Sangria! WARNING: It's a little too easy going down

If there is Sangria on the menu or anything remotely like Sangria you can be sure that Tummy and Mr. Borscht will be ordering it.  Be the Sangria well-made, you can bet that it'll be fairly pricey for a drink, which prompted one evening after Mr. Borscht and Tummy ventured out to Bossa Nova where both had a couple of pricey Sangrias and dinner came home to discuss the possibility of trying to make Sangria themselves.  The two unknowledgeable Sangria lovers only knew a few things about Sangria, that it contained fruit, often apples, some kind of citrus and that it was made of wine.  So when they looked up a well-rated Sangria recipe they were a bit surprised to find how complex Sangria was, but this did not stop them and off they went shopping for the ingredients.

Red wine, check.  Brandy, check.  Triple sec, check.  Oranges, check.  Pomegranate juice, check.  Apples, check.  Blackberries, check.  Pomegranate, check.

Upon coming home Tummy and Mr. Borscht went straight away to work on their new project, home-made Sangria!  The two worked together on the wooden Ikea island, chopping, slicing, peeling.  Glug-glug-glug, the wine poured steadily into the large glass bowl.  Triple sec, juices, diced and chopped fruit all went in.  A big stir.  Wrapped air-tight and put into the refrigerator to marinate for 24 hours.

The making of Sangria was more time-consuming than any other drink Tummy had ever tried making at home, but the floating bits of oranges, apples, berries and pomegranate seeds gave Tummy confidence that it was all worth while.  Had Tummy followed the recipe word-for-word the make-time probably could have been cut in half but instead Tummy opted for the best as usual, and so instead of buying orange juice, she squeezed fresh oranges, instead of buying already picked pomegranate seeds, she bought fresh pomegranates and picked the seeds fresh herself.

The next evening by dinner the Sangria was ready to be had, Tummy ladled two cups of Sangria.  While Mr. Borscht felt as though the home-made Sangria was stronger than the ones served at the restaurant, Tummy thought it absolutely delicious and perfect!  If there was a difference between the Sangria in the restaurant versus the one home-made, the difference was so slight it was barely noticeable.  The large bowl of Sangria served Tummy and Mr. Borscht well for almost a week and the longer the Sangria sat in the refrigerator, unsurprisingly, the better it tasted.

Tummy and Mr. Borscht had a better understanding of why Sangria was pricier, the fruits, the wine, the brandy, the triple sec, the time it takes to make Sangria!  These are all reasons of why the Sangria was $7 a glass at Bosso Nova.  And though the home-made Sangria was absolutely delicious, Tummy learnt it was only worth making once in a while.

Red Wine Sangria Recipe

By Bobby Flay from Food Network

Ingredients:

2 Bottles red Spanish Table Wine (Tummy used 2 Cabs. instead)

1 Cup Brandy

1/2 Cup Triple Sec

1 Cup orange juice (Tummy juiced fresh orange juice)

1 Cup pomegranate juice

1/2 Cup simply syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)

Orange slices (however much to your liking)

Apple slices (however much to your liking)

Blackberries (however much to your liking) 

Pomegranate seeds (however much to your liking)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and let stand in a tightly sealed container or pitcher for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Broome Street General Store

Brother Charlie and Tummy slowly rolled by on Rowena avenue, "it should be here somewhere" Brother Charlie said looking around slowly,"what's the address?"  Tummy asked.  "We already passed it" Brother Charlie replied as he pulled to the middle of the road to make a u-turn to head back the other way, Brother Charlie grasped the steering wheel of the Mercedes hunker he got landed with for the past month and with the other hand fidgeted with his iPhone, fortunately to Tummy's relief Brother Charlie pulled over to take a glance at his slow-loading already bygone iPhone 3.  "It should be around here somewhere" Brother Charlie kept repeating somewhat confused, Tummy was ready for his "this stupid iPhone" excuse but realized she was looking right at the sign, "there it is!" she said excitedly.  Sitting across the street next to a Yoga studio, tucked away next to a gravelly small parking lot was Broome Street General Store.

