La Casita Mexicana - Bell

A real standout Mexican restaurant in L.A. Plus I love mole, and their are so fresh, in all their nutty glory. And it's even better if the rest of the food is really good. I got the three moles with fried chicken and tried a little from most other food. It's okay. You can't skip dessert here. They're from this world. We had the crushed Guavas, and the Churros filled with dulce de leche. Unbelievable. The coffee had cinnamon in it. I just know I don't go back and soon.

For those who live in Los Angeles, Mexican food is part of our culture like Disneyland and Dodgers. Regardless of which part of the city you are, you are obliged to see one, two or more Mexican restaurants in your neighborhood, from fast food joints like Taco Bell and chain restaurants like El Torito to small hole in the wall taquerias and Casual family-run restaurants. If you have tracked my blog for a while, you probably know that while my emphasis tends to be on Asian cuisine, I love trying different cuisine, but the one that I have overlooked in the past was Mexican food. I always felt like there was not enough variety. The menus of the Mexican restaurants I would go into consisted mainly of Tacos, Burritos, Tostadas, Quesadillas, etc. Not that these dishes were not tasty, but once I tried everything, there was nothing to be happy. Only at my first meal in La Casita, my eyes were opened for new and different tasty possibilities that I have never experienced, because I enjoy Koch-Owners, Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu. I have in La Casita for the last 3 years and with every meal, I am only grateful that I am able to expand my view of Mexican cuisine and experience more of its culinary traditions. Since I was a steady visitor of La Casita, I thought I'd share with you some of the dishes that woke me over the years. One thing to mention is that while eating dishes from their regular menu, there were times when I had the menu items as well as one of the assistant organizers of my dining group, Pleasure Palate. It is really a frequent customer and as such, has a special rapport with the two chefs that has led to some quite special meals. I'll be sure to use the menu elements in my descriptions below. If you want to order one of the off-menu items, call in the restaurant and you can record them. As mentioned above, my first visit to La Casita really gave me a new perspective on Mexican cuisine and this first day, the following are some of the dishes that made me say: "I didn't know that Mexican food could be like that." One of our appetizers for this meal was the cream of Pork Rind Soup (off menu). Who would have thought that the crispy goodness of the pork skin could be made a soup? Yeah, it's possible and wow, it was good. Then there was the traditional Mole Poblano with chicken. That was actually my first taste of Mol and the flavors hit my taste buds were amazingly nutty, smokey, a little sweet, a little heat. Just amazing. The two desserts we had this day were very unique. One was the Dulce de Jicama (off menu), kandied Jicama with cinnamon in a creamy sauce. It reminded me of rice pudding, but the Jicama added a nice juicy crunch. The second dessert was Guayabas Con Compope, Guavas in a Mexican monopod. Tart and sweet. Christmas came early. A subsequent visit was a Day of the Dead dinner, where I was introduced to her Tamalito by Green Chile and Panela Cheese with Red Mole (off menu). It was moist with a kick from the delicate chili peppers and the red mol sauce was excellent. This special visit was also where I first tried one of the typical dishes of La Casita, the Chili En Nogada. The Chili En Nogada is a poblano pepper filled with pork, dried fruits, walnuts, candied cactus, pecan cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. I liked how the Poblano hit had a slight crunch. The filling was delicious and the pomegranate seeds only added the right touch of tarity. It was not until a few months after the day of the dead dinner that I was able to revise La Casita and what was a welcome back. While I had to try out some new things, there were definitely a few articles that I wanted to enjoy again like their Cauliflower Cakes (off menu) that were shattered with a red chilli sauce. Cauliflower overall can be quite