Little Latin America in Red Hook

So I finally got around to checking out the weekend Red Hook Latin food fair on what I'm pretty sure was Bay Street, between Clinton and Court streets. The food was great and cheap. Of course, we were pegged as total gringos. My sister, who is fluent, surprised a tamale vendor by ordering in rapid-fire Spanish, thus making it clear that she understood all the gringa jokes they had just been making about her, which caused everyone in line to chuckle. My husband got called "blondie," and I was whisked through another line, in what I think was a move to get me in and out as quickly as possible. Still, it's a good experience to be an outsider, and the food was fabulous. The tamale ($3) was the sweetest and creamiest I've tasted. My personal favorite was a beef "burrito" ($4) that was topped with radishes, guacamole, sour cream, salsa verde, lettuce and a slow-burn salsa. My husband liked the well-seasoned pork burrito, also topped with lettuce, salsa verde and guacamole ($5), but we all agreed that you could eat just about anything off a freshly made tortilla slathered in melted cheese and it'd taste pretty damn good.  We all bought from different vendors to mix it up, but I don't think there's a bad one among the bunch. We also sampled the grilled corn, with salt and lime, and may or may not have been charged inflated prices at $2 an ear. (And we didn't even get to the yummy looking ceviche.) A highly recommended trip; we will be back.

For more great Latin food in Red Hook and a *killer* mole, try El Huipil on Sullivan Street, between Van Brunt and Conover streets. Phone (718) 855-4548. Hours: Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 12pm-8pm. Buen provecho.