Saturday, July 13, 2013

Dos Caminos

I never used to be a huge fan of Mexican food, but throughout the years I have grown to love it.  And, something about summer always makes me crave it, so I have been dying to go to Dos Caminos for weeks.  Finally I got to go for dinner today, and it really hit the spot.  

I went to the one on Park Ave and 26th street because that is the closest one to me, but there are a few locations throughout NYC to choose from.  If you check in on Yelp when you get there, you get a free prickly pear shot.  The prickly pear is one of their specialty frozen margaritas, and the shot was perfect because my sister was able to taste it before committing to the whole drink.  It had a nice fruity sweetness to it, but was also very strong, and she ended up ordering the margarita.  

When the waiter brought over our menus, he promptly asked if we would like some guacamole for the table.  It would really be a crime to go to Dos Caminos and not get their guacamole, so we got a small order (mild, because neither my sister nor I are good with spice).  Before the guacamole comes to the table, you get a big bowl of chips and three different salsas with various spice degrees.  I tried the mild one because I new I could not handle anything more spicy, and it was very good.  But, I didn't want to eat too many chips because I wanted to save them for the guacamole, so I held out until the guac came to the table.
The picture shows the bowl of guacamole after I had taken some out, so it comes with more than is shown.  Even though it is on the pricey side, it is a very generous portion for two people.  I generally don't like guacamole, but theirs is amazing because it is very fresh and creamy.  It pairs perfectly with their homemade chips, and I could easily finish the whole bowl and call it a meal.  But, I had to stop myself since the other menu items are delicious as well.

The menu is very large and they have a bunch of different classic options in addition to more unique things.  I was intrigued by their plantain empanadas, which is in the bocaditos (starters) section of the menu.  Since I didn't want to fully commit to getting an order of these and wanted to try some other bocaditos, I got the Bocadito Trio.  The trio came with two plantain empanadas, two chicken taquitos (which is pulled chicken and sweet potato in a crispy corn tortilla), and two mexican city street quesadillas (corn masa turnovers stuffed with chicken, almonds, and salsa).  While the tacos and some of the entrees sounded delicious to me, this seemed like a good way to be able to taste a few of their offerings.  My sister chose to get the Dos Enchiladas, which is roasted chicken in corn tortillas with some cheese and a mole sauce and a salsa verde sauce.  

The top photo is the Bocadito Trio and the bottom is the Dos Enchiladas.  In the Bocadito Trio, the one on the left is the Mexican City Street Quesadilla, the middle is the Plantain Empanadas, and the right is the Chicken Taquitos.  All of them were delicious, but the Chicken Taquitos were my absolute favorite.  The combination of the chicken and the sweet potatoes, with the crispy corn shell was just great.  I really liked the Mexican City Street Quesadilla as well, so I would recommend the two of those.  Even though I was most looking forward to the plantain empanadas, those were my least favorite.  They were too sweet and had a strange flavor to them, so I would not order those again.  My sister loved her enchiladas, and I tried a bite so can confirm that they were delicious.  She liked the enchilada in the tomatillo verde sauce the best, but the other sauce was really good as well.  

When we were done, we were both very full but had to look at the dessert menu.  We chose to order the Salted Caramel Tres Leches Cake, which has layers of caramel sauce, caramel cake, vanilla pudding, caramel crunch, and is topped with fresh strawberries.  
I dont know if it was the strange lighting or my phone was just acting up, but I was not able to get a decent shot of the cake.  So, try not to let the blurriness and low-resolution of the photo above fool you--this cake was absolutely AMAZING.  The cake was sitting in a pool of sweet vanilla sauce, and all of the layers of the cake were outstanding.  The thick caramel was super sweet and delicious, and went really well with the vanilla cake and the vanilla pudding.  Each layer was better than the next, and my sister and I finished this in under two minutes.  

I highly recommend coming to Dos Caminos for some great mexican food and a great experience.  It is a very popular restaurant in the city and gets very crowded late on the weekends because they have great drinks and great food.  If you come here, you must get the guacamole to start, and I highly recommend the Chicken Taquitos and the Dos Enchiladas.  And, if you are a sweets person, you have to get the Caramel Tres Leches Cake.  Even if you are full, just order it.  After you take your first bite, that full feeling will magically disappear and you will find yourself shoveling down bite after bite of cake. 


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