La Esquina

L-R Tinga, Carnitas, Guisado, Pibil

A couple months back, I decided to sell my car. This was mighty inconvenient, as the car I was driving was registered in Ontario, and I'm living in Halifax. Because I'm too lazy to do messy paperwork, it was road trip time. 

So my gentleman and I set out from Halifax through Boston and New York City, en route to my hometown in Ontario. He thought he was going on a nice vacation, but really the goal was to eat ALL THE TACOS. In the end he was more correct. We had a lovely trip and only ate tacos once - but they were doozies. Behold the magic of La Esquina in NYC!

It's fall now, but please remember that we took this trip in August. So it was f-ing hot. Which is both the best and the worst time to wedge yourself into a tiny refurbished deli and order spicy food. It felt very authentic, but my face also melted off. 

We were able to snag a couple seats at the counter and I placed our order. If I recall correctly, we got cochinita pibil, tinga de pollo, guisado beef and pork carnitas. Selfishly, I wanted to order familiar recipes to see how mine stacked up. I was pleasantly surprised to taste some flavours I recognized, made even more delicious with some toppings I've never tried (and deliciously fried tortillas). The guisado was a fan favourite, a rich stew of beef and rice that I've added to my list of "recipes to try." 

I wish I'd had more time to hit all the Mexican restaurants and stands in NYC, but our whirlwind trip was over much too soon. Definitely next time!