Where to Eat in the British Virgin Islands - Visited 5/18-5/22 3.5 - 4.5 Forks

CocoMaya   Spanishtown,  Virgin Gorda                                                                               4 Forks

After our dinner debacle at our hotel, we decided we need to venture off the island for our next meal. We asked our lovely concierge where we should go and she said that the best restaurant in all of the BVI was on Virgin Gorda.  The only caveat is that due to the timing of the multiple ferries we had to take, we had to eat early (like 5 or 5:30pm) so that we could eat, relax and then catch the last ferry home.  So this meant, taking a 3:30pm ferry from Scrub Island to Tortola, and then catching the 4:30pm to Virgin Gorda, which would get us to Virgin Gorda around 5pm and then it's a 5 mins taxi ride to the restaurant.  The ferry ride from Tortola to Virgin Gorda is $30 RT, so technically you are spending an extra $30 to eat here but it's worth it.

Since we got there super early, we decided to sit at the bar and have a drink and relax first.  The restaurant is right on the beach and it's beautiful.  It reminded me a lot of Potato Head and the other beach side restaurants in Bali.  They've got a a few couches to lounge on right by the water and a fire pit as well as a swing by the bar.  We got there right at happy hour and the bartender was super nice and funny.  We nibbled on black bean dip and root chips at the bar which was addictive and very filling.  As the bar started to fill up, we decided to take a seat at our table but we could have easily sat at the bar all night.

The menu here is Asian Latin - which is something you definitely don't see in the Caribbean at all.  I was excited and skeptical to see sushi and other Asian food on the menu but it was worth a shot.  The waitress said that most things on the menu were tapas/share size with a few large plates being entree sized.  We were so excited to see so much variety that we totally over ordered.  We got the truffle fries ($8), vegetable empanadas ($9), fried rice w/out pork belly ($12), misa rasta sushi roll ($13), ceviche tacos ($16) and tuna sashimi ($18).  If the waitress hadn't stopped us, I would have tried to order the pad thai or korean rice cakes too.

The truffle fries were plentiful and very thick and crispy and not overpowering with the truffle oil. They were so filling and it felt like every time I ate a fry, they kept multiplying.  The waitress even commented how we didn't eat any of them, but I felt like we were constantly eating it!  The vegetable empanadas were ok - a bit bland and we probably wouldn't have ordered it again.  The fried rice was nice and albeit a smidge greasy (but when is fried rice not?!) and served with sriracha and a fried egg over it.  Yummy - flavor!! The ceviche tacos was 3 small hard shell tacos - one filled with salmon, one filled with snapper and another with tuna.  I forget that I really don't like hard shell tacos as I usually find them to be dry and overpower the rest of the dish.  It was the same thing here and the filling wasn't as much ceviche as it was raw fish with some guac and ponzu sauce.  But I would take that over a piece of boring grilled fish any day.  The tuna sashimi was pleasantly good - basic clean slices of tuna sashimi.  It felt so refreshing to eat healthy like this because resort food is so fried or greasy so this was a nice change of pace.   I didn't try the mista rasta roll which was basically a vegetarian roll with tofu, radish, cucumber, green onion and sesame seeds but it was nice that it was a viable option after the sad vegetarian experience from the other night.

While the concierge said that this was considered one of the best restaurants in the world, I wouldn't go as far as to say that but I will say that it was definitely a highlight to the trip.  It made me wish I was staying on Virgin Gorda so that I could hang out there longer, but alas we had to catch the 8pm ferry back to Tortola, but we did spent a good 2 1/2 hours there which was nice.  I would highly recommend this place no matter where you are staying in the BVIs for the atmosphere alone but the fact that it's Asian food makes it even better.  Total bill:  $71/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Cocomayarestaurant.com 

De Loose Mongoose   Trellis Bay, Tortola                                                                                3.5 Forks

Since the Scrub Island ferry lets you off at Trellis Bay, it's easy enough to hop into one of the nearby beach bars/restaurants for a bite to eat.  Apparently all the locals eat here so it was worth checking out.  Whereas Cocomaya was more bougie and catered to the rich British tourists, De Loose Mongoose was definitely more casual and laid back.  There was a good mix of locals and tourists which was nice.

It located all the way at the end of the bay to the left of the ferries but it's only a 10 min walk.  I liked the rasta-like vibe they had here and I could see it being a nice place to chill out during the day with a few beers or rum punches.  The menu is a mix of resort food like burgers and fish sandwiches but they also had other dishes like ribs, rotisserie chicken, and best of all Caribbean roti.  I was tempted to get roti since it's a local dish but I opted for another local dish of pan seared cracked conch ($21) and Aarti got the vegetarian roti ($10).  Unfortunately, the place also has 2 cats running around and Aarti was having a particularly bad allergic reaction to them that night so that kind of put a damper on things.

We tried to get our food to go but it was taking a while.  By the time the food came out, she was feeling better so we decided to quickly eat our food so that we could catch the next ferry home.  If you haven't had conch before it's kind of like escargot in terms of consistency and texture - these were dripping in a garlic oil and served with mashed potatoes (they called it chef's potatoes which I actually thought was going to be potato salad).  I could have done without so much oil to the pan seared-ness of the conch but it was good local dish that you definitely can't get outside of the Caribbean.  I had a few bites of Aarti's roti which was pretty good because of the curry kick to it and the actual roti was soft and chewy.

As with most places in the Caribbean, the service was a bit slow but I had a direct view of the kitchen and it was literally one man in the back making everything so I had to cut him some slack.  Also, don't order the wine here.  As if you didn't need to be reminded of that in the Caribbean but definitely stick with beer or cocktails here because Aarti's white wine was undrinkable.  This was a nice low key dinner and given how close it is to the ferry, I could see this being a go-to option for those staying at Scrub Island who need to get out of the resort for either lunch or dinner.  It's nothing mind blowing but it's close, easy and local - what else could you ask for?  Total bill:  $35/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Bare Boats BVI

The Last Resort    Bellamy Cay, Trellis Bay                                                                            4.5 Forks

I really love this place.  It might be a bit hippie or cheesy but I loved that our trip ended here.  We had originally wanted to go on Saturday night but they were having a charity event and it was a $75 cover.  No thanks!  So we went on Sunday night instead and I'm so glad we made it - I would have been really sad if we missed out on this experience. 

