Text 9606, 73 rader
Skriven 2014-02-07 16:12:24 av Nancy Backus (1:261/1381.0)
   Kommentar till text 9474 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Re: long lost end 140
=============================
-=> Quoting MICHAEL LOO to ALL on 03 Feb 14  19:50:00 <=-

 ML> took me to El Latino, a palace of Dominican goodness in what
 ML> looks like a former KFC. It was not yet quite lunchtime, but
 ML> the parking lot was full, with lots of defensive driving
 ML> necessary amid the dodge'em cars.

It is indeed a former KFC...  ;)  If I remember correctly, that should
have been "no longer lunchtime", as I think the laundromat had taken us
into the afternoon...  :)   Rarely is the parking lot empty... they tend
to have a pretty steady business from opening to closing.  Of course,
there isn't a lot of parking anyway, as it is mostly right along the one
side of the building, with some overflow at the far back... 

 ML> We shared what I think was a medium plate of roast pork;
 ML> maybe it was a small, and it was plenty. This came (Nancy's
 ML> choice of sides) with plantains two ways (mashed green and
 ML> fried ripe) and a surprisingly savory boiled cabbage dish
 ML> that I ate altogether too much of. 

It was a medium, since it came with the cabbage as well as the side of
mashed green plantain (mangu).  The more common side is yellow rice and
beans, which is also decent, and always a huge portion...  We were
introduced to the mangu as an alternative by our son who had discovered
it in his more frequent visits to El Latino..  :)

 ML> To me, there's no point in ripe plantains, as they might
 ML> as well be not-so-good bananas, but what the heck, they 
 ML> were filling and tasted okay.

Interesting that you'd say that... as I'm not at all partial to bananas,
but do like the ripe plantains, at least on occasion... and, ok, I'll
admit it, in small doses..   :)   But they do make a nice fried plantain
there, at least usually.. :)

 ML> The food in general was delicious but unspicy
 ML> (despite its being on Chili Avenue), and the choice of hot
 ML> sauces was meager and also largely unspicy. I guess that
 ML> Dominicans don't do heat much.

Of course, that's pronounced with long 'I's... "Ch-eye-lye", not chili..
I've never tried their hot sauces, either... did you actually check them
all out...?  Probably a Jamaican restaurant would have spicier food...
we could try one of those next... ;)

 ML> We were well satisfied, and I would most happily return.

There's lots of other choices... their ox-tails are particularly nice...
and I enjoy their baked chicken (dark, of course) as a different option.

 ML> Dinner was a sort of afterthought, mostly to feed Richard:
 ML> red-sauce gizzards of the normal sort.

Which he'd never had, and were quite tasty...  :)

 ML> I was taken to the airport not too early but in time to
 ML> visit the famed Clock of the Nations and watch it chime
 ML> ten. It's amusing, with a dozen mechanical displays that
 ML> animate their characters in native costumes on the hour.
 ML> Not so elaborate as the ones I've seen in Europe, but if
 ML> you fly only domestic, pretty cool.

That had been a fixture in Midtown Plaza, an indoor shopping (and
office) plaza right downtown, built before the advent of the suburban
malls.  When it finally went defunct, and was set to be demolished, the
Clock of the Nations was moved to the airport, where at least it can
still be enjoyed...  :) 

ttyl        neb

... A wok is what you throw at a wabbit.
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