Bon Appétit meets Jackie Carnesi in East Village, New York, as she prepares to eat her way through the entire Tex-Mex menu at Yellow Rose. Joined by Eric Sze, chef at Wenwen and 886 in NYC, their appetites get put to the test in this lip-smacking food challenge.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We're in the East Village at the Tex-Mex restaurant, Yellow Rose.
00:03And we're going to order one of every item on the menu.
00:06Welcome.
00:09Thank you.
00:10It was really such a Tex-Mex desert prior to this place opening up.
00:14It really is like one of the only Tex-Mex restaurants in New York City.
00:17Where are you thinking we should start?
00:19Chronological order makes sense, right?
00:20Yeah, I think so.
00:21But, curveball, I think I kind of want the dessert to come before the specials.
00:25Okay.
00:25So I have the specials and the mains at the very last.
00:28Yeah. So go out and bang.
00:29That sounds good.
00:33We have our chips and dips.
00:34At the end of this meal, we're going to have to rank it.
00:36The star, if you're only coming to Yellow Rose once in your life, what should you get?
00:40Next one is the repeat.
00:41If you live in the area, you live in New York, Yellow Rose is your go-to.
00:45What are you getting every single time?
00:47And then, the regular.
00:48It's that hidden dark horse buried inside deep in the menu that people should know about.
00:53We can only take one bite of each food.
00:55That's torture.
00:56It is torture now, but I think towards the end,
00:58it's kind of like a good safety net.
01:00I think we should start with the Salsa Roja.
01:04That's great.
01:05The acidity is great.
01:06It's the perfect appetizer.
01:07You have crisp, you have acid, you have salinity.
01:10You can really taste the lime.
01:11I'm really interested in this vegan queso.
01:13The base of it is cashews, and I know they use guajillos in it for a little bit of color.
01:17Guajillos are a really mild dried chili that impart a lot of color.
01:22It is not traditional, but it is very accommodating to the New York palette.
01:27I think, you know, maybe if you hadn't ever had it before,
01:31you could maybe fool somebody into thinking it was cheese.
01:33Wish I could eat another bite.
01:34We're off to a strong start.
01:36This is the Scheinerbach Queso.
01:37So, Scheinerbach is a beer from Texas?
01:40Correct.
01:40I've never had it.
01:41How does it taste like?
01:42Delicious.
01:42It tastes like home.
01:43They use sodium citrate as a cheese emulsifier.
01:45What it does is, it kind of neutralizes the calcium and
01:48allows the casein protein to kind of just do its own thing and emulsify everything together.
01:52They're not diluting it with a lot of milk or water or something like that.
01:55So, it's like a bolder, cheesy flavor.
01:57I think this one's really delicious on the queso scale.
02:00I'm actually blown away right now.
02:02Next up, we have the smoked avocado dip.
02:04Half of the avocados are pureed, and the other half are cut up into pieces,
02:09mixed together with some chipotles, which are just smoked, dried jalapenos.
02:14Almost like a chili crisp.
02:15Yeah.
02:18That was outstanding.
02:19Normally, like when it comes to like a guacamole, like avocado dip type thing,
02:24I'm more into like a super acidic.
02:26And this is like, the acid is like a little more subtle, but it's still so balanced.
02:30I'm still chewing on pecans and sesame seeds, two minutes after my bite.
02:34And the fragrance of the sesame seeds paired with avocados, it's just a melody.
02:38It's so in sync.
02:39Star candidate right now, for me at least.
02:41Strong contender.
02:45We have the sides.
02:46I have here the left-handed kisses, more than one kiss, plural, kisses.
02:51What do you have?
02:52This is the mezcal margarita.
02:55How do you feel after the first round?
02:57Hungrier.
02:58I'm ready.
02:58I'm ready to go.
02:59We should obviously start with the queso bondito.
03:01You are going to unwrap your tortillas and
03:04build essentially a taco of this melted cheese.
03:08Vegan house-made tortillas.