First, it's on this tiny tiny island in between Scrub Island and Tortola.  We kept seeing it on our way back and forth the two island but couldn't figure out what it was.  Finally we were told it's like an eco-friendly island with its own bar,  restaurant, and "museum".  The fun part is that you have to take another small speed boat from Trellis Bay to this island - when you get to the ferry docks, you call them on this funky walkie talkie at the docks and then they come get you in a speed boat.  But our ferry captain was so nice and called ahead for us, so that by the time we got to the docks, the guy was already waiting for us with the boat. Stepping off into the island, it reminded me a bit of Ruschmeyer's in the Hamptons but in a totally non-douchy way.  It had this large open air restaurant with a backyard/garden that has a giant life sized Connect 4 and Jenga to play with.  Plus it's got swings, couches and corn hole - all surrounded by the beautiful waters of the BVI.  

Unfortunately when we got there it was already dark, so we couldn't really play around in the garden but we did have some really nice fancy cocktails while we walked around.  The staff there are all adorable Brits who seemed to have quite the hippie life - they live on this tiny island where there isn't any tap water (they purify their own water) and the guy who picked us up on the speed boat was telling us how he works there in the summer and then travels around the world surfing during the other times of the year.  Seriously, what am I doing wrong with my life?!?  What's also nice about this place is that they have a live music section and normally I hate that shit but this was kind of nice to enjoy some music while sipping a cocktail in an outdoor restaurant - it was a cute 20-something kid playing the guitar, so it wasn't some loud crazy bar music but really chill and mellow.  I heard they have a no Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffet policy which I love and respect. 

The menu here was also surprisingly eclectic.  The website calls it West Indian, North Africa, Spain, South Pacific, and South America focused food.  Ok - I can see that.  Everything here sounded great and I ended up getting the Swordfish and Aarti got a hodgepodge of veggie side dishes from sweet potato mash, curried coconut polenta, and Mexican corn (see Caravela - you can have decent veggie side dishes and not have it be a plate of steamed vegetables).  Our waiter could not have been any nicer and sweeter and gave us the low down on the history and background of this place while we waited for our food.  

The swordfish was delicious and lovely - it came with Mexican street corn made into a risotto like consistency, pickled red onion, tomato salad, and Spanish red pepper romesco sauce.  Swordfish is a tricky fish to cook since it's thicker and firmer than most fishes but it was cooked just right here and with the romesco and corn mixture it wasn't dried out at all.  It was really satisfying dish.  Since it was our last night here, we wanted to go all out and saw another table with a fat piece of chocolate cake and ice cream.  The waiter was like "umm, the ice cream is for special occasions" - which I'm assuming he meant engagements or honeymoons but he relented and brought out a huge piece of cake with a big scoop of ice cream on top of it.  He kind of made it sound like he stole the ice cream out of their own personal food stash -which is possible since it sounds like everyone here lives in a hippie/commune like place.  The only bummer was that he charged us for 2 desserts here at $10 each! If I had known that, I would have nixed the ice cream. 

Luckily the night we were there is was super quiet and chill but I could see it getting rowdy during the day with some of the yachting crowd.  But it was a great way to end our vacation and I was sad that we hadn't discovered it earlier so that we could hang out in the garden some more.  It's definitely a unique place and I hope that it sticks around some more even with all these new luxury resorts popping up and stealing its thunder.  Total bill:  $68/pp with tax and ti

Photo Credit:  Lastresortbvi.com 

El Amacen Visited 3/23/2017 4 Forks

El Amacen  557 Driggs Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

While I love my hood, I tend to stay away from anything remotely close to the Bedford L stop due to the insane amount of foot traffic.  But when the Infatuation dropped 8.2 rating on this place I had to check it out.  It's one of those places that I've walked past a million times but never think to go into.  I figured since it's kind of an old stand by, that it should be easy enough to walk-in without a reservation. Apparently I was wrong.  I walked in at 7pm on a Friday and the only seats left were at the bar, otherwise it was an hour plus wait.  Luckily I love eating at the bar and Paige didn't mind either, so we were set. 

Despite being a huge meat lover, I am embarrassed to say that I haven't been to Argentina yet but I know that if you don't eat meat, you're SOL there.  If the food in Argentina is anything like what was on the menu here, I would definitely be a fan.  Everything sounded awesome and we had a really hard time narrowing it down without being a total glutton.  We netted out with the hamachi ceviche ($15), ham and cheese empandas ($10) and to be adventurous we got the parrillada ($56) which is basically translation for everything BBQ.  And of course we got a delicious bottle of Malbec wine.  In a similar vein to dining in Argentina, the prices here were shockingly affordable for the location and type of food.  The hamachi ceviche was lovely and a refreshing way to start the meal - thinly sliced pieces of yellowtail with yuzu, shishito peppers, sea salt and truffle oil.  Also fantastic was the empanadas - they were super cheesey and gooey with a perfect crunch on the outside.  They were dangerously addictive and I could have easily had 5 more of them.  But if I did, then I wouldn't have been able to leave room of the insane amount of meat that was to come.  Even though we had asked the waitress what was in the parrillada, I'll be honest and say that I didn't hear a single thing she said.  And after eating it, I kinda of wished I paid more attention.  Not that it wasn't a great plate of meat but there were definitely types of meat in there that I could have done without - I'm looking at you blood sausage and sweet breads.  But it was our fault for not paying more attention to the waitress. However, if you like different types of meat, this is your dish.  It came with short rib, ribeye, chorizo, blood sausage, sweet breads, roasted peppers and truffle fries - and it's definitely a dish for 2 people. My favorite meat by far was the ribeye - it was cooked just right and was pretty moist and tender. The short rib was my 2nd favorite but it had a bit more bone than I would normally have liked.  The chorizo was your typical chorizo and a much better alternative to the blood sausage.  I've just never been a blood sausage person but I gave it a shot - the texture was just too mushy and it had that mineral-y taste that I just don't like about anything blood related.  Same thing with the sweet breads - I gave it a try but it's just not really my thing unless it's really deep fried, which they weren't.  The fries were a nice touch although they were a bit dry.  It was way too much food and we couldn't really finish the whole thing. Having tried all the different meats, if I were to come back next time, I would just order either the skirt steak or ribeye on its own, which is what most people did at the restaurant.  

