Monday, January 26, 2009

La Poblanita - San Juan Bautista, Ca




Sunday evening my mom was pretty pumped, her Irish water Spaniel, Patrick, had just won his class and best of breed puppy at the Cow Palace. So we had to go celebrate! You may wonder what one does to celebrate in San Juan Bautista? You go to a Mexican food restraurant of course! The word on the street is that La Poblinita located at 313 3rd Street, two doors down from the The Cutting Horse, is the new "it" place. You know me, I had to take on any Mexican food challenge. So off we went...





The inside of the restraurant is um.... quite bright! Yellow makes one happy! At least it keeps you awake! Ha ha. Anyhow, chips and salsa were brought to the table. Hands down, best salsa in the County. No joke. My mom always orders a side of guacamole, she and I both agreed it too was the best you could get in a 15 mile radius. Way to start off right La Poblinita!





My entree was up first - I ordered the Enchilada de Mole. A corn tortilla prepared in a spicy mole sauce sprinkled with queso anejo (an aged, salty, crumbly cheese) and onions. This dish normally comes with two enchiladas but I requested only one to come out on my plate. It was very, very good! I have been on a mole kick and this one cured my craving! Next was my mom's order, a Chile Relleno and a Shredded Beef Enchilada. The Chile Relleno was a savory mild, fresh chile poblano, stuffed with Monterey Jack cheese and delicatly cooked in a whipped egg batter. This too was the best Chile Relleno in comparision to the competition in the SBC. The egg batter is not thick, it coats the chile perfectly. Excellent. The Shredded Beef Enchilada was not the stand out, I did not care for the thin, tomato enchilada sauce. No big deal, just not their bag. Could the Enchiladas Verde be worth trying? I think so! And last but not least was the Mole Poblano. The rich, spicy sauce is served over a breast of chicken and sprinkled with seasame seeds. This dish was just as good as my enchilada! Corn tortillas are brought out to clean up the plate!




And we had to continue to do one last form of investigative work.. the Flan Test! And, yes that passed with flying colors! The flan did not drip with the carmel sauce making it too sickeningly sweet. The flan was more custard like and I really enjoyed that.

All in all, I think La Poblanita is looking really good right now. The best chips and salsa, guacamole, mole, and flan. That is all coming from a girl who has eaten out at Mexican food her whole life! I live in one competitive Mexican food town. I know what tastes good - and La Poblanita was great! Did I just find a new gem? I think so. Go there for yourself and try it out. Two thumbs up for impressing Melissa Good Taste.

-MD

4 comments:

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

Wow, that's the tallest slice of flan!

Heather said...

mmm. that's a big slice of flan! and that mole sounds so good :D

Diamond Dog said...

I like the presentation of their food. I agree, you can tell so much about a restaurant from the chips and salsa. Do you ever order Hard Tacos. Fresh fried (no premade shells) at these places. I am always on the hunt for those and notice I never see you ordering them.

Anonymous said...

John really wanted to go here last night after reading your blog. He was really excited, but Mom brought over some Tortilla casserole, so he had to eat that instead. He liked it, but he still really wants to go to La Poblanita!