In the music biz, we believe that good music will eventually prevail. If you keep putting out great records, your time in the spotlight will come. Take long time Infatuation favorite Phoenix for example. They spent the better part of the last decade flying under the mainstream radar, releasing perfect indie-pop albums that anyone who actually paid attention to, fell in love with. They finally got what’s been coming to them this past year in the form of a breakout single, “1901” and the Grammy for “Best Alternative Album.” The same philosophy can be applied in the kitchen. When you’re consistently cookin’ up the chronic, you can’t hide for long. Hell, even if you’re illegally preparing the perfect lobster roll and selling them through your mail slot in Brooklyn, someone in this town will get wind of it.
We’ve long considered Yerba Buena home to one of the more criminally underrated menus around. It was one of the first rave reviews we ever posted on this site, and for good reason. The food is tremendous. Famous for their cocktails, YB doesn’t receive the kind of culinary critical love it damn well deserves. Possibly because the original East Village location is slightly out of place – a more upscale, expensive restaurant in an area that caters to the exact opposite. While Yerba Buena EV will remain their less well known flagship, it’s their new West Village spot, Yerba Buena Perry, that’s set to catch fire like Bluth’s Frozen Banana Stand and blow their cover.
A combination of everything that’s right about Latin American food, Perry’s menu reads like an Infatuation wet dream. Pork belly arepas, chorizo, fish tacos, ceviches, short ribs and a new wrinkle for Yerba Buena, dry aged steaks served with four different dipping sauces. It all tastes as good as it sounds too. Add ridiculous cocktails, tables full of girls, excellent service and a prime location into the mix, and we’ve got ourselves a brand new go-to spot. Don’t sleep, this needs to be your next destination for a Friday/Saturday Drinks & Dinner, Girl’s Night Out or Scoping Hot Girls/Guys adventure. Yerba Buena Perry for dinner, followed by drinks at Highlands, black-out on the sidewalk, and stumble into Joseph Leonard for breakfast the next morning. That’s the move.
Food Rundown:
Guacamole
With huge chunks of avocado mixed with red onion, chipotle and fresco, this dip is definitely different. It tasted like a combination of guac and salsa. We dig.
Arepas
Everyone’s favorite Venezuelan sandwich snack. Served as a pair, these plump mini pitas come stuffed with coffee glazed pork belly and cabbage slaw. A must order.
Chicharron De Calamar
Blue corn meal crusted calamari with sweet plantains in a tamarind vinaigrette that tasted like a light balsamic. The corn meal crust is fried and after being combined with the plantains, comes out tasting super sweet and crunchy, almost like a dessert. Truly unique and different from any other calamari we’ve ever eaten.
Tacos De Pescado
If the fish tacos weren’t on the Perry St. menu, we would have had issues. Being one of my personal favorites, I happily wolfed down two of these baja style tilapia tacos with chipotle-mango slaw. They’re so good, I don’t care that I’m paying $13 for two.
Grilled Black Cod
With so many good options, deciding which entrees to order was tough. We had to get one fish and the black cod got the call over the cachaca shrimp. Cooked with fennel, yerba mate consommé and dill chimichurri, this small-ish piece of fish was spicy and delicious. An excellent way to balance a table filled with meat.
16oz Dry Aged Rib Eye
The quality of the steaks blew us away. For $35, this is a damn good cut of meat. The rib eye was big, juicy and sweating with fatty flavor. The steaks come served on their own wood cutting board, with four different sauces (chimichurri, horseradish, aji panca and one other I forget), making each bite a new adventure. Our favorite being the horseradish, that’s some good shit.
Costilla
Short Rib special? You know we’re all over that. Especially at a Latin spot, their short rib is down, dirty and delicious. As an interesting twist, it came with lo mein that was topped with poached egg.
12oz New York Strip
Similar to the rib eye, the strip came out on its own wood cutting board with the full compliment of sauces. Less fatty than the rib eye, but a few dollars cheaper and equally as awesome.
Watermelon French Fries
That’s right, fried watermelon. Very different. Very cool. By the end of the night I was dunking watermelon fries in my drink and eating them.
Spinach
Is that pop rocks in our spinach? Nope, those are dried figs bringing this simple green to life.
Dulce De Leche Sundae
We don’t do dessert much, but we have a hard time resisting dulce de leche. The Panqueque was great (dulce de leche crepe, spiced pumpkin seeds, pistachio ice cream), but it was the sundae that absolutely stole the show. Two scoops of dulce de leche ice cream with bananas, candied pecans and dulce de leche drizzled on top. Amazing.