We ended the night with churros ($8) which were nice and warm and served with a yummy dulce de leche and chocolate dipping sauce.  The churros themselves could have used a bit more sugar and cinnamon to it but it's probably best that they didn't for my health. 

I left this place feeling like it was a really solid neighborhood meat joint and was sad that I hadn't been to it sooner.  While I wouldn't say that it's the best place to get a steak in NYC, it's a very solid and extremely reasonably priced place to chow down on some red meat.  I can only envision that it's similar to what a dinner would be like in Argentina - a dark, cozy restaurant that serves delicious red wine and quality red meat for a fraction of what you would pay at a traditional steak place in the city center.  Total bill:  $116/pp with tax, tip and lots of red wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Cafe Habana Visited 10/29/2016 4 Forks

Cafe Habana  17 Prince St., New York, NY 10012

Cafe Habana has been a long time Soho, New York staple for as long as I can remember.  Its location makes it a hot spot for models and other trendy New Yorkers and as such the lines have always been crazy long.  But I hadn't been there in a while and Aarti and I were planning on doing some shopping in Soho, so we thought we'd take a gamble and see if we could grab a brunch time seat on a Saturday. 

I strolled in at 12pm on the dot and it was surprisingly NOT crowded.  I was shocked - maybe it's finally dying down?  I grabbed two seats at the bar which wasn't the most comfortable but the place is small, so it's not like there are a lot of places to sit anyways.  The left side of the menu had their more brunch-y foods like huevos rancheros and the left side had more lunch-y foods like their cuban sandwich.  It's like Sophie's choice!! I was having a really hard time because they had huevos divorciados, which I haven't had since Santa Fe.   But they claimed that their cuban sandwich ($10.95) was voted best in NYC, so I figured I just had to get it.  Aarti and I also split the grilled corn ($5.95) to start because how can you come to a cuban place and not get freakin grilled corn?  This one is served in typical fashion with mayo, cotija cheese, chili powder and lime.  Delicious.  There's just something about that cheese sprinkled all over the corn that is a perfect combination.  It's definitely a messy messy dish, so I wouldn't recommend getting it unless you're with good friends or just don't give a shit that your face will be covered in mayo and cheese for at least 10 minutes. 

I was excited for the cuban sandwich because it's been a really long time since I've had a great one. This had your classic ingredients:  roast pork, ham, swiss cheese, chipotle mayo, and a pickle on a toasted panini type bread.  While it was a nice solid sandwich, I'm not sure I can say it's the best in NYC.  It was heavy on the pork and I would have liked it to be a bit more balanced with the ham. While I usually don't love pickles, I do adore them in a cuban and I actually could have used more of them in this one.  The sandwich came with a handful of fries that were a ting too soggy from the mayo dripping on to my plate.  Aarti got the huevos rancheros and it looked good but also swimming in their salsa ranchera that you couldn't even see anything else on the plate.

It was nice to re-visit this place after a long time away and I can see why it's still a downtown staple. The food is still solid and the atmosphere still fun and funky.  But I still adore Sohpie's as my go-to true authentic Cuban place (yes, yes, I know it's a chain but still...) but if you want to hipster it up, Cafe Habana is a fine substitute.  Plus the prices of the neighborhood are really quite reasonable.  Total bill: $18/pp with tax, tip and coffee

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Vieques, Puerto Rico Day 3 Visited 12/4 3.5 Forks

Belly Buttons  Calle Flamboyán, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765   3.5 Forks

I'm usually not a big breakfast person but when I'm vacation (especially a beach or active vacation) I usually indulge in breakfast since I know I'll be doing lots of activities later.  We kind of did the reverse this time where, we drove down to the black sand beaches first to check them out and then went for breakfast in town.  While the breakfast at the W actually looked pretty good and surprisingly affordable for hotel food, we wanted to stay local and stopped by Belly Buttons on the way back to the hotel.  

It's located in Esparanza towards the end of the street.  Similar to a lot of the other casual bars in the area, it's got a open outdoorsy feel to it and is super casual with a bunch of beach chotskies surrounding the walls and ceiling.  Luckily, they seemed like one of the few places actually serving breakfast food, which was great.  We got there around 11AM, right when they were switching over to lunch but the waitress said that we could still order breakfast sandwiches if we wanted to.   We split a Greek salad ($10.95) to start, we each got a breakfast sandwich ($4.95 or $6.50 if you want bacon or sausage) and Deanna and I split an order for fries ($3)  because that's all I seem to crave them I'm on vacation.  The Greek salad was a bit of a bummer - it was not really real traditional Greek salad with big ripe juicy red tomatoes and large chunks of feta, this was more of a garden salad with some crumbled feta and olives thrown in there.  It's fine, I mean we are in Puerto Rico and not the Mediterranean, so I can't really expect it to be perfect.  The waitress had raved about the local baked fresh bread on the breakfast sandwiches and yes, it was soft and delicious but not sure if it's something I would rave about.  It was, however, a very solid and satisfying breakfast sandwich - the egg was nicely fried (not over cooked) and there was a layer of gooey cheddar cheese and for me a thick salty sausage patty.  The fries were also salty, crispy and delicious but totally unnecessary.  

Overall, this is a good local island beach hang if you want to grab some affordable casual food away from the hotel.  The menu is standard fare with basic sandwiches and burgers, but it's what you would expect of a place called Belly Buttons that's on a tiny Caribbean island.  Total bill:  $50 for 3 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tin Box   Carretera 201 S/N, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765

Although the Caribbean is known of fresh seafood, I usually don't associate it with oysters, raw bar or sushi.  The seafood is usually more grilled or fried fish and shrimp.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find a place that had a different spin on seafood than the rest of the island.  The Tin Box is also located in a random part of town, where 2 of the big main roads intersect in the middle of the island, so it's not in either of the 2 big towns.  When we arrived, the place was strangely full of older fratty men - almost like they were all on a boating outing and just came back to shore.  It felt like I was at a Jimmy Buffet concerts for some reason.  None the less, it's a nice places to check out and I'm sure it's even nicer during the day when you can see the treehouse-like structure. 

