Food Fusion

New York is widely known for it’s unique ability to draw in millions of people from vastly different cultures around the world. New York’s stunning diversity can be seen in a plethora of different ways including through it’s many cultural neighborhoods, nearly one hundred different museums, world-renowned parades and celebrations, hundreds of monuments, and of course… it’s food. New York City is home to every cultural food known to man, and indeed a hungry tourist could find just about any food culture that he/she could possibly bring to mind. In fact, there is so much food culture in New York that very often restaurant’s won’t commit to just one kind.

At the forefront of culinary innovation is fusion cuisine, a unique style of food that combines the traditions of two or more completely different cultures to create one, all new, unique take on old favorites. Fusion restaurants have become quite hip, and restaurants with the most unlikely combinations can become the next big craze.

Lucky Luna's Daily Specials

A particular fusion that comes to mind is the strange combination of Mexican and Taiwanese foods popularized by Lucky Luna, a small family-owned eatery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A family with both Mexican and Taiwanese heritage that wanted to borrow the best aspects of both their Mexican and Taiwanese cooking in clever new ways and Lucky Luna was born.

As soon as a hungry customer walks into Lucky Luna they can tell that they are in for a more exciting food experience than they could have hoped for when they look around at the inside of the modest space beautifully decorated with arts with both Mexican and Taiwanese flairs. Once the menu is casually dropped off at the table it is hard to wait to see what crazy concoctions a mix of two seemingly opposite foods could conjure up. It can be impossible to decide what to order off of a menu as complex as Lucky Luna’s, but it would be criminal to pass over Lucky Luna’s signature dishes: their taco’s and steamed buns.

Lucky Luna's Chorizo and Pork Belly Taco's

On my trip to Lucky Luna I made sure to try as many different tacos and buns as I could, and ended up ordering one Duck Confit Bao (bun), one Pork Belly Bao, one Chorizo and Potato taco, and one Pork Belly and Kimchee taco. Starting with the buns, I was immediately impressed by the luscious, soft, steamed bun made right in Brooklyn and the soft tender meat of duck and pork. Each of the buns had a deliciously creamy sauce that combined the sweetness of Taiwanese cuisine with the spicy kick one would expect from a Mexican taco. The taco’s were just as good with flavorful combinations of hot, savory pork and chorizo and cool, crisp veggies on a warm tortilla. The chorizo taco was particularly good, combining the classic Mexican hot chorizo with creamy aioli.

No matter where you are in New York City, it’s worth the short subway ride to get down to Greenpoint, Brooklyn and try the delicious Taiwanese-Mexican fusion offered by Lucky Luna.