El Lechon de Negron

PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷

The Negron family has owned, operated, and drove a truck around New Jersey since 2012 offering the finest in porky Puerto Rican cuisine. If that has proved too hard to catch, a small strip mall in Union is now home to a fixed location and already seems like a hit.

There are only four tables, but the shop is doing a brisk business of mostly takeout orders, some of which are massive. It appears that every office in the area is sending their intern to pick up a bunch of food.

If you are eating in, walk to the back and place your order, take a seat, and fill up some small containers with your desired sauces. Most everyone around is speaking the very New York and New Jersey version of Puerto Rican Spanish, the best sign of the meal to come. Even though the place is constantly busy, everyone is very nice, and the music is excellent. The small restaurant is designed well, with clean modern lines and colors. The menu is small and focused, they do what they have very well.

The pernil ($9.25, below) is the signature here. The pork is all shoulder, pulled, and with a buttery taste. It is full of moisture and fat, and delicious. The two self-service hot sauces both partner well with the pork, but leave the BBQ and other sauces alone.

If you come here for pork, go all the way and come here for pork. Before some of the other options, why not order a plate of lechon disco fries ($8, below), a huge bowl of fries topped with the same pork, mozzarella, and pork gravy. There might be too much cheese on here, if that is possible, but the fries as you can imagine are quite enjoyable.

For a break from lechon, the empanadas are also a good option. At $3 each, grab one for an appetizer and one for a dessert. The chorizo y queso (below, left) had a bit of melty cheese mixed into the sausage, but was almost undetectable. Regardless, it was great. The guava y queso (right) made a wonderful sweet finish to the meal.

On the next visit, we would love to try the house mofongo, and caught a glimpse of a patacón sandwich (below) that resembles the the one famous in Venezuela.

After visiting the restaurant, finding the original truck at one of New Jersey's many food truck events seems even more appealing.

🇵🇷 🇵🇷 🇵🇷
UNION New Jersey

1331 Magie Avenue

Casa Adela

PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷

Walking into Casa Adela is either a reminder of a sunny island, or an homage to the lands that no longer are home, as if the owners have brought their lost land here to the East Village. The whole place is indeed reminiscent of a local kitchen of San Juan or its suburban beaches, as relatives, friends, and employees come in and out early in the day to say hi or clock in. The elderly owner, the namesake in fact, sits in front of a mixing bowl at the back table, the first person greeted by anyone paying their respects.

Casa Adela is a bit of an icon in the area, and probably will be until the world ends. Do a quick search and someone will either tell you to eat the pernil or the rotisserie chicken. They're both worth ordering. The pernil is my favorite, and despite many recommendations to grab the sandwich, I would instead ask for it as an order on its own, for many reasons.

An order of the pernil ($9.95, above and below), is a slow roasted pork shoulder, and getting a plate of it affords you the opportunity to also connect it with the delicious rice and beans. Eat a piece on its own and close your eyes to find every spice in the marinade, or dunk your meat in the restaurant's famous beans.

Skip the batidas ($5, below) here though, my batida de papaya was heavily sweetened and laced with cinnamon. One would be better served with a Coke or just water, to concentrate on the important part of a trip here: the food.

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷
EAST VILLAGE Manhattan

66 Avenue C

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World NYC is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World NYC is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!

Lechonera La Piraña

PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷

With a schedule only a local resident could appreciate, this little Bronx trailer is still worth trying to find on a nice weekend afternoon. It has a bit of a now you see me, now you don't attitude, and trips here should always have a plan B just in case.

The specialty of the house is of course lechón, a roasted suckling pig, and this place does it right. Order a portion and watch it get hacked with a machete right in front of your eyes. They serve it a few ways and have a small assortment of side dishes and pastelillos on offer.

Have you ever been in a food trailer before?

The lechón below was ordered with their ensalada de mariscos, a beautiful ceviche-like scoop added to the mix. Combined with the salty crispy skin and juicy pork ribs and belly, the dish has the ability to take your breath away. The rice (arroz con gandules) is just a filler and unfortunately the weakest link.

The alcapurria con carne ($2, below) is a pastry made from plantain mash and deep fried to a pleasant crisp. This version comes with well-seasoned ground beef in the middle.

Everything is made fresh here each day, the meat cooked off-site (very close) and brought over in limited amounts. Because of that, I would never expect it to be open too late in the day, so come early for lunch and bring an appetite.

🇵🇷 🇵🇷 🇵🇷
MOTT HAVEN Bronx

Wales Avenue & East 152nd Street

Bobby Fish (El Rey del Ceviche)

PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷

When Bobby is not around, no reason on Earth could make you want to spend any time in this desolate gas station parking lot corner on the other side of a high fence from an MTA repair yard, especially on a hot summer day. But when this well-worn maroon van does pull in, bringing its valuable load of ceviche and clams, you forgive all the unwelcoming aspects of the location and settle in with friendly people and good fish.

The self-titled king of both ceviche and clams opens the back of the van and gets ready for customers daily sometime around mid-afternoon. I ask the official opening time and am told 1pm, but I was here at that time and found the lot empty, only a 95% eaten container of ceviche as a clue to what might be here later.

