Puebla la Cucina Mexicana???

I left the boards and made human dialogue with one of the servers from Puebla on her day off.

She described that Friday night as riding a burning plane. Then Saturday as landing it. If anything could go wrong, it did all at once on Friday trickling into Saturday. It's good to see that she still has a sense of humor after all that.

So in two days after the weekend the staff has now modified the menu, hired a new chef, but are still working things out. That's a sign that these people care about what they do and what they present and not a sign that you are being fleeced of your time and money.

With or without these postings R&D has been implemented. It's a small outfit so I imagine that waiting will be inherent to it's plan. Looks like we'll have to wait and see.

Just curious, when you discuss Joyce and Beast as having a mediocre product, what exactly do you mean?

E.g. - low-quality ingredients? Poor execution? No vision? Something else?

Idlewild wrote: [quote=Alecorock]I think the common thread of most of their restaurants/bars (Le Gamin, Puebla Cocina, Soda, haven't been to Noona) is poor service. Whether that's because they rely on referrals from other workers or folks in the neighborhood or they train poorly... who knows? But I generally have to charm and tip folks in order to get the minimum of decent service in general. And that includes Aliseo where I once asked about how they made the Duck Ragu and was told that "This is a Northern Italian restaurant... it's not like Olive Garden." So I wasn't surprised when our waitress at Publa Cocina brought out everything at once. That's what happens when you hire someone who has probably never waited tables. That being said... I will definitely go back in a few weeks when they straighten out the menu and give my dry, lonely grains of rice what they needed... some beans!

I'm shocked at the Aliseo thing. Usually, the owner is very conciliatory and friendly. I did have a problem with a waitress once, she was giving me flack about ordering a dessert wine as a dinner wine. But that was about it. I went to Noona's for the first time recently and quite enjoyed lunch, the kimchi was probably the best I tasted. I have also been to La Gamin, I like that place a lot too. I haven't been to Puebla yet, I will go within this week. My guess is that if it's owned by the same people as Noona's and La Gamin then things should go well soon. By the way, I wasn't singling out Pueblo, I was, I thought making it quite clear that I was venting at business', naming Joyce and Beast as examples, in general that operate in Park Slope and Prospect Heights.

That's my sentiment as well, SJ. Conclusions about "value" notwithstanding, I would have a difficult time making an argument that the quality of product is subpar at either establishment. Rather, as you say, I find it to be quite the contrary.

Smokin' Joe wrote: i can't speak for idlewild, but it would be hard to knock the quality of the product at either joyce or beast. in my experience, both are superb. i do think there's a valid argument to be made about their prices though, which are extravagant.

Subject: Re: quality of Joyce

All noted - thanks.

I have only visited a few times and have also noticed some variability across products, but on average very good.

Re: inconsistency e.g. - I had a mini croissant when they first opened that was salty enough to make it pretty much inedible. It seemed like an obvious error in preparation. The next one I had weeks later was much better.

sweetsummercorn wrote:

Just curious, when you discuss Joyce and Beast as having a mediocre product, what exactly do you mean?

E.g. - low-quality ingredients? Poor execution? No vision? Something else?

I know I haven't been back to Joyce since I went a couple times in the frenzy of the opening, but these were some of my initlal impressions

1. Consistency of products: Some of the products they were selling--lemon tarts, little fruit tarts, etc.-- were appallingly made. Perhaps they were still getting into the swing of things, but throw the ugly stuff out! Don't try to sell someone a $4 tart that does not have an entire and even crust around the edge. I'm not trying to be nit-picky, but I think it just shows a lack of professionalism that a good bakery should have. If I was her, I would be ashamed to put that product out.

2. I also think that Joyce needs to seriously re-envision many of the products they have. I ordered the little coffee cake one time. It was dry, the streusel topping was extremely lacking. Instead of the overall cake being rich, moist, cinnamon-y with the topping as buttery as full of texture, I couldn't even finish it--it was so dry. I also got a cheddar scallion scone? or something of the sort that was equally dried out. These are pretty staple products that I just feel were extremely lacking in originality and they weren't even decently done.

I'm not saying that they don't have isolated good things. I did enjoy the baby French macaroon I got there, and I don't mean to attack everything at Joyce. But I'm just saying that they need a little bit more quality control and a little revising of the recipes would do them a world of good.

