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Coco Rico, Springfield - Peruvian Roast Chicken on Franconia and Loisdale Road


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*uses Oprah voice*....I GET IT, PEOPLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!
Wow, I can't believe this is the first Peruvian chicken for me--after reading so many rave about it. Those chickens schmeared with crack. So juicy, so tender.
I had 1/4 chicken at Pollo Coco Rico and the seasoning made me swoon on the first mouthful. The green chili dip isn't for me. I like to keep my buds fully cabable of tasting. The mayo (white sauce) however, was used liberally. Very, very good!
The dish came with fries or yucca, and a small side salad.

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Picked up take out tonight. Wow! What if I told you you can get a whole chicken, as flavorful as anything this side of El Pollo Rico, with the typical mayo sauce and cilantro sauces -- only this green sauce is packed with serious heat -- with sides of rice and one of fried yucca or french fries -- and on Monday night a free 2-liter soda....AND....!!!!

...HOMMUS, BABA GHANOUJ, AND TABOULI (AND PITA)...!!!!

Holy shit! All for $25, and the perfect combination of rotisserie chicken with Middle Eastern sides....is this heaven? YES!!!

Turns out Fady Joubran runs this place, and he's as Lebanese as you and me....well, at least me. The young Hispanic lady at the counter indicated to me that everything is Lebanese, including the chicken. I have an inkling that the mayo and cilantro sauces (incredibly spicy) and the yucca are somewhat alien to my Middle Eastern culture, as is the term "pollo" -- we use "دجاجة" or "djaj"....

This place falls under the category of "what an incredible find"...!

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Darted into Coco Rico earlier this week for a quick meal.

Pros: The green sauce burst with freshness and flavor. Yucca served hot and crispy, deftly fried to order, not sitting around for 17 forevers.

Buttermilk dressing on the house salad offered a step above the usual, afterthought-assembled "Italian" vinaigrette that comes standard at many Peruvian chicken joints.

A large portion for the housemade flan, a happy ending*.

Cons/Other Observations: When I arrived around 5:00, the music was loud enough to lobotomize. Around 5:15, a manager (Fady?) walked in from outside. The volume dropped immediately. When the cat is away, the mouse does par-tay!

Perhaps it was an off night, but the chicken was an emphatic "meh". The quarter dark meat was amply juicy, but mostly silent on the flavor front, with no hint of crispy skin. Yellow sauce lacked depth/interest/accent.

My verdict: Met the craving while I was in the neighborhood, but probably won't return unless I'm already nearby and want to get my yucca on.

*(i can never go to springfield without singing a certain, showtune-worthy simpsons song)

(spring!)

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*(i can never go to springfield without singing a certain, showtune-worthy simpsons song)

(spring!)

Springfield, Springfield? It's a hell of a town. The schoolyard's up and the shopping mall's down...

New York? It's that-a-way, man! (Which is probably where you'll find all the yucca and green sauce in *that* Springfield, anyway!)

:(

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Ordered a whole chicken at Coco Rico. Both dark and white meats were dry and the skin had no hint of crispness. Any spices were nonexistent, thankfully the sauces had some flavor. If it wasn't a rather inexpensive meal and I wasn't so hungry I would be upset.

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My sister and I stopped here for lunch on Saturday as we were in the area and both had been wondering about it.  Each of us got a 1/4 dark meat chicken plate.  I got steamed veggies and plantains for sides, she got yucca and black beans.  The chicken skin was flabby, chicken itself was overcooked, stringy and no hint of marinade or charcoal flavor to it.  Decidedly meh chicken.  The sides, however, were perfection.  Yucca was greaseless, hot, puffy, light and crispy, beans were smokey and creamy tender, plantains were caramelized evenly to a rich medium brown, the steamed veggies were surely a frozen mix reheated, but still hot and steamy and not mushy and made a nice hot salad when topped with a mix of the white & green sauces.   If the yucca would travel well, I would get that and other sides, and then head up to Annandale to Chicken Pollo for the bird.

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