New Mexico Place, East Williamsburg Brooklyn- What you know about that?

Alright, so who thinks they know what authentic Mexican food is? Yeah, you....you think because you're from El Paso, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona or So Cal that means you REALLY know what authentic Mexican food is supposed to be??? Well maybe you do, and that's all good and well; however, I have a theory that can explain the conflicting opinions of what "authentic" Mexican food should be, and with some evidence based practice to back it up...so hear me out:

Being from Memphis, where a sporadic influx of Mexican immigrants took place in the mid to late 90's (and continues to burgeon today), my outlook on what real Mexican cuisine is supposed to be was severely skewed growing up. For those of you Memphians, I think you'll agree that until the late 90's the best Mexican we could find until then was Pancho's or El Porton. For those of you non-Memphians, both of the said establishments are trash and serve Americanized Mexican food comparable to that of TGI Fridays or Applebees ('Pancho's Cheese Dip' is exempt from the "trash" remark, however it is without question a straight up American yellow cheese dip).

At any rate, once establishments like La Guadalupana and various other taquerias started to emerge on Summer Avenue between Graham and Mendenhall (aka Little Mexico), my knowledge of a more authentic Mexican cuisine expanded. Throw in two trips to Austin, TX loaded with multiple visits to some of the local hot spots there and I thought for sure I knew what authentic Mexican food is supposed to be.

After I moved back home from college, I found this incredible spot called El Torito (RIP) in the little Mexico area- Best Burritos, tortas, tacos, quesadillas I had ever had...bar none. Later on, I found this place called Las Tortugas out in the suburbs which served dishes that certainly had similarities, but were extraordinarily different than what I had ever had. I talked with the chef and owner and he explained that he was from Mexico City, where the cuisine there has been heavily influenced by the French ever since they occupied it...and he argued that what I was getting at my favorite spot isn't authentic...personally I think the guy was full of shit (re: the authenticity of El Torito) and made a failed attempt at trying to make me a loyal customer who would only eat at his restaurant.

So where am I going with this? Here's the theory=

Mexico a is a really really big country....and there are many many regions within it where there are different spins on many popular Mexican dishes. So in theory, the reason why so many people think they know what "real" Mexican food is, is because they actually have been getting regionally authentic Mexican food from immigrants (or second generation family, etc) of different areas within Mexico. So Cal-Mex, Tex-Mex, and Mex-Mex might all have their similarities and subtle differences, but they all possess authentic qualities and each with a unique regional (or familial) twist.

- Do y'all agree? I'll accept any arguments. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not; but it seems logical to me.

Enough of my banter...let's move on to what I consider to be legitimately good Mexican food in New York City !

This is one of three of my favorite Mexican joints in New York and it's called New Mexico Place. It's located two blocks down from me on Graham Avenue in East Williamsburg...

On this particular occasion I was accompanied by friend and roommate Aaron, who certainly knows and appreciates good food (and music too for that matter). We decided to start with an order of their nachos (which I don't think are truly authentic, but who cares) that are made with freshly quartered and fried corn tortillas. A mound of the meat of choice (or shrimp) is placed atop the pile of home-fried tortilla chips and then drizzled in a queso-blanco sauce....not a dip, not a melted cheese, but a truly unique sauce that I have never had until I ate here. This time we went for cecina as our choice topping...cecina is a chopped "salty beef" and is super frickin' good in my opinion.

The heaping mound of guacamole and bowl of salsa are both ridiculously fresh and succulent.

The next item I ordered was a barbacoa taco. Now they did something this time that I've never experienced them do before....they put the queso sauce, lettuce, and tomatoes on the taco. Usually they ONLY put onion and cilantro on their tacos (maybe it's because I'm obviously American so I have to like cheese and lettuce), however I'm not gonna lie, this taco was the bomb bump that. The barbecued goat had a crispy bark texture evenly mixed in with the soft pulled meat (similar to that of a nicely done smoked pork shoulder).

In the words of my friend Mike Brady "It was most excellent".

For Aaron's main course he chose a carnitas (seasoned pork) burrito. Honestly, I never gave a flippin' hoot about burritos until I started living with the A. He totally got me hooked... and if you find a spot that does up a burrito right like NMP, then you've got it made in the shade. The fresh flour tortilla is filled with superbly seasoned rice and beans ; and I'm not a big fan of rice and beans either, but they do it up right. They also doused the burrito in that special queso sauce and placed a well portioned side of that freshly made guacamole right next to it.

Burrito time.

Finally, for my main dish I wanted to go somewhat lite so I ordered a bistec milanesa torta (breaded beef sandwich). Tortas seem to be fairly generic and consistent at all of the Mexican establishments I've checked out recently. The tortas I've been getting typically consist of a freshly baked and halved roll with choice of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, mayonnaise, and sometimes (but not in this case) queso blanco. I would also like to mention that there's a spot by my work in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn that puts sauteed carrots and onions on their tortas (supplement to my theory of regional/familial twists), which makes for a tasty addition. Regardless, this torta was freaking phenomenal and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Feed me.

Does the fact that almost all of our orders were covered in a queso blanco sauce mean that this place is un-authentic? I don't know, I've never been to Mexico so I couldn't tell you if it is does or doesn't define the essence of true Mexican cuisine. But what I do know is that NMP is damn good!!! So if you're in the area, go there, you definitely will not be disappointed; and if you are, your next meal is my treat.

- Boatner