Yerba Buena West

A restaurant that serves food from a variety of different but interrelated countries is usually one you should avoid. Sushi and bibimbop and pad thai? How do you know which one the kitchen can actually do well? But if chef-partner Julian Medina at Yerba Buena West had stuck to just Mexican or Cuban food, the diners would have been the ones missing out on the variety of stimulating dishes and cocktails this place has to offer.

Not just Mexican or Cuban but also Argentinian, Peruvian and Chilean, the menu at Yerba Buena West touches down on ceviches, arepas, empanadas and grilled meat. Here everything feels a little less trendy and more grown up than the original Yerba Buena in the East Village. An antique bar frames one side of the room, and the vibrant blue lighting of the East Village spot has been ditched for the traditional look of cream-colored upholstered chairs, black and white tile floors, exposed brick and cream colored walls and minimal decorations. Senor Swanky’s this is not.

You may have just as much fun with the excellent cocktails here, though, and the bar is a great place to meet for a drink. Top shelf tequilas, mezcals and rums get mixed with fresh fruits and vegetables in concoctions like the cholula ($12), pictured at top, a refreshing mezcal, cucumber, lime and basil drink with a spicy edge from green pepper.

Medina is adept at balancing contrasting flavors, as in the sweet-spicy hamachi taquitos ($12), little fried corn taco shells filled with hamachi ceviche. The pineapple is the first taste note to hit, then the silky hamachi, then the sneaky hit of habanero salsa. It’s an unusual mix of ingredients that couldn’t really be called authentic to any one country, but it’s one that works well.

Guacamole sprinkled with queso fresco ($10) also has a hit of pepper that catches you at the finish. It’s not a simple dose of jalapeno but roasted chipotle peppers that give this guac depth and spiciness to boot.

In a great northeastern twist on the traditional fish taco, that night’s special was soft shell crab tacos ($17), the  cornmeal crusted crab sandwiched with traditional Mexican onion and jicama slaw.

One of the restaurant’s signature dishes – and one of the reasons Medina should be allowed full artistic license across borders – is the avocado fries ($7). Creamy and ripe inside, crispy with panko crumbs without, these may taste like a rare traditional Latin find but are actually Medina’s brainchild, first appearing at the erstwhile Zocalo then Toloache. For avocado fry addicts, good news: there’s a recipe for them here. He also fries strips of watermelon in the same manner, and these are a good, slightly sweet foil to the rich avocado.

Entrees are more traditional – though if Medina wanted to go super traditional, we wished that he had served goat, not duck confit, as the ropa vieja. Roasted suckling pig ($24) came piled with greens and red onion slaw and surrounded with yucca puree, the tender slice of pork topped with a crunchy bit of deep fried pork skin.

Nothing says Latin comfort food like arroz con pollo ($22), and Yerba Buena’s is by the book. The rice had just the right intense chicken flavor, and the herbal, aromatic chicken was finished off with a hint of spicy piquillos.

Cinco de Mayo may be one day a year and may celebrate only one country, but Yerba Buena West is a reminder that there is a whole variety of tastes south of the border worth celebrating throughout the year – and you don’t need to don a cheesy sombrero to do it.

Yerba Buena West
1 Perry Street at Greenwich Avenue
New York, NY
212-620-0808‎
ybnyc.com