Restaurant Review: Empanada Mama

Empanada Mama

http://www.empmamanyc.com

763 9th Avenue
(btwn 51st and 52nd Street)
New York City, NY 11019


It was a cold, blustery New York City afternoon when my wife and I exited the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier and braved it several blocks in the freezing rain and snow in search of warm city grub. We ended up taking refuge here, at this little Latin restaurant on the lower East Side. 

Empanada Mama greeted us with a billowing pillow of 90F air as we stepped inside from the cold. The restaurant is long and skinny - maybe just two arm-lengths wide - as are many eateries in this part of town.

We were immediately attended to by a sweet young hostess and seated by the window. This turned out to be a problem we soon realized as each entering or exiting guest left us clutching for our jackets.

We were offered a warm bowl of lightly salted crispy plantain chips and a bowl of creamy guacamole. I've always liked chips made from starches other than the old trusty hackneyed tuber. I've had plantain chips at a seaside bar in the Caribbean and these at Empanada Mama were a close second. The mild Earthy sweetness was well balanced by a liberal smattering of sea salt and the texture was firm and coarse, not soggy or burned. Props to the 3rd shift that probably got stuck making 20 batches of these. My wife sometimes allays my hunger pangs with a bowl of sweet-potato chips, look for the recipe in a subsequent post.

I could have gone for a warm drink but I decided to stay in character and we got ourselves some sangria. Sangria, in my opinion, is the fried chicken of drinks. As far as fried chicken goes I'm sure there are zealots from Louisiana and Texas who would wield shotguns to uphold the sacred honor of their cousin's uncle's recipe, but as far as I am concerned, its fried chicken. And this, was sangria. 

It took a while to get the waiter's attention; can't say the service was warm and friendly but once the bees were stirred they were prompt and courteous. We ordered an assortment of empanadas starting with the spicy chicken, cuban, chicken teriyaki and spinach & cheese (2-3 of each, because we're oinkers like that).

It's almost not worth reviewing the others - the spicy chicken (pictured below) was in the lead from arrival till the last flaky crust was scraped off the plate. The dough was both crisp and flaky on top and moist inside. The chicken was perfectly seasoned, clearly stewed for hours, and well balanced in flavor. I was fearing before the arrival of said empanada that some grinch in the back may have taken it upon himself to sneak peas into the mix by slipping them into the chicken filling as is often done with pot pies. This would have infiltrated the sweet and peppery chicken with sloppy, pasty globules of drab, chalky pea. But no! No peas. (I understand this may seem odd to some of you, but peas are the creation of the devil on a particularly hemorrhoidal day and should be shunned at all costs.)

The other empanadas were good I'm sure, but like everything in life that is second place, were soon forgotten. Arriving hot and steaming, these empanadas were the perfect mid-day snack. I would recommend Empanada Mama.