Small Bites

The food at Bistro Latino, chef Rafael Palomino’s new restaurant in Tuckahoe, is like Latino-lite: fun, delicious, addictive, a little spicy and not too out-there. I had lunch there the other day, and sampled a few of the small plates — none of the entrees, though — and came away wishing I had a Bistro Latino nearby.

Here’s one of the cocas — a flatbread, pizza-style dish — with shrimp, manchego and microgreens:

Nice and crispy — good finger food and easy to share. A great start to the meal.

There were only a few tables at lunch, but I imagine at dinner time, and especially on weekends, it’s hard to get a seat here:

 

More of a look around, plus more food, after the jump.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a big granite bar with comfortable-looking chairs along one side of the restaurant. I’m sitting in a banquette on the opposite side:

 

 

Windows look out onto the street:

And there’s an open window to the kitchen, too:

 

After the pizza, we shared the Albondigas de Cordero ($11.95), lamb meatballs with Romesco sauce, shaved Manchego cheese, slivered almonds:

They were light and fluffy and quite tasty — the tang from the lamb was very nice — but they turned cold very fast. I would eat these quickly if you order them.

Mejillones con Chorizo ($12.95) steamed mussels with chorizo and french fries Pamplona style:

 

The mussels were plump and fresh and the sausage was spicy and good. The fries were crisp and salty, and great for dunking.

Croquetas de Cangrejo Azul ($11.95) blue crab croquettes with whole grain mustard aioli:

These were full of crab and not breading — but didn’t seem at all Latino to me. They just tasted like really good crab cakes. Nothing wrong with that. I’m just saying…

The tortilla espanola:

This was more like hashbrowns with egg than a traditional tortilla espanola, but man was it salty and crispy. I couldn’t stop eating it!
A nice change from all the fried food on our table was this light little citrusy ceviche with shrimp: