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“El Bocadito-- CLOSED”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Latin/Mexican	Lower East Side	Cheap Eats	Good

ito. The joint is a warm, casual urban cantina lit with amber blown glass fixtures, and set to a Latin soundtrack that includes Molotov, Kinky, Mana, Cafe Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, and Juanes. You’ll find Holly at the door every night, carrying trays of margaritas and Mexican beer and welcoming crowds into her little restaurant. And toward the back of the restaurant in the open kitchen-as-food bar, you’ll find chef Alejandro Moncada, a big sweetheart of a guy in a colorful jalepeno-covered chef hat, preparing a hearty roster of Mexico City street eats from recipes he learned from his mother and grandmother.

I have been in several times to interview Holly and check the place out and I finally had a full-fledged feeding frenzy there the other night with Jamie. The place is often standing room only, with a lucky thirty or so grabbing seats at one of the high top tables. We took two stools at the food bar. I was starving when we arrived, and so we embarked on a sort of Mexican Streetfood tasting menu that started with a pair of margaritas, and an order of guacamole and chips ($7). If you are with more than one other person, you might want to double your order because it’s a rather small portion and it is quite good—chunky and well-seasoned (though I think it could be spicier), served with large crunchy oversized circular corn chips that you break into tortilla-scoops. We also had a dish of spicy marinated vegetables ($5), a recipe that should be given to anyone suffering from a stuffy head. It will clear out your sinuses in no time. They are not playing around here people. These al dente veggies—peppers, carrots, onions—were fresh, tangy, and fiercely spicy.

In addition to the snack foods (picaditos) like nachos ($10), refried beans with chips ($5), and esquites—roasted corn with lime, chile, mayonnaise and cheese ($6), the menu offers a list of modestly priced antojitos like quesadillas, tortas (layered Mexican sandwiches), soft tacos, taquitos dorados (crispy rolled tacos), chilaquiles, and enchiladas, and a daily menu of specials like barbacoa tacos filled with slow roasted lamb.

We loved the hand made flour quesadillas, grilled and cut into a pair of triangular wedges and stuffed until fat with Oaxaca cheese and bits of crumbled spicy chorizo ($10). A platter of guac, pico de gallo, salsa verde, and salsa roja comes alongside it for accessorizing your toasty cheesy spicy wedge of qu ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 5, 2006

Other restaurants in Lower East Side :
+ Mojo   + WD-50   + Schiller's Liquor Bar   + Azul Bistro   + Barrio Chino   + 71 Clinton Fresh Food-- Closed   + Little Giant   + Kuma Inn   + Falai   + The Stanton Social   + The Tides   + Thor   + The Orchard   + El Bocadito-- CLOSED   + Bondi Road   + Rayuela   + Suba   + Bun (boone)   + Sorella   + The Fat Hippo   + Pulino's   

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