#TerrificTakeout #BocadoCafe #UpperEastSide #Manhattan @bocadocafenyc 1293 Lexington Avenue at 87th Second Feature!
It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we know John Giampilis, owner of Bocado Cafe, a neighborhood hit on the Upper East Side! Bocado Cafe opened in 2012. We first visited in 2013, and really there is no good reason why we have not been in nine years but the important thing is we are back! We hope to feature this on a much more regular basis based on the culinary performance this time. John also has a second trick up his sleeve so stay tuned.
We were crazy for salads way before covid should have convinced you to be healthy, and if you need further convincing just look at Tom Brady to see the results of eating right and taking care of yourself. Though we don't personally know Tom we read what he writes and he does eat vegetables and quite a lot of them! We are hugely impressed with the nine salad choices on the menu: most places do not have that kind of variety. We narrowed it down to two salads this trip: please meet the Bosc Pear salad of Bocado Cafe! By the way, Bocado we understand means small bites in Spanish.
What we love about most in this salad is Peachy's absolute favorite vegetable: Manchego Cheese and yes it is from Spain. Look at the gorgeous cut of pear! We never edit pictures. Ever. You excel like John or we do not publish. The size of the salad is generous and it boasts fresh spinach, sliced almonds, dried cranberries and of course Manchego. They listened and put the sherry wine vinaigrette on the side for Ms. Pretty Picky.
From every angle, the Mango and Avocado Salad is a winner and both of those components were spectacular. Also quite notable were the bell peppers which sported tremendous crunch. Organic baby greens, cucumber and cilantro also come to this salad party. Normally goat cheese is a component too however if you are a Peachy Deegan you do not care for goat cheese so they nicely left it out and also put the super fresh mango dressing on the side. Fresh and Fabulous!
This is by far the best chicken quesadilla Peachy has had in 2022.
Remember the where's the beef commercials?
No one is saying where's the chicken here:
Chicken quesadilla glamour shots!
The grilled chicken was absolute perfection and joined with the sauteed peppers, onions, cheddar, provolone and served with salsa, sour cream and guacamole it was truly a hat trick in Peachy's stomach. This would be perfect game food for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The ratio of ingredients here was ideal and the thick, hearty nature of this dish was commendable.
For Fridays in Lent and if you are a vegetarian the Fusilli Primavera is for you!
Like nearly everything else in life, it is much better with cheese. We reveled in the simplicity executed here: baby spinach, cherry tomato, shiitake mushrooms, capers, garlic and evoo were an elegant symphony of veggie pasta goodness. Even better if you like seafood was the Seafood Fra Diavolo! The gorgeous spicy flavor struck just the right balance between having pizzazz but not too much...linguini, jumbo shrimp, calamari and mussels sang a song of the sea to your appetite and it is a great way to welcome the good weather that is FINALLY here. The seafood components were fresh and delicious and sourced from Bronx Fish.
The Pan-Seared Branzino is a majestic entree worthy of your attention. Sourced from the Mediterranean Sea, this poisson is swimmingly paired with brilliant rainbow carrots, grape tomato, fennel, shallots which specifically add tremendous flavor, capers and a superb white wine sauce.
There are over a dozen appetizer choices: we applaud the overall depth of the menu. Kataifi Shrimp is crispy and sweet: shrimp wrapped in filo dough with lemon and honey mustard: a wonderful way to ignite your appetite. Our favorite number of the visit was the entree of Grilled Skirt Steak:
Along with fantastic manager Jose Rusiana and friendly server Mercedes Ortiz, John Giampilis hit a home run with this: The Grilled Skirt Steak was perfectly medium rare and is sourced from the vendor London Meat. It is exactly as juicy and delicious as it looks! Shiitake mushrooms, roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus join in perfect ratio as they all luxuriate in a fabulous balsamic reduction! We look forward to seeing what they do next at Bocado Cafe.
