Dinner at Yuca Bar in NYC

Nicole, Tracy, and I went to Yuca Bar for belated b-day dinner.  While the hostess and system for reservations (or lack thereof) was bananas and stressful, the service once we were seated plus the food made up for it.  We shared a bunch of tapas, all of which were incredible and some of the best I've had.  The drinks were also large, strong, yet delicious.  I definitely want to come back, particularly on a Tuesday when tapas are half-off.

Espresso BBQ Costillitas - baby back ribs with Latin espresso coffee inspired BBQ sauce.  These were incredible.  Such rich flavor, tender meat, and a great combo of sweet and savory.

Taquitos de carne - skirt steak in soft tortilla topped with pico de gallo and cilantro cream.  The meat was so tender and well cooked, and I loved the cilantro cream on top.

Arepa con Carne - corn cake topped with shredded beef fricassee, drizzled with sour cream.  AMAZING.  I've had many arepas, but this was such a delicious, well cooked corn cake with crisp edges.  And combined with the tender beef, it was really perfect.

Home-made taro chips for the ceviche.  100x better than the terra chips that I've been buying for years

Ceviche special.  Can't remember what the fish was, maybe mahi mahi?  Delicious as well.  By this point I was seriously full though

Churrasquinhos - grilled skirt steak skewers with peppers atop cilantro rice.  I think this would've been my fav dish of all had I not been stuffed with food that I could barely chew.  I know the little bit I had was flavorful and tender, and the rice was nice and fluffy.

Pulpo a la plancha - grilled octopus with palmito-avocado orange salad in caipirinha dressing.  This was probably the actual star of the show.  Everyone loved the octopus - Nicole and Tracy said it was the best they'd ever had.  I don't know if I can claim THE best since I feel like I've had some damn good octopus, but this is definitely a top contender.  The octopus was perfectly cooked, tender yet meaty.  And the dressing on top was so unique.  A must order.