Finally Noche

Since its churros and hot chocolate were reviewed somewhere last winter, I have wanted to go to Noche. The pros and cons kept see-sawing me, though. The reviews weren't so good. It's just down the block from my office. It's loud, dance-clubbish, not my kind of restaurant. It serves a cuisine I love. It's in Times Square. It's right in front of me when I desperately need to use the bathroom and am kind of hungry, too.

The last one finally drove me into Noche Thursday night with Todd, and I'm glad it did. Gotta say, Todd was not thrilled when he looked at the menu. There's a ton of seafood on the menu and a whole section of ceviche, which limited his choices a lot. He doesn't like corn, which narrowed it even further. He was going to have mole chicken (doesn't really like mole) when I directed him to the braised short ribs over a sweet corn arepa. Whew! What a relief when it arrived. The ribs were a fully-2-inch thick slab of tender, flavorful meat over a few crosswise bones.

With my tiny stomach capacity I just ordered an appetizer, skewers of shrimp, steak and chorizo (which Todd also loved). Two of each, with just a couple bites of steak and chorizo and one jumbo shrimp per skewer. There were greens in the middle of the plate, but they seemed to be drenched in oil, so I skipped them (and why eat greens when you can have meat!). Also ordered yucca fries, which came in thick slabs topped with chimichurri sauce. They were kind of like potatoes, if potatoes had a grain like a piece of wood. But not really fiberous. I actually craved them again this morning.

And we finished the meal with the churros I had wanted for so long, warm, long, grooved doughnuts that were fried in a loop and coated with cinnamon and sugar. The chocolate dipping sauce was dark and rich, and the dulche de leche, while lighter and thinner than I thought it would be, tasted so good, almost creamy, with the cinnamon.

Everyone was super-nice (because it's Times Square?), especially the waiter who answered all my pregnancy food-safety questions without a hint of annoyance. He actually acted interested in the eating habits of pregnant women. The place is huge, with at least three open upper floors and a winding staircase (but also an elevator). Seemed a good place to accommodate a large group.