Grain Of The Future
Bridgid: Sometimes you are taking in the Arts Scene and you want to escape and be alone. Rather, you know you are a hypoglycemic mess and need to chew in silence in order to comfortably rejoin society. This was me on Monday night. I slipped away from my friends to dine solo at SnackDragon, a tiny taco shack in the land of suspenders and fedoras, the LES. Bryan was not in my coterie, or I would have invited him. The menu at SnackDragon is small- there are about five tacos over which one can debate. My ominivoral dilemma wasn’t too encompassing because I didn’t feel like masticating flesh at that moment in time. I went for the advertised “Grain of the Future” quinoa taco. It was prepared mad quickly and as I settled up to the bar, I was soothed by the tiny writing on the menu: If You Want Structure Feel Free To Order 2 Tortillas. No Extra Charge. The Best Things In Life Are Messy. The grain was fairly boring- it tasted as if it had been soaked in, you know, just water as opposed to a vegetal broth or something exciting. The yogurt sauce and cilantro saved the day but shouldn’t have needed to. The blue corn tortilla left freshness to be desired. I am interested in returning to try the Quack n Cheese (quinoa subbed for macaroni) and the homemade raspberry seltzer, though I couldn’t help but imagine the plopping of frozen raspberries in a Soda Stream.
I like SnackDragon because it is as shacky it advertises itself to be online. It felt rickety- like the gentle soul making my taco probably sweeps up, does dishes, pockets his tips and locks up all on his lonesome- probably while listening to the new Wilco album. And sometimes, all we really want is to be alone and un-hungry.
Bryan: I grabbed a bite at SnackDragon a little while ago too. Its heart is in the right place. College town style Mexican, tacos like I would imagine you could order in Madison or Northampton. I got a “Freshly Slayed Dragon,” hippiespeak for Al Pastor. The pork was tender but the whole thing was a little bland, and the tortilla wasn’t that fresh. My grilled fish taco had no variance of texture, soft against soft. A healthy shake of Tapatio helped things out immensely. You could do worse, but I see no reason to go back since Tacos Morelos is right up the block.
Snackdragon
164 Orchard St (Rivington & Stanton)
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