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