I was happy to stop by El Gran Castillo de Jagua yesterday. Forced to leave its grand old digs at Flatbush & Park, it moved close by last month, to a vacant diner at 355 Flatbush. For a post-lunch time of day, the restaurant had a fair number of occupied tables, and take-out customers waited at the counter. It was good to talk to the guys there, and wish them well at the new place. It's close enough to the old spot to keep the regulars stopping in, and being next to the friendly Sharlene's makes it a good location to pick up new diners. It doesn't have the looks of the original El Gran Castillo, it has to be said, but the warmth of the welcome and the great food are the same as ever, and it's just so nice to know that it's survived.
For a hot day, chicken soup might seem an unlikely choice, but this is the best chicken soup I've had at any restaurant in the city - thick with meat and the liquid fragrant beyond words. I took a tub home with me for supper.
It's important to help a business that's been forced to go through the stresses and expenses of relocation. Go over to 355 for the entirely pleasurable experience of helping El Gran Castillo reestablish itself . One visit, and you'll be hooked for good.
Turfed out on Park Place
Park Place & Flatbush - Jeremiah's Vanishing New York
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