The menu is an interesting mix of raw bar, BBQ, ribs, po boys,  sushi, and other entrees.  Totally random. After eating a lot of grilled fish and french fries, I was craving sushi, so I was able to get my fix in here.  They have a fairly extensive sushi menu of a bunch of different kinds of rolls.  I narrowed it down to the lobster roll ($12) and the snapper with seared tuna roll ($13).  Deanna got the marinated tofu skewers ($16) and Allison got a side of cornbread and roasted potato ($3 each). Obviously this isn't going to be some traditional authentic Japanese style sushi and if you go into it with that level expectation, you'll be fine.  The lobster roll didn't really taste a lot like crab, it seemed more heavy on the kani crab meat instead and it also had bits of arugula in it, which was a first for me.  I'm not a huge fan of leafy greens in my sushi but it also didn't bother me that much either.  It was wrapped in soy paper which was a nice touch and covered with spicy mayo.  It wasn't bad and with 8 pieces, it was pretty filling.  The other roll had snapper on the inside and topped with seared tuna - this roll was a bit too heavy on the rice for me.   I did try a bite of the tofu skewers and they were actually really good!  If you are a vegetarian, I would say this is probably one of the better veggie friendly dishes you'll get on the entire island. 

Overall, this place is a nice change of pace from the busy commercial streets in Esparanza and Isabel. Who knew that you could actually get oysters and sushi on an island like this?  Total bill:  $68 for 3 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Vieques, Puerto Rico Day 1 and 2 Visited 12/2-12/3 3-4.5 Forks

El Blok   Hotel El Blok, Calle Flamboyan 158,  Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765  4 Forks

I had been dying to go to Vieques for a few years now after hearing how laid back and gorgeous it was.  Plus there was a new W Hotel there (which I know, kind of seems to ruin the unspoiled nature of this island but I did really enjoy it there), so I was lucky enough to get a decent IATA rate in Dec for a few days and check it out.   It's a fairly quick plane ride from NYC to San Juan (3 1/2 hours) and then it's a 20 min puddle jumper plane ride away to Vieques.   So you can leave your house and be on the beach by the afternnon which is amazing.   

Surprisingly, for a tiny island that you can drive around in less than 45 minutes there are lots of food options.  I was scared at first that I would be stuck to the confines of the hotel, but there were actually so many great places that I left with a few places still on my list to check out.  As I was doing research before the trip, one place that kept coming up as one of the newer/nicer places was the restaurant at the newly designed El Blok Hotel.  Surprisingly, they were also on OpenTable, so I booked a reservation for the 1st night we were there (although the restaurant was pretty empty, so it wasn't really needed).   Unfortunately we got to the restaurant at night, so we couldn't really see the cool design but it's definitely very modern and unique in structure.   The restaurant is run by Jose Enrique, a 2 time James Beard award winning chef, and the menu is a modern take on traditional Puerto Rican food.   Allison and I ended up splitting the ceviche and swordfish and Deanna got the soup of the day, a large salad and a side of fried eggplant nuggets.  The ceviche was tuna based and was definitely different than the traditional version - this one had coconut milk in it which made it a bit sweeter instead of tangy and sour, but I enjoyed it none the less.  The swordfish was huge and grilled very well - sometimes swordfish can be super fishy and greasy but this one was grilled to a nice tender texture.  It was served with a delicious local green salad and these addictive little fried eggplant nuggets, which was essentially the inside of the eggplant, battered and fried.  It's easy to pop 30 of them in our mouth without even realizing it.  Deanna's salad looked great and very fresh - we were surprised at how fantastic all the local greens were.  This one came with local farmer's cheese and breadcrumbs.  Her soup was a smoked onion and potato based broth which she said she also really enjoyed. 

For dessert, we had to go with the churros and you could see that they were freshly made because they were pipping hot when they arrived at the table.  They weren't covered in sugar and cinnamon like they typically are but they made up for it by giving us giant bottles of chocolate, dolce de leche and condensed milk to pour on our plates.  The churros were soft but crunchy and the perfect vehicle for my sweet sweet mixture of condensed milk and dolce de leche.  Sweet perfection. 

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and contemporary way to kick off our vacation.  I suspect that as PR moves out of rainy season, this place would be more crowded, but it was nice to be able to really relax and enjoy a fancy meal in such a low key island with no crowds.  Total bill:  $125 for 3 people with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Architectural Digest

El Resuelve  Carretera 997 Km 1, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765     3 Forks

On our 2nd day in Vieques, we rented a Jeep (yay!) and drove down to the local beaches.  On our way there, the nice guy at the car rental place recommended that we check this place out for lunch because it's super authentic and very local.  Right up my alley.

He wasn't kidding when he said it was authentic and local.  It's right off the side of the main road and it's not flashy and has a very mom and pop feel to it.  The menu is mostly in Spanish and even though I understand bits and pieces for Spanish I had a hard time figuring out what to eat.  The nice lady behind the counter didn't speak tons of English and I didn't want to bombard her with lots of questions.  I had really wanted to get an empanada but they were super fried looking and I was headed to the beach, so I tried to be good and instead split a salad with grilled chicken and an octopus salad with Allison.   Deanna got rice and beans which came with a side of fried plantains.  This was definitely by far the cheapest place we ate all vacation and if I had the chance to go back (which I would) I would definitely order differently.

The side salad was totally fine, nothing special.  The grilled chicken was marinated in peppers and onions and while tasty and moist was a bit heavy on the salty side.  I was expecting the octopus salad to be similar to what I had in Croatia where it was served cold and closer to the rare side.  But this was a very warm and very cooked through octopus salad with the same peppers and onion mix.   It was good, just not what I was expecting.  I realized I still prefer the cold version instead.  I had a few bites of Deanna's food and while it wasn't anything fancy, I could see how this was more of what I probably should have gotten.  The fried plantains were excellent and perfectly fried and served with 1,000 Island dressing which I know sounds totally weird and gross, but it strangely worked for me.

