Los Angeles: Casa Cocina y Cantina

*Post by Angela.

Last week, I found myself in downtown LA, sans Mark (who was off having food adventures of his own in New Jersey, and had, incidentally, taken our nice camera with him, leaving me with my old point and shoot).  Needing some dining companions, I met up with Twitter friends @IndieBeanie and @frankstarke for dinner around the corner from my hotel at Casa Cocina y Cantina. The food was solid and the vibe was fun, making it the perfect place to meet up with new friends and chat the night away.

Taking advantage of the fact that the weather in LA was perfect (as opposed to the sauna that DC has become this summer), we opted to sit outside, where the white circular furniture swirled around the young, well-dressed crowd.

 

We started with the tacos al pastor, spit-roasted, “crackling” pork and applewood bacon, caramelized pineapple, tomatillo-avocado salsa, in housemade corn tortillas. The pork was, in turns, crispy and tender, and the combination of fatty bacon and sweet pineapple was so good I can't believe I've never thought of it before.

We also ordered the flautas de pollo, crispy, rolled flour tortillas with tomatillo-marinated shredded chicken breast, jalapeno-cilantro salsa, smoked queso and guacamole. These were very good, if not mind-blowing - perfectly fried and seasoned.

We ended the night with the "Nacho Madre's Nachos," three tiers of crispy tortillas, cut tableside, loaded with melted cheese, black bean puree, crema, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, guacamole, and barbacoa braised beef. The tasty tower was not only visually impressive, but genius as well - unlike the usual glop of goodies on top of chips, which leaves you with both soggy chips and naked chips, the toppings were evenly distributed across the tortilla tiers. The beef was the tiniest bit stringy and overly chewy, but it was still very flavorful.

While I'm not sure I would come back to Casa for the food alone given the countless authentic Mexican options available in Los Angeles, it's a pretty great downtown option for meeting with friends for drinks and a few quick bites.

Comments

[Trina]

Whoa... I feel all celebrity 'n stuff. :)

[Angela]

Well, hopefully it's just the first of many food adventures we'll have together!