Three tacos from Ponche in Midtown
On the way to a roof top bar a few weeks ago, Steph and I walked by a Mexican restaurant that had an A grade in the window. It reminded me of getting a torta from Rinconcito Mexicano because it seems that whenever you walk west of 8th avenue in Midtown, you start to get into better options for Mexican food. What I love about Ponche is that it bills itself as an authentic Mexican restaurant AND it has an A from the health department. How dare they upset my perception of the kind of grades a Mexican restaurant can receive? Seeing as I prefer my bunghole dry instead of wet, I thought it was worth a visit.
Lemme be also honest about what attracted me about this place... the take-out menu said there's "10% off on cash online" The discount decal on the menu is about as difficult to miss as tits in a New York City summer. But in practice, this wasn't really implemented. I will say though, the price on the take-out menu is not the same as the price on the dine-in menu. For example the El Ponche taco is $2.75 on the take-out menu, but $3.00 for dine-in. But whatever, you can ask about the discount if you want. I didn't think it made a difference since $3 is about the going rate for tacos in Manhattan anyway.
I got three tacos to try. The Pescado (fish) taco is a lightly tempura battered mahi-mahi with pickled cabbage, and a chipotle remoulade. Don't ask me how authentic remoulades are south of the border. I figure if Taco Bell hasn't done it, it ain't fucking authentic. Don't lie to me bitches. Another thing of note is that I know two corn tortilla per taco is the norm but actually some tacos at Ponche use flour tortilla like the pescado taco.
Two things struck me about the fish taco. One, I ordered it and it came within two or three minutes. I ordered, the dude screamed out the order to the kitchen, I paid, and boom. My taco was ready. You can't fry that fast. This tells me some fish tacos are pre-fried during lunch time. Two. The fish had an off taste on the first bite. I don't know if that was just my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, I found the battered crust to be insufficient in providing crunch, and the fish taco to be lacking overall. If I'm going for a fish taco, I'll go to Dorado Tacos
The Carnitas Borrachas taco featured Puebla-style shredded pork and a dainty schmear of watery avocado sauce. I wouldn't call it guacamole exactly... since I've mashed up avocados at home before, and this looked a bit runnier than pure mashed avocados. This was a tasty taco though. There's nothing like slow cooked meat in a taco since the meat is soft and not chewy at all. If you got this in a food truck, you'd be happy. But it actually was outshadowed by their namesake taco, El Ponche.
Similar to the carnitas taco, El Ponche is a taco with a slowly cooked protein. It's listed as a Oaxaca style pulled pork on a flour tortilla. You can tell from the pictures that the color between the two pork tacos are different. If the Carnitas Borrachas taco is an ally-oop, El Ponche taco is the no-look pass reverse ally-oop. It might produce similar results, but the latter is just a bit better. It's delicious. Get it.
Ponche is a great option for those who aren't afraid to trek out between 9th and 10th avenue. The tacos are first-rate. The restaurant would even claim they are authentic. I wouldn't know anything about that. The clientele in the small-ish restaurant that seats maybe 20, didn't look to have many Latino diners. But I've come to realize that even though clientele says a lot about your restaurant, where you choose to put a restaurant says a lot about who you want your clientele to be...
Meanwhile, I broke my ear-bud headphones again. It's now the fifth one that I've wrecked in two years. There's something about cheapie $10 dollar skullcandies and no-name-brands that just can't get it done. I'm now wondering if it's better to get something like this Klipsch IMAGE S4 for $70 dollars and go all out. It comes with a two year warranty. Which means if it breaks, I get a new one! Has anyone used warranty on a pair of headphones before? Or has anyone owned Klipsch before?
Ponche Taqueria
420 W 49th St.
New York, NY 10019
212-581-1235
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Hell's Kitchen resident here. I agree Ponche is great, but I think you might have got a bad batch of the fish tacos. I usually ask for a big plate of the fried fish served fajita style and it's always been done well.
As for the headphones, try this thread over at Head-Fi: http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-245-iems-compared-phonak-pfe-232-added-07-05-12
There's definitely better stuff than the S4 for $70. Look into a pair with detachable cables if you really want something that lasts.
Steve
July 13, 2012 4:15 pm
Sennheiser earbuds = the shit.
Elspeth
July 15, 2012 11:49 am
I guess this is turning into a headphone discussion? I would recommend you buy the $7 pair that Dsnuts recommended on head-fi and were then also recommended by thewirecutter:
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-headphones-under-30/
They are as good or better than everything I've heard in the $70 and under category. Headphones are a slippery slope, if you want to set your wallet on the path to ruin then keep an eye on this page for their soon to be updated recommendation on a pair near the $100 mark:
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-100-earphones/
Paul
July 16, 2012 10:26 am
-- Food: I didn't love Ponche, although I had it delivered to my office. The burrito borracho was solid, and my coworker loved his taco de alambre, but the chicken quesadilla actually sucked. It showed up all cold, moist and floppy, and while I know that is an inevitable consequence of having this kind of food delivered, there weren't too many browning or crisping marks on the tortilla, so I doubt it was ever properly "crispy."
-- Headphones: I was actually in the exact same situation as you. Had my third pair of Skullcandy Ink'd's break in a period of 5 weeks, to the point at which I'm convinced there's a defect in the new batch that just came out (all three lost sound in one ear...seems fishy). I considered--and purchased--the Image S4.
While the sound quality is way better than the Skullcandies, note that the volume is actually weaker, which was quite surprising. I need to go about 75% volume to enjoy these on my iPhone, whereas the ink'd phones would work well at 50-60%.
Also note that because the ear tips are angled and small (even the bigget ones in the pack), you don't get a great seal, and they tend to jostle around a bit and allow sweat and air pockets to build in your ear while you're working out (which dampen the sound). Perfect for train/plane rides, but not great for the gym.
The warranty is great, but I have to admit that the build quality does not seem that incredible. The wire and earpieces feel kinda flimsy, so I'm worried I'll be submitting for a replacement within a month or two.
Daw johnson
July 16, 2012 12:22 pm
@Steve,
Holy crap there are a ton of reviews on that site. I am glad there are people with time that can review these things for us. It sounds like there's things with great sound quality way below the 70 dollar mark though. I'll probably try some of the more economical options. Thanks for the link!
@Elspeth,
Ah.. yes. I've heard that before. They are $$ tho!
@Paul,
haha yes, a headphones discussion. It's more useful to me at the moment than a food discussion. Thank you for the links to thewirecutter! The $7 pair certainly looks interesting. Monoprice is great for my HDMI cables so I'm willing to give their headphones a shot.
@Daw,
Certainly some foods probably get cooked without as much care as others, as witnessed by my own fish tacos. I think the tacos are the best bet for the value in case a particular one doesn't work out though.
As for the headphones, thanks for sharing the experience about the Image S4! I feel like the skullcandies do get a great seal and do a decent job of isolating the sound, which is more important to me than sound quality in particular... these subways are loud as fuck. I might go with the ones that Paul mentioned, which are only $10 delivered. Same price as skullcandies but better sound quality supposedly. And then if that still doesn't work out, I gotta think more!
Danny
July 16, 2012 1:20 pm