Monday, May 03, 2010

Amalia's Guatamalan: An easy trip to Central America

Garnachas, Guatemala's answer to sopes, at Amalia's
After stopping by for bean-stuffed plaintains on the Latin American dessert crawl, I reviewed Amalia's Guatemalan Restaurant for the Los Feliz Ledger this month. I love this little house on Virgil with the pleasant patio and I'm glad Amalia's is a cut above the mediocre Thai restaurant that used to be there. Here's an excerpt from the review:
Take dishes familiar to Angelenos like tamales and chile rellenos and add a tropical feel with avocado, plenty of plaintains and a distinctive set of spices, and you’ve got Guatemalan cuisine.
Starters include tamales that differ from the large, corn-husk wrapped Mexican varieties: Tamales de chipilin are small ones with no filling, made for dipping, while chuchitos are small and filled with chicken or pork. Another good starter is garnachas, fried sopapilla-like discs topped with ground beef and curtido, or cabbage salad.
Amalia's sampler plate with longaniza sausage, carne asada, chile relleno and more
Hearty main-course soups are at the heart of the Guatemalan menu. Seafood, chicken and beef soups are comforting choices, but even more distinctive are kakik de pavo ($11), a rich turkey soup spiced with allspice and coriander, and Pepian, made with breadcrumbs, tomatoes and chiles and chicken.
For a taste of several main dishes, try the Plato Amalia ($19). The good-sized sampler platter includes Carne Adobada—deliciously tangy pork marinated in Guatemalan spices; carne asada; local Longaniza sausage with pork, green onion and mint; and a chile relleno stuffed with ground meat and vegetables that’s lighter than the Mexican version. Alternate bites of the meats with flavorful refried black beans, fried plantains, guacamole and freshly-made corn tortillas.

Amalia’s, 751 N. Virgil Ave., 323-644-1515
Amalia's Guatemalan Restaurant on Urbanspoon

7 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

that sampler plate is huge. i am so ready for one.

DailyChef said...

Just from the pictures alone, I definitely have to make a trip.

Jess said...

Definitely on the neighborhood to-try list. Hope they can make it on that cute little corner spot; it's proven to be a tough location for a few previous occupants, but that might also have more to do with the quality of the product offered.

Miles said...

Sounds fabulous. Thanks for the tip.

DoReeNda said...

I love trying new foods from all over world. I'm really looking forward to trying this place out. :)

Anonymous said...

You spelled Guatemala correctly then didn't spell it right then back to wrong...then right again! ughhh!!

puro rojo said...

I been living in LA for 20 years I was born in Guatemala and let me tell you that the food in this place taste even better then the food you eat in Guatemala.I love Churrasco,Carne Adobada and Atol de Elote,,,