I left feeling a bit bummed that I should have stuck with my original thought of an empanada and rice and beans but in my sad and pitiful quest to try to be more healthy, I went for a mediocre salad instead.  While this place wasn't mind blowing, it is worth a stop on the way to the beach and it is a nice respite from the more touristy places in Esparanza.  Total bill:  $23 for 2 people

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bili Restaurant  Calle Flamboyan 144, Esperanza, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765   4.5 Forks

When you're in Vieques, the "downtown" area is known as Esparanza which is essentially a very short street with 5-6 restaurants jammed by the waterfront.  This is the busiest road on the whole island but if you actually saw what it looked like you would fall down laughing because it's barely 1/2 a street block in NYC.  In any case, you will find a nice selection of casual touristy friendly restaurants there that range for bar food to upscale.  We had been to Banana's for happy hour and as you would expect from that name, it's more of casual bar but I will say that they had a very delicious and tangy snapper ceviche ($13.50) that I would highly recommend.  Plus for HH, you can get $4 margaritas and watch the sunset or go during regular hours and get a Corona for $3.50. 

As for dinner, we opted for Bili's which is bit on the nicer side.  The waitress was super sweet and nice and walked us through the menu.  Everyone here on the island is incredibly friendly - I guess why wouldn't you be when you live on a tiny super relaxed island?!  We all split a fresh house salad to start ($10) - Deanna will want me to mention that the salad came with these adorable small serving tongs that made splitting the salad really easy.  Again, the salad was awesome and very fresh tasting. Who knew PR had such great vegetation?  Now for the best part of the meal.  Allison had ordered a side of the root vegetable mash to start.  We all took a bite and it was like my head (and heart) exploded.  It's basically mashed potato but made with yucca, cassava, yams and other root veggies. But this was made with like 20 sticks of butter and the different flavor profiles of the root veggies made it taste less starchy than a regular potato and they had a hint of sweetness to it.  We were all obsessed with this dish.  I know I use the word "addictive" a lot on this blog but I would seriously kill for this dish.  Luckily for me, my mahi mahi ($26)  came on a bed of this mash as well as some plantain mojo.  I would have been happy just eating another pound of the mash but mixing it with the nice white flakey fish was delicious too.  I loved the pop of sweetness the plantains gave to the dish as well - I cleaned up every last bite of this dish. 

I'm not sure how I left any room for dessert but I did.  We got a blueberry shortcake which was basically a strawberry shortcake but with blueberry (duh).  The shortcake was nicely done - it was dense but still flakey and paired nicely with cold ice cream.  Sadly the mash was starting to really take its toll on me and I couldn't really eat more than a few bites but I would definitely recommend it. I was really surprised at how fantastic the food was here.  Usually when I'm traveling to the Caribbean or other islands, the food isn't really all that and it's really expensive.  I've been extremely pleased with how great the food has been so far - especially on a teeny tiny island like Vieques where the total population is barely 9,000 people.  Total bill:  $150 for 3 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Coppelia Visited 3/10/2015 4 Forks

Coppelia 207 W 14th St., New York, NY 10011

It always amazes me how one could have lived in NYC for years and never even notice half the places in the city.  I must have passed by this place a million times in all my years of living in NYC but never once did I notice it.   So I was shocked when Julia mentioned that this place had the best nachos in the city.   How have I never been to this place before when it's 1 block away from the L train?!?

Coppelia is a 24/7 Latin diner, which also serves breakfast all day, so this place is already in the running for best place ever.  Everything on the menu from the drinks to the food sounded amazing. We started with a large pitcher of sweet delicious red sangria ($34) and the nachos ($8.95).  Oh - did I mention that all the prices here were very reasonable as well?  The nachos, was advertised, were fantastic.  According to Julia, the key to the nachos is the secret layer of crema underneath all the toppings, which included gouda-munster cheese, black beans, jalapeno, guacamole and a side of the chopped beef short ribs.  The ribs were tender, juicy and super flavorful and I actually liked that it wasn't on top of the nachos because this way I was really able to get a good scoop of the ribs without hunting/pecking for it in the nachos.  This isn't the kind of nacho plate that comes with gooey orange cheese on it but instead it's the real deal with fresh real ingredients.   For the main course, we all decided to split the oxtail empanada ($4.75), a regular cheese empanada ($3.75), the pernil ($17.95), and the chile relleno ($16.95).  The oxtail empanada was mainly for me to try because I love oxtail but sadly these empanadas were a bit on the cold side, so I didn't really love them all that much.  I probably should have said something but there was so much other food that I didn't bother.  I was excited to try the pernil because I love a good roasted pork dish and this one did not disappoint.  The pork was tender and well apart when eating it.  It was paired nicely with a yummy side of mojo and the dish was given a serious kick with some mojo on top of it.  It was a tad on the salty side but that probably came from the chicharrons on the plate as well.  I was so full at this point that I actually didn't get around to trying the chili relleno at all which I was super bummed about because it sounded delicious -  it was served with quinoa, brussels sprouts, zucchini, salsa and a side of rice and beans.

By the time we left I was full and drunk.   I was surprised to see how constantly full this place was but after having a great time there and having great food, I really shouldn't be surprised.  I would absolutely come back here in a heart beat and try out everything else on the menu such as the ceviche, huevos rancheros, fish tacos, roasted chicken and cubano sandwich - in fact just writing about all these dishes is making my mouth water already.  Total bill:  ~$150 with tax, tip and drink

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Lo Nuestro Cafe Visited 1/26/2014 4.5 Forks

Lo Nuestro Cafe Av. Estrada 903 | Higueras, Guayaquil 00000, Ecuador

Even though everyone on our tour told us to be careful and to not really leave the hotel, I was determined to have my last dinner in Ecuador at a local restaurant instead of at the hotel bar again.  To be honest, I never felt in danger or not safe - as long as you catch a cab from the hotel and tell them to either wait for you or come back to pick you up, you'll be fine.  Everyone we had talked mentioned that the best place in the city was Lo Nuestro and Allison had actually been there on her last trip to the Galapagos, so off we went!  I was in love with from the moment I saw it.  The outside exterior had this beautiful old school South American feel with a lovely running fountain.  Even though I was there with Allison, it had this cute romantic feel. 

