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| Seeing Double:Creative quesadillas at Mexican Sandwich Company. (Photo by Kenneth Chen) |
Café Mexicano
671 Union Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-623-6754
Two-dollar tamales and superior café con leche
are reason enough to patronize this seven-seat sliver
of a Park Slope café, but happily for local fans
of the cheap, delicious Mexican snacks called
antojitos, the dexterous kitchen doesn’t
stop there. Zesty avocado salad ($4.25) is enlivened
with lime juice and cilantro. Pressed sandwiches
($5.75 to $6.50) are stuffed with savory fillings like
chicken mole and roast-pork guajillo. Corn masa is put
to every conceivable use—most of them involving
sour cream, Oaxacan cheese, black beans, and tangy
tomatillo salsa. Thirst-quenchers like lime lemonade
and tamarind water are made in-house, as is
cinnamon-spiced Mexican hot chocolate, served in rough
earthenware mugs.
Itzocan Café
438 East 9th Street
212-677-5856
Tex-Mex you’ve heard of, but French-Mex?
That’s the best way to describe the offbeat
fusion perpetrated at this unexpectedly gourmet
hole-in-the wall. The Puebla-born chefs (who happen to
be brothers) picked up a few tricks working at French
bistros around town, which accounts for the asparagus
“a la plancha” with mango and Oaxaca
cheese in passion-fruit vinaigrette ($6), the inspired
combination of huitlacoche and truffle oil in the
signature soufflé cakes ($6), and specials like
roast leg of lamb stuffed with feta and spinach in
merlot-pasilla jus ($14.50). For dessert? Blue-corn
crêpes, of course.
Mexican Sandwich Company
322 Fifth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-369-2058
Technically a misnomer, the name of this high-concept
cantina refers not to the traditional Mexican torta
but rather to creative, multicultural takes on
double-decker quesadillas. We’re partial to wild
plum and brie with double-smoked bacon, caramelized
red onion, and lavender-chili honey ($8), and
barbecued duck confit with Cheddar, spicy mango salsa,
and blood-orange-chili purée ($9). But
that’s just us. If you prefer, you can keep it
simple by customizing your own with add-on delicacies
like pickled jalapeños, chorizo, and chipotle
shrimp.
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