03:09Flour tortillas are something that are extremely near and dear to my heart.
03:13They are directly tied to every memory of my childhood.
03:17The flour tortillas they use in Tex-Mex are frequently a little bit thicker,
03:21a little bit more doughy.
03:24Something about having an entire mouthful of cheese coat your palate.
03:29That's just so satisfying.
03:31Nothing like a cheesy snack.
03:33Let's try the arancini.
03:34I love this because I feel like it is a representation of myself on a plate
03:38as a Sicilian from South Texas.
03:42I think this is a really fun play on Tex-Mex food.
03:46Totally like non-traditional,
03:47obviously like a hybrid between Italian and Tex-Mex.
03:50The fusion of the fusions and I love like the playfulness of it.
03:54It's really delicious.
03:55What should we do next?
03:56The little gem salad with the cashew ranch.
03:59It is vegan.
04:00They do this cool thing where they toast and dehydrate hominy and
04:04then turn that into a powder and throw that over the top of the salad.
04:06I'm just gonna go in with fingers.
04:11I feel like little gem is the perfect lettuce for this.
04:13It's not too aggressive.
04:14It has just enough texture to stand against the sauce.
04:17Now I'm really curious to see romaine salad with tomatillos.
04:21Mm.
04:22Mm.
04:23Oh yeah.
04:23They smoke the tomatillos.
04:25That combined with the anchovy really gives it so much flavor.
04:29Dave, one of the owners, has said that that flavor aspect reminds him of Bonito and
04:34I couldn't agree more.
04:35It's super umami, smoky, a little bit fishy,
04:39really complex flavor for a salad.
04:41This might be one of the best Caesar salads I've ever had.
04:44I'm gonna agree with that.
04:45It's really complex and really unique.
04:48Rice, let's do it.
04:51I'm not used to naked rice being so seasoned.
04:54That's fantastic.
04:55I'm curious to see how these beans taste knowing that they don't use lard.
04:59You cook them and then you mash them up and then you refry them.
05:05The oregano is really preppable.
05:07Yeah.
05:08Yeah.
05:08Very herby, herbaceous.
05:09This round, who would you pick as a winner?
05:11I do really love a salad.
05:13I think this is a winner for me.
05:14All right, next round is combo plates.
05:18We've got our combo plates in front of us.
05:21I feel okay.
05:22I feel like you're doing much better than I am.
05:24I'm still so hungry.
05:25I feel like I have home court advantage, oddly enough.
05:30I'm fueled almost exclusively by nostalgia right now.
05:33I have the pink lava land.
05:35Yours is like a 50-50 tequila mezcal drink, which sounds amazing.
05:38This drink is the, heard this one before, it's a rum-based drink with Darjeeling tea.
05:44Let's do the quesadilla.
05:45This is skirt steak and peppers.
05:48This is the application in which you'd use a flour tortilla versus a corn tortilla.
05:54Because corn doesn't have gluten.
05:55Corn has no gluten, yeah.
05:56So then it doesn't have this elastic texture that a flour tortilla gives you,
06:01which makes sense in a quesadilla.
06:03Super tender, flavorful.
06:04Yeah.
06:04Delicious.
06:05We've got our chicken chalupa here.
06:07I think they use like a salsa verde in here, so
06:10it should have some nice acidity to it.
06:12You can use either dark or like light meat for braised chicken.
06:18Normally, I must say, I'm not a big fan of braised chicken.
06:20I just feel like chicken, even dark meat, with the extra fat content is not as
06:25fatty to hold up to a long braise, but that is something else.
06:28Let's just dig into this mole.
06:30All right.
06:32That's fantastic.
06:33Made me do the little side to side.
06:34Mole is definitely like really regional.
06:36There's always a starch involved, but a South Texas style mole usually uses tortillas.
06:42What makes this really special, this particular mole, is that they use saltines.
06:46It's earthy like a regular mole, but it also has an acidic kick.
06:50And I'm not sure where it's from.
