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Posts from the ‘Mexican’ Category

Jan 8

El Huipil

1/2 *I hear that they've closed. I was actually thinking about going this weekend, too. (1/15/07)

I must admit that I wasn't terribly impressed. But I can be forgiving since this desolate pocket of Red Hook isn't a major haul for me. We had driven over to Baked to see if they had their version of red velvet cake available (no cigar) and happened to drive by El Huipil while scouting the area for Fairway and Ikea development.

I was hoping they'd have pozole or something like it (I've given up on menudo in NYC) since it was the weekend, but they only serve the soup on Saturdays. The menu is fairly paltry. I tried for a pierna de puerco torta, but they didn't have the pork, so I went with a pedestrian pollo asada instead. It was ok, not likely their strength. James got tacos dorados, which are like flautas. A couple came in after us and asked for corn, but were informed that there was only one ear left.

I'm not sure if they were down to the dregs because it was Sunday or if they just don't stock everything and hope people will order the greatest hits. I like to feel like I'm surrounded by plenty, spoiled for choice. I hate going into a restaurant and just knowing before ordering that you'll likely be thwarted in obtaining your first choice(s).

Considering the bleak Mexican food landscape in South Brooklyn (particularly when the Red Hook soccer fields are closed for the season) El Huipil is ok. But in the grand scheme of things it's a little ho hum.

El Huipil * 116A Sullivan St., Brooklyn, NY

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Oct 31

Chipotle

1/2

I really dont get the appeal of overstuffed burritos, particularly ones rife with rice. But I was looking for something quick, cheap and near Sixth Ave. and 12th St. where I would be attending a Halloween party an hour later. So, I went the taco route instead. But I wasnt aware of all the options, I dont like fast food places like Subway or those salad counters where youre on the spot and have to pick and choose. Choice is nice, but I'd rather just have some solid standards. I ended up with three sad soft tacos with some shredded pork, hot sauce, white cheese and sour cream. Each bite was dominated by the chewy creamy combo of flour tortilla and dairy, like an unbaked quesadilla. It certainly didnt kill me, and provided padding for a not-smart-for-a-Monday-night drinking binge.

Chipotle * 510 Sixth Ave., New York, NY

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Oct 19

Mercadito Grove

I'm scared of small plates, big prices kinds of places. Neither hole-in-the-wall authentic nor burritos-and-hard-shell-tacos wrong, Mercadito is akin to La Palapa. The food is pricier, creative and surprisingly good. I was with two friends researching micheladas, and our waiter kept disparaging them and trying to get us to try margaritas. Ive heard theyre good (and more expensive, certainly) but that wasnt the point. I had to have beer cocktails. We shared a guacamole sampler with three styles: traditional, mango…hmm, and a third one I cant recall. I guess I wasnt impressed. This was supplemented by tacos with carnitas, tilapia and huitalacoche (not all together). Tiny and four to a plate, they were more satisfying than you would be led to believe. By the time we left, I'd been dubbed “Chelada” by our schmoozy waiter. I suppose there are worse thing than being called a spicy beer.

Mercadito Grove * 100 Seventh Ave. S., New York, NY

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Oct 17

Plaza Garibaldi

This was my first stop while doing <A href=>michelada research</a>, so I came across a little hesitant in ordering the spicy drink. My michelada naiveté totally got me pegged as a culinarily ignorant gringa. After we decided to stay and order food, we kept getting steered away from the things we actually wanted and pushed towards items like quesadillas. When James ordered something with chorizo and I asked for the pernil torta we were informed, “thats pork, you know.” This would be the first of two exact same warnings at Mexican restaurants that week. Where did the idea that Americans dont like pork come from? Do they think all New Yorkers are Jewish? It always weirds me out when wait staff tries talking me out of items I'm interested in, especially when the dish in question isnt particularly odd. But even if I wanted to try lambs eyeballs or guinea pigs, that would be my bad choice if I didnt end up liking it.

Plaza Garibaldi * 89-12 Roosevelt. Ave., Corona, NY

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Oct 15

Taco Chulo

Ok I didn't actually eat there, just drank a beer cocktail for research purposes. But I was with two members of their target audience: Williamsburg vegetarians, and they loved it. I guess that makes me a Carroll Gardens carnivore, though that sounds hideous.

We arrived around 10:30pm, a half hour before they stop serving food and it becomes alcohol-only. Our waiter's admonishment was highly amusing, "I want to warn you, after 11pm there's a dj. It gets very different in here." Uh, ok. So, they were playing hip hop when we were seated–what would happen 30 minutes later? Wham and Kajagoogoo is what happened. Thanks for the head's up, guy. There's nothing like music from middle school to make you feel thoroughly decrepit.

Taco Chulo * 318 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY

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Aug 13

El Rincon Familiar

A girlfriend of an acquaintance recommended this place to my boyfriend. If anyone, she would know Tex-Mex since she grew up in the Lone Star State. I wasnt so wowed. I wanted gooey, greasy, cheese-laden fare, and this felt almost like spa food. Everything was clean, dry, fat-free and flavorless. My chicken enchiladas had no taste. The meat was too lean, Ive never understood the appeal of chicken breasts (though I use them extensively at home, we have the giant Costco bag in the freezer, but thats exactly why I dont want to eat chicken breasts at restaurants). The refried beans tasted dull and almost healthy. Not a lick of oil slicked the plate. It was all very Park Slope (despite being in that no man's land that's technically Sunset Park) and so not what I'd had in mind. I'd just as well stick with Mezcals for this sort of Americanized border food.

