El Rey Del Sabor

For me, the El Rey Del Sabor Truck has been elusive. A friend had discovered the truck during Thanksgiving day visit to Manhattan. Filled with stories about these great tacos he randomly had during turkey day around the midtown Bloomingdale's, I searched high and low for this cart that I had never seen. I would walk around the exterior of the mega clothing store searching for a taco truck. It was a weekend. No cart. I would make a detour post-run around Central Park. Too late in the day. No cart. I would go try to visit pre-run. Still too late. No cart.

I was starting to think that the truck didn't exist. Until my friend moved to the city and his apartment happened to be a block away. Then he did his research. It pretty much catered only to the lunch crowd closing at 4:30 and open only on weekdays. I was about to give up all hope in every trying the tacos there until I overheard that there were other locations.

On a whim, I checked the trustworthy Midtown Lunch
and found that they had just opened up in my work neighborhood (43rd & 6th). Not only that, but there was a fight the day before! I had decided on a lunch place for the day.

First off, I have to say that the guys in the truck were awesome. They had had a slow start to the day after having slept in the truck overnight because of the ruckus from the day before. Plus, their groceries for the day didn't arrive until 10:30 as lines started form. They seemed to be tired but making the best of it and having a blast.


Tacos (left to right): chorizo, pollo, carnitas, al pastor.

The taco filling had some pretty good flavor. The pork and chicken from the Red Hook taco truck was better, but the beef wins here. The green and red sauce were nice and gave the tacos a nice medium kick. The traditional double corn tortillas are also nicely grilled. At $2.50 a taco, a lunch consisting of just tacos can get pretty expensive. But as a quick bite, I would take these over a hotdog any day.


Chicken Tamales

These tamales were a delight. I've been jonesing for some tamales for a week or so. So when I saw these on the menu, I had to have one. They did not disappoint. The masa was light and had some very nice flavors. The chicken filling was moist and had a nice kick. I actually had it after my tacos and immediately wished I had gotten another. At $1.50 it was definitely worth it. The only thing that the tamale could have used was some mole. Next time I might have to get my tamale with some enchiladas which come with mole.

Red Hook Street Vendors

There's been a lot of drama in the past year surrounding the street vendors in Red Hook, but with all the dust seemingly settled, I was able to make the trek out to the soccer fields, via the free IKEA shuttle and enjoy some tacos.

Two of my friends had just gotten back from a trip down through central Mexico, lounging and relaxing. It seemed the thing they missed the most from their trip was a good Mexican taco. It seemed as if Red Hook would be the next best thing to flying back south of the border.



I had 3 tacos (left to right: Barbacoa, Chicharrón, Al Pastor) from the southern most taco truck.

My favorite was definitely the Al Pastor. There was such an intensity of flavors. A perfect blend of sweetness, acidity, and spice. The meat was tender. I wish I had room for more.

The Barbacoa and Chicharrón were mediocre, probably more because of the contrast to the Al Pastor. The Barbacoa was nice because of the perfect subtlety of the goat meat, but the flavors seemed so mellow and passive comparatively. The Chicharrón was odd in a taco and much better by itself. I could have done with a piece just as a side.



The fish & shrimp ceviche was amazing. There was a chewy texture to the cubes of fish that I could not get enough of. It was a great dish with bold flavors and addicted textures.

The vendors in Red Hook make cheap and delicious food but I'm still on the fence on whether its worth the trip. Even with the free IKEA making it more convenient to get to, its still ends up being a bit of a hike. The ferry doesn't leave as frequently as one might like with more than 40 minutes between each departure. Next time I go, it might have to be a larger part of my day by taking advantage of the nice parks surrounding the vendors and picking up supplies from the giant Swedish chain that provides the transportation.