06:51Like, I can't pinpoint the flavors.
06:53That's what makes it so good and interesting.
06:55And it pairs very well with the tender braised chicken.
06:58It's also kind of spicy, which I like.
06:59Traditionally, barbacoa is whole cow head cooked under the ground.
07:03Obviously, that's not always possible in New York City.
07:07What they use here is beef cheeks.
07:09All right.
07:11It's so fatty, so moist.
07:14The gooey gelatin after four hours just completely melts in your mouth.
07:18I feel like I'm really putting this on a pedestal right now.
07:20I've eaten a lot of carne guisada in my life.
07:22It's a little bit of a tougher cut, either top round or
07:25chuck or something like that.
07:26Something that you typically braise.
07:28Tomato, usually stabilized with a roux.
07:31It's essentially Tex-Mex beef stew.
07:33And this one is slathered in cheese, which, shocker.
07:38That is so good.
07:39A lot of the times when I have this dish at home,
07:42it lacks a little bit of acidity, and this one is really balanced.
07:47So, what were the standouts for you?
07:49I'm gonna have to go with the barbacoa.
07:50I think the carne guisada is my winner.
07:53Big surprise.
07:53Out of this round.
07:54Yeah, right?
07:54Shock of the century.
07:56How are you feeling, Jackie?
08:01I admittedly maybe stepped away for a break, feeling a little bit cocky.
08:06Went and got an oat milk cortado, and
08:08I think that was like a really big fumble on my part.
08:10It just hydrated all the tortilla in your stomach and expanded it.
08:14And now you're staring at seven massive tacos for this round.
08:17We have John in front of us, a nice little mezcal.
08:20No lime, which is why we vibed.
08:22Yep. This should bring our appetites back.
08:25This is a combination of tacos from both the lunch and dinner menus.
08:30And I feel pretty strongly that we should start off with the bean and cheese.
08:33It's just two ingredients, and it's like such a staple in Tex-Mex.
08:37It's as clean and delicious as it gets.
08:41Mm. Mm-hm.
08:42Oh, yeah.
08:43Good cheese, good beans, great tortilla, a little bit of the salsa verde,
08:46just the acidity to round everything together.
08:49That's, that's a damn good bite.
08:50That's a really good bite.
08:51No complaints here.
08:52Okay, so our next taco is the Papas Ranchera.
08:55It is quite literally just potatoes and ranchera sauce.
09:02Surprisingly delicious, right?
09:03For a two ingredient taco.
09:05One of the few times you don't crave like a crispy potato.
09:07It's really balanced, really delicious.
09:09Chicken fajita.
09:10Looks like we've got some sautéed poblanos and onions in there.
09:16Comforting flavors, delicious.
09:18White meat cooked perfectly well.
09:19Very tender, juicy.
09:20With every bite of these tacos,
09:21I'm just reminded how much of a difference a good tortilla makes.
09:25Truly.
09:25Okay. This is the steak fajita.
09:27Salsa?
09:27Yeah, salsa dive for me.
09:29Okay.
09:31I wouldn't say I like the taco better with the salsa.
09:34I think the salsa provides a very good moisture and, and extra flavor.
09:37But it almost mutes the protein a little bit more.
09:39The braised chicken, pollo verde.
09:43The chicken tastes like American chicken noodle soup chicken.
09:46Yeah, that's correct.
09:47Celery salt, mirepoix flavor.
09:49It does have kind of a celery quality to it, doesn't it?
09:51Right? Yeah, yellow rose, man.
09:53Doing America justice.
09:54This is our carne guisada.
09:56We had it earlier in one of the combo plates.
09:58Got it.
10:02I almost prefer this guisada in a taco form.
10:04There's no other things massing the flavor of the braise.
10:07And you get like the most purified form of the guisada, I guess.
10:11Yeah, I mean, it's also like the sauce that it is stewed in is like very
10:15much soaked into the tortilla, which is nice.
10:18I am almost positive this one's gonna be my favorite.
