Category: latino

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latino

Dining in at Latin American Restaurant

I haven’t been here in a while since I cut the carbs. But I was ready to eat some rice with Sam and Chris here at Latin American Restaurant (which I’ve written about many times).

We actually ate inside, which I’ve never done because it’s so close to work and I’m scared to used the metal utensils. It wasn’t that scary. The water maybe. But  food was still good. Oxtail Stew is nice and tender and good mixed up with the rice with beans and hot sauce.

Chris’ iPhone 4S camera did pretty good in the low light. I was impressed.

Latin American Restaurant – 29 W 26th St (btwn 6th Ave & Broadway) New York, NY 10010

 

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latino

El Cocotero

We went to this Venezuelan restaurant in Chelsea –El Cocotero. I’ve never been in such a dark restaurant for lunch.

Sam and Chris ordered the Sampler Platter and an Arepas each. Those Arepas were a lot bigger than I expected. But probably makes sense since they were more around $9 each.

I ordered the La Bandeja Doña Barbara (grilled beef, Chicharrón crackling pork rind, fried egg, rice, red beans, sweet plantain, chorizo & avocado) for $23. Kind of expensive for a lunch. The Chorizo sausage was the best thing on there. The Chicharrón was mostly inedible.

Service was interesting. The waitress kept trying to take our order every few seconds, when we weren’t ready. Food came out all different times. Had some of the food and my beer taken away when we weren’t finished. All this rush when the place was pretty empty. By the end of our meal, the restaurant started to fill up and we tried to get our check. We had to ask three times and it took around thirty minutes. It’s funny. We felt like they were trying to rush us from the beginning, but then they didn’t want us to leave after we were done.

The restroom was cool. Had some water pipes in a window frame thing.

El Cocotero – 228 W 18th St (btwn 7th & 8th Ave) New York, NY 10011

Categories
latino

Mom’s Kitchen Too – Pollo a la Brasa

$3.50 (plus tax) for this half rotisserie Chicken (Pollo a la Brasa) from Mom’s Kitchen Too …where I got the Oxtail Stew. The chicken was moist and tender. A really good deal. They also gave me the spine.

I did come back to try the Roast Pork. It was way too salty. Probably just a bad day.

I think the dealers from the Google Maps drug bust might have moved in front of this restaurant. Or maybe I’m just profiling? They dressed like thugs and it is only twenty feet away. They got real quiet when I walked up, like I was a narc. But I just wanted some chicken.

Mom’s Kitchen Too (or Mama’s Kitchen Too or La Cocina De Mama Too) - 251 Jackson St. Brooklyn, NY

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latino

Aaron Sanchez / Sierra Mist lunch @ Centrico

Sierra Mist had a lunch event with TV Celebrity Chef Aaron Sanchez at his NY restaurant, Centrico. It was to promote Comer Juntos, “a recipe web series he’s partnered with Sierra Mist Natural to create, that provides fresh, and unexpected, recipe ideas to bring families around the table any day.”  He mentioned how research has shown that families that eat together, tend to have kids that grow up with better social skills. I believe he’s absolutely right. I hardly ate with my family growing up…

Aaron also did a cooking demo using Sierra Mist. I don’t remember the last time I had a Sierra Mist, but dang …you ever had a Diet Sierra Mist? I just had it. That’s the best tasting diet soda I’ve ever had …and I think better tasting than regular Sierra Mist. It’s too bad I don’t drink soda anymore.

It’s hard to imagine cooking with soda pop, but I think the citric acid helps tenderize the meat. I tried root beer with something along time ago. I forget. A steak? That sounds stupid.

Alright, onto the food made with Sierra Mist:

Ceviche del Día with Plantain Chips – This was awesome. Squid tentacles. Great tangy flavors that went really well with the Plantain Chips.

Raspberry Rumba (cocktail drink) – Too sweet for me. It was a downer when I learned there was no alcohol in it.

