THEJNSREPORT

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Justine Restaurant Food Review 2013

Awe Sooky sooky now!! In my last Review I encountered Polash Indian Cuisine!! This time around my palate suggested I go with Spanish cuisine.  My sister told me of a pretty good Spanish Food restaurant in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium.  The name of the place is Justine Restaurant.  Justine is located at the corner of 167th St and River Ave in the Bronx just under the 4 train.   Slightly miffed that I dared question her as to whether she knew of good Spanish food places in the area my sister asked “You don’t trust me?”

How wrong I was to have ever doubted her.  I decided to grab a menu and get the food order to go especially as per their to go menu, if you wish to dine in it’s an extra $5 added to your check.  Always busy and on the go I decided it was nice inside but not enough to warrant paying to eat in.  Take a look at the menu.

No lie, no sooner than I’d stepped to the counter to order, did a steady stream of customers begin pouring into this place.  At that moment I realized Justine had to be good for customers to be flocking here especially with their slightly high prices in my opinion.  However, I’ll let you be the judge.

Their Menu

In any event after having looked over their menu and seeing that they offered one of my favorite combinations I went with the following…

Chicharron de Pollo sin Hueso

Chicharon de Pollo sin Hueso means for those of you who are not Spanish speaking or literate, Fried chunks of chicken without bones.  It gets better.   I realized I had been given an abundance of limes with my order and then it happened… Out came the utensils and Hot Sauce!!!

This is what you call “The question.”

Yes Lord!!!!!!!!!

After a few gentle squeezes of fresh lime onto some of the chicken chunks I went to work with my tools.

See what I saw.  I saw that someone knows and cares about what they’re doing.  Without question I got my money’s worth folks.

My tools

We’ll begin with the arroz amarilla con habichuelas.  Generally speaking, as a person of simple tastes I like simple dishes done but done well.  Rice and beans is an always welcome basic food combination in my house let alone gullet.  Justine does rice and beans very well.  The rice was perfectly seasoned and cooked full of flavor and taste yet not salty which for me is essential.  When and if I desired more of an acidic taste I merely picked up a piece of lime wedge and squeezed some lime juice onto my meal.  Mmmmm mmmmm!!!! Me entiendes?!!!!

The Chicken was perfectly seasoned, lightly floured, and fried to a glorious light golden brown.  A few bites full without hot sauce allowed me to appreciate the chunks on their own before the supplied hot sauce was lightly drizzled on and around the chicken.  The hot sauce was ok.  I’d say not as bad or watered down as say Chinese food restaurant hot sauce, but no where near as good as say from a quality bottle brand.

I spoke to the Chicharron and it spoke back.  I started to answer the question. And the question continued tantalizing me with it’s tight juicy chunks.   I looked on a little while longer before laying waste to an excellent meal.    The marriage between the chicken chunks, the limes, the rice and beans and the hot sauce was awesome and delicious and required almost no sips of a beverage to wash down while I ate.

If you’re ever in the Bronx and near Yankee stadium in need of some good home cooked Spanish Food then Justine’s Restaurant is a can’t miss.  They are worth their salt and prices.

I thanked God and was reminded of how fortunate I am to be able to enjoy such a good meal whereas there are many who are not so fortunate.  Here’s a toast to good basic qualities of life.

Till next time this has been THEJNSREPORT’S: Justine Restaurant Food Review 2013!!!