In my last post I wrote that on February 2nd, the Feast of "La Candelaria", it is traditional to eat tamales. Immediately after publishing that post I left the apartment to go have some tamales for lunch. I took a 45 minute walk, about two miles, to a "tamalería" (a restaurant that sell tamales) in the Roma neighborhood. It's called, logically, "Los Tamales de la Roma".
Alejandro and I have been there a number of times. The place is a little "hole in the wall", but they have a wide variety of tamales, and they have always been very good.
I expected the place to be very busy, but it was empty. The waiter told me that they had a big crowd in the morning, and they expected a crowd again in the evening. I ordered three tamales... two tamales "chiapanecos" and one "pibipollo". The "chiapaneco" is one of my favorite kinds of tamales. The ingredients sound like a strange combination... mole, chicken, prunes, almonds, and hard-boiled eggs... but they are very good. The "pibipollo" was something I had never tasted before. It is filled with Yucatecan-style chicken.
The tamales came out wrapped in banana leaves and tied up with ribbons. In the photo you see one of the "chiapanecos" unwrapped.
Unfortunately, the tamales were not good. The dough was not thoroughly cooked, and they had a sour taste. After I returned to the apartment, I looked at the reviews for the restaurant on Google Maps. Although there were many good reviews, there were also a several that had the same complaints... that the dough was half raw and they were sour.
I hate to think that this is another restaurant that has gone downhill since the pandemic.
That's such a bummer. And ironic too, because I was reading this post while I was eating at one of my favorite breakfast joints (also after a long absence), and the food there wasn't quite as good as it used to be either.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be happening at quite a few restaurants.
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