Lunch of the Week; Lunch of the Weak
Lomo Saltado with steamed rice. Or as I like to call it, Steak Fries.
It’s not too early to start making lunch plans for next week. I’ve already got a date with the esteemed John Estus, who makes his triumphant return to Oklahoma and Journalism on Monday.
For that date, I’ve identified one possible destination and one place we will definitely avoid.
Lunch of the Week: El Pollon de OKC, 2106 SW 44 St.
El Pollon serves Peruvian cuisine, which means you won’t get chips and salsa on your table and you won’t find fajitas on the menu. What you will find is what might be the best chicken in Oklahoma City, bar none.
Eischen’s gets all the hype for its whole fried chicken, but El Pollon will be getting my money for its whole rotisserie chicken.
These beautifully bronzed specimens are served quarter, half or whole with two sides. I took pal Justin Billinger over last week for a little story research and conversation about the future of newspaper.
If you think the newspaper industry is in trouble, you should’ve see how the half chicken we shared fared.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We started out with the papas huancainas, a mound of simply boiled potato wedges slathered in a yellow cream sauce that looked like Indian Mango pudding but tasted like a chile patch growing two doors down once you enter the pearly gates. I don’t know what’s in this sauce, but I have a team of chefs working on it.
We also shared lomo saltado. Now lomo saltado I’ve had at various Mexican Restaurants. Zarate’s in Edmond, which is owned by a Peruvian family and serves dishes from all over Latin America, serves a nice version. At El Pollon, their version is steak and fries with a few onions, sweet peppers and roasted tomatoes thrown in for good measure. Genius.
I couldn’t help but wonder how a glorious a site this dish would be to one just dispatched from Edna’s or Cock of the Walk along with the other spirits having flown.
Much as JB and I like to solve the problems of our little world when we eat, the conversation centered around the food before and eventually within us. Can’t wait to go back.
Lunch of the Weak: Louie’s.
Here’s the deal: Burger with overcooked blue cheese crumbles, french fries from the same supplier as Freddie’s Custard Stand (not a bad thing) and an iced tea served in a plastic cup cost more than $10, not including tip.
Never again.
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Comments
i think this guy called David Cathey is tottaly wrong. first if you dont know anything about peruvian cuisine you cannot make any suggestion. lack of your knowledege or probably your brains. it is not huachachina. it is huancayina(you wont never “ever”be able to pronounce this.i have been at Zarates and it is not really good like you are saying. I highly recommend you to do little bit of research on internet before you make these kind of offensive statements…….a yellow cream sauce that looked like Indian Mango pudding but tasted like a chile patch growing two doors down once you enter the pearly gates…..
you dont know anything about good stuff because all your life have been eating burgers,mcchicken,fast food,taco hell…..easy stuff. i bet you dont even cook.looks like you only knows fajita, tacos, cheese…..what a poor comments you have posted. you should make up your mind and think very well something about a different country before you post it.
It’s actually huancainas on the menu. As for being offended, well, I think you missed something. Saying the sauce tasted like something from heaven is a good thing, no matter where you’re from.
you wrote first huachachinas and now you are telling me that you wrote huancaina.you made fun of the lomo saltado….i just think you need to have some kinda of respect for peruvian cuisine.good luck brother.i still disagree with your comments.adios.
Pedro, I’m sorry but you’ve misinterpreted my use of words. Incorrect spelling isn’t disrespect, it’s oversight. That was corrected in this and my newest El Pollon blog. If you disagree with my assesment, I guess that means you don’t like El Pollon? If that’s the case, you’re missing out. Try it, you’ll like it.
Tru’dat. Louies is best for adult beverages. Not food. I think it’s draws a crowd b/c of the Bob Stoops connection and Norman college day nostalgia. Good food…not so much.