Broome Street General Store looked like a little cafe from Portland, Oregon.  Tummy's never been to Portland before, but as of late has been thinking seriously about moving there, and this Broome Street General Store is what she envisioned Portland, Oregon to be like.  A little taste of her imaginary Portland sat right on Rowena Avenue, and it was indeed hard for Tummy not to adore it purely from the looks of it outside.  The little cafe and store was surrounded by a white picket fence with seating out front covered by green leafy trees.  People sat in twos and threes, chatting over hot coffee and breakfast pastries on this chilly late morning, watching them gave Tummy a sense of home and a view of an existence of calm happiness.

Not only does Broome Street General Store have the best Americano in town as said by many but like it's name is a general store, and like it's name with the use of old-linguistics "general store" the store is made-up just as rustically as the term sounds.  It is a magical, rustic wonderland with the smell of coffee brewing, a wide assortment of candy in glass jars, baskets full of packaged licorice and dried pasta, shelves lined with dried spices and herbes in small air-tight glass jars, little kitchen nic-nacs such as honey scoopers, tea strainers, glass juice jars, a recipe storage box, round wooden cutting boards, even gardening tools are sold here!  Perhaps for the organic gardener?  Pickled and jarred pickles and carrots, weaved bags for your Farmer's Market shopping!  Little did organic eating, Farmer's Market shopping, window-sill veg growing Tummy know she would enter her version of heaven this day, which funny enough, was in her imaginary Portlandia on Rowena Avenue in Silverlake, Los Angeles.  No doubt Tummy will be thinking of moving to Portland even more so after leaving Broome Street General Store.

The coffee at Broome Street General Store is made with Gimme coffee, the latte is rich, creamy and just right and their Americano is the best in town.  Next time your around in Silverlake looking for coffee, sandwich or simply a candy or two, stop by Silverlake's little slice of Portland, Oregon and don't forget to say "Gimme coffee please!"

The Damage:  $10.00 +/-

2 Mochas

Broome Street General Store
2912 Rowena Ave
LA CA 90039
(323) 570.0405

Bosso Nova Pt.2, Portuguesa Pizza

You may find what I'm about to say a little odd, but here goes anyways... my last visit to Bosso Nova I decided upon a very unlikely dish, pizza, the Portuguesa Pizza to be precise, a thin crust, brick-oven cooked pizza topped with green olives, ham, onions, boiled egg, Brazilian sausage... the pizza was absolutely amazing.  

I never thought to get pizza at Bosso Nova before, but as I sat perusing the menu I realized they had a page full of pizzas, all them quite interesting too.  I decided to opt for a little change to my usual Brazilian dinner at Bosso Nova's and I was more than pleasantly surprised.  The crust was just thin enough with just enough crunch to hold the ingredients.  The combination of toppings on the Portuguesa Pizza I admit was a bit of a gamble, green olives on pizza?  Boiled egg?  What?!  But the tastes came together fantastically, or didn't come together to be more precise.  As the toppings on the pizza are not married as they are in the making of a pasta sauce each individual topping of the Portuguesa could be tasted, and the flavor of each ingredient was just subtle enough, each flavor tasted clean, the egg tasted of egg, the olives of olives, the ham of ham and so on.  Put altogether on one pizza made for a fabulously interesting and yet delicious deliverance.

The Damage:  $20.00 +/-

1 Ponche (Brazilian-style Sangria)

1 Portuguesa Pizza

Bosso Nova

7181 Sunset Blvd

LA CA 90046

(323) 436.7999

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

I recently brought home with me a long-time wanted Cuisenart Ice Cream Maker.  Home-made ice cream?  C'mon, who doesn't want that?  In a time when injecting hormones and spraying chemicals into everything you eat is the norm eating organic and knowing what you're putting into your body has become increasingly important.  There are of course certain ways to filter the pure from the tampered, shopping at your local farmer's market and making sure you buy organic food is a good way to begin, the next step should you have the courage and the will-power to do so, is to make everything from scratch, hence my reasoning for getting an ice-cream maker.

