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“El Bocadito-- CLOSED”

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

esadilla heaven. That salsa verde has a sneaky heat—I loved it. Fish tacos, a special that night were overloaded with sea bass, shrimp and crab and seasoned with lots of fresh cilantro, tomato, and onion. I added a bit of avocado—vibrant, creamy and perfectly ripe—and a spoon of that salsa verde for a little high heat punch. Perfecto.

Sitting next to us at the bar was a cool guy who had ordered the enchiladas with mole ($9). We chatted him up and traded him half a fish taco for half an enchilada. It was a great trade. The enchilada was fabulous—that mole was rich and dark—a sauce smudged with chiles, cinnamon and chocolate—generously ladled over soft tortilla crepes filled with melted cheese ($9). We were very grateful to our bar friend for trading, and we ended up sharing food and great conversation with him for most of the evening. (Though I think he was alarmed at the amount of food we had ordered. I believe we may have scared him.)

We all ordered another round of beers and then started in on the horacha—a wide long rectangular tortilla sheet that was topped with tender shredded steak, a creamy white hot sauce and then smothered with a beautiful bubbly mess of melted cheese ($11). While a knife and fork will do just fine, you can also sort of pick it up and fold it, like a slice of pizza. It’s killer. The taquitos dorados ($6) were also a lot of fun—crisped tortilla tubes stuffed with mashed potatoes and jalepenos with lettuce and sour cream on top. Give one a swipe though a salsa and you are all set. I was beginning to feel a bit like a human cheese-filled tortilla, which is not altogether a bad thing, but my eating steam was running out. But then I couldn’t exactly leave without trying the chilaquiles—one of my favorite homestyle Mexican dishes. The ones at El Bocadito were an exercise in hedonisim—a sort of Mexican lasagna of corn tortillas layered with zippy-tart green salsa, lettuce, and insane amounts of gooey Oaxaca cheese ($9). I thought, I’ll just have a bite or two. But then I went in with my fork, digging in deep through the layers of tortilla, cheese and piquant salsa verde, and I had a bite or ten. I promised myself an extra long workout at the gym the next morning. I’ll let you guess if that actually happened.
El Bocadito is my kind of place. It’s tiny but it’s got a big heart (and great food). It’s a warm and ... [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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