The inside is just as adorable.  I've never been to Cuba but this is exactly how I envision Cuba to be - a bit stuck in time but with a lot of old school character.  The menu here is very authentic and local and extremely seafood centric - love it!  Even though they had an English menu, it didn't really help too much in describing the dishes so we just winged it.  We split the ceviche lo nesutro ($11.88) and the parrillada de marisco ($29.17) with a vague idea of what each one was. 

The ceviche lo neustro turned out to essentially be a mixed seafood ceviche.   It was gorgeously presented - split into two portions on these huge sea/clam shells and then filled with a variety of yummy seafood.  It was super acidic and filled with red onion and cilantro.  Amazing.  There were chunks of shrimp, squid, octopus and fish fish.  Everything was incredibly fresh and clean tasting.  It's amazing that something as simple as cooking seafood in lime juice could taste so good.  This was a total steal at less than $12. 

Next we got the parrillada de marisco which essentially translates into grilled mixed seafood - so basically exactly what we had in the ceviche but in grilled form. 

There was about every form of seafood you could imagine on this plate.  There was jumbo shrimp, regular sized shrimp, grilled clams, squid, octopus, salmon and white fish and there was TONS of it.  It could easily feed 3 people.  All the seafood was grilled and charred nicely - it had this almost burned, smokey flavor to it but it wasn't burned at all.  I tried my best to clean the plate since it was so good but even with my monster appetite couldn't finish it.  Even though it's hard to get super full on seafood, I was uncomfortably full by the end of it. 

I left the restaurant devastated knowing that it was the end of a life-changing vacation but I was so happy and grateful to had this experience.  I am now totally having a massive love affair with South America.  The restaurant was the perfect cap to the end of my trip and I'm so glad that I took the "risk" of leaving the hotel to explore some place local and delicious.  Until next time Ecuador.  Total bill:  $55 for 2 with tax and tip

Cafe Colon Visited 1/17/2014 3.5 Forks

Cafe Colon Francisco de Orellana | Hotel Hilton Colón, Guayaquil, Ecuador

I wasn't sure if I was going to review this place since it's just the restaurant inside the Hilton but I figured what the heck, it was pretty decent.  This is a bit of a mis-mosh of a review since Allison and I ate there as a pool side snack, dinner and for breakfast.  Of all of those meals, breakfast on Sunday was the best - mostly because they have a huge unlimited vat of delicious, sour and tart ceviches.  I know, eating fish for breakfast sounds kind of gross but I really enjoyed their ceviche and couldn't get enough of it - it had a lot of acid and they give you tons of lime on the side for you to really amp up the acidity if you want.  I pretty much ate my weight in ceviche and enjoyed every minute of it.  The rest of the breakfast was actually pretty good with a variety of smoked fishes, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon and carving station.  You can really fill up for the day there.  I'm not sure how much it cost since it was included in our hotel package but I think I read somewhere that it was $25 - which is definitely steep but if you want good quality food and have a huge appetite, you can probably cram in 2 meals into one here. 

Dinner was a similar menu (although they do also have a non-buffet menu you can order from) but definitely leans more toward your standard hotel food with some Ecuadorian local dishes.  I had a local chicken stew with yellow rice and fried plantains.  There was a LOT of chicken in it which was nice but many pieces were over cooked and more on the dry side, even though the meat was served on the bone which usually lends to more moist meat.  The stew was a fantastic red tomato base that was paired well with the yellow rice.  What I love about the food in Ecuador was that everything was served with tons of avocado and it was no exception here.  The avocado was a great addition to the stew and added a nice creamy texture.   

All in all, given the lack of nearby walkable options, if you find yourself here for just the night before heading to the Galapagos Island, the hotel restaurant really isn't a terrible option - especially if you like ceviche.  

Photo Credit: Hilton.com

El Cafe de Tere Visited 1/17/2014 3 Forks

El Cafe de Tere Av. Hno. Miguel Solar, Guayaquil, Ecuador

This is my first international post of 2014 and it's coming to you from Ecuador!  I spent a quick 24 hours in the old port city of Guayaquil before I boarded my boat to the Galapagos Islands.  I was staying at the Hilton in town and while the hotel itself is very nice, it's not located in the most convenient of locations - there is really nothing nearby and if you even try to ask about walking somewhere, they all look at you like you are crazy.  So you have to take cabs everywhere.  Since breakfast wasn't included in our early morning check-in, Allison and I decided to be adventurous and have breakfast outside of the hotel.  Apparently there is only one local option nearby which is El Cafe de Tere.  I was game to try whatever, so we piled into a cab which took us literally 5 blocks away to this super cute, giant outdoor cafe.  Now, mind you it was 11AM on a Friday morning and it was completely packed with people - we were surprised at how many people were leisurely eating breakfast at a restaurant during a work day, but I guess this is South America. 

Since this isn't a real tourist based city, not that many people speak English and I have a very very rudimentary knowledge of Spanish - so ordering posed to somewhat of a challenge.  There was lots of pointing and Spanglish going on.  Usually I am a pretty adventurous eater, but I had just come off a red-eye and gotten no sleep, so I was just really hungry and sadly ordered a ham and cheese omelet ($3.07) and a side of empandas ($1.60).  Allison got an omelet too and we also split fried plantains. And yes, those are the correct prices in USD.  Apparently what I should have gotten if I wanted to eat like a local was the bolon de verde, which is a ball of mashed and fried plantain mixed with cheese and/or pork, or the tigrillo con chicharron, which is plantain puree with cheese and/or pork.  I totally regret not getting something more local/authentic because I can always get a ham and cheese omelet anywhere but not sure how many places in the world would have these giant balls of plantains. Oh well.  The omelet itself was totally fine albeit a bit on the thin and dry side.  It's not like an omelet in the American sense where it's enormous and stuffed to the gills with ingredients, it was literally some ham and cheese in a thin layer of egg.  The empanadas were nice and gooey with cheese - I was a huge fan of it.  The fried plantains were also delicious (although we most definitely had our fill of plantains after this trip) but what made it even more delicious was this amazing and spicy orange sauce that they served with it.  It was tangy, oniony and spicy as heck. 

