Cazon Tropical

subject: Cazon Tropical
take-out vehicle: styrofoam boxes
cost: $10.33

I've known about Cazon Tropical for a long time, but it had been almost impossible to remember to go there...until yesterday afternoon. Finally reminded, I was soon faced with another challenge: deciding what to get.

After staring at the menu for much longer than I should have, unable to choose one main dish, I decided to order three items from the appetizer list: the pupusas (one pork and cheese, one zucchini and cheese, and one bean and cheese), a pastelitos de carne, and the empanada de plantano.

(It's worth mentioning that it took an incredible amount of willpower to not eat this food on my way home from the restaurant. Its aroma was absolutely incredible. It's probably fortunate that all food doesn't smell that good...if it did, we'd have all died from obesity long, long ago.)

Through a happy stroke of luck, I ate the pupusas in order from least tasty to most. The bean pupusa, which I ate first, seemed to lack any bean flavor, and the combination of the mushy beans and cheese made the pupusa heavier than I would have preferred. The zucchini pupusa, while having no zucchini that I discern, seemed lighter and somehow fresher. Perhaps the zucchini was peeled and grated? If so, its color would have almost matched the cheese's and would explain why I didn't notice it. The last pupusa I ate was the pork pupusa, and it was very good. The pork provided a nice bit of texture against the cheese and the slight doughy-ness of the pupusa, and its meaty flavor came through well.

The pupusas were served with curtido and the house red sauce. The curtido was pretty mild but interesting, and though vastly dissimilar to the Mexican variety at La Michoacana, it definitely provided some much needed contrast to the grease of the pupusas. The red sauce didn't do a whole lot for me, however. It was pretty thin and consisted (I think) of tomatoes, a touch of vinegar, onion, salt, and some other spices, but overall its flavor was pretty weak. I appreciated it the most with the bean pupusa and the pastelitos de carne.

Unlike with the bean pupusa, where it simply added flavor, the red sauce was a nice complement to the pastelito, which was very meaty. Filled with beef and peppers and ever-so-slightly crisp on the outside, it resembled a cross between a beef taco and a donut. I was a fan.

Lastly, I came to the empanada. It was a lot softer than I expected, but it tasted better than I had hoped. Imagine a warm Twinkie made from a deep-fried plantain instead of chemically-tasting cake. The exterior coated with course sugar, and the center filled with a thick milk-based cream, I suspect it was the origin of the wonderful aroma that filled my car on the way home, and it tasted every bit as good.

So how come I kept forgetting about this place? Well, probably because it's buried in Woodbrook Shopping Center, has no illuminated sign, doesn't advertise itself very well (if at all), and no one I know has ever gone there. I'm sure I would have continued to forget if not for one of my favorite local food-finding sites, so I have to say thanks to it.

According to its rating there, Cazon Tropical is one of the top-rated places in Charlottesville. I don't think can agree with that just yet, but considering I only ordered appetizers, it certainly deserves another visit or two. The cazuela cazon looks like an adventure, and I am compelled to try the tacos. Either way, I'll be getting another order of the empanadas de plantanos. Dems sum reel good eatin'.

El Pollo Loco

subject: El Pollo Loco
take-out vehicle: lots of styrofoam
cost: $10.02

Josè: "So are you going?"
John: "Yeah, I'm going there right now."
Josè: "Awesome. What are you going to get?"
John: "Isn't the rotisserie chicken supposed to be really good?"
Josè: "That's what I hear, I mean it's in their name, right?"
John: "So you haven't had it?"
Josè: "Haha, no. Everything I go in there, I end up ordering something else."
John: "Then I'll definitely get the rotisserie chicken."
Josè: "Great. You'll have to let me know how it is."

Well, Josè...the tacos were pretty good.

I'll be honest, I didn't see a rotisserie. I did see some chicken quarters in the display behind the counter, but when I asked the guy who took my order what his favorite thing on the menu was, his answer was tacos.

So I listened to the guy who took my order.

Unlike my trip to La Michoacana earlier this month, here I ordered three different tacos: one carne asada, one pollo, and one al pastor. My three tacos also came with a serving of Mexican rice, pinto beans, and two salsas. Feeling gluttonous, I also ordered a serving of fried plantains.

I was puzzled when I first opened the styrofoam take-out box. There were my three tacos, but I also saw three balls of aluminum foil. However, after opening the first to find sections of lime, I knew the contents of the other two: chopped onion and cilantro, all the toppings of a traditional taco.