Salad – I’m not sure if there was Sierra Mist in it.

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken – Very tender chicken. Good flavor. How do you get a boneless piece of thigh? I wasn’t paying attention

Mexican Chocolate Pudding Cake – I missed it! The blogger next to me tricked me into leaving. Oh well, I don’t think it had Sierra Mist in it.

The recipes and cooking videos with Chef Aaron Sanchez are at http://www.facebook.com/sierramist …look for the “Eating Together” link/photo.

 

Categories
latino

Barzola’s Ecuadorian Fish and Shrimp Casserole

Barzola made my best of 2011 list for their Seafood Soup. This time I was walking around my neighborhood. I couldn’t decide what to eat. And by that time, there were places that stopped serving brunch and even any food at all. I said screw it, I’m going to get that Seafood Soup. Instead I got their Ecuadorian Specialty –Mixed Fish and Shrimp Casserole ($13) …It might have been cheaper because I think they only charged me $14 with a beer, but maybe they forgot to charge me the beer.

By this time it was 5pm and it was the first thing I ate all day. No doubt, it was delicious …but I know it was delicious no matter what my circumstance. The gravy was sort of like a Peanut Satay type sauce. Everything tasted really good when I mixed it up with some of the hot sauce on the table and a bite of plantain. Big slices of fish and a good number of shrimps. Enough for two people I think. Maybe split an appetizer if you do that.

I also got an Ecuadorian beer –Cerveza Pilsener …I assume means “pilsner beer.” I didn’t care for the flavor, but the girl on the poster is hot. She kinda looks like Rusty’s old 19 year-old girlfriend.

I gotta try more stuff on the menu. I’m really digging this Ecuadorian food. It makes me realize how much I love New York. I can eat all types of cuisine that I couldn’t ever find unless I lived outside of New York.

Barzola Restaurant – 197 Meserole St (btwn Humboldt and Bushwick) Brooklyn, NY 11206

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latino

Mom’s Kitchen Too – Oxtail Stew!

A new Dominican spot opened up where Good Feathers used to be and next to the corner where they busted the drug ring caught on Google Street View. Unfortunately, they painted over the awesome cartoon chicken mural. But inside, it looks so much nicer than before.

There was good looking Dominican food in steam trays up front for you to see. Rotisserie and Fried Chicken off to the side. The guy also said there’s a lot of food they can make in the kitchen too.

I got the Oxtail Stew lunch special $7. It was a nice heavy platter with rice and beans. I added sweet plantains for $1 extra.

The Oxtail was tender and seasoned well. I didn’t need to add hot sauce for flavor. Actually when I did that, it made it worse. Good as is.

The plantains were moist and sweet. A lot of times, they come dry at other places, so I tend not to order them. But these were perfect.

I can’t wait to go here again. I want to try the Roast Pork next. Also the Rotisserie Chicken (Polla a la Brasa) is a pretty good deal. On the menu: $2 for 1/4, $3.50 for 1/2 and $7 for a whole. Fried Chicken $1 for a drumstick and $1.50 for a thigh.

Mom’s Kitchen Too (or Mama’s Kitchen Too or La Cocina De Mama Too) - 251 Jackson St. Brooklyn, NY

Categories
latino lunch

El Emperador Elias Restaurant

I went to pick up a package from the Williamsburg post office and got lured into this this Dominican/Latino restaurant with the $3.95 lunch special sign with free soda. The lunch special food looked decent from the steam trays. But instead, I sat down to get a proper meal. The food was a lot more expensive on the dine-in menu, but that was okay. I really got into watching Andrew W.K. videos on my phone while on tour …and Andrew W.K. says spend your money.

I got the Mofongo with Fried Beef (Dominican Style) $11.95. It came with Chicken Soup. That was good. It had butternut squash in it. The Mofongo and Fried Beef took a long time to get to me. All the while, I saw a ton of people come and go for the lunch special take-out.