bland, but not the way it was prepared in La Casita. I was also happy, a repeated taste of her divorced chilaquiles, with one half of the tortillas with salsa and the other with a red chili sauce. I loved how light and crisp the tortilla chips were and always are. As mentioned, there were some new dishes included in our meal. Two of them really stood out. One was the Chiles Rellenos with Fresh Corn and Squash in Chile Rojo (off menu), which was a fresh and bright change of Chili Relleno, which is usually filled with cheese. The fish in a Blackberry Mole (off menu) was really a revelation. In this time I have experienced a variety of moles, from chocolate and pipic moles to green and yellow moles to even green and white moles in La Casita as well as other Mexican restaurants, but none had such a concentration of a particular fruit or ingredient like this blackberry capsule. It was really great, both sweet and tart. In other visits we have ordered strictly from the menu. Make sure to check the two melted cheese dishes. If you love chorizo, a must for you is her cheese fondue with chorizo. Give a piece of tortilla, add a puppet cheese and chorizo, wrap it, eat it and repeat it. Delicious! If chorizo is not your thing, check the Aztec cheese filled with poblano Chile slices, mushrooms and herbs. The cheese for both dishes consists of 4 different Mexican cheeses. Looking for some light? If so, then the mini chicken tostados can be small enough to satisfy without filling you to absolute capacity. How can you go wrong with marinated chicken, Kotija cheese, tomatoes, salad and red onions on the crispy round tortillas? Your Chili Relleno with Hoop cheese is also quite delicious and if you cut a cross section of the poblano pepper, you will immediately see that they definitely do not shy about the care of any cheese craving you have. If you have a sweet tooth, your mini homemade churros will be filled with cajeta or chocolate a smile on your face and if you randomly order a Mexican hot chocolate, dip your churros into this chocolate quality is a must try. As you can see, La Casita is definitely one of my favorite restaurants and only if I think that I can no longer be surprised by chefs Jaime and Ramiro, it happens again. Recently I participated in a 17-course dinner at La Casita, which makes me happy even now from inside to outside. The meal was a mixture of dishes I had in the past, and also, from the menu items like the Tequila-Infused Guacamole with Grasshoppers (off menu). I loved the cream of guacamole and the light crispy, earthiness of dried grasshoppers. We also have to taste their Green Ceviche (off menu), a pollen fish with poblano pepper, cilantro, onions, cucumber and lime juice. Refreshing and tart and I really enjoyed the crunch of the gurke. What a great addition. That would be something perfect for a hot day. The other seafood offer was a fish with a Morita Chile sauce (off menu). This Morita sauce really gave some of my fellow dunes who had untrained palates when it came to spicy food, a rush to a glass of water or bread to calm the flames. Not that I am so much of a chili head, but for me it was just right and reminded me of Tamarinde for some reason. It had a brownish taste I liked. Some of the meal included a recipe demonstration from Chef Jaime and Ramiro to work to make use of a Molcajet when it comes to making salsa. I think Mexican restaurants should make table side salsa. It was funny to see, plus when everything was said and done, that Salsa, who was made right in front of me, was absolutely fantastic. The 17-course extravaganza menu ended with 4 desserts I have already spoken about. Two of them were completely new. At first there were those I would call Arroz Con Leche Tortilla Won Tone (off menu), which was basically rice pudding in a tortilla dish. The last dessert of the evening was Sweet Potato and Pineapple on a Cinnamon/Sugar Tortilla chip (off menu). I liked how the opposing sweet and delicate flavors of the two ingredients balanced out. Overall, if you could not already say it, I am a big fan of La Casita and if everything you ever had from Mexican food was limited to Tacos and Burritos, La Casita will definitely open your eyes as they have what else is when it comes to Mexican cuisine. You just have to take the jump.

