Nicaraguan Food Abound
One of my biggest challenges in life is to stop being a Procrastinator. Not sure how to overcome this, as I have been one for many years now.
Hopefully one day, I will learn how and then you will be seeing alot more posts from me.
My wife is Nicaraguan and one of our many culinary joys is to discover Nicaraguan restaurants. Here in Los Angeles you can't walk 1 block without finding a Mexican or Salvadorean restaurant, but Nicaraguan, those are hard to come by.
Azusa has El Gallo Pinto. I haven't ate there in years, mainly because, Yes the food was decent but after 3 visits, being the only people in the restaurant and still having to wait 30-45 minutes to even get our food, I just lost patience with the place.
South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles has El Nido. Again the food is decent, but they do Karaoke on weekends (during the middle of the day) so I can never hear myself think, let alone try to have a conversation with my table mates. Additionally I have ordered a beverage named "Arroz Con Pina" 3 times and all 3 times they have brought me something that didn't even resemble what my wife says is Arroz Con Pina. All 3 times we have asked the watiress if she brought me the correct drink and all 3 times the waitress has said, "Yes". But we know she didn't.
Staples Center aka Pico Avenue has La 27th. We just discovered this jewel a few months ago and really enjoy it. It's quiet enough, the food is quick and the portions are large tasty. Not to mention they ACTUALLY brought me Arroz Con Pina and it was great. My wife and brother-in-law had tears in their eyes as the food brought back their childhood.
I would post more about La 27th, except I didn't take pictures of the food, so we'll have another posting in the future. But one interesting story about La 27th is it's name. The restaurant has only been open for about 8 years, prior to that the Owners cooked out of their Home. Their home was located on the Corner of 27th and some other L.A. street (the name skips me) so when they opened their restaurant, since folks knew them as La 27th, they kept the name.
Now to the purpose of this post. At 11640 Victory Blvd in North Hollywood is Nica's Kitchen. From the outside of this place you would think, "Why am I going in here". But when you walk in, it's just a non-descript restaurant with a few tables. However the food is wonderful.
I ordered the Chancho con Yucca which are roasted chunks of Pork served with Yucca and topped with a vinegary cabbage slaw. Yucca is a root vegetable that is slightly firmer than a potato. A nice surpise was the SLAB Fried Cheese aka Queso Frito. Most restaurants serve you 1 inche slices, Nica's gives you a 3 inch by 3 inch SLAB.
The portion was soo large, I was delighted to take my leftovers home.
My Brother-In-Law had the Salpicon. Salpicon is ground beef simmered with onions and lime juice. Upon ingesting his first bite he proclaimed "This is EXACTLY how Salpicon should be." His dish included fried Plantains and Gallo Pinto aka White Rice with Black Beans.
Considering Nica's Kitchen is a tad bit closer and less navigation of freeway traffice than La 27th, I will deifinitely be frequenting this place again.
My rating: 3 Notches
Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!
The Food Dude
Hopefully one day, I will learn how and then you will be seeing alot more posts from me.
My wife is Nicaraguan and one of our many culinary joys is to discover Nicaraguan restaurants. Here in Los Angeles you can't walk 1 block without finding a Mexican or Salvadorean restaurant, but Nicaraguan, those are hard to come by.
Azusa has El Gallo Pinto. I haven't ate there in years, mainly because, Yes the food was decent but after 3 visits, being the only people in the restaurant and still having to wait 30-45 minutes to even get our food, I just lost patience with the place.
South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles has El Nido. Again the food is decent, but they do Karaoke on weekends (during the middle of the day) so I can never hear myself think, let alone try to have a conversation with my table mates. Additionally I have ordered a beverage named "Arroz Con Pina" 3 times and all 3 times they have brought me something that didn't even resemble what my wife says is Arroz Con Pina. All 3 times we have asked the watiress if she brought me the correct drink and all 3 times the waitress has said, "Yes". But we know she didn't.
Staples Center aka Pico Avenue has La 27th. We just discovered this jewel a few months ago and really enjoy it. It's quiet enough, the food is quick and the portions are large tasty. Not to mention they ACTUALLY brought me Arroz Con Pina and it was great. My wife and brother-in-law had tears in their eyes as the food brought back their childhood.
I would post more about La 27th, except I didn't take pictures of the food, so we'll have another posting in the future. But one interesting story about La 27th is it's name. The restaurant has only been open for about 8 years, prior to that the Owners cooked out of their Home. Their home was located on the Corner of 27th and some other L.A. street (the name skips me) so when they opened their restaurant, since folks knew them as La 27th, they kept the name.
Now to the purpose of this post. At 11640 Victory Blvd in North Hollywood is Nica's Kitchen. From the outside of this place you would think, "Why am I going in here". But when you walk in, it's just a non-descript restaurant with a few tables. However the food is wonderful.
I ordered the Chancho con Yucca which are roasted chunks of Pork served with Yucca and topped with a vinegary cabbage slaw. Yucca is a root vegetable that is slightly firmer than a potato. A nice surpise was the SLAB Fried Cheese aka Queso Frito. Most restaurants serve you 1 inche slices, Nica's gives you a 3 inch by 3 inch SLAB.
The portion was soo large, I was delighted to take my leftovers home.
My Brother-In-Law had the Salpicon. Salpicon is ground beef simmered with onions and lime juice. Upon ingesting his first bite he proclaimed "This is EXACTLY how Salpicon should be." His dish included fried Plantains and Gallo Pinto aka White Rice with Black Beans.
Considering Nica's Kitchen is a tad bit closer and less navigation of freeway traffice than La 27th, I will deifinitely be frequenting this place again.
My rating: 3 Notches
Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!
The Food Dude
posted by The Food Dude at
9:09 AM
3 Comments
