My one big regret about eating at Gran Electrica was that Lav and I opted to sit inside instead of outside. Before they seated us, the hostess told us that there was only a limited menu outside, so we thought the smart move was to sit inside. WRONG. Outside was totally the place to be! It was this super cute garden and full of people enjoying the weather. Instead, we were seated inside with almost no one around us. So who cares about the "limited" menu (when I asked the waitress, how limited it was, she actually said it was only a few items that they didn't have inside), so always choose to sit outside if you can.
Now on to the food. You wouldn't think it, but the cuisine here is Mexican and it's not your Benny's Burrito's type of Mexican. In fact, there weren't any enchiladas, burritos or nachos here. It's a much more refined and authentic menu. There are lots and different kinds of small tacos and then a few main dishes. Lav and I ordered the requeson con nopal ($5), the setas quesadillas ($8), the frijoles de la olia ($9), and the rajas con acelgas ($7). As many people have mentioned on Yelp, yes the portions are on the small side. And the food comes out scary fast. I mean, it probably rivals some of the Thai places I've been to where you expect that kind of service. Food that comes out this fast freaks me out a bit. Anyways, the 2 tacos come out and could fit on a plate only slightly bigger than my hand. But honestly, the quality of the ingredients and flavors make up for it. These are not like your taco bell type tacos, in fact the rajas con acelgas was a mixture of polano chile, chard and crema, so no shredded cheese, lettuce or sour cream in sight. The corn tortilla tasted super fresh and the mixture on top had a nice clean taste to it despite the chile in it. The requescon con nopal was a tlacoyo (or an oval shaped fried cake) made with ricotta, cactus, and queso fresco. Honestly, it was just ok and frankly a little bit dry. Nothing to write home about. I ordered the setas quesadilla because they came with oyster mushrooms, epazote, and Quesillo cheese. Now based on the other looks of the food, I knew it wasn't going to be a quesadilla like how I would imagine it, but this one almost looked like a hot pocket. The cheese almost seem to have melted then coagulated inside which was a bit of a turn off but I did love the mushrooms inside of the pocket. I just seemed a bit dry and over done. The main dish was the frijoles de la olia or black beans, oregano, queso fresco. They came with a set of small corn tortillas so it was almost like making your own tacos. But the beans themselves were super salty and there weren't enough tortillas to go around, so at one point we were just eating spoonfuls of beans. And of course, we couldn't come to a Mexican restaurant without ordering the churros with chocolate ($6). They were good (I mean how can fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar ever be bad?) but again, I thought they were a bit overcooked and could have been fluffier. I know I've made it sound like the food wasn't all the great, but for some reason, I did enjoy my experience there. I appreciated the fact that it was Mexican flavors without all the nightmares of eating at a typical Mexican restaurant. I had read on immaculate infatuation that a lot of the meat and fish dishes are amazing, so next time I go, I will lean more towards those dishes.
I also want to give a shout out to the margarita de pepino ($12) that I had, it was awesome. I told the waitress that I wasn't a huge tequilla lover, so she told me this cocktail was lighter and more refreshing. She was totally right. It had a nice combination of cucumber juice, lime, cilantro syrup, and lime salt to off set the taste of the tequilla. I loved it. The service was also pretty good, although once our waitress had to cover the outside shift as well, we were kind of left alone for a while and several random people did come to check on us. All in all, the menu here was pretty creative and the outdoor space is to die for (especially in a place like DUMBO), so I would give this place another go again soon and this time I will most definitely sit outside. Total bill: $49/pp with tax and tip
Photo credit: Yelp
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