10:21The barbacoa.
10:22Yes.
10:23They built in the avocado into the taco, which I already love.
10:30That's good.
10:31The avocado blends in with the fattiness, but
10:33then provides a different layer of flavor.
10:35And then the tortilla just kind of like breaks apart, but
10:37still fights your tooth a little bit.
10:39For sure, barbacoa is my favorite.
10:41I feel like the potato taco was my favorite out of all of these.
10:47We are on the official round of breakfast tacos.
10:51Eric, how are you doing?
10:51I'm doing okay.
10:52The last round, even though it looked like a lot,
10:54we finished with the banger that was the barbacoa.
10:57It was good. I'm still thinking about it.
10:58And these also look fantastic.
11:00I love breakfast tacos.
11:01I genuinely thought that that last round was gonna take us out, and
11:04I'm still feeling pretty good.
11:06What are you drinking?
11:07I'm having a little shrub, a watermelon vinegar shrub.
11:10Not an alcoholic for this round.
11:11I'm having a pretty classic michelada.
11:13Cheers. Let's go.
11:16Lest we forget, we're here on a Tuesday, and
11:19these tacos are not available until the weekend.
11:21I think we should do the migas first.
11:23For sure, yeah, let's do it.
11:24I've never had migas before, so I'm excited.
11:26Migas means crumbs.
11:29You've got some sauteed onions.
11:31This one has peppers in it as well.
11:32Your leftover tortilla chips, scrambled eggs, and usually a red salsa.
11:38Our tacos are accompanied by a couple of salsas.
11:40We have the salsa habanera and salsa verde.
11:48So much greater than the sum of its parts.
11:50You think, fried tortilla and then cooked in salsa, doesn't it sog it up?
11:56But no, it sogs up the very first layer, but
11:59inside the tortilla chip still has the integrity and
12:01structure to hold up to the soft and super tender eggs.
12:04And the peppers, like egg and pepper is a classic combination, right?
12:07Classic.
12:08You can't really go wrong.
12:09I didn't grow up with this, but it makes me think of my nana's house.
12:12This is really a heartwarming moment for
12:13me, watching you experience migas for the first time.
12:16I'm at a loss of words.
12:17I don't understand how this can be so good.
12:19I think there's objectively good food, and
12:21there's food that's subjectively good, depending on, you know, your nostalgia.
12:26Yeah.
12:26This is objectively good.
12:29Let's keep moving.
12:30So, potato and egg sauce.
12:31You did have- I sauced.
12:33I think I'm gonna sauce this one, too.
12:34Yeah.
12:37Nowhere to hide in this taco.
12:39Again, good potatoes, executed well, fantastic eggs.
12:42Is it my go-to?
12:43Probably not.
12:43But then again, very, very good taco.
12:46Okay, so this taco here is just bacon and egg, the Benton's bacon.
12:50So Benton, they're famous for almost over smoking their ham and
12:54their bacon, their pork products.
12:55All right, I'm excited for this one.
12:56I like that the bacon is not too crispy.
13:01There's still a little bit of gift.
13:02That is my ideal way of eating bacon.
13:04This is the- Chorizo and egg.
13:06Chorizo, yes.
13:07Chorizo is made in-house.
13:11You can really taste all of the chorizo spice in here.
13:14Yeah, the egg almost yields its texture to the chorizo, and
13:16chorizo yields its flavor to the egg.
13:18Agreed.
13:19I'm still thinking about the migas, though.
13:20Speaking of egg taco, are you?
13:21I'm still thinking about the migas.
13:22It's just like that one bite, so
13:24many flavors were hitting me from different directions.
13:27All these other tacos are fantastic.
13:29It's just that first bite.
13:30There are definitely more layers to the migas taco.
13:33Yeah.
13:36First, we gotta give a very special shout out to pastry chef Young Cho.
13:40A lot of this stuff is not really on the menu on a Tuesday lunch, but
13:44she wanted to make sure that we get the full experience.
13:46How are you doing, Jackie?
