Harmony Terrace

Okay. I love love music. I really do. But this is a restaurant. The volume was way toooo loud to drove me crazy.

I’m married to a Romanian girl and the food here is as good as what her mom cooks. Not sure why people give such low ratings. Maybe they are not used to Romanian cuisine.

Went with Romanian friends who knew the best items on the menu. Timişoreana Romanian beer. Perfect on a hot summer day. Cold appetizer plate was amazing! Main dishes of grilled sausages, stuffed cabbage and stew was shared and enjoyed by all. Fortunately we had enough room for the Papanaşi dessert — like a warm donut with sour cherries and cream. If nothing else, get one of these. Your taste buds will be very happy!

I love the food there. Their meats are not dry and very tender. I would give it 5 star for the food, as it reminds me of home. but the service, oh! Don’t think we’ll go there anymore because of the service. It is provided by a person only, that loves big parties, as they mean more money. The other 2 people are as bussers that are not aloud to take any order or bring you the check. You have to wait for the big guy, that doesn’t write everything that you ordered and then says you didn’t say anything about it. Then he forgets about your table at all. Didn’t feel welcomed there.

Amazing experience we had last night. We were a big group and we were nicely accommodated and welcomed. From last year ive noticed a tremendous positive change in food, service and atmosphere.
The live music was very entertaining and we had an amazing time all together.
Highly recommend to everybody

so this is a Romanian restaurant, they have a good service, they have to do sone work on polish glasses, and they have to stop reheating my mash potato and the polenra in the microwave. Otherwise all good. You guys should try this place.

this place has changed in the past year and i believe it serves the best romanian food you can find in NY. They have a band that plays almost every night and they are very entertaining, they can sing anything:) If you want some delicious romanian food this is the place!

it’s mainly a Romanian food restaurant (Black Sea cuisine :)), not mediterranean cuisine.
the food and the service are ok-​ish. they have Romanian food like polenta with sour cream and cheese, «sarmale», different soups. If you never experienced Romanian food, it’s a good place to try some.

The site promises, «where your dreams come true» and on a rainy Wednesday night on a fake date with a dear friend, my dreams of delicious, hearty Romanian food certainly did come true.
The restaurant is a bit confusing on a Wednesday night as my friend and I were the only patrons most of our time there. Yet, unlike other abandoned restaurants, the dining areas were in great shape and really nice. Each table had fresh flowers. I’m guessing the place is more of a weekend spot where the site indicates there is live music. The food was amazing and nothing tasted frozen, another thing I look for when I am the only person in a restaurant.
P. s. The Romanian red wine was very, very sweet.

Not bad! Much better than expected.
They’re under new management. We got a shared app of spreads and breads which was great. Fresh cut fries, nicely cooked meats, and generally good food and service.
I’d come back for sure.
As with most eastern european restaurants around here, there’s a karoke setup. So if you plan your night correctly, you could be jamming with the rest of us out here in queens, having a good time.

I have never had Romanian food before which is odd since I live in Sunnyside and they have so many of them. I came here with a few friends and the place was very festive. There was a lived band playing Romanian music which was a little loud but it was a nice touch.
They had a wide selection of Romanian beers and wine, I tried the wine and it was good but nothing to rave about.
As an appetizer I tried the polenta with feta cheese and sour cream, it was good but I never been much of a polenta lover and the Romanian sour cream was a little more sour than I’m used to.
I ordered the stuffed cabbage which was delicious and very well seasoned. It comes with a side of polenta but since I had that as my appetizer I got mashed potatoes instead.
One of my dinner companions ordered the Romanian sausage and that was delicious as well.
I was too full for dessert but I did get to try the amaretto ice cream with nuts and it was perfect.

Disrespectful manager. Okay food — bit greasy and absolutely horrible horrible party night on weekend. They play extremely loud and tacky loud music or karaōke on weekend night and it was HORRIBLE! We couldn’t stand the atmosphere and me and my friend asked for the check and left without finishing our meal. One of the worst dining experiences ever.

