cherrypatter nyc
and great ideas for what to do too!
yerba buena: great cocktails, good latin american food
yerba buena has been on my list since it opened last year, and we finally made it — en famille - just a few weeks ago. we came at an ungodly hour (i won’t admit how early) but it’s a good thing we did as it’s not really a child-friendly restaurant though the waiter did a really good job accommodating us. i don’t think he had ever had anyone ask for a plain quesadilla, but we were so appreciative that he was able to get the kitchen to agree otherwise we might not have gotten to stay (yes i know in an ideal world our kids would be incredibly good, flexible eaters — but somehow i have failed with that with our older one and since i don’t want to starve her i do cave more for my sanity than her health).
i knew lots of people liked yerba buena, but when we actually arrived i was surprised at how appealing the space was since it’s located on a fairly grungy block. it’s pretty small, but has a great bluish/green bar which must make it especially alluring at night (yes, it was definitely still light when we were there).
everyone raves about the drinks, and my “yerba buena” mojito was delicious. the ingredients included flor de cana 7 rum, mint, demarara syrup and lime juice. the balance of sweet with the liquor was great. foodwise, we were pretty pleased too. i would definitely like to explore more of yerba buena’s menu on a future visit and try things like their yucca croquetas, grouper tacos and their beef short ribs and especially their other cocktails like the pisco punch or a poquito picante). we loved the guacamole which was super spicy with chipotle and had a smattering of tasty queso fresco. the calamari, which sounded appealing crushed in blue corn meal andthen served with a tomato salad tamarind vinaigrette, was just too mushy — could it have been left over from brunch or was it just too saucy?
the main courses were excellent, though, and allowed me to overlook the squid. j’s black cod was perfect. we became black cod lovers back in the “heyday” of nobu (is that still going on?), and since we couldn’t, and didn’t want to, become regulars, we found a no name sushi restaurant on the upper west side that did the dish pretty well. we haven’t found black miso cod in brooklyn, but yerba buena does an excellent rendition. the cod was flaky, the miso sauce was sweet enough and there was plenty of sauce. i had the lechon, or suckling pig. which i enjoyed after getting over the fact that it wasn’t served as pieces of pig (i was remembering the one i had loved at prune). yerba buena’s version comes shredded served atop yucca puree and chicharron. the pork was moist, and the sauce had a delicious tang so it got gobbled up. we had to bypass dessert because we were stuffed, and real adults were coming in so we decided we should go before the kids had a serious meltdown. but we will be back, and i’m especially interested in trying the new yerba buena at perry street which has at least one enthusiastic review so far. yerba buena l.e.s., 23 avenue a between houston and 2nd streets, , yerba buena perry, one perry street at greenwich avenue, , both in manhattan, new york.
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