I don't know how exactly its meat was cooked, but of the three, I found the taco al pastor to be the best in terms of flavor and texture. The pork was juicy, tender, and mildly spicy, and the lime, cilantro, onion, and tomato salsa complimented it well.

The taco carne asada was my second favorite. The beef paired well with the salsa verde and had a nice meaty flavor of its own, and it too was fairly tender. The chicken in the taco pollo, on the other hand, was a little bland and over-cooked. I tasted it, but I tasted the salsa verde and the tortillas a whole lot more.

The tortillas themselves were good, though a bit thinner than I was expecting, and I suspect it was for that reason two tortillas were used for each taco. The extra tortillas turned out to be a good thing, though, since one of the two from each taco ripped during my meal.

I found the rice to be decent but unremarkable, though the beans were very good. The guy who took my order told me they were slow cooked with sausage, bacon, and onions, whereas the also-offered black beans were cooked with jalapenos. I didn't try the black beans, but I have a feeling a chose correctly. The pintos were savory and satisfying, and the bacon gave it a subtle smokey flavor.

The plantains were also very tasty. As far as I could tell, they weren't spiced or seasoned after being fried, but they were every bit as good, if not better, than the ones I ate at Just Curry.

La Michoacana is closer to my home and office, so I doubt that I'll travel across town just to get these tacos, but I'll certainly keep this place in mind when I'm looking for lunch on Emmet St. After all, there's still the matter of the rotisserie chicken (somebody's got to try it). And where else in town can you watch music videos like this?

Note: If you're thinking of stopping by in the next few days, you may want to wait a week or so: I was told that new management is taking over soon, and though the existing menu is being retained, expect to see new items from El Salvador and Central America, including pupusas. The guy who took my order seemed pretty excited about it.

Just Curry (now closed)

subject: Just Curry
take-out vehicle: plastic bowls
cost: $7.50

10/01/09 update: Just Curry has closed.

I've had mixed experiences with Just Curry. The first time I went, perhaps two years ago, I ordered a decidedly mediocre butter chicken curry. But, since I appreciated the venue and concept, I tried it again several months later with my wife. On that visit, feeling whimsical, I ordered the goat curry. Though the meat and curry were good, I was disturbed to find some tiny (and some not-so-tiny) bones throughout the dish. I resolved then to leave Just Curry's curries alone.

Until today. Stuck downtown, I had no idea what I wanted even as I walked out the door to get it. I zig-zagged aimlessly from Main Street to Market to Water, finally ending up at the Pavilion and Just Curry's lone remaining outpost in the Transit Center. And so, not wanting to search any longer, I said to myself, "Self! Screw it, I'm hungry."

Alex George, the chef and owner, was working alone behind the small steel counter. After exchanging pleasantries, I scanned the menu to the left, then asked, "Is the vegetable curry vegan-friendly?"

(editor's note: yes, I'm still scoping out vegan food for my soon-to-be-visiting friend, and yes, I am that awesome of a person.)

"That depends," Alex said, fluffing some rice absent-mindedly. "How vegan are you?"

"What? I'm not vegan. Hell no. Meat meat yum yum."

Alex nodded. "Then you'll be fine."

Whew! "But," I continued, "What if i was? Could i eat it?"

"There is," said Alex after a quick thought, "a smidgen of butter. Less than a tablespoon per serving. Actually, I make 20-quart batches of this stuff, and each batch has about 4 ounces of butter, so whatever that is."

"Awesome," I said. "I won't tell the vegans if you don't. Oh, and I'll try it, with a side of plantains please."

The vegetable curry, served over basmati rice and accompanied by a fried plantain and a "pepper sauce," was flavorful and moderately spicy. The vegetables (which included carrots, peas, garbanzo beans, and onion) and squares of tofu were lacking a little in texture, but were otherwise well integrated into the dish. The plantains (fried in vegetable oil and dusted with cinnamon), while similar in texture, were a very nice counter-taste. They were also good just by themselves.

I regret not asking how the pepper sauce was made, because it was excellent (so good, in fact, that the half I didn't use on my food I drank straight up). Equally fruity and hot, on its own it wasn't enough to make me need a drink, but it did make my lips tingle—and that's exactly what hot sauce should do. Granted, my capsaicin tolerance (and desire) is higher than average, but still: it was a definite addition to the dish.

Make no bones about it, this was pretty good food. (Ha! Get it? I said "no bones about it" because there were...nevermind.)

Well, I guess one good visit out of three isn't that bad.