New York: Rosa Mexicano

One of my friend's favorite places in New York is Rosa Mexicano. I don't usually like to pay too much for Mexican food (there's plenty of good stuff available for cheap), but I can make an exception for Rosa Mexicano:

We were only able to get reservations for 4 at 9:45pm.

I've been to two Rosa Mexicano locations in New York and both have this falling man wall:

I don't get it. But I don't question it.

What's great about Rosa Mexicano are the guacamole carts. If you order the guacamole en molcajete, the cart will come by and the guacamole man will make it fresh at your table:

The chunks of avocado are what make this guacamole awesome. There really should be more of it though.

My sister and I decided to split an entrée. Because we were afraid that it wouldn't be enough, we also ordered an appetizer:

The zarape de pollo is essentially a corn tortilla pie with smoked chicken, tomato, and chipotle. When the server found out that my sister and I are a little weak against spicy things, he offered to put the yellow pepper habanero sauce on the side:

Not impressed by the smoked chicken tortilla pie at all. And it was TINY for $10.

Entrées come with refried black beans for the table:

And also house rice:

I put both in my tacos.

All of us wanted carne asada tacos, so there were 3 orders for the table:



The carne asada is marinated in guajillo and pasilla chiles, garlic, black pepper, and cumin. It is served in a mini-cast iron skillet over a bed of melted chihuahua cheese along with sides of red bean chorizo chili, corn esquitas (my favorite!!), and chile de arbol salsa.

I didn't notice that my sister and I got extra steak until one of my friends pointed it out. How sweet is that?! And usually restaurants are tentative about making steak as rare as we want it to be, but Rosa Mexicano makes it right:

Sooooooo gooooood.

Another perk is that the corn tortillas are never-ending:

Thanks to our bonus slices of steak, my sister and I really didn't need the appetizer. I was more than stuffed by the end of the meal.

I love Rosa Mexicano. The food is great and the service is beyond fantastic (our water glasses were never more than half empty)...but it's just so expensive (especially for the serving size). I think I'll stick with my Mexican street food and save Rosa Mexicano for really special occasions.

Rosa Mexicano

61 Columbus Ave

New York, NY 10023

(212) 977-7700

http://www.rosamexicano.com/