Overall, the place was really cute, authentic, and full of locals - which is always a great sign.  While I wouldn't say the food is mind-blowing, it does seem to be where the locals eat and given the crowds, very popular with them.  Total bill with a papaya juice:  $6.93

Photo Credit:  Tripadivsor

ABC Cocina Visited 8/28/13 4 Forks

ABC Cocina 38 E 19th St., (between Broadway & S Park Ave), New York, NY 10003

I have been trying to eat at ABC Cocina since the day it opened and it's been such a pain the ass to get a table there that I almost gave up the hunt.  The first time I tried to go they quoted me a 3 hour wait and then every time I've looked on Opentable it tells me that there are no open seats for the next 2 weeks.  But I was determined to eat there at some point since it's the sister restaurant to the beloved ABC Kitchen.  The space is in the old Pipa location inside the ABC Carpet store and they honestly didn't really change much of the decor, which is great because it's decorated with all this beautiful vintage ABC furniture and light fixtures.

Swaroopa and I decided to go there on a whim on a Wednesday night around 5:45.  We figured it was so early that there had to be something we could get as a walk in.  When we go there the entire restaurant was empty and they told us that they could only seat us at a table that they needed back in an hour.  That was a bit tight, so we opted to sit at the already crowded first-come-first-serve communal table where we could sit as long as we wanted to.  The menu concept here is similar to ABC Kitchen - fresh, organic, local ingredients in an American tapas format but it's got a hint of Latin American twist as there is a full taco section.  Swaroopa wasn't starving so we ordered the guacamole ($11) and cheese fondue ($14) to split and then I ordered the ham and cheese fritters ($10) and crispy fish tacos ($13) for myself.  I was a bit bummed that the guacamole wasn't the fresh spring pea version that everyone has been raving about but instead just a regular guacamole.  The guac was good, fresh, and smooth with just a few chunks of avocado but I would have loved to have experienced the pea version because I'm sure it would have been really tasty and unique.  We primarily got the cheese fondue because the group next to us got it and it looked gooey and amazing.  But when we ate it, neither of us were very impressed with it.  It was extremely heavy and the cheese they used seemed too strong and it had this sour tangy taste to it that was quite unappealing.  The waitress asked us what was wrong and we just said it was too heavy and not the right dish for us.  I appreciated that she took the time to ask us for our feedback and was very pleasant and not defensive about it.  I know cheese fondue is generally a heavy dish but this one just wasn't a winner in my book.  Luckily, I had the other 2 dishes to look forward to.  The ham and cheese fritters were nicely fried with a balanced and subtle combination of ham and cheese inside.  It was very similar to a croqueta where there isn't tons of obvious pieces of ham or cheese but more of the ham and cheese flavor to it.  The fritters themselves were pretty small, probably 1 or 2 bites max, so if you're sharing it with someone else, be prepared to not get full from this dish.  But the star of the night was the crispy fish tacos.  Good lord, these were AMAZING.  I am usually not a huge fan of small expensive fancy tacos because I feel like they are generally a rip off, but I am totally making an exception for this one.  Yes, they are small (maybe 2-3 bites max), yes they are expensive (there are only 2 of them for $13), yes they are fancy (it's served with spicy aioli mayo and cabbage chili pickle) but they are damn good.  The fish is a light battered, almost tempura-like but it's perfectly done so that it's not greasy or overly battered.  You can still taste the fresh fillet of white fish underneath and the combination with the spicy mayo and shredded nappa cabbage was fantastic.  I would come back here just for these tacos.  I was pretty full by this time, so I wasn't going to order more food.  But the girls next to me got the tomato salad which looked amazing.  They were the reddest, juciest tomatoes I had ever seen and I almost wanted to ask them if I could have a bite.  I would say besides the fish tacos, the way to order here would be to stick to any of the local seasonal vegetable dishes like the tomatoes, corn, beans, and peas.  You can actually piece together a pretty good vegetarian meal here without much difficulty.

By the time we were done eating, the place was completely packed to the gills, so I'm glad that we were able to get a seat at the communal table and didn't have to get  kicked out of an individual table.  My one compliant about the communal table is that it's tight seating - I was almost sitting on top of the girl next to me and it's very very loud.  I could barely hear Swaroopa at times and she was sitting right across from me.  Total bill:  $80/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit: Yelp 

Xixa Visited 6/22/2013 4 Forks

Xixa 241 S 4th St., (between Driggs Ave & Roebling St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

I had heard about Xixa from a friend at work and she had said that it was by the same people as Traif which I LOVE, so I was totally excited to see how Xixa would stack up.  It's a similar format to Traif in that it's lots of small plates but the theme here is more towards Mexican fusion vs. American cretive.  There are so many options that being here with just one other person made it a bit overwhelming.  Our waitress recommended roughly 5-6 dishes for the two of us, which I would tend to agree (although I think we honestly could have done without one of our dishes and would have been fine).  Aarti and I ordered the stuffed squash blossoms, fundido, steak tacos, scallop ceviche, and the Thai esquites.  We figured we could always order more if we were still hungry and we wanted to leave room for dessert.

