boca chica

boca chica was one of the major food highlights of my three years in new york. my friend mary ellen first introduced me to it during my first couple of months in the city and i became an instant regular. every time i go back, i have to eat there.

so what exactly is this miraculous place? boca chica is a small, perpetually crowded latin american restaurant in the east village. the nytimes describes it much more succinctly than i ever could:

Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic are just some of the countries whose cuisines are juxtaposed on the enticing menu of this little pan-Latin restaurant. Top choices include camarones chipotle, shrimp in a tomato, chili and cilantro sauce; crisp, tangy chicharrones de pollo, the classic Dominican dish of chicken pieces marinated in lime, soy and spices; and sweet plantains stuffed with ground beef picadillo. Service is sometimes slow when the boisterous dining room is filled.

i just love this damn place. we always go on a saturday night at like 8 pm so that means we always have to wait at least an hour. but we just bum around at the bar and sip the best mojitos of my life and we do not have a care in the world. (tip: go for the mojitos and avoid the caipirinhas like the plague). we always want to try the sangria but that would mean wasting precious mojito-allocated stomach space, so we never do.

the atmosphere

once you are finally seated, they hook you up right away with long, crispy plantain chips and a black bean dip that is infused with crack. i am serious. i do not understand what is in this dip (and trust me, i have tried countless times at home to figure it out to no avail), but it is utterly addictive. it is the best fucking black bean dip you have ever eaten.

as you are fighting with your tablemates for the last scrapings of dip, you peruse the menu. you start to wonder if maybe you had one too many mojitos because... can this place really be that cheap? or are you just blurry eyed and fuzzy brained after all that rum? no, my friend, you are seeing things correctly... all the entrees, and i mean every single one, including specials, are under $20. and, in fact, most of them are under $15. and we ain't talking a la carte here. no, every entree comes with rice, a cabbage/lime/tomato/onion slaw, and either black beans or mashed yams. i challenge you to clean your plate.

the food

because i love it sooooo much, i almost always get the moqueca de peixe, a rich coconut cream and curry based stew with chunks of fish, huge shrimp, peppers, onions, and general deliciousness. it is the shit. i am not normally a one dish kind of girl at most restaurants... i like to sample all the things on the menu. however, this dish is so insanely good that i can almost never pass it up.

i have tried other things in the past and they have all been amazing. one of my particular favorites, which fortunately comes in appetizer form as well (which means i can have my beef and eat it too), are the piniones. these are sweet maduros formed somehow into a round shape and stuffed with juicy, spicy, very well seasoned ground beef. it's a sweet-and-salty lover's dream. soooo good. i always make people let me try what they order there, and i am convinced that you truly cannot go wrong.

the atmosphere is fun and busy. it's darkly lit, with colored christmas lights, exposed brick walls, mirrors decorated with a listing of the specials of the day, and fun mexican loteria paintings. the place is always jam packed like i said, so it is kind of loud, but after a couple mojitos it won't bother you. one thing: they will ask you to leave if there's a wait and you're lingering at your table. but with such amazing food at such low prices, you don't even mind.