I missed eating Romanian food made by anyone else than me, you know, sometimes you just want to sit back, relax and be served. Well, it was in deed an awesome experience for my taste buds, but have to say it’s a bit pricey.
The menu they have on the website it’s not updated as everything is at least $ 1 more at the restaurant.
Of my party it was just me the only one to go there for the first time, and we were all Romanians. We went on a Saturday night at around 7, and all the inside seatings were booked for a baptism party, so we had to stay «outside», on the small glass closed porch so to say. We saw people coming in and leaving just because where these available seatings were it was kinda chilly.
I had Salata de Vinete/​Eggplant Spread -$ 6 if I remember well. It was ok, the chopped onion was on the side I guess for those who mind the smell, but I always thought the more onion in the eggplant salad the tastier. Then I had Mici with fries (those were 4 huge mici, a bit undercooked for my taste, and the fries were some huge thick potato strips) — $ 12 I think.
My party also got Boeuf Salad, Tripe Soup, Salmon, and Breaded Chicken Breast. The salads were 3 scoops each– like the ice-​cream ones, the soups were in pretty big bowls, and the chicken came in 2 huge pieces, so you definitely leave with your stomach full.
The portions were big, except for the salads, and we ended up taking half of those to go. For dessert my friends got Crepes with jam, and Cheese fritters. Sorry I can’t tell you how they tasted, I was on diet, but the cheese fritters were way bigger than any I ever had.
The service was ok, could have been better (one of the waitresses barely smiled and was always in a rush, even a bit rude, the other one who was bringing the food on the table was nicer).
They have live music on special occasions, and if you plan a party with Romanian food at your place, you can call a day in advance to order the food, and pick it up the next day. No home deliveries.
So, for a party of 3 adults and a kid the bill was $ 120. Whenever I will have too much money to spend on food that I know how to make but I’m too lazy, I”ll go there, but I have a feeling it won’t be too soon.

This is a nice, quiet place. I went during the week and it was kind of empty. The service is good and friendly. I’ve never had Romanian food, but I ordered the stuffed cabbage with polenta and I enjoyed it. I also tried 2 of the desserts, but they were too sweet for my taste, delicious but sweet.

Sunnyside might be known for its endless venue portfolio of Irish pubs (
), but another hot bed of ethnic establishments that tends to go unnoticed are the Romanian ones. Harmony Terrace might be the least visible of the bunch, but rest assured it is as Romanian as they come.
The restaurant is a pretty decent size, often hosting large (presumably Eastern European family) parties on the weekends and they recently added another bank of tables that sit along the windows the street. People are typically greeted at the center bar, which directly above is airing some Romanian satellite feed. On week nights it might feel a bit eerie since the people traffic is relatively low (read: empty), so I’d rule this spot out for a date night but it’s definitely the perfect spot for a massive group with a craving for hearty cuisine.
And food wise, I’d give it an all around thumbs up. Everything is prepared by a couple of older Romanian women, who outside of lifting heavy bags of garbage or taking the occasional smoke break in the side alleyway, can whip up a hell of a feast. Most of the food is reasonably priced at $ 10 – 13 an entrée and can conquer any serious appetite.
A great way to start would be to order their cold appetizer sampler, which comes with generous scoops of vinete (eggplant spread), icre (white caviar), fasole batuta (mashed beans and garlic), ardei copt (roasted red pepper spread), with some salami cold cuts and bread. This alone might fill people up but its a great way to wet the appetite. I’d recommend at least 3 people for this portion of the meal. If cold isn’t your thing, shoot for some fried zucchini or cirnaciori oitenesti (fried kabanos sausage), but they’ll be far less interesting.
While I haven’t been a huge fan of their seafood platters (woof on the fish and chips and breaded shrimp), carnivores will appreciate the hefty mixed grill, which for $ 18 gets you a lamb chop, grilled chicken, various sausages, and breaded pork. But the real star of the show is the mititei, otherwise known as Romanian grilled sausage. Whether you eat it with fries or a salad, the spongey sausage reminds me of a giant breakfast link sausage with a little char and some serious smokey flavor. Nothing beats their stuffed cabbages, which is savory and delicious in all of its red tomato-​y glory, and served with a side of polenta. If there is any dish in the house to order, it would be this one.
The service could definitely be a little warmer (especially the young guy who is always mean muggin) but the food more than makes up for it. It’s always fun to come in here and be the only non-​Eastern customer. The real take away of course is to be able to experience something that exclusively screams Romanian, in the heart of Sunnyside.