Since it was tapas style there wasn't a real logical order to the dishes come out, but Aarti and I did comment later how they probably should have started with the fundido first since that typically is like an appetizer in many restaurants.  Instead the first dish that came out was the lightly fried squash blossoms.  They were stuffed with goat cheese and served with butternut squash and squash seed-cascabel pipian.  It was a wonderful dish that had a perfect blend of goat cheese and fried squash blossom.  Delicious.  Next came the Thai esquites which was sweet corn kernels in a spicy tom yum broth, red curry aioli and topped with cotija cheese.   It was like a deconstructed Mexican corn on the cob with a spicy Thai twist which I thought seemed very unique.  I always love a good corn dish in the summer time but I honestly could have done without the tom yum broth, it was a bit too watery.  Next came the scallop ceviche and of the main entrees this was probably my favorite dish.   It was a classically clean raw scallop dish and I could have had another 3 dishes and not gotten sick of it.  Perfect summer dish.  Next came the steak tacos - it wasn't really a steak taco how you and I know it.  Instead it is served with recado negro tortillas, a huge bone marrow, and a side of steak tartare and then you had to put your "taco" together.  I didn't find the tortilla very soft - in fact it was a bit too tough for me but the rest of the dish was quite interesting.  The marrow was very fatty, as it should be, and while I usually am not a huge fan of steak tartare, I rather enjoyed it here when it was mixed in with the bone marrow.  A very unique dish that I totally appreciated for its complexity.   Lastly, we got the fundido, which is usually just a vat of yummy hot melted cheese, but the cheese here seemed to have coagulated by the time it got to our table.  I wasn't sure if the dish had been sitting out and that's why it had that texture or if they just used cheese that didn't melt well, but I've definitely had much better fundido elsewhere.  I will say that I loved the fact that they acknowledged that Aarti was a vegetarian and put mushrooms in there instead of the chorizo it usually comes with.  The dish was just too heavy and oily and only had about 4-5 bites of it.  Luckily, since we couldn't finish it we had plenty of room for dessert and I was so glad we did.  All of the desserts sounded great but I am a sucker for really good churros and they had a salty churros served with passion fruit and a strawberry-jalapeno sorbet.  OMG, amazing.  The churros was perfectly fried and the sorbet was sweet and refreshing with just the right amount of heat from the jalapeno.  Aarti and I agreed that this was the winner of the night.

All in all, I loved what Xixa had to offer and given the tapas format, I think it's much better for larger groups to enjoy.  But they do have a chef's choice for $40/pp and they bring out 9 different dishes for you and your table to enjoy.  It sounded like a great idea and I would totally do that next time but it was still fun to be able to choose our own adventure the first time around.  Since it was a belated birthday dinner fro Aarti, I don't know the exact bill but I think it was around $100 including tax, tip and drinks. 

Photo Credit: Yelp

Rayuela Visited 4/13/2013 3.5 Forks

Rayuela 165 Allen St., New York, NY 10002

When my friend Holly mentioned that she wanted to go to Rayuela for her birthday, I thought I had already been there before but after scouring my blog I didn't see any mention of it so I'm glad that I finally get to put in a review of this place.  It's a great place for a birthday or a night out (or randomly bumping into friends too) because it's got a lively and fun spirit to it.

While the service wasn't bad, there was a definitely communication barrier with our waiter.  He was very nice but there were just so many mis-communication cues (I don't think the loudness in the restaurant helped either) that it was a bit frustrating.  First, our waiter asked us if we wanted to start with some appetizers and what we heard was "do you want some guacamole something something something  and ceviche?"  Huh? We said it would be great to start with something and then the waiter said "Ok, great" and went away.  We were like what just happened? Did we just order something?  Then time goes by and nothing shows up and then our waiter comes to take our order as if nothing had happened.  We noticed that the guacamole wasn't on the menu and asked about that and he mentioned that they had guacamole two ways: plain or with crab.  We ordered the one with crab because it sounded very different and unique.  Then we asked that if we wanted to share a bunch of plates, how many should we get?  Instead of giving us a number, he started just rattling off all the dishes that he thought were good and then he left.  We were so thoroughly confused and decided on our own to order 4 appetizer sized dishes and 1 main dish.  Along with the guacamole, we ordered the scallop ceviche ($14), tuna rellena ($14), the gambas y chorizo ($13) and the churrasco rayuela ($31). 

The guacamole came out first and we all immediately thought that we got the plain guacamole because we didn't see any crabmeat in it.  But after a few bites of it, I did taste the crab in it and thought it was a nice difference but not sure if it was worth $18.  But it was definitely tasted of fresh avocado, tomato, onion and cilantro and not pre-made which was nice.  Next came the scallop ceviche and the tuna rellena.  Before any of the dishes came out, I was most excited by the scallop ceviche because I love scallop and don't get to eat ceviche a lot.  But this ceviche was a bit disappointing.  It wasn't bad but it was served more like sliced sashimi with sliced tomatillo, radishes, onions, cilantro, tomatillo sauce & white truffle oil.  We all were expecting chunks of scallop in a lime citrus base and this didn't really have much of that citrus essence that ceviche was known for.  It was just a bit underwhelming.  Next I moved on to tuna rellena which was crab and shrimp wrapped in sliced sashimi tuna, with cucumbers and avocado in sesame soy sauce.  I loved the tuna sashimi outside but thought the crab and shrimp inside seemed a bit off.  It was kind of all mashed up and mixed together in this mixture that just didn't seem like crab or shrimp.  It wasn't bad but it just didn't have that clean flavor profile I usually like with seafood.  Luckily that was accomplished with the shrimp dish.  The gambas y chorizo dish was served with olive oil poached shrimp, creamy manchego rice and Verdejo white wine-chorizo sauce.  I loved this dish a lot because the shrimp was perfectly poached and I was a big fan the foam-y chorizo flavor sauce.  The rice was the right consistency and the manchego flavor wasn't overpowering at all.  Delicious.  But the table favorite of the night was the churrasco rayuela.  We all raved and loved it and even recommended it to the table next to us.  This dish was a grilled rib-eye steak with chimichurri, Brussels sprouts,shitake mushrooms, red onions and celery root puree.  The streak was amazing, cooked so perfectly.  We asked for it to be medium but it was closer to medium rare (my personal preference) but it was so juicy and tender and the vegetable mixture was wonderful too.  I kind of wish that we didn't get the ceviche and just got another order of the steak but that would have been a bit too much meat for the night. 

Lastly, we had to order dessert because we were celebrating a birthday.  You can't have a birthday without dessert!  So we got these chocolate donuts that had hot chocolate on the inside and sprinkled with sugar on the outside and served with a mint ice cream.  It was great because there were 3 donuts and 3 of us, so it was a perfect way to end the night.  I was tempted to give this place 4 forks but after comparing it to other 4 fork ratings, the confusion with the ordering, the ok ceviche and the fact that the sangria (while delicious) didn't seem that strong, I moved it to 3.5 forks.  But it was a great place for a birthday and the steak was worthy of 5 forks itself, so don't think that I didn't like this place because I did.  Total bill:  $120 with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp