New Obsessions: Yucca Fries and Matzo Ball Soup

One of my close friends from college visited over memorial day weekend and we went on a serious food tour of Manhattan. We had lots of amazing meals but I just had to share two things I had somehow never tried before and I now know how much I've been missing out. Yucca fries and Matzo ball soup (don't worry- not at the same time!). Thank goodness Alison had a craving for Matzo ball soup one night after...a few drinks...and it was a welcome change to my typical weekend late night gorge on french fries. We went to a 24 hour diner on the way home and I fell in love with this soup right away- it's as simple as warm chicken broth with two large round dumpling-like pieces of perfection resting in the center of a shallow bowl, only partially emerged in the broth. It is divine. Unfortunately there is no picture because we split one bowl and couldn't stop in time to photo it.

And then my second discovery, thanks to Alison again, is yucca fries! Which, for the record, are pronounced you-kah not yuck-ah (whoops). For some reason whenever I order Mexican I never crave fries but boy I missed out. These are starchy, fried perfection. The first time we ordered them was at Taqueria Cascabel on the Upper East Side. They have a great happy hour with a bunch of little $4 tapas- radishes with fresh herbs and a light vinaigrette, boiled/toasted large corn kernels (I don't know exactly how they make these but they're wonderful), yucca fries, etc. They also happen to have fantastic $6 watermelon basil margaritas, though I'm not a fan of their other three variations.

Bottom right you'll see the Watermelon Basil Margarita- fresh watermelon pulp and muddled basil...so tasty!

However, La Esquina, located on Kenmare between Lafayette and Cleveland, take the prize for 'best in show' yucca fries. They were very thick cut with rough edges as if they had been boiled and torn apart in large pieces before being fried, and they had a seasoning that just set them apart from anything else. They looked like they had paprika on them and tasted almost tangy as though they had some sort of lime seasoning. They were served with a creamy yogurt/sour cream type sauce.

See the perfect Yucca Fries in the center of the table- so good!

We also had very fresh grilled fish tacos and amazing grilled corn at La Esquina. Almost more notable is the fact that we luckily happened across this little gem which happens to be basically three restaurants rolled into one. We were stopped in our tracks seeing people eating at small two-seater metal tables outside of a little taco stand with a mini deli stand inside- the food smelled great. We walked inside the very, very casual shop and there was a way over-dressed man in a black suite with a radio 'guarding' an employees only door. Turns out they have somewhat of a speak-easy downstairs dining room. We ended up turning the corner and going into the second public entrance (around the corner from the taco shop, with essentially the same menu but higher prices) and got a table inside a cute, tiny dinning area. The decorations were great with a large floor to ceiling bookshelf lining the back wall. Such a unique set up for a restaurant that I had to share!

Roasted corn with cojita cheese, spices, cabbage and lime