Pollos USA has big plates of food for pretty cheap. $10 or $13 plates. They mostly all include meat, rice, beans and an egg. I got the #9 $10 plate (Carne Asada) –steak with chicharrón and plantains. It’s not bad for the price. A lot better than I expected. I love the Picante green hot sauce. It’s similar to Sophie’s green sauce. Dine-in and you can have as much green sauce as you want!
Pollos USA – 108 Graham Ave (between Mckibbin & Seigel St) Brooklyn, NY 11206
We went to Cibao where I got that Cuban sandwich years ago. I feel like prices went up. Sandwiches are probably the best deal at around $6-8.
The Shrimp Cantonese was interesting. I wouldn’t thought they would have something like that on the menu. But it was surprisingly pretty good.
I got into a fight with Justin about whether to use flash or not on my camera. I used to be a proponent of non-flash food photos, but now I do a lot of flashing. I like the way it makes the photo look like an American Apparel ad. Also I don’t need to think and change settings and worry about the people waiting to eat the food. Plus it’s a lot sharper.
I took both flash and no flash. Okay in this case after I photoshopped them, no-flash turned out okay I guess. Sometimes you never know though. It wasn’t bright inside the restaurant and the original untouched images do look shitty.
I mean look how awesome these photos of Grilled Cheese I took at Subject bar earlier in the night…
I definitely couldn’t have gotten this shot without a flash. It would have been all blurry.
Cibao – 72 Clinton St (@ Rivington St) New York 10002
I walked by this place one day. I think it’s sort of new in the East Williamsburg area –A.K.A. Bar Restaurant. It looks more like a bar in there. They got a full bar up with some top shelf liquor. I saw a sign for $3 beer and $5 lunch special.
It’s weird. The printed menu is mostly stuff like Tacos, Burritos and Burgers …I think to pull in the white people. But dang, I really feel like they should focus on the stuff not on the menu …the stuff that’s their lunch special –Roast Pork, Beef Stew, Roast Chicken. White people like that stuff.
$5 lunch special with rice and beans. I remember when Latino places near my work would have $5 lunch specials, but now they’re more like $8. I guess it makes sense that this is $5 though, since it’s not near my work.
I ordered the Roast Pork. Pretty good stuff. Although, it was sliced more like ham than what I usually think of as Roast Pork –stringy, pulled apart meat. Still pretty good. I really liked the rice and beans and the hot sauce.
$5 a pretty good deal. $3 Bud, cool.
A.K.A. Bar Restaurant – 759 Grand St (btwn Graham Ave & Humboldt St)\Brooklyn, NY 11211
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
$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
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 DÃa 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.
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
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) -Â 251 Jackson St. Brooklyn, NY