Chairs and tables brought to the site are placed in the sun, but Bobby comes prepared with some tents as well and you can eat in the shade. Apparently this has been happening for the past 43 years in the area, and by the looks of the van, it has served for most of this time proudly.

I take a look at the selections in the ceviche cooler and order the "11 Powers" ceviche ($10, below), which seems an obvious choice against the "7 Powers" option.

When ordering, at least half of a lime is squeezed into the mix if you like, and I think I would choose about half of that next time as my concoction was extremely tart. The hot sauce offered makes for a nice tickle of the mouth, and all the seafood inside seems nice and fresh. It is definitely a decent way to cool off on a hot and humid day in the city.

A man and woman run the show here, and neither of them is Bobby from what I gather. But no matter, they are both exceedingly nice, and "ta buena?" me before remembering I am not someone who appears to speak Spanish.

Other customers go for a platter of clams, all opened fresh.

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷
INWOOD Manhattan

207th Street, just east of 10th Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

El Despertar Restaurant

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
PUERTO RICO

El Despertar is similar to many luncheonettes that serve mofongo or cuchifritos, bustling in the front and possibly a little intimidating to the uninitiated. After heading inside from the loud train overhead, no respite is immediately found and it is a bit difficult to get a word in at the front with everyone ordering and yelling. I suggest slipping by this cacophony and grabbing a stool at the bar, where one of the friendly ladies will eventually take your order.

The bar is the main seating for the place, which seems to be mainly takeout, but there is also a small area in the back that has one table and a jukebox that is almost as large as the room. Another room adjoins the space and seems to handle overflow if the place is busy.

I grabbed a barstool and ordered a plate of roast pernil ($4, above) and sides of rice and beans ($4, above). The rice is a necessary evil here, rounding out the plate but not very good. The beans are top notch. The pork is the shining star of Puerto Rican food in my opinion, and the juicy chunks here do not disappoint. A closer look reveals how fatty and well spiced the pieces are, some of which have the crispy skins. If you ask nicely when placing the order (and Spanish would help), they would probably give you more of these unbelievable skins than you might normally see.

As if that was not enough, I also wanted to try the tostones ($3, below) and was similarly pleased with this plate as well. Sometimes you can get subpar versions of this salty snack, but the pieces here are fried to perfection and they let you decide the salt quantity by putting a shaker down next to the plate when it arrives.

All in all, the experience here is better than a cuchifritos restaurant with more bustle and neon out front, so grab a $3 Presidente and watch as regulars come in and scarf their food down. Three shifts of them came in and ate while I was lingering on my dish and beer.

WOODSTOCK Bronx
849 Prospect Avenue

188 Bakery Cuchifritos

PUERTO RICO

Glowing cuchifritos signs are ubiquitous anywhere from Spanish Harlem north and all parts of the Bronx. Something of a New York City tradition, the places are open late and often times all night, serving every part of the pig and all types of fried items and juices.

One of the city's most famous and popular is 188 Bakery, in Fordham Heights. The shop has a little lottery booth in the front and seems like a small hub of the community, constantly in motion and hot from the air, the people, the heat lamps, and all the food preparation.

No matter what you order, ask for one of many of the juices ($1, small) on offer, a colorful back wall display that also has all the food on placards above. The prices here are very friendly, and it's hard for a person to get close to spending $10. Friendly smiles surround you at the bar, and the people that work here are also nice, despite having a lot of people to take care of.

If you want to get to the heart of what cuchifritos are and what is available, dive right in with an orden de cuchifritos ($6, below), a plate heaping with pig ear, pig tongue, pig stomach, and pig blood sausage. When you are asked whether you want gravy over it, you are advised to say yes.

For those less adventurous, try some of the many frituras here. Encompassing a whole spectrum of items that can be fried, they are usually tasty and easy to eat. The alcapurria ($1.50, below) is filled with ground beef and surrounded by a sculpted dough mash.

188 Bakery is the type of place where whether or not you enjoy the food, you will certainly enjoy the experience. It's one of those counters that stand up in New York as a destination, no matter what your point of origin. Give it a try!

FORDHAM HEIGHTS Bronx
158 East 188th Street

El Nuevo Bohio

PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷

You never feel more stuffed than after a visit to this Bronx pork fantasy land. A knowledge of Spanish would be helpful but is not necessary, as most things can be pointed to. Prepare for a bit of a wait, unbuckle that belt and enjoy!

All things pork are a safe bet, including the pernil ($9, below shown with tostones). The pork skins are always a good bet, perfectly crisp and full of all the best juices from marinating. Unnecessary but enjoyable is the small cup of garlic sauce that they give you to slather the pork with if desired.

You can also get the same meal with rice and beans (below), both lovely here.

There are rotating soups available on different days, and a $4 small bowl (below) is not that small. The jamón y salchicha is served with spaghetti noodles and corn, and is very satisfying.

**Not for someone with a weak stomach.. there are many men with large machetes hacking away at whole pigs.

🇵🇷 🇵🇷 🇵🇷
TREMONT Bronx

791 East Tremont Avenue