12.28.08
Review of Crema, Sunday October 2008
111 W.17th St. & 6th Ave., 212-691-4477
Great for: converting people who hate Mexican food, lots of cocktails, celebrations
I generally love or hate foods (mostly for textural reasons). I’m good about trying them again periodically, though. Mexican is probably the only cuisine I don’t like across the board, since I’m decidedly not a fan of plain rice, beans, avocados or raw tomatoes. I find the spices boring and I try to avoid cheese, so that kind of knocks out most options. However, I heard from a few people that Crema was the best Mexican food in the city, so my friend D and I checked it out. She’s from Cali so I figured she could tell me how good it really was.
I am so glad we came. Not only did I love it, D said it stacked up pretty well against California. My four taquitos de chilorio, slow-cooked pork mini tacos with chile ancho, oregano and jalapeño vinegar, chipotle-cilantro drizzle and cream, were awesome. The spice and the cream is a great combination.
My main of flautas (crispy corn tortillas) with shredded chicken, cheese, corn and caramelized onions and three salsas was amazing. The tomatillo-avocado, chili aioli paste and velvety pinto bean salsas were all creamy and yummy though the chili aioli was my favorite. I found myself actually liking chicken, as I so rarely do, and by extension liking Mexican for the first time. D’s adobo-marinated grilled skirt steak tacos with cowboy beans and corn tortillas was fantastic. The juicy meat was very good and I even liked the beans with chorizo on top and chicken mixed in.
Although I’m sure it would have been wonderful, I’m glad I didn’t order a side because it left just enough room for dessert. We shared the pastel de tres leches, a sponge cake soaked in three milks and mango syrup with dulce de leche ice cream. It was mind-blowing. The spongy moist goodness of the little cake looked like cottage cheese and tasted like heaven. I am not kidding, if you have a sweet tooth you need to go devour this immediately. I even liked the coconut caramel topping though I usually despise coconut in any form.
I was sticking with the not-drinking thing (it’s kind of hard, what do you do socially in NYC after 10pm if you don’t drink?) so D dutifully had a cocktail in my stead. The Colada Monterrey, a mixture of light and dark rums, coconut syrup and pineapple juice with a cinnamon-chile rim was good. There might have been too much spice on the rim, but it showed a deft mixologist behind the bar. They have an extensive cocktail list and when I start drinking again I intend to sample much of it.
I found our service leisurely, though we took quite a while to order so that was possibly partly our fault. It’s a long, colorful dining room that invites dallying and celebration. I mean I really didn’t have anything to celebrate except cleaning up at the Escada sample sale earlier ($40 pants and $60 heels – yes, I believe I will, thank you), but the excellence of the food certainly made me feel like I was.
Rating; 8.5 / 10
Our cost: $105 (1 app, 2 mains, 1 cocktail, 1 dessert)
Noise level: quiet on Sunday but it probably gets noisy
Chance of walking in: decent.
