El Pavo Real, New Orleans, LA Report #176

This place is located in a building that used to be a Time Saver convenience store back in the day.  I used to frequent the store in the 1980’s when I was a student at Loyola University to buy all my fine wines.  MD 20/20, Thunderbird, Night Train, Taylor Cream Sherry (on cold nights), and many more.  I don’t remember much about those days, and that’s a good thing.

Now I know where to go if I’m craving authentic Mexican cuisine, and not the Tex-Mex stuff you find almost everywhere else.  Instead of salsa and chips, as soon as you sit down they put seasoned pop corn on the table.  I’m not a fan of popcorn.  I don’t even eat it at the movies, but I couldn’t stop eating this!  I’m not sure what it’s seasoned with but it’s yummy.  Good and buttery, too.

Tonight they had a smoked seafood chowder.  Very good. Not that heavy, creamy type chowder, but a lighter broth, really flavorful and well seasoned.  Full of shrimp, fish and potatoes.

Next we had a chicken tamale.  It came wrapped in corn husk, with a strip of husk actually tied in a knot to keep it sealed.  When my son was in the Boy Scouts, I helped him tying and untying knots, so this wasn’t a problem for me.  Took a bit, but I got it open.  It was served with a red cabbage slaw and delicious mole sauce.

The empanadas are stuffed with pork picadillo, which I discovered was pork, capers, raisins and some other things my waitress couldn’t remember.  They came with a chipotle mayo and a chimichurri sauce.  Delicious.

My dining partner had the chicken enchiladas with rice and black beans, and I had the Mole Poblano, which was a chicken leg quarter and breast, served with rice, warm tortillas, and the same delicious mole sauce we had with the tamale.  Both dishes were great.

We finished with the Coffee Flan for dessert.  Probably the best flan I ever had.  Just the right sweetness in the flan, sauce, AND the whipped cream!  And the hint of coffee flavor in it was seriously delicious.  I just wish it had been the size of a hub cap.

Great place.  I highly recommend it.

4401 S. Broad Ave., New Orleans, LA  70125  Ph: 504-266-2022

Blaine 2-8-2019

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:

     Back in today for a long overdue visit.  They still start you out with that delicious popcorn instead of chips and salsa.  We ate two servings. 

     I wanted to try the tamale of the day.  The menu said ask your server for today’s selection, so I did.  Today’s selection was they had none.  

     Next, we ordered the rajas con queso and tried to top it with crabmeat.  We were told they were out of crabmeat.  I was not happy.  But we still ordered it.  

      For entrées my dining partner had the shrimp tacos with rice and black beans, and I had the carnitas.    

&&& THE FOOD &&&

Popcorn

Rajas Con Queso

Shrimp Tacos

Carnitas

The popcorn was as great as it was before. As mentioned earlier we ate two servings.

Most places don’t put a lot of effort into cheese dip. Why should they bother? Melted cheese is delicious all on its own! I remember once I was having it at a pretty good place and I asked my waitress how they made it. She said they put white Velveeta cheese in the microwave. I thought, “Wow, that’s pretty lazy”. But it was good!

Here, you can see and taste the effort they put into it. The Rajas con Queso was fantastic! We scraped the bowl clean with the fresh tortilla chips.

Luckily that and the popcorn was filling enough to fill my dining partner up and slow her down so I could get a taste of the shrimp tacos. Very good. The batter on the shrimp was kind of light, like a tempura batter, but a little more substantial and very crisp.

My carnitas were absolutely delicious. Seasoned well, tender and juicy. I thought the pickled onions were an unnecessary decoration, until I ate them with the dish. Then I wanted more! Outstanding.

After this excellent lunch we decided to head to a place called Lucy Boone Ice Cream, which is a hop, skip and a jump away, for dessert, and enjoyed some excellent ice cream. Great day of dining so far!

4401 S. Broad Ave., New Orleans, LA  70125  Ph: 504-266-2022

Blaine 5-13-2023