Organic milk?  Check.  Organic heavy cream?  Check.  Organic strawberries?  Check.  Organic sugar?  Check.  Vanilla bean?  Check.

Time to give my new Cuisenart Ice Cream Maker a whirl, will it be as easy as 1-2-3 and super-delicious?  Answers to come!

I must first begin by freezing the freezer bowl for 16-24 hours.  The freezer bowl is the large main compartment that will be responsible for churning and making the milk and cream to ice cream.  So as for, easy as 1-2-3?  This already is not looking so good as I need to freeze my bowl for at least a day for best ice-cream results.  But the good news is, once you have your first batch of ice cream made, simply clean the freezer bowl, wipe dry, and store in the freezer- next time you want to make ice-cream it'll be ready for you, no wait needed!

I then put together the ice cream mixtures, which consisted of pulsed strawberries, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract.  Once the mixture was made it needed to be refrigerated for 2 hours or even over night.  As my freezer bowl was already frozen and ready to be used, I made the ice-cream mixture and refrigerated for 2 hours.  The refrigeration process of the ice-cream mixture is crucial, if the ice-cream mixture is not chilled in the refrigerator the mixture may not thicken to your likeness once in the freezer bowl.  Once again, as easy 1-2-3?  Not so much.

Once my strawberry ice cream mixture had been chilled for about 2 hours in the refrigerator, I took out my freezer bowl, turned it on and poured in my ice cream mixture.  Turning on your ice cream maker before you pour in your mixture is also crucial.  Since the freezer bowl is quite QUITE freezing, any liquid you pour in will instantly become frozen to the walls.

The ice cream maker whirled away, round and round, slowly the mixture thickens! Oooooh...

And it is so interesting to watch too, even though all it does is go round and round.

As the mixture thickens it takes up more volume.  I followed the direction exactly as said in the manual. My ice-cream maker is able to make about a quart and a half of ice-cream, must remember this!  Though I was supposed to keep my ic cream mixing for about 20 minutes, I found I had to stop the mixing process a little sooner as the ice cream was starting to protrude from the top, but all was fine because the mixture thickened quite nicely into ice cream.

I then stored the freshly home-made ice cream and popped into the freezer for the next day's dessert.  In the mean time, Mr. Borscht was busy eating ice-cream out of the freezer bowl and from the mixing paddle attachment.

And because I love this ice-cream maker as it allows me to make my own fresh ice-cream desserts I find it hard to admit that the ice-cream making process was not as easy as 1-2-3.  The freezing of the freezer bowl was the most painful for me, I envisioned bringing home the ice-cream maker and making ice-cream right away, instead I needed to wait a day.  But I found that the wait was well worth it and only needed to be done once since after then on the freezer bowl would be kept stored in the freezer.  Making the mixture was an easy task while chilling the mixture for a couple of hours made it convenient, allowing me to make the ice-cream mixture before thinking about dinner.  And when dinner is almost over, Wah-La!  You simply take out the ice-cream mixture and put it in the ice-cream maker, 20 minutes later... fresh ice-cream.

But the best part about owning an ice-cream maker is that I have complete control over what is going into the ice-cream, so, if you want to make sure your children or simply you are eating organic ice-cream, making your own is the way to go.  And let me tell you, there's no ice-cream better tasting than home-made ice-cream.

Strawberry Ice-Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

1.5 c fresh strawberries, hulled
3/4 c whole milk
2/3 c granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1.5 c heavy cream
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract


Directions:

1.  Chop strawberries in a food processor into the consistency desired.

2.  In a medium-large bowl whisk or use a hand-mixer on low to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the all the sugar has dissolved.

3.  Stir in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and strawberries along with the strawberry juices.

4.  Cover the mixture and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.

5.  Turn on your ice-cream making machine and pour mixture into the freezer bowl.  Ice-cream should be done 15-20 minutes, you may leave the ice-cream in for longer or take out sooner depending on the desired consistency.  If a firmer ice-cream is wanted, remove the ice-cream into an air-tight storage container and place in the freezer.

6.  Remove ice-cream from the freezer 15 minutes prior to serving.

I don't really even like Yogurt, but I love this one!

When I was a child my mother used to give me yogurt every morning, I woud sit there for a hour if I was unlucky and stare down at this small container (which seemed awfully large at the time) of this gooey, thick and sometimes lumpy something.  Needless to say, I hated yogurt as a child.  Now, I eat yogurt, not with the same zest and joy as some but definitely not with the kind of disgust I had for it as child.  And so, though I'm no fan of yogurt and still do not like yogurt very much, I consume yogurt because of the convenience it allows me, it's fast and easy.

I've tried many types of yogurt and have found that the Trader Joe's brand of yogurt seem to agree with my palate more than others.  I've tried Trader Joe's French Village, Trader Joe's Organic Pro-Biotic and just recently Trader Joe's Organic lowfat Yogurt.

Trader Joe's Organic Lowfat Yogurt is by far the best tasting and best textured yogurt I have consumed in my entire life, do I dare say that I even like it?   Well, here I am blogging about how great this yogurt is, this should be a sign.  I tried the strawberry flavored yogurt and found the flavor was not too strong or syrupy as some taste, instead, light and almost vanilla-like.  Best of all the yogurt texture was creamy and smooth, not lumpy or thick as most yogurts are.

Trader Joe's Organic Lowfat Yogurt is currently the best yogurt I've experienced, so if you yourself are a yogurt consuming individual, give this one a try.

Monsieur Marcel Pt.2, Beet salad special & Jambon d'espagne

Lunch with Papa Tapeworm, just Papa Tapeworm and I, quality father daughter time at the mall and a lunch to follow... at Monsieur Marcel, one of my favorite French eateries in Los Angeles.

We sit down at a table, and as Monsieur Marcel is located outside as part of the Farmer's Market in Los Angeles we are able to enjoy the nice sunny weather, and watch as the many people shop in and out of stalls and stores.

We sit shaded by the bright sun by the awnings of the structure and talk of life, love and relationships, I am soon to be married you see, and as of late these father daughter outings have been increasing, and very often we talk of love and life, it's uncertain qualities and excitements.  And so today, like all other father daughter times as of late, we talk again of those things as we wait for our lunch to be served.

Tummy had a feel for a filling salad, upon reading on the board "Specials:  Roasted beet salad" I was convinced this is what I wanted to try.  I envisioned a bowl of fresh wild greens with a mound of roasted beets, crumbled feta cheese and walnuts, instead I received a plate with a short cylindrical mound of roasted beet salad tossed in what I suspected to be a tangy roast beet dressing, the cylindrical mound was topped with crumbled feta, on the side was a rather small portion of greens and walnuts.  It was beautifully plated but damn near impossible to eat.  These long stemmed greens on the side were tangled together and so wanting to eat just a few meant eating the whole bunch that sat on my plate, and as dainty and cute these greens were because of their dainty petit size kept falling off my fork.  The roasted beets were sauced up in a red beet dressing that was too tangy for my taste and though the feta cheese added a bit of salty flavor to shake it up, it didn't quite do the trick.  I was not pleased with this roasted beet salad special, was it not only uninteresting in taste but hard to eat as well which made it impossible to keep a good conversation during lunch.

Papa Tapeworm opted for a better dish, the Jambon d'espagne from their Lunch Sandwich section of the menu, imported serrano ham, roasted pepper and manchego cheese on a fresh baguette.  The sandwiches here at Monsieur Marcel are simple yet delicious.  Brother Charlie and Mr. Borscht have complained that this jambon sandwich contained too much meat, in my book this is a matter of preference, if you happen to love serrano ham, as I do, you will think it the perfect amount.  The sandwich comes with a side of lightly dressed green salad.

There is nothing fancy about the Jambon sandwich or any of the other sandwiches available at Monsieur Marcel, they merely contain a few ingredients, but the sandwiches shine bright at Monsieur Marcel because only the best ingredients are used, and one can really sample the quality of the meats and cheeses in their sandwiches.

The Damage:  $30.00 +/-

1 Beet salad special

1 Jamon sandwich

Monsieur Marcel
6333 W. 3rd Street (Southeast side of the Farmer's Market)
LA CA 90036
(323) 939.7792

Palermo

There is this Italian restaurant on Vermont, located on the same cute street where Figaro Bistrot is also located, the street is lined with independent bookstores, cafe, shops, a small theater and restaurants.  Brother Charlie and I have passed Palermo many times, somewhere from the grapevine it reached our ears that Palermo was the place to go.  On a Sunday night for our family dinner we ended up at Palermo's.

The temperature is dropping during Christmas time and while Euro-heads and peeps from the east coast laugh at us, for they the mighty cold frontsmen know that a mere 48F is nothing compared to their frozen winters!  There we were that night, shivering, and huddling into Palermo's, awaiting our table for 10.

Palermo's is rather large, and on Sunday night seems to be quite busy, but as busy and hectic as the waiters and host are they are never to busy to be accommodating and friendly.  You can wait for your table with a glass of red or white wine for a mere dollar.  Numerous pictures of celebrities line the walls, you can take a look at their wine selection for sale, or even their Italian goodies: crackers, candies and such that are also for sale.

My sister having two little boys knows her stuff, well... she definitely knows how to keep the boys occupied.  The little dumpling seated above is kept quiet and in place with none other than the best baby-sitter at work, the iphone.

While some restaurants serve complimentary bread, okay, while most restaurants are serving complimentary bread at Palermo's they serve small slices of Pizza.  The bread is thick and chewy, the flavors wonderful, the tomato sauce is tangy and sweet, the cheese minimal and the tomatos taste fresh.

My mother orders a large ceasar salad, she must be on a diet!  Who in the heck orders a ceasar salad for dinner at an Italian restaurant?!  I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to taste the salad but suspect it tasted like... a ceasar salad?

Brother Charlie orders Chicken Diane, full of white sauce and chunks of chicken, this dish was probably my least favorite.  The sauce and the chicken was not very flavorful and dare I say a bit boring with just chicken and white cheesy sauce which is most likely made of cream and cheese.  This is definitely one dish I would suggest skipping should you find yourself at Palermo's.

Mr. Borscht goes with his Italian restaurant go-to dish, the Chicken Marsala.  It is unlike any Chicken Marsala I have ever seen but the sauce is delicious and I love the side of steamed vegetables on the side.

Tummy orders a half order of meat Cannelloni, a large pasta tube filled with ground beef topped with marinara sauce and melted cheese.  The marinara sauce is wonderful, like the sauce on the complimentary pizza it is tangy yet slightly sweet and tastes of fresh tomatoes.  The ground meat is melt in your mouth and though I'm not too sure of this meat texture, for what kind of ground beef melts in your mouth?  Together, the entire dish is quite to my liking.

Other things that were ordered were the Veal Parmigiana and the meat ravioli with meatballs, unfortunately neither of these two dishes were well received.  

The meal ended with complimentary dessert, tiramisu, and this was quite a treat as the tiramisu was very delicious.  The taste of coffee was apparent and the liquor soaked bread was a delight!

And while the meal turned out to be enjoyable as the food was plenty, the experience new, and the help amazingly cheerful and friendly (as you'd expect a family-run Italian restaurant to be) the food in general was not all that it was cracked up to be.  

The next day I looked in the refrigerator to heat up Mr. Borscht's Chicken Marsala leftovers I realized that it had become one solid form, between and around the chicken and noodles was a block of orange something, from the fat of the cheese and butter I suspect, we did not eat the leftovers and had to throw it away, afraid of receiving an immediate heart-attack had we tried to consume it.  This evaluation of the food however did explain why I was up half the night with a tummy-ache.  I suspect that if you are not one that consumes a lot of fat and grease this may have the same affect on you.  And maybe it was the cheese or maybe the pasta, perhaps the fat content but I was unable to go #2 (you know the #2 I speak of) for 3 days.

Brother Charlie and Tummy had a small but good discussion about Palermo's, and unanimously voted that the food we ordered was less in taste than expected but thought it important to give it another go, but this time for the pizza.  We suspect that the Pizza is what it's all about at Palermo's, we should have taken a queu from all the other customers with pizza on their table, another example of how often times it is hard to see what is right infront of you.

Little dumpling at the end of dinner, he lost his sweater but not the iphone!

Palermo Italian Restaurant
1858 N. Vermont Ave
LA CA 90027
(323) 663.1178

Dinner at Bosso Nova on Sunset

When it comes to Brazilian food in Los Angeles there is only one place that I love to go, Bosso Nova.  There's a couple of different Bosso Novas around Los Angeles, the one that I prefer is the one located in West Hollywood on Robertson, located in where is often called "gay-town" (you can probably figure out why) the restaurant is located in a lively area full of bars and restaurants, the food is great there.  

However, there is another Bosso Nova located on Sunset Blvd, closer to my home.  And so on this night Mr. Borscht and I craving a yummy brazilian meal and too starved to make it all the way to the west side decide to try Bosso Nova on Sunset Blvd.

The atmosphere is most different here on Sunset's Bosso Nova, the din of the restaurant is quieter, the restaurant itself is more sophisticated and fine-dining like opposed to Robertson's fun and loud atmosphere.  There are couples on dates, there are co-workers still in their work attire getting dinner, a group of girls are having a girls' night out- it is this kind of dining place I realize, and I am much too much casually dressed I feel in my black skinny jeans, rock t-shirt and converse.

They even serve complimentary bread here, but it is slightly tough and not warm, and this tummy loves warm, soft bread.  Even at the brink of starvation the complimentary bread is not delicious.

We order the Brazilian version of Sangria, Ponche, it is absolutely delicious, slightly sweet and very much like Sangria, the Ponche goes down easy, I think I may even prefer this Ponche to Sangria.  This is the first winning point for Sunset Bosso Nova!  Though I'm sure they serve Ponche at Robertson as well.

I order what I usually order at Robertson for the sake of comparison, the Picanha steak.  The meat is different here.  So different in fact that I thought I received the wrong dish, I even asked the waiter if this was the Picanha steak I had ordered, he of course said "yes".  The meat at Robertson's is bigger and thinner with much more flavor, as I eat my steak I begin to doubt whether I merely ordered the wrong dish, 'perhaps I don't usually order the Picanha'.  The steak at Robertson is soft, the steak at Sunset is hard to cut through and a bit too chewy for my liking.  The steak comes with plantains, rice and beans.  The plantains are not as sticky and sweet as Robertson's, the rice and beans however taste the same.  But I do especially love the sticky, sweet plantains and so I am bit disappointed tonight.

Mr. Borscht orders the chicken Stroganoff, the dish usually comes with a side of rice but Mr. Borscht has opted for mashed potatoes instead.  The chicken swimming in its sauce was flavorful with a peppery and paprika smoky taste, the mashed potatoes were also absolutely wonderfully soft and creamy, not at all dry.  It seems this evening Mr. Borscht has got me beat with his choice of plate.

What can I say?  Robertson Bosso Nova is still my first choice.  The ambiance, the liveliness, the flavor-rich food (which is a bit lacking at Sunset Bosso Nova), in my opinion all of these qualities are needed to enjoy Brazilian food and while the food at Sunset Bosso Nova wasn't terrible, it lacked the Brazilian quality, the richness in the food was lacking, the dishes were all too... nice and prim- not very Brazilian in my opinion, and the ambience and interior of the restaurant followed suit, another fault.  But perhaps I went in expecting to find Robertson Bosso Nova?  Perhaps it is in our advantage to have two different styles of Bosso Nova, one for a delicious late night dinner after a night out in town and one for... everything else.

