Casa Enrique

My friend and I had read about this place and he got there first.  He was on a goal to check out all the Michelin starred restaurants in Long Island City.  Casa Enrique is one of them.

The restaurant is located in a small building that sits by itself in Long Island City.  Simple white interior with lots of light and a nice humming vibe.  Few families there and big parties too.  There is a serious cocktail and tequila menu.  When you sit down they give you a bowl of these strange curly crispy chips that look almost freeze-dried.  They are kind of addicting.  I gather they are sold in bags as street food in Mexico.

Drinks are important here.  We all tried different drinks but Fred and I stayed with the Aguachili Margarita.  Milagro Silver, Patron Citronge liqueur, brown simple syrup, serrano peppers, cucumber and fresh lime juice.  Spicy but not too spicy.  You can drink them like water so beware.

You have to order guacamole.  The guacamole was chunky and also had a good kick served with a big bucket of chips.  I try so hard not to devour the chips but it is hard.  This also comes with three different salsas ranging from mild to extra spicy and we continued to use them throughout the meal.

We got two different types of tacos.  The fish tacos are filled with tiny pieces of white fish that has been fried but not too crispy covered with cilantro.  It probably isn’t their best taco.

The crumbled chorizo taco is pretty damn good and is very spicy.

Oysters was also a winner.  Deep fried oysters with a thin slice of jalapeno and radish on top sitting in a spicy chili mayo.

Ceviche was not my favorite.  Pieces of white fish marinated and served with tiny chips, thinly sliced radishes, cilantro and avocado.  Simple.

Pork ribs are falling off the bone.  Pork marinated in a mixture of chilis with classic beans and rice on the side.  The meat was tender and delicious.

Chicken with mole sauce.  The sauce was good but a tad sweet.

The chili relleno stuffed with an oozing chihuahua cheese covered with a tomato sauce and rice on the side.  This also had a bit of a sweetness to it.

All and all it was fun and the meal was pretty good. Not sure what Michelin stars actually mean.  After spending so much time in Europe eating in Michelin starred restaurants I was less than impressed with why or why not a restaurant got acknowledged.  I’d probably go back and do a lot more tacos and continue a tab going on the drinks.