Harmony Terrace, in Sunnyside, came somewhat highly recommended. In an interview with Eater, «Romania’s Ambassador» (or, more accurately, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN) sings the praise of the eatery, along with a few others, where «Romanian-​Americans cook and produce foods very carefully, based on the old traditional recipes».
And yet, if you’ve been to Romania, you probably don’t have especially fond memories, or any memories at all, of your meals there. Indeed, Romanian cuisine can be pleasant enough, but it isn’t terribly distinctive. When it doesn’t borrow specialties from its neighbors (vegetable spreads, taramosalata, pickles, stuffed vegetables, schnitzel), it relies heavily on soups, grilled meat, and polenta.
The menu at Harmony Terrace follows these lines. I had been looking forward to some of the offal dishes I saw on their menu online, such as the breaded veal brains and the grilled sweetbreads, but I was told upon ordering that both were 86d.
We started with the cold appetizer assortment, a platter large enough for a whole meal. The white caviar (icre in Romanian), similar to taramosalata, was good and creamy. The white bean spread lacked salt and had almost no taste whatsoever, while the eggplant spread managed to be pleasant even without salt. There was also a rather unidentifiable vegetable salad soaked in mayo. The hard and soft salami were of course store-​bought, but of good facture. Oh and finally! Good, red, ripe tomatoes with bright green salad!
The breaded cacaval (a kind of pressed cheese), was curiously translated as fried mozzarella, both on the menu and in the execution. It was about as good as the next mozzarella stick, but the very regular shape of the triangles makes me wonder if they were really homemade.
Next came the mixed grill, big enough for two. The mititei, grilled rolls of ground meat, tasted good but too much bread made the texture a bit spongy. The tasty, lonely lamb chop was definitely not enough, compared to the other elements. The chicken was slightly dry, and the pork drier still. Everything but the mititei lacked salt, which is regrettable considering the difference between OK and good meat sometimes resides in the seasoning alone (avoiding cooking it twice as long as necessary doesn’t hurt either). Little did we know that the plate also came with another triangle of fried mozzarella. The fries were crispy but a bit too floury.
The stuffed cabbage was prepared with rice only, no meat. We weren’t quite able to discern from our server whether this was the case all the time, or just on the day we visited. And the lack of meat was unfortunate, because as enjoyable as the cabbages were with their cigar shape and their hint of tomato sance, this became more of a side dish than a main course. The bland, unsalted, mamaliga (polenta) had the texture of silicone breast implants — I guess some people are into that kind of thing. Both mains also came with pickled vegetables.
For dessert, we tried the chimney cake. I can’t tell you if it was homemade or coming from the Chimney Cake Bakery, but we liked it. The rings were fresh, and covered with nuts. I would imagine they taste even better when they’ve just come out of the oven. There were other desserts on the menu, such as the papanai (cheese fritters with sour cream and jam), but somehow I don’t remember being offered any of them. It was the rings or nothing.
Finally, there’s a nice selection of Romanian wines, red and white, from dry to sweet, all available by the glass. Did you that Romania’s the world’s 9^th largest wine producer? The wine isn’t fabulous, but it’s decent and interesting enough to be tried.
If I had two words for the cooks at Harmony Terrace, they would be «add salt». Nearly all the things we tried lacked salt. This seriously harmed our appreciation of the meal. Salt interacts with food while it cooks, even when it just sits. It’s not a condiment: if you add it at the last minute (or, worst, let customers add it, which they rarely do appropriately), the dish can’t reach its full potential. Oh, and when can I get those breaded veal brains?

The restaurant and deco is nice.
The food is ok, it used to be better.
The service is really bad.

HORRIBLE, YUCK!
This is by far the worst place in Sunnyside. Not a friendly atmosphere. Felt like we were an inconvenience. The service was practically nonexistent and then we had to ask several times for water. Ordered the fried zucchini with marinara and it came with spicy ketchup. The mixed grill entrée wasn’t even provided with the option of potato as stated on the menu and there was no vegetable. The food was all extremely greasy. When the bill came the zucchini was now $ 9 instead of $ 8 and a can of diet coke was $ 3!!! Ridiculous!!! We will NEVER go back!

Yum! Yum!
My Romanian supervisor took me here for lunch one day on our way back to the office after a meeting. I’d never tried Romanian food so I was excited. He took charge ordering us an appetizer of boef salad, which was like a potato salad but richer and creamier, yet light and delicious. I think there might’ve been chicken in it (even though ‘boef’ makes it sound like the dish should contain beef). The waiter brought us complimentary bread and butter. The bread was pale with a crisp crust, nice and fluffy on the inside.
For an entrée, I ordered the Romanian grilled sausage. It was so good. For sides I was offered a choice of french fries or polenta. I chose the polenta. It was cheesy and creamy and rich, but a perfect accompaniment to my sausage. The sausage was really good and seemed to be homemade. It wasn’t greasy at all and had an interesting texture, not too chewy and teeming with flavor.
I definitely recommend this place! They offer a bunch of less «exotic» dishes as well if you want to choose one safe option to go with something you haven’t tried before.

Haven’t been here in a long time and I think I’m going through Harmony withdrawal. I’ve been thinking about their salata de vinete and def. their mici lately.
The restaurant is small, maybe 10 or so tables altogether, and packed on the weekends. The only drawback really is that if you don’t live in the area and are planning to drive, parking is definitely a challenge, but that’s Sunnyside for you. :-) Other then that, I wish they weren’t so packed on the weekends, it’s probably a smart idea to call ahead and make a reservation but I’ve never been that much of a planner.