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Inwood’s La Estufa (“the stove”) is a reliable restaurant destination in a neighborhood largely bereft of good food. The restaurant’s website bills its menu as “a delicious fusion of American-Italian dishes,” but it’s really more simple than that: menu items are prepared from scratch in an open kitchen, and they’re not fancy. Standing in for the traditional breadbasket are a few slices of house-made whole wheat bread, served with a shallow dish of cold, spicy tomato sauce. That same sauce comes with the small dish of perfectly fried calamari ($5.95). Airy, smooth, and well-seasoned butternut squash soup ($6.95) is delivered in a huge bowl, and a large portion of arugula salad ($7.95) with two types of apples and creamy gorgonzola dressing is a good deal. For what it’s worth, a few of La Estufa’s desserts and wine list choices are labeled “organic,” and non-alcoholic beverages include GuS Sodas, which is nice to see in a restaurant not located below 14th Street. In short, there’s a lot to love here, and that’s not even mentioning the uptempo, guitar heavy, Spanish language version Total Eclipse of The Heart that boomed through the dining room speakers at La Estufa one recent night.
The restaurant’s "bestselling" burger ($9.95) is served on a homemade bun arrives on the plate sliced in half, which is otherwise a bad sign in any restaurant that doesn’t feature a hot wings blowout menu and waiter nametags. The patty was mixed with various unknown seasonings, and even flecked with parsley. Despite all of these oddities, La Estufa’s burger is a lean, respectable one. The accompanying yucca fries were jumbo crayon-sized, crunchy, but a little bit dry- still a welcome alternative to soggy matchstick fries swirled around the periphery of burger platters all over the city.
We had dessert at a bakery just down the block. The strong coffee and large pieces of Tiramisu ($3.50) were winners, but Carrot Top’s specialty product was a little dry. Like Lloyd’s in nearby Riverdale, carrot cake is meant to be the weapon of choice here- even the front door is etched with the profile of the vegetable. A few takeout slices ($3.50 each), held together with super sweet icing and warmed over for ten seconds each in a microwave, turned into crumb piles with the slightest touch of the fork. Giant pieces of walnut were the slice’s saving grace- that, and the giant, retro carrot sign (pictured here) hanging over Broadway like a beacon for wayward city rabbits.
Carrot Top Bakery
5023 Broadway
Inwood
(212) 569-1532
La Estufa
5035 Broadway
Inwood
(212) 567-6640
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Glad to see Inwood getting some love from Gothamist! We're still a part of Manhattan!
"The patty was mixed with various unknown seasonings" - and you could not ask your waitperson what the seasonings were?
"served on a homemade" -how was this ascertained? "bun arrives on the plate sliced in half" -I have never ever never had a hamburger served this way.
Props to La Estufa for good food, good prices, and really attentive service. Last chance at a good meal that far north in Manhattan. If you feel a need to burn off dinner, just climb the steps to Park Terrace East. The music doesn't work for me either, but many of the Dominican clientèle seem to like it.
I can't recommend the deserts at either La Estufa or Carrot Top myself. If you want good deserts locally, try The Park Terrace Bistro on 207 and Broadway.
When the author says the neighborhood is largely bereft of 'good food' I believe he's referring to what typifies the city restaurant experience from 96th Street downwards.
I barely even need to say it but, when in Rome...
get a Corona and the buffet at Mofongo on 200th and Dyckman.
P.S.: Don't order tacos.
La Estufa has delicious jumbo shrimp, beef, chicken and lamb skewers at inexpensive prices and outstanding white and red sangria, scrumptous pasta dishes and desserts. The grilled salmon with caper sauce served with spinach and mash potatoes is a staple and they have Inwood's best coffee and tiramisu.
Carrot Top has the best chocolate-layer cake in addition to its benchmark carrot cake. They are terrific for holiday and special order cakes.
La Estufa's cakes may be organic, but that doesn't mean they're good. The carrot cake is bearable, though icing-heavy; the chocolate is dry, with icing so thick and dried out that you have to break it apart with your fork. Haven't tried the creme brulee, but I'm not optimistic. I am curious about the mojito sorbet, though.
Everything I've ever had for dinner there has been wonderful. The butternut squash soup is amazing, and they know how to cook a steak. I keep meaning to order a pint of that spicy tomato sauce to take home. We took a friend there for dinner last night (and laughed ourselves weak over "Total Eclipse of the Heart" en español, so maybe we were even there when Hugh was) and she was really impressed by the quality of food and service. Everyone there is so nice!
I have no idea what Gothamist means by "a neighborhood largely bereft of good food", though. Granted, La Estufa is the only eatery in its part of the neighborhood (and those of us living nearby greatly appreciate its accessibility), but walk down to Broadway and 207th and you get Grandpa's pizza (some of the best pizza I've had in thirty years living in New York), the Park Terrace Bistro, the Garden Cafe, the Piper's Kilt (with surprisingly good live jazz on Saturdays), and the ever-friendly folks at John's Do-Wop Deli; down on Dyckman are Albert's Mofongo House, Il Sole, the extraordinary Mamajuana, and the equally extraordinary but somewhat isolated 809 down by Nagle. The only major disappointment is Guadalupe, where I have yet to have an enjoyable meal and thus have given up trying. Trying to find decent Mexican food in a Dominican neighborhood: probably a mistake. All we need is really good Chinese, Vietnamese, and/or Indian food within walking distance and I'll be happy forever.
Oh yes, and agreed that the Park Terrace Bistro has wonderful desserts. When our budgets are a little tight, we eat at home or at the Kilt and then go to the Bistro for that fabulous molten chocolate cake. Mamajuana has great desserts, too.
It can be certainly said that the area is largely bereft of vegetarian/vegan food and very low on organic food. Since Gothamist restaurant reviews are always dripping with dead animal juices, you ought to be able to find plenty of good food up in our 'hood.
8: I'm holding out hope for the Indian Road Cafe, which promises a wide selection of organic foods when it eventually opens.
I asked Karim at the Park Terrace Bistro why he didn't have more vegetarian options, and he shrugged and said that not many people asked for them. Maybe it's time to circulate a politely-worded petition?
when was the last time you tried Guadalupe? I have been going like once a week for the past month and it has always been great. and their happy hour drink deals are really good too.
10: Thanks for the tip. Next time I'm feeling adventurous I'll give it another try. Do they still have rotting, moldy fruit in the bathroom sinks? That was part of what killed my appetite.