Well, let me step back and compare apples to apples.  The food, Robertson Bosso Nova is the winner.  Need I say more?

The Damage: $56.83

2 Ponche

1 Coulotte Steak Picanha

1 Chicken Stroganoff

Bosso Nova

7181 Sunset Blvd

LA CA 90046

(323) 436.7999

Tinga

I couldn't possibly eat everything I wanted without paying for it, hence my Yoga practice, though I don't think "paying for it" quite describes it correctly since I genuinely do love Yoga.  I only mention my Yoga because it is the place where I was told about Tinga.  Arriving at the Yoga studio minutes before my class I chatted it up with the very friendly front desk person, on this particular day we were talking of food and he mentioned Tinga, a yummy but small Mexican restaurant on La Brea with interesting flavors that was inspired by La Superica located in Santa Barbara. At the mention of Santa Barbara and La Superica my ears perked up and he now had my full attention, "I used to live in Santa Barbara, La Superica is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants there!" I say to him, "oh!  You should totally go to Tinga then" he says to me, and so I make a mental note.

A few days later Brother Charlie and I visit Tinga on La Brea, located next door to Midi Cafe.  Tinga is small with a couple tables outside and tables inside.  A huge black-board is the menu, the interior is very urban and the first thing that runs through my mind is that this "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican food restaurant is very Los Angeles.  I read through the menu and my first feeling is that the food here is interesting and reads most nothing like La Superica, but I try not to get disheartened, reminding myself that this is a new experience and so I must have a clean slate at which to judge.

We order in line at the register and sit down with a number, "11", and this is very odd I now realize because this is the third time that the number 11 has come up on The Adventures of Tummy.  Brother Charlie orders a watermelon juice, it is not sweet but a bit sour- Yuck!  I do not like it.  Tummy ordered a Horchata, the color is funny, it is a little bit too white, I take a sip and then another and realize that my Horchata lacks in that milky and cinnamony taste and that it is instead too sweet for my liking- I am sad, this is not looking too good.

But my negative thoughts of Tinga are diverted as they were beginning to form for lunch was brought to the table.  My order of Tinga Tostada which comes in pairs.  Crispy corn tortilla on the bottom, Tinga marinated shreds of chicken, shredded lettuce, pickled red cabbage, feta cheese.  I eat and realize that the tostada is difficult to eat, the chicken is tangled together and I am eating more chicken than I like, half way through the first tostada I've already eaten all the chicken and all I am left with is the crispy tortilla shell.  Aside from the pleasant saltiness of the pickled cabbage and the feta cheese, the Tinga Tostada made me very sad.  "This is nothing like La Superica" I say to Brother Charlie.

Brother Charlie opts to order a side of Elote, a grilled corn mixture that contains spices, feta cheese, sour cream and guacamole.  It is pleasant to eat as it has a rustic feel from the flavor of the slightly charred corn.  But it too, does not blow my mind.

Maybe I came with too high expectations, I heard La Superica and got excited, I imagined the little shack on the corner with a line outside it's door, the cerveza, the freshly made corn tortillas, the authentic Mexican comfort food... I came with all this in mind and realized no, Tinga was not at all like La Superica.  Instead of authentic Mexican comfort food with it's deep, saturated yet simple flavors I received Mex-L.A., and it wasn't even a very good impression at that.  Trying a little too hard I found Tinga to be too exotic to be considered Mexican, after all, no one really wants mushrooms in their quesadilla, no bean on their tostada, nor cinnamon-less horchata.  Thus, if you are looking for Mexican food this is definitely not the place to go.

The Damage: $30.00 +/-

1 Horchata

1 Watermelon juice

1 Tinga Burritto

1 Order of Tinga tostada

1 Side order of Elote Special

Tinga Buena

142 S. La Brea

LA CA 90036

(323) 954.9566