El Rincon Familiar * 651 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Apr 27

San Loco

Ooh, I can’t believe I ate at San Loco. Sometimes I have to let my guard down and lower my standards so I don’t ostracize and annoy friends with what I call little kid palates. So, a chicken chipotle burrito before The Organ show at Rothko didn’t kill me. I will admit being disturbed by my dining companion ordering a rice burrito. I’ve always abhorred rice in burritos, it so doesn’t belong there, and neither does spinach. But a burrito entirely centered around the grain?! What the fuck? Ha, and then she ordered a rice krispie treat to cap things off. But I love those, so it was ok, albeit a lot of rice for one meal. (4/27/05)

San Loco * 111 Stanton St., New York, NY

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Oct 29

Suenos

1/2

I swear the older I get the more susceptible I become to suggestion. For the
past couple years I've meant to check out bakeries offering Day of the Dead
treats, and every year I'm either distracted or forgetful. This is pretty
sad considering three of these years I lived in one of NYCs largest Mexican
neighborhoods, Sunset Park. It wasn't until I read a recent
Manhattan-centric New York Times round up of restaurants with special Day of
the Dead menus that I became motivated to take an interest.

For no particular reason I'm kind of so-so on upscale Mexican
restaurants, not that I've tried that many of them. But Suenos had always
sounded interesting to me, maybe because of the youngish female chef. This
was really an excuse to try a new-to-me restaurant that I'd probably never
get around to otherwise. The whole thing was last minute, James called
Friday afternoon for seating that same evening, which was why we ended up
with such an early reservation. Dining at 6pm on a Friday in Manhattan makes
you a weirdo, I know that, but sometimes you have no choice.

We chose from the prix fixe menu with drink pairings. I had seafood
tacos with ancho chile tortillas and a more standard margarita (as opposed
to Jamess “smoky” version that accompanied his duck flauta. I
didnt think there was anything wrong with the waitress emphasizing the
tequilas smokiness though James seemed to find this hilarious and
pretentious) and pork loin stuffed with apples, canela, pine nuts, and
salsa, paired with sangria. Dessert was the only course that actually
included one of the traditional items I was interested in, but it was so
heavy: toasted day of the dead bread, candied pumpkin seeds and chocolate
atole with crema de mescal. It wouldve made a nice breakfast. I was glad to
have sampled the cuisine, I enjoyed the meal, though next year there will be
no excuse for not branching out.


Suenos* 311 W. 17th St., New
York, NY

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Oct 16

La Fogata

1/2

Yes, it's one of those suburban strip mall, big margarita joints. I don't
mind that type of food, in fact I crave it every now and then (luckily NYC
isn't so highbrow in the Tex-Mex department–there are plenty of
salt-on-the-rim, chips-and-salsa places to choose from). But Portland's west
suburbs actually have a Mexican population, hence "real" Mexican food. I saw
taco trucks in parking lots and read about tiny tacquerias in Hillsboro, my
mom's environs.
It just wasn't right to be so close and not even get to try the regional
offerings. But my sister is vegetarian (they're fine people, but the worst
for food exploring) and I didn't have the urge to get my mom and husband in
the mood. Trekking out on my own wasn't really an option since I didn't have
a car or any solitary time to spare.
This was hardly a culinary getaway. I was there from NYC, my sister from
England on short notice to see our father who'd unexpectedly been put on
life support. Hardly festive and appetite inducing. And in a way La Fogata
was wholly appropriate. My dad was a most un-Mexican Mexican. He loved these
sorts of Gringo-filled combo platter restaurants. He didn't speak Spanish,
though he must've grown up on at least some traditional Mexican food. I'm
guessing he wanted to be more American and he did a pretty good job (he was
exactly like Hank Hill if he were Hispanic). I wouldn't mind being a little
less, but honestly I wouldn't argue with a scalding hot plate of oozing
refried beans with a thick skin of pepper jack cheese and a nice crisp
chimichanga, authentic or not.


La Fogata * 3905 SW 117th Ave., Beaverton, OR

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Jun 25

Mezcal’s

I can't believe our first American meal after our Asian vacation was Mezcals. It just kind of happened. We were craving Mexican food and unfortunately, there arent any realer Mexican joints walking distance from our apartment. I'm still guessing that Mezcals is better than something like El Taco Loco in Hong Kong. You just know theyd put mayo in the guacamole. (9/10/05)

I guess Mezcal's is sort of cheesy (in both senses of the word) but sometimes that's just what you need. It was my suggested diversion from James's Friday night impulse for red sauce Italian. We're certainly in the right neighborhood for it, but I wasn't feeling the same urge. For some reason, mediocre Mexican food for white people doesn't bother me in the same way icky Italian-American food does. Nachos, chimichangas and pitchers of margaritas beat spaghetti and meatballs and Chianti any day.

So, chimichangas (filled with seafood and oozing cream sauce) and surprisingly fancy nachos, delicately placed around the plate with individual slices of medium-rare sirloin tucked on top, hors d' oeuvres style, totally hit the spot. I would never brag about eating at Mezcal's, but there's less shame involved than one might expect. And it's not like there are any authentic taco joints walking distance from our apartment anyway. No harm, no foul. My only suggestion is that they consolidate menus. I swear they hand you like five different documents, some laminated, some on paper, some handwritten, some using ten fonts and as many colors on one page. It's enough to induce a seizure. (6/25/04)

Mezcal's * 522 Court St., Brooklyn, NY

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