13:47I'm doing better than I expected.
13:50I'm feeling, more than anything, so sleepy.
13:54My stomach is doing pretty well, though.
13:56A kolache is a pastry, almost a brioche-style dough,
14:01that is very common in Central Texas.
14:03There's a big Czech population, and they brought these to the US.
14:07They have savory and sweet versions, and
14:10sometimes they're enclosed, stuffed with meat and cheese.
14:12Or there are these more open ones that are more common,
14:16like the dessert kolaches, which is what we have here.
14:21Mm.
14:22The cherries really balance it out.
14:23Yes.
14:24I mean, it really is like brioche.
14:25It's like a sweet dough, but not overly sweet.
14:27So this is what, hominy sugar?
14:29Super airy.
14:30Are you more of a cake donut or a yeast donut person?
14:34Yeast donut.
14:35I like the texture.
14:36The flavor of the hominy really comes through.
14:37I wasn't sure how much that would read, but it tastes corny.
14:40There's a light savoriness to it that really balances out the sugar.
14:43Chocolate or buttermilk?
14:44Let's do buttermilk first.
14:45Okay, cool.
14:46Same good texture.
14:47It's got that nice tart smell to it from the buttermilk.
14:52I almost prefer it over the hominy sugar.
14:55This one, because it's encased in that glaze,
14:57there's like an element of surprise underneath the glaze.
15:00Chocolate.
15:01There's something so special about- It's so beautiful.
15:03Holding a chocolate donut, right?
15:05I feel like we're off to a good start for great donuts.
15:09So decadent.
15:10Like look, this is how decadent it is.
15:13Rhubarb pie with a lovely addition of the dulce de leche whip.
15:17You may go ahead first.
15:18Okay.
15:22This is a phenomenal pie dough.
15:25It's so light.
15:26It's so airy.
15:27The rhubarb is, again, not overly sweet.
15:30It's got a nice tartness to it.
15:32Texas classic is the sheet cake.
15:37The olive oil is a really nice touch.
15:39The pecans are so crispy.
15:41And the cake itself is so moist.
15:42It's so moist.
15:43I have to go with the chocolate sheet cake.
15:45For me, it was a pretty clear winner with the rhubarb pie.
15:49I can see that.
15:49Pie is always at an advantage for me.
15:55Eric, how are you doing, chef?
15:56I'm not gonna admit defeat, kind of like winning the lottery.
15:59I'm not gonna tell you, but there will be signs.
16:01My hair is messier.
16:02I'm a little more slouched over.
16:04I need to make space physically for more food in my stomach.
16:08How are you doing?
16:09I'm feeling like we are so close to crossing the finish line, and
16:13we're gonna do it together.
16:15But it feels kind of bad, if I'm being honest.
16:18I don't know why I keep doing this.
16:20Okay, so we've got our specials and mains,
16:23which are a constantly rotating section of the menu.
16:26And in front of us is the chicken fried squid.
16:30What's the sauce here?
16:31Is it gravy?
16:33It's not gravy.
16:34What is this sauce?
16:36It's like a non-ranch ranch.
16:38Delicious.
16:39I can't wait for the ceviche.
16:40It just looks way lighter than the rest of the offerings on the table.
16:44Red onion, tomato sauce, shrimp, cilantro, avocado.
16:48It sounds very refreshing.
16:49There's some serrano in there.
16:51Good, right?
16:55The brininess of the shrimp paired with the tomato and the chilies.
16:58Traditional Mexican, cilantro, onion, tomatoes.
17:00Yeah, it's like a Mexican take on a shrimp cocktail.
17:03I would order this again, yeah.
17:04Cornbread.
17:04It's done in a skillet, seared, nice and crispy.
17:07Yeah, we've got some butter, some pecan, and some scallion.
17:11It's almost like a really, really fluffy pancake.
17:15Yeah. It happens to be super crispy on the outside.
17:17Yeah, exactly. Crunchy.
