Mexican munchies

I know it may sound a bit ignorant, but it is true that I had not tried proper Mexican food before. Growing up so far away from North America (Hong Kong), I had hardly any exposure to the cuisine from that part of the world. Even after living in the UK for ten years, I think I had only eaten in one of the high street chains a couple of times. When we were planning a trip to NYC, my husband suggested to me that we should try some proper Mexican food. To be honest, I was not convinced, what was so special about it? Isn’t it just some soggy tortillas covered in cheese? Let’s find out...

Barrio Chino

As you might have guessed from the name, this restaurant is not far from China Town, in the Lower East Side. I liked this place as soon as I walked in - the open dining area, the Chinese portraits hanging on the exposed brick walls, the red lanterns and the liquor filled bar, very casual yet cosy.

It was our first dinner in NYC, so we arrived at the restaurant pretty early in case the jet lag kicked in - just in time to take the last table by the window! But in case you have to wait, I heard that the trick is to go to the Ten Bells bar next door, they have one dollar oyster happy hour from four to seven most days.

We started with two refreshing drinks - a fresh grapefruit margarita and a light rum mojito.

Ceviche de camaron - cured prawns in lime juice with tomatoes, onions, and coriander. This eye catching dish was presented in a high sundae glass, filled with exciting fresh ingredients. The acidity of the sauce was just right, and it was also a perfect dip for the crispy homemade tortillas.

Arrachera - grilled marinated skirt steak with avocado, coriander and onion. Pieces of soft avocado and chunks of smoky grilled steak loosely folded in a tortilla, simply delicious.

Ensalada de calamari - grilled squid salad with sesame vinaigrette. I loved the caramelisation of grilled squid, which was a good balance with the salad and the dressing. A very decent portion too!

Enchiladas verdes - green enchiladas stuffed with shredded chicken, topped with melted oaxacan cheese, black beans and queso fresco. The sauce was surprisingly light, and totally different from any enchiladas I had tried before. The whole dish was gently seasoned with salt and pepper, and then topped with Mexican soft cheese to give an extra flavour. I had found my Mexican version of comfort food.

Barrio Chino

La Esquina

This place is famous for its secret underground restaurant, which only opens in the evening. It is yet another place which is so popular that the booking phone line is constantly engaged, and you have to make a reservation three weeks in advance. But besides the restaurant, there is also a take-out and a cafe on the street level open for lunch and dinner. We were not able to get into the restaurant, so we went for the cafe instead.

Opposite to Petrosino Square is a converted diner with a bright sign saying ‘Corner Deli’, and the take-out of La Esquina is located right under the sign, serving freshly made Mexican classics like burritos and tacos. The entrance of the cafe is around the corner from the take-out, on Lafayette street. The white wooden furnishings and book shelves give this cafe a relaxing and laid back atmosphere.

I like the varied menu, ranging from simple salad, Mexican street sandwiches, and tacos to more hearty dishes like roast chicken. This is what we had...

A refreshing passion fruit margarita to start.

Tostadas de cangrejo - crab meat, mango, chipotle mayo. When I looked at the menu, I did not expect to see such a big lump of crab meat. The mango came through subtly, together with the mayo made this a perfect start of our meal.

Ellotes callejeros - grilled local corn. This is really the BEST grilled corn in the world. The corn is brushed with mayonnaise while grilling, then topped with chili pepper and Cotija cheese. It is not the standard sweet corn and mayo combination, the smokiness from the grill and the saltiness from the cheese, and the kick of the chili pepper, giving wave after wave of flavour.

Pescado - grilled skewered market fish, shredded cabbage, red onions, salsa verde.

Bistec - char-grilled skirt steak, charred onions, cilantro, salsa de chile de arbol

I loved the flaky fish served on skewers. The beef taco was charred beautifully, although I would have liked it with a bit of sauce or with avocado like the one we had in Barrio Chino.