Monfongo was alright. Best use of the sauce on the side for the dried mashed plantains and chewy chunks of beef. Maybe should have gone with the lunch special, but there’s no turning back. I would’ve stood there for thirty minutes trying to decide what to eat like I normally do. Sometimes you just gotta go for it.

El Emperador Elias Restaurant – 274 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Categories
latino

Tio Wally Eats America: Pupuseria Salvadoreña

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is at Pupuseria Salvadoreña in Rogers, Arkansas.

Greetings from Rogers, Arkansas
N 36° 19.048’  W 094° 07.695’  Elev. 1355 ft.

I love pupusas. But what are they? Well, best I can figure they’re a cross between a tortilla and a hoe cake that I guess only Salvadorans make. Often they’re plain and served in place of a regulation tortilla. But they also stuff them with all kinds of things, like cheese, beans, meat, what have you. (The complete list is on the left side of the menu.)

I found Pupuseria Salvadoreña when I was picking-up at Tyson’s, the evil corporate chicken pluckers and packers; it’s located a half-block from the plant. Still it took a while to find because the storefront is so unassuming.

They have two locations in Rogers. While I suspect it’s actually easier to park (in the Merchant of Death parking lot) at the #1, I like to go to this one. It’s important to be a repeat customer and, at this one, I can hide out in my trick parking spot and take a nap if I want.

I like to get the Chile Relleno ($7.70) stuffed with meat. I still haven’t determined exactly what kind of meat it is but it’s definitely some cut of beef, and stewed to tender perfection. It’s served with rice, refried beans and two or three pupusas, depending on how they’re feeling(?).

Usually the refried beans are just too salty for my taste. So today I asked for frijoles de la olla (literally, beans of the pot). That’s the whole beans before they smash them up. (Most Mexican restaurants have these if you ask.) Unfortunately, they didn’t have any.

Today, however, the beans weren’t salty at all — the sauce on the relleno was! Still, it was really good, plus I hadn’t had one in awhile.

Whenever I go here I also order Bistec de Rez ($7.70) para llevar (to go). It travels well and is actually really good cold. Unfortunately, I ate it all before I took a picture. Next time.

Bistec de Rez is found in virtually all latino restaurants under various names, such as Bistec a la Mexicana, Bistec Ranchero, etc. It’s usually grilled flank steak (I think), with onion, tomato and bell pepper in a ranchero sauce. Theirs is really good although I’ve failed every time to get them to make it picante (spicy) enough. Still, it’s really good.

Along with the meal I got a giant Aguas Frescas (literally, fresh waters). Although they start with a mix, they add a bunch of crushed fruit to it. Today they had what she called Piña y Mango (pineapple and mango) but here they actually make it with apple in it as well. It’s got all kinds of really good pulp in it and takes a bit of sucking skill to get it up the straw.

They didn’t have one of my favorite aguas frescas that they make there sometimes: Melon (cantaloupe). They don’t make my all-time favorite aguas frescas here: Sandia (watermelon) and Piña y Pepino (pineapple and cucumber). I know pineapple and cucumber seems an unlikely if not bizarre pairing, but it’s incredibly delicious. It’s so weird: You can actually taste both the pineapple and the cucumber. Very strange but very refreshing. If you ever get a chance to try it, do so.

I really like the food and the folks here. They tolerate me and my incredibly bad Spanish, which I appreciate. And today there was actually another white guy in there, the first I’d ever seen in there.

(By the way: Jason once visited a Spanish restaurant and wrote that he and his compañero “were the only white guys in there.” Well, I don’t know if his parents or his sister never told him, or the fact that his folks owned a Chinese restaurant never tipped him off, but Jason is definitely not a … oh, never mind. Don’t tell him. It’s probably too late anyway, him being a Gator and all.)

And so we roll.

Pupuseria Salvadoreña, 1612 S. 8th St., Rogers, AR  479.636.1214

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.