Ukus

Reviews

• Dimitrios D.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  Ukus is a very small, casual and delicious Montenegrin restaurant in Astoria.
  
  Service was polite and efficient.  There was soccer playing on the TVs.  You order at the counter, grab a drink from a fridge, and then the food will be served to you.  You pay at the counter at the end.  
  
  I ordered a plate of cevapi (I went for five pieces though you can opt for 10 if you're hungrier) and I also got a Slovenian soda called Cockta to go with it.  The food was just amazing.  Salty cevapi sausage, mildly spicy ajvar, chopped raw white onions and kaymak.  The Slovenian soda was even great, and tasted floral and herbal.  It's taste is unique and hard to describe.  
  
  The guy behind the counter told me he was born in Kosovo but is from Montenegro, if I understood correctly.  He also said Ukus means "great taste".  And he was right- the food had great taste!

• Laura O.

  star star star star_border star_border 11 June 2026

  I learned about Ukus from a mention in the New York Times. We actually live off of 30th Avenue but don't have much occasion to come this far east of Steinway, so I hadn't even known about its existence.
  
  We tried the 10-piece cevapi, and slices of the spinach and cheese borek pies.
  
  I ordered a slice each of the pies but was given two spinach and two cheese. I don't know if that's normal, or if this was the result of a misunderstanding, but it was way more than we needed because the pies are huge and heavy. The outside phyllo layers of the boreks were outstanding: crispy, flavorful, and slightly burnt. The inside layers, though, were chewy and a bit tough. To me, this suggested that they were not totally fresh. As for the fillings, I'm not a huge spinach fan, but I actually preferred it over the cheese, as I believe the spinach was actually a combination of the two and was therefore more flavorful. The cheese alone was a bit bland.
  
  The cevapi here are made of beef. I don't each much beef and only tried one bite. Although I paired the bite with a helping of a sour cream-like type of cooling sauce, I thought that the beef tasted a bit salty.
  
  I also tried a bottle of Cockta, a Slovenian soft drink. It had a really interesting flavor: cola-esque, but much more herbal. I'd say the taste was pleasant.
  
  We ended up taking a portion of the boreks home. I tried to eat a bit more once I got back to my apartment, maybe 25 minutes after we left the restaurant. The dough was even more tough and chewy by this point. It seems like plenty of people take their orders to go, but I don't know that I would recommend doing so, as the boreks really fade quickly.
  
  Overall, our experience was not bad, but I'm not convinced that I got to experience the freshest version of Ukus.
  
  Cash only.

• Hadessa M.

  star star star star star 6 June 2026

  Bosnian chicken soup was delicious. Also I have steak kebabs with salad included feta cheese, cucumber, tomato, very tasty and fresh.
  You dont want to miss the place highly recommend to share with your family and friends.

• Elizabete H.

  star star star star star 2 June 2026

  I bought uncooked qevapa to take home. They  sold 50 pieces for $27. The best qevapa I've had! The place was also cozy and clean. Reminded me of going back home to Montenegro in the summer.

• Nina H.

  star star star star star 31 May 2026

  Truly amazing place!  The sarma was to die for -- I think rivaling my mother's.  The cevapi u lepinji made me feel like I was walking the streets of Zagreb again.  The family is super nice and take pride in telling you that "Everything is homemade -- the bread, the dishes, the soup, the desserts!"  Coming back for Christmas and regularly after that!  Truly one of those NY finds.  This is why we live here.