We are used to treat Burritos, Tacos and Quesadillas as typical Mexican food. Now we know more about Oaxacan Mole. La Casita Mexicana presents and serves food from the Guadalajaran region of Mexico. I really had a stupid moment when I realized that I had not thought of Mexico as a huge country with regional differences. I was surprised by the fine, complex, fresh, light and delicate, but very familiar taste of the kitchen served in this restaurant. I usually stay away from Mexican food when I try to eat healthy, but I know that this food is fresh and much of it is healthy. I immediately fell in love with the fresh nutty taste of sauces and mols that reminded me of my Korean grandmothers home meal and beans. The fragrant herbs and vegetables in their salsa lure in their strong, just selected aroma and taste. I have eaten many dishes there and there are dishes for every taste.

Chile Relleno de Tamal de Huitlacoche This was the special tonight at La Casita Mexicana It was a huge roasted Pasilla Chile. In the middle there was a clogging of a tampale with splinter cheese in the middle. The huitlacoche (some call it Mexican truffles) was blown into the mascara with whole kernels of Mexican maize. The Chile emptied the tamale and gave him a delicious taste. It rests in a light jitomate sauce. Above the top was a spoon of Mexican crema and a thin slice of red onion. I never had anything like that. Can you imagine the taste of a freshly made tamale sitting in a Chile instead of a corn shell? Also on the specials tonight was a Pescado Tamarindo. It was so simple, gently groomed with a puppet play by Tamarind sauce. I could cry... both were so good. Chef Ramiro was so gracious to share his recipe with me. When I die and go to heaven, I want Saint Peter to say, “Our angels were busy in the kitchen, which plate would you prefer first?” Cecilia

So La Casita was my first visit for last year’s fall dineLA, and a worthwhile one at that. Three of us went, and we each ordered the price fix menu and were all extremely happy with our choices. Here’s what we ordered: Appetizers: Azteca cheese fondue: Each bite had a different surprise – one bite had mushrooms, another had cactus, and another had a chili pepper. Mmmm…and even better with extra chili sauce added. Red snapper ceviche: Light and refreshing without being overly astringent. Chicken tacquitos: I didn’t get to try this but my friend said that they were delicious (no comparison to lame store bought taquitos). Entrees: Mole poblano with chicken: This was my entree of their famous 46 ingredient mole from their grandmothers and included peanuts, pumpkin seeds, chilis, etc. It amazes me how different every restaurant’s mole is, and yet how they each are good in their own way. This had a wonderful deep, earthy flavor and the chocolate really came through in the sauce. My only complaint is that one side of the chicken leg was a little tough for my preferences. Chili en nogada: Another one of La Casita’s specialties. This had a combination of beef, rice, raisins, walnuts, and candied cactus stuffed into a chili and covered with pecan cream sauce with pomegranate. Very unusual flavor combination that somehow manages to marry well. The only drawback was that while this was served warm, it didn’t arrive to the table piping hot, and perhaps that would’ve made it even better. Desserts: Combination of a sweet yam flan, vanilla flan, and corn flan. They were not vastly different from each other in terms of flavor, but my preference was the corn flan which was sooo smooth and creamy. The other two were also delicious, but had a more dense texture (nothing wrong with that, just a matter of taste). Caramel filled churros – I also didn’t try this one, but my friends said that they were really good, and the caramel wasn’t unbearably sweet. Chef Jamie also walked around to the different tables to chat and talk about the meal. He was super friendly and explained how they make everything from scratch, keep fats and oils to a minimum, and use traditional recipes passed down from their family. It is definitely clear in their well developed flavors that these recipes have been worked on for many years, and I was impressed by the fact that their dishes were indeed not greasy. In terms of the rest of the restaurant service, my only complaint was that they didn’t quite have the timing of their dishes right. They would bring out the entrees before we were done with our appetizers, for example, and did the same thing during dessert. The restaurant wasn’t overly crowded, so I was surprised about this. That said, our waiter was very friendly and helpful with our questions about the dishes. All in all, I highly recommend La Casita Mexicana. Moles La Tia is still my preference, for their impressive mole and flan selections and quality, but La Casita is still a must visit. It’s a particularly a good deal during restaurant week, because for $26 (plus tax and tip) not only do you get your appetizer, entree, and dessert, you also get a soup (cactus soup) or fresh salad as well as their special house coffee.