Ix Restaurant

Head to This Block in Brooklyn for the Best Guatemalan and Mexican Fare | Eater NY

"I found Ix (pronounced “eesh”), named for a Mayan goddess and opened by sisters Brenda Castellanos and Ana Prince in late 2017, on a short block of Lincoln Road not far from Prospect Park. The small space has serpentine seating inside and out and is decorated with a painting of a jaguar and a Mayan temple at Tikal. As with the Guatemalan bodegas that preceded it, the menu centers on eight typical soups (priced $13 to $15), which drew me in: caldo de chipilín features chipilín, a green leafy vegetable native to Central America (called longbeak rattlebox in English) that becomes slightly sour and slippery when cooked and, here, is immersed in chicken broth with rice and shrimp — I loved it; pepián, fortified with ground pumpkin seeds and achiote paste for a brick-red color, tastes of cumin and cinnamon and boasts a trio of chiles; and caldo de ají amarillo is an intensely yellow potage served with blue corn tortilla chips (dump the chips in the soup). The international breakfasts, sandwiches, and salads are fine but nothing remarkable — a satisfying Cubano is made along classic lines, a “TPC” (turkey, peanut butter, and coconut) goes untried, and a caprese croissant is perfect brunch fare though not particularly Guatemalan. A roster of 10 hot cocoas ($5–$6) is a further nod to Mayan heritage: my favorites were the almond-and-cinnamon version with slivered nuts afloat and a frothy top and another spiked with fresh ginger and cayenne; the aguado is a bitter, dairy-free cocoa closer to the Mayan original." - Robert Sietsema