La Cochabambina Restaurant

[deangold]

Needing to kill an hour or three while getting my tires changed at Hillbrook Automotive {where Mr CHoi runs a fabulous old fashioned garage with great work at great prices}, I walked to ChiMc about a block away.  However, while entering the parking lot I noticed La Cachambina in the corner and thought I'd go check the menu.  It had a lot of dishes I was unfamiliar with and I decided to have lunch. Good call.I enjoyed a belly bomb of a lunch for less than the price of a plate of wings and legs at ChiMc.

I had noticed the food truck parked on the service road in front but never put the restaurant and the truck together .  The interior is stark schoolroom 1960 decor but it had a vibrant, bustling energy.  

I had a chicken Saltenas: nicely sweet w/rich chicken gravy and abundant meat/veggie filling. It was warm to hot in temperature and the crust was flaky. Quite good.  My entree was half and half of Enrollado & Escabeche. The former is a head cheese like round sausage with a white skin casing and largish chunks of meat w/a very pleasant porky/funky taste typical of hock.  The escabeche was boiled pig's feet, semi boned.  Both were marinated in a light vinegar sauce and smothered in slivered red onion, tomato {at least they were red and had seeds and looked suspiciously like tomato even if they tasted neutral} with white hominy.  The pato were much like marinated chicken feet yuou might get at Dim Sub, a chewy skin with no flavor that is there for texture and to absorb/carry the sauce.  I think I finished on of three patos. On the other hand the enrollado was a real fun dish.  Dense as heck, I got three large slices which would have been enough.  It was served on a bed of hominy which was bland but worked as a foil.  The salad topping was tasty and only slightly vinegary.

Nothing gourmet but tasty home style cooking served by a delightful waitress enjoying a non native enjoying her home cuisine.  I plan a return visit. The menu lists many moe dishes that are available weekends when I fear this restaurant might be full based on the fact that it was 2/3 full the entire time from 1 till 2.30 on a Friday.  

Lousy beer selection: Heineken, Modelo especial and Corona.  Is that even beer?