"Food Hound: Tidbit Tortaria. Hey, Brimstone here... ready to give all of you salivating foodies at home all the details on another Food Hound Tidbit!!! Ahhh... New York City... the Big Apple... Quite possibly the most extreme melting pots in the world to find a unique variety of cuisines. Etan, Luscious and I found ourselves in between a plethora (oh yeah, I said plethora of different restaurants from Japanese to Cambodian (it's BraaoooOOoowwwnnn inside joke ; but could not take our eyes off this cool looking joint on the corner of University and 12th in Union Square, Tortaria. Tortaria is for all intent and purpose a Mexican esque sandwich shop and tequila bar that specializes in taquitos, tortas and tequila. This spot is like walking around in Mexico City; no joke the place is fantastic and eye catching (right down to the gold plated sink and girlie pics in El Bano! . <br/ <br/ Tortaria opened up about three months ago and it already seems like an old pro in terms of the delicious morsels that they create! We tried an array of different dishes that this diamond in the rough had to offer and we were NOT disappointed. We started with their version of one of my personal favorites, the Platanos which I would rather refer to as little tastes of Heaven. AMAZING spin on an old classic served with a chocolate piloncillo cascabel and tequila chile sauce. The sauce had a slight licorice flavor that complimented the natural sweetness of the plantains YUM! Another crazy twist on an old fav was their Corn Esquites, MUST HAVE!!! In a nutshell, it's a Mexican char grilled corn on the cob with Queso Fresco (kind of like a lighter, less stinky version of Bleu Cheese , unbelievable chipotele mayo and a sprinkle of chili powder. Etan insisted on adding a little lime to the corn; but it was killer even without it. <br/ <br/ We moved onto the Carne Asada Taquitos which are hand pressed white corn Masa tortillas with grilled skirt steak (another Brim favorite , frizzled onions strings, fresh cilantro and tomatillo salsa (all made on premises . One bite... Carne Asada FOR THE WIN... period. To this point, the best taquito I've ever had. Strong words I know; but its true! Maybe the stars were aligned on this specific day, I dunno it was mind blowing. Next we had a Pulled Pork Torta which is a Mexican griddle sandwich with tender and flavorful pulled pork. At Tortaria, they slow roast the pork and serve it on fresh semolina bread (baked locally by Parisi Bakery in Greenwich Village with spicy black beans melted in what they call Chihuahua cheese, avocado, Papalo leaves (cilantro , roasted chipotle peppers and pickled red onion. Delicious and VERY spicy. If you are not into food with a kick; steer clear of the pulled pork! We also tried their Milanesa de Pollo Torta which is a lightly panko crusted chicken cutlet with spicy black beans, melted Oaxaca cheese, avocado, pickled red onion and jalapeno, chipotle mayo and cilantro sprigs. Definitely a win bursting with flavor, the chicken was crunchy but not over fried and the chipotle mayo again is the bomb!<br/ <br/ Last but not least, we were treated to some freshly made to order Guacamole and hand made chips. The Guac Talk in Houndville was unanimous that it was very well made! Other highlights included the homemade Chipotle BBQ sauce at the table which had an awesome creamy cheese flavor home run right there and the different juices including Lime, Watermelon (complete with little chunks of melon and the hard to find Horchata. Considering we had meetings later on that evening, we didn't partake in the legendary Margaritas... but they looked intense! All in all, Tortaria was everything we could have expected and more... clean, friendly staff, kick a food a great find! I'm sure we'll be back soon."
