Mundo Cafe & Restaurant   

3118 Broadway
Astoria, NY 11106
718-777-2829

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What could be more appropriate than a global-cuisine cafe in Astoria? Co-owners Canalp ''John'' Caner and Guillermo ''Willie'' Lucerogfabbi got the idea after traipsing around the city for their favorite dishes, and figured they could cover more culinary territory by staying in one place and doing it themselves. Chef Caner is genuinely excited for people to try his Argentinean empanadas, and with good reason -- the mixture of beef, raisins, olives and eggs has absolute loft, and sweet and savory aromas escape when the light crust is cracked. Much of the menu is Argentinean and Turkish, owing to Willie's and John's nationalities, and includes smatterings of Brazilian, Greek, Romanian and Italian, with many recipes courtesy of Caner's mom. The gems are the finger foods, like the tiny Ottoman dumplings in garlic-yogurt sauce with butter and mint, and fried chicken croquette, which is almost a lunch in itself, made with chewy Brazilian catupiry cheese. And it's not just the menu that's international; just eavesdrop on other guests' conversations to hear all the rolling r's.