Half Impressed at Empellón

Empellón is one of the latest “can we get a reservation there?” places and lucky for me, the answer last night was yes.  I admit, I thought the inside of this West Village spot would be either funkier, quainter, or both.  I anticipated the décor to say “hey!  I’m so hip and different!” but the food did that kind of talking on its own.

We started with an order of guacamole.  The guac was good but unimpressive, non-spicy, and completely unadorned – for the purists.  What came with the guac, however, is what deserves a write-up on this blog.  The chips were actual fried tortillas.  If they weren’t made in-house, they are buying them from some old Mexican lady frying them in her own kitchen because these did not come out of any bag from Gristedes.  It also came with a side of two salsas – a spicy árbol chile and an almost sweet smoked cashew one that I could have poured over anything.  The queso fundidos and ceviches looked good, but we opted for a lighter heirloom tomato salad with jalapenos and squash blossom crema.  This was definitely more of a summer item, very light and refreshing.  I loved the dish but it didn’t quite fit the rest of the menu. 

For the main course, we decided to try three different tacos since that’s why you go to Empellón.  This restaurant has gotten crafty with tacos and I thrived on the variety.  I actually thought the sweetbread, beer braised tongue, and lamb versions looked particularly interesting, but we went a little safer this go round.  The tacos can be ordered in plates of two or three and we went with three orders of three so we could try as much as possible (note: the picture shows all three types on one plate but that was an arrangement we made ourselves – you can’t make up an order of different taco types without sharing like we did).  We tried the chicken, skirt steak with garlic sauce, and scallops with cauliflower, caper, and spicy raisin purée.  The other girls liked the chicken the best (it was incredibly tender and juicy), but my favorite was the scallop.  It was perfectly cooked and the purée was something special.  It was sweet, salty, and spicy all in one. 

For dessert we got the chocolate flan with cinnamon ice cream that had a thicker than normal texture with a deep flavor.  We also ordered the guanabana tart, which was basically the best key lime pie I’ve ever had.  A soft cookie crust, tart filling, raspberry sauce, and sweet meringue was a nice way to finish the meal.

The overall experience at Empellón was good, not great.  The service was prompt and friendly and there were some standout moments like the smoked cashew salsa and scallop taco.  However, I wrestle with the fact that an order of three of those small scallop tacos was a whopping $28.  The meal was fun and the food good, but that kind of food usually makes me want a cocktail, which only further drives up the price.   

Unfortunately, there seems to be a gap in the taco diversity spectrum.  You can either go to Dos Toros, which I feel is basically Chipotle (at those happy prices) or you can come here.  Who wants to open up a taco restaurant that’s got Empellón’s creativity at reasonable prices?  It doesn’t have to be bargain basement Taco Bell costs – let’s just find some middle ground.