Blend

Long Island City, New York, United States

Blend

Blend is a Latin restaurant located in Long Island City, NYC. The restaurant is a fairly nice looking place with decor slightly nicer than average. I think there was a garden in the back, but it wasn't open when we visited.

Dress

Fairly casual

Cost

Most entrees were around $12-$15.

Reservations

We visited around 6:30pm on a Sunday evening and there was plenty of room available.

Items Ordered

Empanadas (chorizo and espinaca y queso)

Empanadas

The empanadas were a fair size, but were mostly dough. The dough appeared to be lightly fried. The spinach empanada (the green one) was full of cheese and spinach, and the chorizo empanada had a medium-spicy chorizo. Both were pretty good, but were quite different.

Ropa Vieja

Ropa Vieja

The Ropa Vieja was a bed of very sweet plantains topped with beef in a mild sauce and wrapped in a fried (and very bland) plantain. The sweet mashed plantain went quite well with the beef and suace. The rice and beans were served on the side. The rice had a slight tomato flavor. The beans were a bit too watery.

Pernil

Pernil

The slow roasted pork must have been very fatty, because it was floating in a pool of oil. It felt very heavy. There was a lot of meat in this dish, but not much else. The fried yuca was pretty good - they were like large french fries with a slightly sweeter taste and thicker texture. The rice and beans were the same as the beef dish.