Tapas
by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
December 18, 2006
BOQUERIA
53 W 19th St
(5th & 6th Aves)
New York, NY 10011
212-255-4160
171 Spring St
(Thompson St & W Broadway)
New York, NY 10012
212-343-4255
Wow! Let me say that again. Wow! How much fun was Boqueria?! Though it was packed and a bit loud especially for a Monday night, I enjoyed the atmosphere, the décor, and most of all, the food! I must admit that I’m guilty of only trying the tapas and cheese on my first visit, and not the medium and large plates, which I hear are even better. Is that even possible considering the tapas were delicious?! No worries though, I will be back again and again to try everything. I only wish that this was my neighborhood restaurant so that I could just walk downstairs and either have a drink at the bar and munch on tapas or eat a full meal. Instead I live in the culinary desert called University Place — the biggest magnet for the most mediocre and unsatisfying eateries.
Many friends told me about Boqueria and a reader even sent me a specific craving, cojonudo (fried quail eggs and chorizo on toast), which reminded me to check it out. The cojonudo was my favorite, even though I really liked everything! It’s like a miniature egg and sausage open face sandwich, with a little fried quail egg on a slice of chorizo on a small piece of toast — bite size. Two of these mini treats comes in one order, so naturally we added another order on top of bacon wrapped dates, croquettes, tortilla, patatas bravas, a special fried squid and zucchini, and the flash fried and house pickled sardines, which was another knock out! We also tried six cheeses and a cured sausage that were all very fun and delicious.
I usually go in depth to describe the taste, textures and aromas of each dish, but Boqueria is a place filled with bursts of energy. Everything delights for a moment in time and you can move on to the next, sure of continuing pleasure. My attention span is cut short but I totally recommend the food and the experience. So stop reading and go try it!
Also in Flat Iron District, SoHo, Spanish, Tapas
Feb 10, 09:29 AM
I’ve tried going to La Boqueria a few times now but it’s always been too crowded. Hopefully I’ll make it there sometime soon. In the meantime, I tried an old tapas standby for the first time recently—El Cid on 9th and 15th. While the standard tapas were only OK—tortilla was so-so and a very small portion, jamon serrano was tasty but not fantastic—a few dishes were amazing. One was their grilled octopus, which was served in a white-wine garlic sauce that was out of this world—I must have eaten 4-5 pieces of bread sopping up the sauce. Sangria was also pretty excellent—very fruity and tasty. Topping things off, though, the flan was the best flan I’ve ever had in my life—sweet and caramel-y with a creamy consistency approaching that of cheese, served with fresh kiwi and strawberry slices on the side. Un-effing-believable. Grab a slice with some cafe con leche and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to Spain.
Feb 10, 09:37 AM
also, i have to address Celia’s comment about Union Square being a culinary desert (!). more like a culinary dessert, I’d say, but I guess that doesn’t make any sense…
in any case, i live in union square and sure, it’s not as good as it could be, but there’s certainly some decent restaurants in the neighborhood. saigon grill, the relatively new vietnamese place, rocks, as far as i’m concerned, and i always liked going to lemongrass grill on university place for decent thai food when it was still there. and then there’s that celeb hangout, il cantinori, which i went to recently for the first time and really enjoyed. further north, there’s union square cafe, of course, and blue water grill is quite good, albeit overpriced. tocqueville was pretty good, too, when it was here, and chat ‘n chew is a decent choice for comfort food. plus, union square is so close to gramercy/flatiron/west village/east village so i never feel particularly deprived. so what gives? after all, it’s not like we live in that culinary wasteland otherwise known as the upper west side ;)
Comments (2)