NYC, from A to Z: D is for Dominican Republic
I took a trip to a Lower East Side institution that's been serving Dominican food since 1986
When it comes to eating out in NYC, I live and die by my Google Maps bookmarks. Any time I hear about a new restaurant I want to try, walk by a cafe that catches my eyes or read a “best” of NYC roundup, a new dot on my map appears. And it’s usually the first thing I reference when I’m looking to eat in a specific neighborhood. Where should I grab drinks before a show at Baby’s All Right? Is the theater for the Broadway show I’m seeing near a restaurant that doesn’t colossally suck? What’s the best spot for a coffee or treat after my doctor’s appointment?
As of right now, I have nearly 2,400 bookmarks for NYC alone. It’s a glorious thing, but it’s also daunting and in a city with dozens of trendy and new spots opening every single day, it makes it almost too easy for institutions that have been on my list for years to fall through the cracks.
El Castillo de Jagua, a Dominican restaurant that’s been open since 1986, is one of those spots I’ve had saved for years but never gone to. But after cancelled plans left a rainy Saturday afternoon free, I now have one more spot checked off my list.
El Castillo de Jagua
Location: 113 Rivington St on the Lower East Side
Transportation: Delancey St-Essex St F/M/J/Z or B/39, M9/M14A-SBS Buses
Cost: $75.46
Thanks to the rain and our in-between-meals arrival time of 3p, my friend Asher and I had no problem grabbing a table right away. But even with those factors, the restaurant had a steady flow of people coming in an out and there was a noticeable amount of people coming to order food to go, which is always a refreshing thing to see in the age of food delivery apps. El Castillo de Jagua isn’t exactly a restaurant you go to for the ambiance, but on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the friendly service and diner-like interior made for extra nostalgic vibes.
After reviewing the menu for a hot second and making order negotiations with Asher, our order was placed and we may or may not shocked our waitress with how much we ordered.
The order:
🧀 Pastelillos de queso ($3.49)
🍤 Camarones al ajillo ($25)
🍚 Yellow rice
🫘 Red beans
🧀 Queso frito ($4.50)
🍗 Chicken mofongo ($15)
🎂 Four leches cake ($7)
Before anything we ordered came to our table, a basket of crusty bread that was toasted and seemingly rubbed with garlic arrived. Free bread is a lost art form, so I always find it to be a nice touch and this bread particularly hit the spot.
Everything else seemed to arrive as it was ready, which happened to be the pastelillos de queso and one of our entrees, the camarones al ajillo that came with sides of rice and beans. The pastelillo de queso wasn’t bad, but it was served with a creamy sauce — seemingly a mix of mayo and ketchup — that I found to be too heavy for a cheese-based pastry.
On the other hand, the camarones were my favorite savory bite of the meal. The shrimp were butterflied and tenderly cooked in a rich, buttery garlic sauce that I wish I had saved more of the free bread for. The shrimp itself was fresh and exquisitely textured with no chewiness or rubbery pieces in sight. At $25, it was the most expensive dish we ordered but came with both rice and beans and was a hearty portion, especially for seafood. At one of the city’s many trendy seafood spots, this amount of shrimp could easily run you $40+ and it would likely be much less delicious and filling.
My favorite bites of shrimp were with the fluffy yellow rice, which soaked up the sauce’s garlicky goodness in every grain.
Next up was the queso frito, three pieces of perfectly fried salty white cheese. This was an impulse order on my part and while it’s almost impossible to screw up fried cheese, this was stupidly delicious. Crispy and crusty on the outside, gooey cheesy goodness on the inside. What’s not to love?
We finished off the savory portion of our meal with mofongo, a Dominican dish made with fried green plantains that get mashed with garlic, spices and meat and is typically served with broth and fried meat on the side. We opted for the chicken mofongo that had chunks of chicken mixed into the plantain mash, fried chicken on top and a ramekin of chicken broth alongside. This was the dish I was originally most excited for since it’s a Dominican specialty, but I was sadly underwhelmed.
The plantain mixture was slightly too starchy for my palate and any flavor from the chicken, which was good, was overpowered by the sheer amount of plantains. And even with the addition of the broth, I still found the dish to be dry. Though I will say we saw other tables order the cheese and shrimp varieties of the mofongo and they both looked significantly more delicious and less dry than the chicken version.
We finished off our meal with a slice of four leches — I’m not sure what the fourth milk was, but if I had to guess, I’d put my money on coconut milk. This cake was absolutely divine and everything I want in a tres leches: moist and not overly sweet. El Castillo de Jagua’s version came with a layer of almost marshmallow-like frosting on top, which I also loved. It was an ideal ending to our meal.
Unsurprisingly, we left with a bunch of leftovers and while the camarones, rice and beans once again hit the spot, the mofongo didn’t reheat well and even with some chicken broth poured on top, it still remained quite dry.
It’s always fun to try a spot that’s been on my list for a while, especially when it’s a cuisine I don’t naturally gravitate towards. Next time I need a casual meal on the Lower East Side, I’ll be at El Castillo de Jagua trying the shrimp mofongo and eating a slice of four leches.
Next month, I’ll be moving on to E and am looking to y’all for Ecuadorian, Egyptian or Ethiopian spots. Feel free to comment below or respond to this email with your recommendations.
As always, thanks for reading and I’m so glad you’re here. If you enjoyed this, please consider hitting the heart below or recommending Lindsay’s List to a friend (or two!). I’ll be back later this week with my June favorites.
Xoxo, Linds
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