fakenycrestaurantreviews:

La Casa Del Tostones – 56 178^th St. nr. St. Nicholas Ave.

This Washington Heights social hub made news recently when head chef Manuel Ortiz was convicted for organizing cock fights in the basement of this fried food paradise/barbershop. Now that the cockfights have moved next door to El Patacones (deli/barbershop, 58 178^th St.), Manuel’s son Tito is now behind the counter serving up some of the best tostones (fried, unripe, plantains) this side of the DR.

The bi-level dining room is noisy with what we think is salsa music and smiling, shouting customers. But don’t ask for salsa for your tostones; Ortiz says the fried green bananas are tasty enough without adornment. The most popular dish on the menu is Tostones Dos ($8) or tostones two. The tostones are prepared two ways. First fried with butter and topped with a dollop of fried, mashed tostones, smothered in a compound tostones oil. Next plantains are boiled in a tostones broth, then smashed with a spatula and fried in chicken fat and tostones shavings.

Not in the mood for tostones? No problem. The mofongo at La Casa Del Tostones is second to none. Mofongo differs from tostones in that rather than frying unripe plantains and scarfing them down, mofongo is fried plantains with stuff mixed in. We liked the Mofongo con Tostones ($14) which is mofongo with fried tostones mixed in.

There are daily specials and we were lucky enough to be there on a Tuesday night. Locals were lined up out the door for this weekly indulgence: Hamberguesa con Tostones ($11); You guessed it. A big juicy fried plantain on a freshly baked bun with all the fixings. The tostones “burger’ had plenty of grease and char from the well seasoned (dirty) grill, and the bun had a certain sweetness we couldn’t quite put our finger on until we saw the chef mixing up a batch of the bread dough: Instead of white or whole wheat, Ortiz uses plantain flour. We were intrigued, so we approached Ortiz and asked him about this approach, and what strain of yeast yields such light, airy buns. Ortiz smiled somewhat quizzically and replied, “Okay!”

The desert refrigerator holds many a treat, but don’t miss the plantain smoothie ($4) and the fried green plantain cake ($6). Don’t forget to get yourself a trim and a shave on the way out.

BEST DISHES: Tostones Dos ($8); Tostones appetizer ($12); Tostones ($6); Rice con Tostones ($5)

PRICE RANGE: Appetizers, soups and salads, $1 to $13; entrees, $8 to $21; desserts, $2 to $8.

CREDIT CARDS: Cash only.

HOURS: Open 24 hours

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: no.