La Esquina

I truly enjoyed both Mexican meals we had in NYC. They were exciting, delicious and most importantly, they changed my view of Mexican food forever. It is a bold statement, but I am quite confident that you could not find anything vaguely similar in Hong Kong. Apparently there are a few good Mexican places in London, now I cannot wait to check them out!

The irresistible USDA Prime

If you are vegetarian, turn away now! This post is about our steak-hunting journey in NYC. If you have read my last post, you will know that our trip was badly affected by Hurricane Irene. We had made a dinner reservation at BLT Prime, but unfortunately the restaurant had to cancel our table due to unforeseen damage that the hurricane might cause. The restaurant had to put their staff’s safety first, which was the right thing to do.

This was bad news to a meat-lover like me, the steak dinner was supposed to be the perfect ending to our trip. With only two days left in NYC and no public transport available, we desperately phoned up every single steakhouse within walking distance from our hotel, hoping to get a lunch booking before the hurricane hit. Like BLT Prime, most of the steakhouses had decided to close due to staff shortages. We finally got through to Wolfgang’s Steakhouse in Tribeca, who said they would try to open for lunch, but that could change at the last minute.

It was a cloudy and windy morning, most of the shops were closed, with only few tourists wandering around. We arrived at the steakhouse at noon, all I could see was an empty restaurant, and some builders boarding up the windows to prepare for the strong winds. My heart sank, as I thought ‘Is this open?’...

But IT WAS! We were greeted by a very friendly waiter, who explained to us that there was only one chef working in the kitchen, so the food might be slow. He also apologised for the noise from the builders boarding up the windows, but I actually found it quite amusing because we pretty much had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The daylight sort of diminished throughout the lunch, which made us feel like we were in one of those disaster movies.

Moving on to the food, USDA prime is always my favourite kind of steak (after wagyu). In America, they take their steaks seriously, so most of the steakhouses have their own aging room. We ordered steak for two, a portion of broccoli and steak fries. The steak was served on a hot, sizzling plate. It was already cut into bite-size pieces when it was brought to our table. The waiter carefully placed it in front of us, then spooned the butter and meat juice on top of the meat. By that time, I was already drooling all over the place...

We requested the steak to be cooked medium-rare, it came exactly how we like it. It was very tender, although I would have liked it more charred on the outside. The sides were good too - crunchy vegetables and crispy fries. I did find the table sauce a wee bit too sweet, which slightly overpowered the steak itself.

We enjoyed our meal in Wolfgang’s Steakhouse very much, the warm welcome from the staff made all the difference. Even though they were short of staff, they still went out of their way to accommodate us. I am glad the hurricane is over now so they can back to a full house every day.
Wolfsgang's Steakhouse

Our second meat feast was at the well-known Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn. We decided to go there after we found out that we had two extra days in NYC. It was almost impossible to get through on the phone, but we managed to secure a lunch booking after trying for a couple of hours.

It was our second time visiting Peter Luger steakhouse, we had high expectations of this meal, because we were blown away by our first visit. The operation was exactly like three years ago, a waiter came to greet us casually, made some jokes then brought us the menu, together with a beautiful looking bread basket and the famous Peter Luger sauce.

We ordered a rib steak, a single steak and a portion of creamed spinach. We were not disappointed. The rib steak was perfectly charred on the outside, it was crispy and full of flavour. Judging by the colour of the meat (and the taste), it was probably more marbled than the one we had in Wolfgang’s. The single steak was a sirloin steak, it was also cooked nicely, although it was not as tender as the rib steak. The sauce was delicious, it tasted a bit like a mixture of ketchup, Worcester sauce and horseradish. The smokiness and sweetness together with the acidity of the sauce went perfectly with the steak.

Peter Luger Steakhouse

There is no doubt about the quality of the meat we had in both steakhouses, it would be hard to find something of a similar standard in London. The best I can think of is Goodman Steakhouse, but in my opinion, it is still a long way behind what we had in NYC. I will just have to wait until next time for my fix of USDA prime!