A Dominican delight in Greenpoint

By Scott Lynch

Jose Tineo, the owner and operator of El Manjar Dominicano, a new spot on India Street, can tell you about Greenpoint. Tineo was born here; he grew up here; his uncle owns a bodega around the way—and he still lives here, having started his own family not far from his restaurant. But as much as he loves this community, Tineo never thought there was enough good Dominican food around.

“I came up with this idea for El Manjar because I knew there was nothing like this in Greenpoint,” he says. “We have Spanish food around, in the little bodegas, but nothing like this, a real restaurant with a big variety of things.”

Pernil perfection (Scott Lynch)

At El Manjar—which opened “about a month ago,” per Tineo, and where everything is served steam table-style and cooked by his mother Espifania and his tia, Inez—you can order a platter of lovely, sticky pernil, the roast pork of your dreams; a pile of sweet, soft, caramelized maduros, or fried plantains; a crock of lively mondongo, Dominican tripe stew; and, a rare find in any New York neighborhood, chunks of concon, scorched, crispy rice.

And if you don’t know, now mondongo (Scott Lynch)

There’s crackling chicharron, a combination of pork and chicken, mounds of mofungo, several types of empanadas, a hearty-looking oxtail stew. But don’t sleep on the massive mangu breakfast with eggs, fried cheese, salami, and mashed green plantains.

The homemade desserts are all excellent, starting with the sweet corn pudding known as majarete and one of the best slabs of flan I’ve had in ages.

Flantastic! (Scott Lynch)

Servings are large, prices are low, and the food is made with a lot of love. So even though El Manjar Dominicano is Tineo’s first-ever restaurant, and it opened with no real fanfare, the locals have already discovered the place. “I was surprised when I opened how many Spanish people there are around here,” says Tineo. “So many Dominicans, Salvadorans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans. It’s been great.”

El Manjar Dominicano is located at 141 India Street, near Manhattan Avenue, and is currently open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily; 929-295-9200.