Walked by and it looked exciting but I haven't been in. Really mixed reviews here so for now I'm making the trek to that Burrito place on Flatbush and Prospect and/or that Colombian place in ParK Slope

mixergirl wrote:

now I'm making the trek to that Burrito place on Flatbush and Prospect and/or that Colombian place in ParK Slope

Really? That's where you decided to go? Both of those places serve food that is inedible. If you are going all the way down to 5th avenue for latin food, you should really just go to Los Pollitos.

Ugh at Politos. Tacos Nuevos mexico on 5th Ave by 11th Street. Hell, Calixco ain't bad either.

I mean, I'm no purist. I don't really mind eating at Taco Bell. It's extremely cheap and (somewhat grossly) flavorful. But Pollitos is expensive and seems incapable of producing extremely simple dishes. Do New Yorkers like it like this ? It doesn't sound like it from this board; why is it like this ? It's not hard to make Mexican food. Come over to my place, I'll show you.

Finn wrote: I got carried away huh.

you need to pick up some tamales at 4th Ave 10/11th St as soon as possible

green oaxaquenos, stat.

Finn wrote: I got carried away huh.

Well, you took the ball and you ran with it, right out of the park. Other posters yelled "Finn! Come Back!" as you ran past the Taco Bell comment. I admire your moxie. :shock:

You pointed out something important about Mexican food that some people have missed. Types of Mexican food in our area include Northern, Coastal, Mountain, Los Angelino (Chicano) and Texano. Like their music, some of it is actually german in origin. And like other "ethnic" cuisine, much of it is adjusted for the western palate. Fried fish with heads still attached freak some people out.

If you take the bus a bit farther into Sunset Park there's a great place called Tacos Matamoros on 45th and fifth. I love their chilquiles con carne. The meat is supposed to be a bit stringy but cut thin to that it does not fall apart on the grill. It's same technique that Koreans use to make the tougher cuts more palatable. They also sell small soft tacos by the dollar. Their mole is nice too. Give it a shot. What Mexican places in the 20s do you like, Finn? I'll give that a shot. Steph you up for it?

So having just recently trying Pueblo for the first time to see if the criticism leveled at it is valid or unjustified, I can honestly say that the place is abysmal. I'm sorry, but this isn't a case where kinks need to be worked out, this place needs a complete overhaul and soon if it hopes to survive. I had a seafood cocktail, some cactus and steak. To mix seafood in with a whole shitload of cocktail sauce that is made from ketchup and tobasco sauce is beyond comprehension. The cactus was like marinated cardboard, and the steak, although not bad at all, was something along the lines you'd get at Meztcal's. The last time I had something like that was in Medford, Oregon, where no matter what kind of food, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, etc, you wind up with cuisine is so "Americanized" because the locals don't really care about authenticity. The last time I checked residents from places like Medford were coming to Brooklyn and NYC in general to get away from that type of mediocrity.

Now, I have never been to the Puebla part of Mexico, I will say that if this is what true authentic Puebla food is then Pres. Vincente Fox should bomb that part of Mexico off the face of the Earth. I do not believe for one second that you will find food like that in any part of Mexico. The waiter was very nice, very professional. He also looked very over worked.

I am not saying this to be spiteful or mean, I am being honest. I like Noona and Le Gamin a lot. The owner needs to get Puebla up to the same standards.

Actually, Puebla is considered one of Mexico's cuisine capitals... do a search on the city and you'll see that it's got quite a culinary reputation... check any top NYC kitchen and you'll be sure to find a line cook or sous chef from there...

If this place sucks it has nothing to do with the cuisine in Puebla, I can assure you.

Idlewild wrote: The waiter was very nice, very professional. He also looked very over worked.

Probably just hungover... I think there is a lot of sitting around and drinking beer involved in waiting tables there. Hope a new chef helps!

Thanks for the link, Axel, that's really interesting! SO it seems even among Pueblaians, there is a huge variety in cooking style. I would so love to go on an eating tour....mmmmm

mixergirl wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11.....7mole.html

Saw this article in today's Times and thought of this place...

The only place to get decent mole is in mexico...was there for 4 months and the mole was insanely amazing. Go to Oaxaca, Mexico and you will eat the best mexian food of your life.

oaxacan tamales are the fuckin' shit.
and yeah, I don't eat mole in the USA unless I'm in some grandma's house. the best mole I've ever had .. at elena poniatowska's house in the DF. slammin'. and accompanied by lovely tequila. guh. I love mexico.