Cariño's tacos de rajas con crema/ courtesy Metromix

Since this Tuesday’s taco is one I sampled last night at Metromix’s Hot Plate Live, I’m going to be lazy and roll this all into one post. The tacos in question — the divine tacos in question — were one of the offerings from Cariño, tiny tacos de rajas con crema, or tacos with cheese, cream and roasted poblanos. Like all good tacos, they were simple but perfect — slightly decadent from the cream, smoky with a little heat from the peppers. Earlier this year I raved about Cariño in the Brooklyn Paper, so I was glad to see it live up to my earlier kind words. I will definitely be headed back soon.

The purpose of Hot Plates Live is to sample a whole bunch of new places — handpicked by the editors at Metromix — for just $15. That way, you can decide which places are worth your while without shelling out the big bucks. This time around was the events second foray into Brooklyn dining, with representation from Benchmark, Blue Bottle Coffee, Branded Saloon, Cariño, Fornino Park Slope, Mile End, Mode Bistro, Osteria Il Paiolo, Radish, St. Anslem and 1 or 8. I’d eaten at about half the spots, and was excited to see 1 or 8, which was one of my favorite new spots this year.

Our favorite bites were hands down the lavish, four-item spread at Cariño, the brisket on rye at Mile End and the stewed pork with corn and cilantro sour cream at Branded Saloon. Yum.

We were distinctly unimpressed by Fornino — shrimp skewered and stuck into a flavorless cup of white beans — and Mode Bistro’s overly fishy (and not in a good way) tuna and salmon tartare’s, which were served on potato chips that where greasy and chewy rather than crisp.

Everything else though — definitely worth a trip to the brick and mortar locales if you haven’t already been.

The Metromix folks even caught Lauren on camera thoroughly enjoying her Mile End.