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Early Addition
The Kensington-Ditmas Park area of Brooklyn is slowly becoming known for its restaurants and dishes, including the “haute barnyard” French Fries at The Farm on Adderley. Meanwhile, the wide swath of Coney Island Avenue running through the center of both neighborhoods remains a mainstay of ethnic restaurants from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach -- everything from all-night, tri-level Pakistani joints to Turkish baklava places. It’s sort of like the restaurant bustle of Jackson Avenue in Queens, but decompressed over a 5-mile stretch. In this mix are a dozen or so Mexican Torterias; tiny shops, usually with signature sandwiches. Most of these places are closet-sized, just big enough for a stove at the back, a regular household refrigerator or a steam table. Torterias are often home bases for roving tamale carts; moreover they’re round-the-clock operations, with employees pickling their own jalapenos, pulling and braiding homemade Oaxaca string cheese, or clipping cilantro leaves from plants growing in window boxes.
Much in the same way the Vietnamese Bánh mì is the product of colliding food cultures, the hot or cold Mexican Torta often expresses non-traditional, quirky influences. The “Hawaiiana y Cubana” ($6) at Torteria Del Valle on Coney Island Avenue includes a garnish of pineapple rings built on the chassis of a basic Cuban Sandwich. Gothamist heard a rumor of another neighborhood Torteria that serves a lengua y mejilla (beef tongue and cheek) sandwich, but we lost the trail somewhere at the edge of Flatbush.
The Chorizo con Huevo (pictured) at Torteria Del Valle is a great example of a basic starter torta. For $5, you get some a 5” wide Spanish roll loaded with sliced chorizo, a fried egg, some melted, mozzarella-like Oaxaca cheese, lettuce, pickled jalapenos, and a generous application of mole on one side of the bun. It’s a perfect introduction to the world of tortas, and you don't even have to say aloha if you don’t want to.
Torteria Del Valle
727 Coney Island Ave.
Brooklyn
718.469.4179
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Argh. Stop reviewing things in my neighborhood, Gothamist. People will start thinking it's cool, they'll all start to move here, and next thing you know, I'll be paying twice as much rent as I do now, and Bukhara and the torterias will be replaced with a Pier 1 and a Houlihan's.
There is a tiny, authentic Mexican place by me in Astoria (34th Ave and 33rd St) that has amazing torta's. They have tongue on the menu, though I am not brave enough to order it!
That looks foul. NYC has the worst mexican food ever.
matty, while im prone to agree with you, having grown up in the southwest... but surprisingly, i've found somewhere that actually gets me stoked on mexican food.
and where is is? ditmas park! CINCO DE MAYO on cortelyou and westminster.
jess, i know what you mean.. whenever i see ditmas park in a blog post i tense up.
I love anything Hawaiian. Mildly off topic, but Colombian restaurants are known to put pineapple, ham and crushed potato chips on hotdogs and hamburgers.
I used to get Hawaiianas tortas at a grocer, Guerrero Market (or something similar) on 5th Ave. around 24th St. It says Supertortas on the front window.
Did you torta really have mole on it? I’m curious because I don’t think that’s a traditional topping.
Please wait until we buy our apt. before hyping and blowing up our neighborhood! Our rent is Already unreasonably high!
Kensington/Ditmas Park are awful neighborhoods! Spread the word!