Mexicue Needs To Work On Its Mexicution
The Mexicue Truck. Line doesn't look too bad, but... .
I’d been meaning to take a whack at the Mexicue truck’s fare for quite some time, but being a truck it has no fixed location, and had been elusive in my neighborhood for quite some time. Today it was a block and a half away, so I figured it was the perfect time to try it. You can see the line, it was a bit longer than I am usually willing to wait on (especially in the middle of winter).
The counter guy turned around to help out the overwhelmed cooks.
It was a mistake. The line moved relatively quickly, but it took the three guys in the truck waaaaaay too long to fill the orders. They seemed backed up, in fact. There was a gaggle of patrons all waiting for their food in the cold. They had three guys in there. One person was working the counter. One person was doing the rough assembly of the sliders and tacos by placing the bread or tortilla in a container and pulling the meat from metal tins onto it. This person would then shove the rough assembly to the third person, who handles adding the toppings. However, this third person is also tasked with heating up additional stocks of the meats to refill the tins the second is pulling from. Hence, he’s overwhelmed. While he’s reheating stocks of meat, the orders awaiting toppings would sit to his right, losing heat. Occasionally the counter man would turn around and help out, but they need a fourth person. The wait in the cold was unpleasant, embittering me and making it especially important that the food wowed.
Pork on the left, beef on the right, oak smoked short rib taco in the middle.
Well, after far too long a time – perhaps up to 20 minutes? – I got my order. For $10.50, I got three small offerings to sample: a pulled pork slider ($3), BBQ brisket slider ($3.50) and a short rib taco ($4).
The oak smoked short rib taco is a very small portion. The high point is the smoky note in the flavor. The salsas (verde and fresca) add a low heat. The aged cheddar cheese topping was barely noticeable in the flavor, unfortunately. The flavor of the dual corn tortillas was surprisingly present.
The pickled red onions were a revelation.
The pulled pork slider was next. This was definitely the star of the show, especially because of the initial, wonderful sweet flavor of the inspired, delicious pickled red onion. The large chunk of avocado added a pleasant freshness to the experience, and of course the pork itself retained its sweetness. The slider’s bun is quite big in proportion to the food, unfortunately. The flavor (once I devoured the pickled onion) was (not surprisingly) reminiscent of of a steamed pork bun from a good dim sum shop. It is odd that a vendor called “Mexicue” would wind up tasting more Chinese.
More pickled onions on the brisket? Yummy! Um, wait... .
The BBQ brisket I saved for last. I was eager to get more of that wonderful pickled onion, hence bit right into that part of the slider first. So you can appreciate my surprise in learing it wasn’t pickled onion, but insted habanero aioli slaw. It packed a major spicy punch, enough to eradicate all the other flavors.
If I go back, it would be for the pork sliders. Mostly I am going to start hunting for pickled red onions, because I think it may have become my new favorite ingredient. I want to try them on top of a burger.
I’d like to give this place higher praise, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to go with “Meh-xicue.” It doesn’t impress either as a Mexican or BBQ joint. That said, the pulled pork sliders are a winner, but the place is pricey and the portions small, and the other flavors don’t wow.
Mexicue Truck
Moves around NYC, check its website www.mexicueny.comMidtown Lunch Picked Up My Tip…
Check out a tip about Midtown pizza wars I sent to the wonderful folks at Midtown Lunch here and my review of it here.
Ouest Brunch
Inside the dining room at Ouest.
Over the weekend the missus and I indulged in a bit of decadence by stopping in at Tom Valenti’s Ouest restaurant on Broadway and 83rd. For $28 per person, you can indulge in a two course brunch with a cocktail. For the quality of the food involved, it’s a pretty good deal.
Although we arrived late in the day for brunch – close to 2:00 – the place was packed. I realize in the picture above you can see some empty tables, but the dining room when we first walked in was so busy they opened an otherwise closed area for my wife and I. We didn’t care for the balcony seating – it was hot, cramped, and a bit isolated – so we offered to wait until something in the main dining room opened up. A table of six cleared out shortly thereafter, hence the empty tables you see. All that said, there was some gregor – and quite a few kids – in the dining room.
A warm, fluffy, crumbly scone.
The meal began with a presentation of savory, freshly baked scones and muffins. They were served nice and warm, which on a cold winter’s day was lovely. T
Lentil soup. Not much to look at, but rich.
I started with a lentil soup with bacon. It wasn’t very pretty. The broth wasn’t prepared in the thick fashion. Rather it was a bit thin in appearance, with creme fraiche and chives. The creme fraiche arrived in narrow, clotted pours which resulted in what you see above when stirred up. Despite its appearance, it was incredibly savory. It packed a good onion note and a slight salt. The creme fraiche and chives fattened the flavor up.
The non-traditional salmon. Sour, delicious.
Just look at the pretty presentation of the non-traditional salmon. Lovely, no? Unlike most smoked salmon, which can be very rich, this seemed to be more of the pickled variety, on the sour side. The onions help cut through the intensity, as did the nice bevy of greens. Not pictured there is a clutch of capers that lie beneath the greens, which rounded out the flavor very nicely – especially since I am ordinarily not much of a fan of capers. Although my wife ordered this dish, I wound up eating much of it.
The extremely decadent fried poached egg over duck carpaccio.
That ridiculous work of art above is the fried poached egg. I know, it makes no sense to me either, but yowza, it is incredibly decadent. It rests on a duck carpaccio. Drizzled across is a sauce which I took to be basically a kind of hummus (unconfirmed). Resting atop are slivers of parmesan.
Cutting into it... .
I really can’t fathom the skill involved in creating a soft-poached egg and deep frying it only to retain the excellent runny interior when it is brought to the table. Maybe some chefs out there will tell me I am easily impressed with parlor tricks, but guess what: I am. But on to the flavor. The fried poached exterior was surprisingly thick and crunchy, more like the hard bark around some beer battered onion rings than the lighter glazing I was expecting. It is very, very decadent. The egg is succulent.
The duck carpaccio was more akin to prosciutto.
The duck carpaccio the egg rested on was more like prosciutto in texture and flavor. The greens added a welcome zest. All in all, it was a very rich meal, and a lovely brunch.
Ouest
2315 BroadwayNew York, NY 10024-4332
(212) 580-8700 www.ouestny.com
2315 Broadway
New York, NY 10024-4332 (212) 580-8700 Open Mon-Tue 5pm-9:30pm; Wed-Thu 5pm-10:30pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm; Sun 11am-2pm, 5pm-9:30pm
257 reviews |
Bill’s Bar & Burgers Is Surprisingly Juicy And Delicious
Shredded lettuce below the hand-shaped patty.
After a surprising number of attempts met with failure, some friends of mine and I finally made it into Bill’s Bar & Burger in Rockefeller Center. We had previously failed because the lines were atrocious (not too surprising, given the location), but it turns out the perfect time to go is a bitterly cold winter day. No line.
I’m a huge burger buff and was ready to sample the fare at Bill’s. I should point out, before we get to the goods, that they have a pretty extensive beer list that I should like to explore at some point. But for now, let’s focus on the chow.
Notice all the juices.
For $6.95, you can get their standard 5 ounce patty. For $8.95, they’ll make a hand-shaped 8 ouncer. I went for the jumbo. However, it has some design flaws. See how they put the shredded lettuce underneath it? Notice all the juices? That will come to be a bit of a problem later. But first, how about the flavor?
Guess what? It was surprisingly good. It has that close-to-the-bone flavor I adore. The cheese is also surprisingly present in the flavor, though I have a hunch it is punched up by the sauce (which has a mayo base). The pickle flavor is also surprisingly present and strong. All in all, the flavor was like a more adult, satisfying, less sweet version of McDonald’s. As a person who has missed that flavor (since I haven’t eaten there in years), it was nice to chomp into again. I do not want to do any injustice to Bill’s, though: the beefy meatiness is very satisfying, the cheese strong, the sauce and pickles rounding out the experience.
The heftier, hand-made Bill's Burger.
My biggest complaint though is that the Bill’s sauce is amazingly runny. Between the juiciness (which is great), the Bill’s sauce and the shredded lettuce, it’s almost as though the burger is topped with cole slaw. That can make it very drippy and hard to handle. Notice though that my medium-rare burger came out just right.
The onion rings looked lame but were surprisingly good.
The onion rings were also surprisingly good, despite their threatening “fresh from the grocer’s freezer” look. The beer battering was crunchy and rich.
All in all, the meal was surprisingly good. I’ll definitely be back to give it another run.
ME LIKE EAT 