Jamburrito, You ARE the Jam!

RESTAURANT:  Mexicue
DATE: Dec. 16th, 2014
LOCATION: 1440 Broadway, NY, NY 10036 (40th Street between Broadway & 6th Ave.)

Happy New Year, Happy 2015!!  I can't wait to see what eats lie ahead this year.  But since it's only the second day of the new year, this post will be about the most recent place I ate out at and really just can't wait to go back to. Where?  To Mexicue!  Esther and I had made plans to meet up for dinner a few weeks ago, before the holidays got really crazed.  I've been curious for awhile about a few places, like Mexicue and Tres Carnes.  Tres Carnes is closer to where I work so I was leaning towards there at first, but Esther had already been to Mexicue and was aching to go back.  I could taste now why she was so antsy to revisit Mexicue instead of trying something new.

 We went to the Times Square location and it was such a cute and charming spot on the outskirts of tourist central.  It has such a homey and clean vibe with its rustic decor of high and low wooden tables and hooped Edison bulb chandeliers.  We started off with the chips and jalapeño guacamole.  The guac was not spicy even by a little bit, but was still a fair and decent guac.  It's not a must-have guac like Dos Caminos, but the saving grace that really makes this starter so good are actually the handmade tortilla chips.  Usually tortilla chips are merely an edible tool to scoop down loads of delicious, creamy, rich avocado.  At Mexicue though, it was quite the contrary.  The guacamole was just a pretext to the warm, toasty and perfectly salted chips.  Something about these tortilla chips keeps your hands digging back for more, and scrapping off the dip bowl gave reason just for that.

When I perused the menu online beforehand, I was very excited at the sound of the White Peach Palmero.  Unfortunately, they were out of the White Peach Palmero and also the Passion Fruit Palmero.  The friendly waiter told me they had a Pear Palmero, which seemed a bit of a let-down (whomp whomp) after both of those flavors weren't available.  But we each ordered this pear limeade iced tea mix anyways.  While it did taste good, I forgot that this wasn't an alcoholic drink (oops).  I don't mind an innocuous drink anyways, but Esther had noticed the drink tasted purely like a limeade rather than a palmero.  It was a refreshing drink but be forewarned that there is no fresh iced tea taste.

The only mistake I made for our meal at Mexicue was that I unwittingly had quite a filling lunch earlier that day, so I wasn't even hungry one bit by the time we came here.  But foodie trooper I was, I still went for the good-type-of-fat-for-you guacamole, chowed down the chips, drank a probably high in sugar drink, and still managed a full entree.  I was tempted to order just a salad but I wanted to give my first taste here a good try.  As we sat around waiting for our burritos, I noticed the salads orders at other tables, and even these dishes looked salivating-ly good and plentiful of ingredients.  So I was really excited for my Jamburrito order - chicken & chorizo Mexican jambalaya, slow simmered black beans, pico de gallo, cotija cheese, creamy chipotle sauce.  Usually I am no fans of beans and almost asked the waiter if they could make my burrito without the beans... but I decided to give it the old college try and give this burrito some justice.

Ohhh Jaaamburritooo... how I love thee, like whoa!  Utterly foodgasmic!  Glorious food, I can still taste it as I've been writing this blog.  This burrito was packed with juicy, simmering flavors that just coalesced so well together in harmony.  When our entrees came to the table, I cut the burrito in half so I could delve right into the meat of it.  Before I could even take my first bite, essences of the burrito were spilling out.  Not one to waste a morsel of food, I quickly picked these fallen pieces off my plate and popped it in my mouth without thought, thereby getting the first Jamburrito sample then.  Even with only that first nibble, my taste buds were in sheer delight, as if they were playing a beautiful symphony.  Considering how full my stomach still was from my earlier meal that day, I whole-heartedly enjoyed my Mexicue meal.  I finished the entire burrito, which was a nice, hefty portion.

I also ordered a take-out order to bring back to the hubster, and got him the jamburrito with a side of spicy slaw.  While he too liked the jamburrito, it lost some of its euphoric powers due to the delayed delivery via subway ride home.  The spicy slaw definitely was not worth the trip.  This wouldn't satisfy a slaw eater whether you're a fan of light or heavy mayo cole slaws.  I only tried one forkful, but this cole slaw was neither moist enough nor spicy.

Aside from the disappointing slaw, I can't wait to go back and try more dishes here!

Bottom Line: Taste the food while dining at the restaurant, do not get the take-out option as your first Mexicue experience.  If you're in the mood for yummy tortilla chips, then order the chips & guac!  Jamburrito was heavenly, beans and all.  Don't bother with the spicy slaw.

Happy Noshing, Jeanne