Nuchas Empanadas, New York

I have to begin this post with a confession: I absolutely hate Times Square. I agree with this definition: “A large advertisement that happens to have cars [and tourists] running through it.” To me, it’s hell on earth. If I think of everything I would want in a place, Times Square is exactly the opposite; it’s loud, crowded, dirty and full of advertisements and tourists, and people trying to sell to tourists.

But a word to all you New York tourists out there, since I know Times Square is definitely on your to-do list: grab an empanada from Nuchas when you go. And to my fellow New Yorkers: if you can brave the horror of Times Square, or if you are for some reason forced to walk through it, console and/or reward yourself with an empanada from Nuchas. The mobs and flashing lights are less overwhelming with a snack in hand; but I would still recommend trying to get out of that whole mess as quickly as possible.

For only $3 or $4, you can have a warm little snack, or you can make a whole meal out of empanadas, which is what I did.

The first one I tried was the Spicy Cheese – assorted cheeses with caramelized onions in white Parmesan dough.

It was indeed spicy, which was great with the sweet caramelized onions. It oozed cheese and the dough was soft yet crispy on the outside. I loved it and was excited to try the next one.

This is the short rib – my favorite of the four I tried (the spicy cheese was a close second). This one is made from rosemary dough and stuffed with Creekstone Farm‘s meat blow braised in red wine, onions, peppers and fresh herbs. Notice the little “R” in the top left corner? That’s how they differentiate the empanadas- the “R” in this case stands for ribs. This was really helpful since I was tasting multiple empanadas and is a safe and healthy method of marking them (in Jamaica I ate a patty, similar to an empanada, with a sharpie mark).

This was the most flavorful empanada and the meat was super juicy and tender. There was just enough of it, and even though it was a bit greasy, it was super delicious. The rosemary in the dough didn’t really come through, though; I could barely taste it.

My last savory empanada was the Argentine (you can see the small “A” in the right hand corner there).

This one is a plain white dough filled with Pat LaFrieda‘s ground beef, onions, peppers, scallions, potatoes and olives. I had no complaints about this one, but I thought the first two were better.

Lastly, I tried the dessert empanada, which I was pretty excited about. It has Granny Smith apples, cranberries, pears, Nutella and chocolate in an almond dough.

I can’t believe I ate four empanadas all by myself, all at once, but I did. The dessert empanada is lovely; fruit and Nutella aren’t paired often enough, in my book. I would personally have preferred it to be just a touch sweeter, but if you don’t like super-sweet dessert, this is perfect.

Nuchas 

Location: Broadway between 44th & 45th St. New York, NY 10036 Phone: (646) 477-8247