I'm back, and I'm back with a belly buster. Yesterday was actually my second visit to the address but the first time to El Mogote Restaurant. The previous time at that address was at Ortiz Place Restaurant. If that was confusing so was trying to find out from the owners why Ortiz Place is now called El Mogote. I was as confused as an American in a cafe without wifi.
The Latino and I were driving around some Dalston-like area after flogging a dodgy laptop to an equally dodgy punter when we decided to give the then Ortiz Place Restaurant a punt. Now called El Magote, this place, I am led to believe, is Dominican serving genuine Dominican grub. I just have to believe what I am told as communication with the owners is limited to finger pointing and blank looks.
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| Bug-eyed by the portions |
Upon entering I could not help but notice how spartan the place was. It was more spartan than King Kenny's tactics. White washed walls, a couple of seats and tables, an abnormally long and bare counter and a hot plate. Oh, and Mama Ortiz later to be called Mama El Magote. The arrangement was completely confusing because of a combination of things. Mama Ortiz did not understand the Queen's English, I could not understand Spanish and the menu had no functional relevance. I think it was just there to add a bit of contrast to the white wash wall. Between the two visits I sampled some beef stew, pork stew, chicken stew, roasted chicken and pig trotters. The flavours were quite brilliant. They came straight from the bosom of Mama Ortiz; i.e. big, fleshy and good enough to want to come back for more. The trotters were the best since Del Boy and Rodney. There were no Only Fools and Horses with this trotter performance. Incidently, Mama Ortiz kept piling the rice as if it were as expendable as greenback in the housing boom. Apparently if you don't tell her to stop she will keep piling it on. Great business model. To wash all this down, Mama Ortiz recommended a Dominican drink that looked suspicious with all those E numbers glowing with pride. When I had a look at the ingredients I found, to my horror, that it contained 47 g of carbohydrates, 100 % of it sugar. Hello, iselts of Langerhans. It was nice knowing you.
The Ho Down says: What a find in the Dalston of Providence, and all for less than a Hammy. "Luvly jubbly".
the portions look massive even by Texan standards! Did you manage to wolf the whole thing down?
ReplyDeleteAlmost. I had to save some room for the flan thing, which was like eating glue.
ReplyDeletenot a lot of green vegetables in Dominican Republic....
ReplyDeleteThe business was sold that's why the name change.
ReplyDeleteI gathered that. The confusion was in the conversation.
ReplyDelete