355 West 16th Street (between Eighth and Ninth Avenues) 212-229-2336 bodeganegranyc.com
Mexican. The first thing you notice is the large rotating ball suspended from the ceiling. Not unlike a mirror ball, but covered in pennies, it sets the tone. To be clear, Bodega Negra isn’t just hot — it’s smoking. The room, the music, the crowd, the vibration. It so happens their food is incredibly tasty, but that just feels like a bonus at a place with the caché of an amazing club filled with fabulous partygoers.
The lobster tacos (chile morita butter, chipotle salsa and roasted tomato) are spicy and very satisfying. Yet even more worship inducing was their shrimp ceviche, possibly the best I’ve ever had. I also could not get enough of the fajitas cabron, the perfectly prepared skirt steak an ideal tenant for the fresh, homemade corn tortillas. The lamb barbacoa with salsa borracha is slow roasted, the process completed above a flame before your very eyes.
If you don’t leave room for dessert, you will miss one of the best chocolate infusions of your life. The Don Huevo is an invention of epic proportion. There appears a huge white chocolate dome, sporting a dark chocolate mustache. Hot caramel sauce is then poured from above, its melting action quick to reveal the dark chocolate molten cake, negra modelo and cinnamon ice cream within. They even add a chocolate scorpion for good measure. But everything about Bodega Negra is good. Make that amazing. Get there soon.