17:18So here's the fried chicken sandwich on Texas toast.
17:22So Texas toast is just toast, but thick.
17:24It's just fat ass toast.
17:25Looks like dark meat.
17:26Yeah, that looks like a thigh to me.
17:31That is a very solid chicken sandwich.
17:33I'm going to do this.
17:37It's got a really nice spice to it.
17:39Nice crunch from the lettuce.
17:40The Texas toast is nice and buttery.
17:42It's a really solid chicken sandwich.
17:43The Texas toast is actually the perfect vessel for this chicken sandwich.
17:46Oh my god.
17:49I hear that.
17:51Boy.
17:55Final two items.
17:56In front of us, we have the dueling, sizzling fajitas.
18:00The chicken here on my right, and the steak on my left.
18:03We saw these in the tacos earlier, and now they're here in a different form.
18:07Let's eat more.
18:09I can see that being really good in a flour tortilla.
18:12Mm-hm.
18:13With a little sauce.
18:14Still delicious.
18:15Chicken time.
18:16Last bite.
18:17As I say in Texas, vamanos.
18:19I mean, that is really a beautiful bite, though.
18:21Yes.
18:22Yeah.
18:24I don't usually say this, but chicken better than steak.
18:27Mm-hm.
18:27I think in this category, for me, I'm picking the ceviche.
18:30I am also picking the ceviche.
18:32The chicken sandwich was a close second, I think just because I'm so full.
18:37Yeah.
18:37This felt better to eat.
18:39Yes.
18:42How are you feeling?
18:43For all intents and purposes, not great.
18:46I'm extremely full, and I cannot wait to take a nap after this.
18:50Right there with you.
18:51But we're not done yet.
18:52We need to figure out our star, our repeat, and our regular.
18:56So the star.
18:57For me, I'm torn between the migas and the barbacoa taco.
19:01It's a really hard choice, right?
19:03There are so many great dishes on this menu.
19:05And you know how I feel about the carne guisada.
19:07But I think I'm also gonna have to say migas.
19:10Not only did it hit a very special place in my heart, but
19:13I was also really blown away by the flavor, similarly to how you were.
19:17Yes. It really kind of caught me off guard.
19:20In that moment, when I bit into the migas, I was like, ooh, fireworks.
19:23Yeah. That alone, I think, deserves the star treatment.
19:26Also, the fact that it's something that I've had so
19:29many times, and it still hit that mark for me, says something, too.
19:33Yeah. Yeah.
19:33Migas, the star.
19:35For the repeat, it's if you live around the area, you come here all the time,
19:38what is one thing you always get?
19:40The avocado dip was really exceptional.
19:42The smoked chipotle, that spice, the chili crunch.
19:45Yeah. The nuts.
19:46So many layers of texture and flavor, the smokiness, the umami, it was good.
19:52Okay, so the repeat is the smoked avocado dip.
19:55And now the regular, the thing that, as a sophisticated diner, you know to order.
20:00Which we are, we're two sophisticated diners.
20:02After today, for sure.
20:03For me, it was a toss up between the arancini and the romaine salad.
20:08I'm inching towards the salad.
20:10Yeah.
20:11Because just how much body it had.
20:12I've never had a salad that spoke to me like that, in terms of,
20:16you know, how savory it was.
20:17I wasn't really expecting that much from, you know, a riff on a Caesar, and
20:22it, it was shockingly good.
20:24If it were up to me, I'd go with the romaine.
20:26Just saying.
20:27Careful, I'm gonna go with the romaine, too.
20:28So, the regular tomatillo romaine salad.
20:31We've done every single item here at Yellow Rose.
20:34I think we did well.
20:35I think so, too.
20:36Thank you, Yellow Rose.
20:37Thanks for watching.
20:38Put me in a blanket.
20:40Wrap me in a blanket and call me a pig.
20:42Yes.
20:43Call me the pig I am.
20:46I'll put my card down.
20:46You can pay me backwards elevator.
20:48Sounds good, chef.