Moondog HiFi

At a Moodog HiFi in Bushwick, Mediterranean Tacos Make a Menu | Eater NY

"Located deep in the Bushwick industrial frontier at 119 Ingraham Street, near Johnson Avenue, this subterranean bar is reached past a narrow concrete courtyard filled with tables; stairs lead down to a room decorated with a neon symbol over the bar and racks of vinyl records at the far end. A logo on the aluminum gate shows an eye cradled in a radio telescope, which turns out to be a stylized turntable. The cocktails, courtesy of beverage director Josef Griz, are great, on a menu of eight showcase mixed drinks that have evocative names: a coffee martini ($17) made with vodka and Turkish coffee with a hint of cardamom; the Prickly Tempo Collins (the bar’s take on the Tom Collins) with mezcal instead of gin, laced with prickly pear though the lime is assertive; and When Birds Cry, a tall mixture of mezcal, lime, grapefruit, and mastiha, a liqueur seasoned with pine resin — I kept sipping, hoping some of that stickiness would show up in the drink. Five tacos ($6 to $8) form the heart of the menu. The chicken shawarma was the best, gobbed with aioli blended with an amba, a mango pickle with a wonderfully sharp taste; festooned with pickled carrots, the taco made a lovely picture in its cardboard slot, the chicken slightly gritty with a bit of curry. The lamb taco is notable for its distinct flavor and crunchy shallots on top; the brisket taco is worth ordering for its small cup of a bright green herbal sauce merging chimichurri and zhoug. A couple of empanadas are available ($6), including beef and corn with feta, the latter of which was quite good. French fries arrive dusted in herbs and accompanied by the same amba aioli: they’re irresistible. Skip the mushroom taco, described as "al pastor." The filling was slippery and flavorless; the fish taco is another pass, as it’s overdone with breading. The music included some very nice samba and samba rock from Brazilian Beats Brooklyn, an album from artists who had been featured at Black Betty, a nearby club that closed in 2009 — the music was so good, I’d return just to listen, relax, and eat more of those chicken shawarma tacos." - Robert Sietsema