was advised by my friend to go shopping in Queens Center and I really enjoyed it. I love shopping and for all the shopaholics among us, a destination filled with shops, boutiques as well as eateries to escape the busy hustle and bustle of shops sounds like the ideal day out. Well for me, it certainly was as I left my husband at the hotel after our breakfast and spent my day at Queens Centre. I ended up being there for 6 hours and came back with multiple shopping bags filled with goods from Kiko Milano, Gap and my beautiful new handbag and pouch from Armani Exchange in addition to some other bits and bobs. In addition, I also managed to collect almost 19,000 steps on my iWatch. Clearly shopping is not only good for your mind. I often go shopping to treat myself when I am stressed but what I also realized that it clearly made me more active on that day.

Stores: 

The Queens Centre has recently been renovated and offers its visitors an opportunity to shop in the modern, spacious surroundings. I discovered that Queens Center attracts nearly 27 million shoppers annually, compared to:
– 20 million visitors to Niagara Falls
– 17.4 million visitors to Disneyland
That is more than the combined, annual total number of visitors to: The Eiffel Tower (7 million) or The Statue of Liberty (4.2 million) so you should definitely check it out!

Everyone can find the brands they like in there ranging from a very popular JCPenney’s and Macy’s, Apple, A|X Armani Exchange, to all other known retailers such as TDisney Store, Hollister, MAC, Swarovski, Forever 21, H&M or Michael Kors. I went to many of these stores and managed to splash some cash on the goods from GAP, Kiko Milano, Armani Exchange as well as some small bits and bobs from the other brands. I was offered a first class suburban shopping experience in an urban environment.

If you feel you need a break from all the shopping, it makes sense to enjoy one of the eateries. In addition, you can also grab some chocolates from Godiva or a piece of cake from The Cheescake Factory to enjoy later.

Discounts: 

As I was in Queens Centre during the Black Friday the discounts were pretty hefty however if you decide to visit this great mall during other periods of the year then some special discounts are available to all out-of-town guests. When I went to the Concierge (that is located at the top floor of the mall) and provided her with my Business Card I received the Visitors Savings URL and the secret Password that gave me the access to the deals! You should definitely check it out!

Location & how to get there:

Queens Centre is located in the heart of Queens in Elmhurst in New York. Queens is a dynamic borough rich in Arts & Culture and can be described as the most diverse borough in New York City.  If you would like to experience live entertainment, music performances or art galleries then you should definitely add it to your travel itinerary whilst in NYC.

Queens Centre is easily accessible by public transport – I took a subway train to get there and it only took 35 min from Manhattan. It is well placed and a mass transit hub, at the intersections of Queens Boulevard, the Long Island Expressway and Woodhaven
Boulevard.

Opening hours :

These opening hours change during the special events like i.e. Black Friday when Queens Centre was open until 2a.m. but usually the Queens Centre is open until 10 p.m. at most days.

Address:

90-15 Queens Blvd

Elmhurst, NY 11373

Website: 

http://www.shopqueenscenter.com/

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Pauline