Yet Another Bushwick Portal to Puebla
Taquería Los Portales’ hand-illustrated menus. — Photos by Scarlett Lindeman
I know you’ve heard it before. Talk to even the most congenial Californian expat about New York’s Mexican food situation and you’ll get a great big "BUT" tacked on to the end of their meals’ praise: "Yeah, these carne asada tacos are pretty good… BUT not as good as Cali."
Getting LA-equivalent tacos here is no small feat. You have to wade through plates of shredded cheese and limp strands of Iceburg lettuce before finding a red sauce that burns enough, a double-stack of toasty tortillas that bends just right, or carnitas to write home about.
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Los Portales gets pretty damn close. The restaurant is a true hole-in-the-wall, a closet of a space that looks like the first fort you cobbled together with found plywood and scrap nails. With seven miniscule stools that are perpetually packed, you’ll have to jostle for space to put in your order. But the al pastor spit is in the window, the hand-drawn menus have a certain flair, and the tacos do not disappoint.
One year ago Claudio Tomax opened Los Portales, the second branch of his original Astoria taquería of the same name. He chose Bushwick for its burgeoning Mexican community, many of whom are from Puebla, his home state. "I like the, how do you say… the competition," he said, noting the prevalence of other Poblano-style taquerias in the area. "I’m not saying that we do it better, but, just more tasty."
He sticks to regional recipes that reflect the tastes he grew up with. "I try to make it taste just how my mom makes," Tomax said; though his mom is still in Mexico, her culinary tips are just a phone call away. The suadero, grilled veal flank marinated in vinegar, lime, salt, and pepper, is one of the house favorites as is the al pastor, with slivers of pineapple by request. There are also tortas, tostadas, and burritos but everyone comes for the tacos. Authenticity dictates you order a plate of the fat-bulbed spring onions, served grilled and sweet, sprinkled with salt and piled like French fries.
The tortillas are perfectly tiny, allowing stomach space for a round robin of different meats. The suadero is supple, the al pastor flakes into delicate shavings of pork, and the chorizo has the animaly funk of good sausage. Minced onion and plucked cilantro are the only proper taco adornments, and the red sauce, deeply smoky with chipotle, will have you wincing in pleasure. Wash it all down with a Sangria, a non-alcoholic soda that tastes like Coke and grape soda mixed. Sip and chew and you can almost see the palm trees.
Wow, thanks for the heads up – so far, all my taco adventures on Myrtle Ave have ended in disappointment. I’ll have to check this place out on my next outing … because when the hunger strikes, nothing is more depressing than a bad taco.
This place sucks. I’m a Chicano which happened to reside in Brooklyn for a few years. I tried everything on Knickerbocker and Myrtle — WEAK!
People from Puebla will never make decent tacos. It’s a fact, it’s not their thing. If you want good Mexican food head to “De Mole” in Queens, that’s the only place worth checking out.
what is tinga?
I’m confused. Is the name of this joint Los Portales or Las Penas? Here’s a review of Las Penas on Yelp. http://www.yelp.com/biz/las-penas-restaurant-brooklyn Same address, different name. different phone #.
Only been a couple times but you guys might check out http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-el-fogon-brooklyn. I think I like it a little better the Peubla-restaurant-located-at-1503-Myrtle-Ave.