Café con Leche

As promised, here's my first installment of New York City cheap eats. On Tuesday night I met Becca and Emily for dinner at Café con Leche, a Puerto Rican place on Amsterdam and 80th. The restaurant has a bright and cheery interior and huge portions of food that taste a lot better than you'd expect them to for the price. We started off by sharing the mixed appetizer plate, which was piled high with warm and crispy fried delights: working clockwise from the back we have a vegetable empanada; a (barely visible) yucca patty, something I had never had before; it was sweet and deeply flavored with anise seeds; next, a huge pile of soft ripe plaintains (my personal favorite); and, lastly, some patacones, which are slices of unripe plaintains which are smashed, fried and salted (so excellent dipped in hot sauce). Not bad for $7.95:

















Next Emily and I shared gambas al ajillo, shrimp in a garlicky, lemony sauce which was delicious spooned over the yellow rice and black beans the dish ($12.95) came with:


































Of course we had to finish off the meal with the restaurant's namesake ($1.75):






















Each of us paid $15, including tax and tip, and left stuffed. Pretty good for a midweek meal, no?

Café con Leche
424 Amsterdam Avenue (between 80th and 81st)
(212) 595-7000

Note: the restaurant has another location on Amsterdam between 95th and 96th.