Category
Delis
-
Alphabet City, Delis, Small Shops
Tamales at Zaragoza – NYC
12.24.12 | Permalink | 2 Comments
Are tamales a Christmas tradition in your family? In my family, no, but it should be. I just found out this summer while in Mexico that my mom is as obsessed with tamales as I am. To think of all the years we could have been eating tamales together! So where to get tamales today? Unless you’re one of the lucky ones to have a Mexican grandma who has been toiling away all night making homemade tamales, you’ll have to go out and buy some, and Zaragoza in the East Village is as good of a place as any. MORE »
-
Delis, Hell's Kitchen, Small Shops
Sopes and More at Tehuitzingo – NYC
05.05.11 | Permalink | 4 Comments
Viva el Cinco de Mayo! You don’t need an excuse to eat Mexican food, but May 5th is a good day as any to eat it. Near work, I’m partial to Tehuitzingo. The food is tasty and cheap, the condiments — as long as you serve yourself — are free for the taking (unlike the deli next door that charges an extra $1 for salsa), and the menu is extensive. Extensive meaning they have your typical items like chicken tacos, but they also have tacos filled with barbacoa (goat), tripa (pork intestine), and oreja (beef ear). And if you prefer sopes over tacos, like I do, they have that as well. My personal favorite is the sope con tripa (sope with intestine). MORE »
-
Curry Hill, Delis, Specialty Markets
Cheapish Lunch at Kalustyan’s – NYC
01.10.11 | Permalink | 4 Comments
Kalustyan’s is one of those special places in New York I love visiting. It’s a treasure trove for any spice imaginable. Need peppercorns? They have black peppercorns from Ecuador, Brazil, Kerala, Lampong, Malabar, Sarawak, and Thalassery (Tellicherry). (They also carry Szechuan pepper, but Chinatown is cheaper.) Besides spices, they also carry a lot of sweets. Usually when I’m in the area, I stop in for some Lebanese halva for my BF. He loves the stuff. But last week, I discovered Kalustyan’s is good for more than just sweets and spices. If you’re looking for quick bite, a tasty sandwich awaits you upstairs. MORE »
-
Alphabet City, Delis, East Village
Sweet & Semi-Scary at Johnny Air Mart – NYC
07.30.10 | Permalink | 7 Comments
[NOTE: Semi-scary photo after the jump. Proceed with caution.]
Last weekend it was crazy hot, ninety-eight mother-f*cking degrees hot. So hot that when the power went out in my apartment and the building manager questioned why I had two air conditioners, I went berserk. It wasn’t a meltdown, it was a complete blaze-up. I don’t even know how I managed. I was weak from barely eating for three days (I was sick, not dieting god-forbid), but somehow all of a sudden I was ready to open a can of whoop-ass. Thinking back, I realize I need to take a minute or two before reacting sometimes. The poor guy was just trying to figure out what happened, but the only thing running through my head at that moment was, ‘This is America, I can have two air conditioners if I want!”
In any case, it won’t be as hot as heck this weekend, but a cool icy Halo-Halo ($4.50) from Johnny Air Mart will still hit the spot. The halo-halo at Johnny Air Mart is a milky concoction — more like a very icy frappé than shaved ice — full of soft beans (garbanzo and red mung beans), young coconut strips, caramelized diced plantains, chewy sugar palm fruit (kaong), and jelly-like nata de coco. It’s a gamut of textures. However, for me, the best part was the smooth square of flan swimming on top. I love Taiwanese and Korean shaved ice, but given the choice, why not have shaved ice with flan?! It just seems silly without it. Flan, where have you been my entire shaved icy life? MORE »
