Monday, May 28, 2012

El Camino

Wendy and I were being ladies of leisure on a sunny, spring Saturdays and decided to wander up Main Street for some window shopping and brunch.  We had contemplated waiting in line for some brunch, but decided to keep walking until we found a place with immediate seats available.  We ended up at what was then Latitude, but is now called El Camino, and that was lucky for us.  Especially lucky because it filled up right after we got there and continued to be hopping.

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El Camino is billed as "Latin American street food".  I loved the vibe of the restaurant.  A large mural sits on one wall while some cozy booths and a bar with an amazing stock of tequila sit on the other side.  While Wendy and I were there we started talking about how much we enjoyed our meal we had at Habit, just down the street.  Turns out, this place is owned by the same people.  We chatted a bit with the owner, told her how much we enjoyed the meal and the feel of the restaurant and how much it reminded us of Habit which is when she made the connection for us.  They also own Cascade and the Union, two more awesome restaurants.  Not sure how I missed the connection before, but this group is quickly turning into my favorite.

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To the food!  Everything sounded great so we had a hard time picking.  Wendy ended up going with what was brought out to the table next to us after we questioned them on their choices.

Benedict: poached eggs, smoky hollandaise and hashbrowns.  She chose the: pulled pork, pickled jalapeno on cornbread $11.00.  She substituted tomatoes on the dish.
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She really liked the smoky hollandaise and the corn bread, it was a unique take on the benny.  The hash browns were seasoned really well and cooked perfectly.

I had a hard time choosing because a dish called The Hangover sounded amazing: corn tortilla chilaquiles layered with black beans and cheese, scrambled eggs, red salsa and sour cream, hashbrowns $12.00.

In the end I went with:
Calentado: traditional Colombian breakfast of fried eggs, rice and black beans in hogao sauce, chorizo and arepas. $12.00

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I love chorizo.  The sausage really helped make this dish the winner as is was really spicy and perfect.  And it was so delicious.  The rice and beans were spicy thanks to the hogao sauce.  (which, thanks to Wikipedia I now know is, "Hogao, also known as criollo sauce, is typically used in Colombian cuisine. It is made with round onions, long green onions, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper that are sauteed during the cooking process).  I also had to look up arepas when I got home because I didn't know what they were either (Arepa is a native sort of bread made of ground corn (or flour), water, and salt which is fried into a pancake-like bread.).  A fried corn pancake- bonus.  Tasty as it sounds!

I really liked El Camino.  The staff were fun to talk to and the service was quick. Next time I go back, and there will be a next time, I hope that I am not driving because they offer a nice brunch cocktail list and, as I mentioned above, a really nice stock of tequila.

El Camino on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. good to see you again, Heather - but on an episode of diners, drive-ins and dives??

    we used to work together, making a difference for a certain US LD/Cell service provider. you, Noorita and Sandra in your cubby-hole. me, leaving as sales team lead. best parting comment was that i thought Chuck was dreamy.

    good to find you by way of a food blog although i'm sure you eat out at more places than you review.

    all the best!
    doug

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