Broken Spanish - Chef Ray Garcia's Elevated Mexican Cuisine with Farmers Market Produce [Thoughts + Pics]

Those snails are a weird dish. I felt the sauce was really special and I absolutely picked up the flavor of the snails in that sauce. But then the snails themselves had little left. Kind of like chicken after its been used to make stock. As if all the good stuff ended up in the sauce. If they lightly cooked fresh snails and added them to that sauce the dish would be pretty great. But that would be cost prohibitive.

Still, kind of worth it just to eat that sauce with those exceptional tortillas.

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Had the ribeye again last night. Even though it was cooked slightly more than last time, just so so good. Really enjoyed the flan too.

Service fine, but probably the weakest part of the restaurant.

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Any idea where they source the ribeye from? Or what they do to it (aging, spicing, etc)?

Went last week after charcuterie and pig’s tail at Cassia, planning to do get the chicharron, but dropped that plan when I found out it was not the appetizer portion of crunchy skin I imagined but rather a main-course portion of pork belly. So instead I got the cabbage salad and camote (which had a little more pig tail). Great stuff, really looking forward to going back for a full meal.

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The stuffed squid was great as usual but the highlight and the surprise of the night was the carne asada. Everything just complemented each other, the steak was perfectly medium rare, potatoes were crispy and soft, onions were sweet and tender, and the salsa had this underlying heat that brought everything together. Thanks @DTLAeater for the rec, great dish.

stuffed squid - green chorizo, heirloom brown rice, fava leaves, ravigote

lamb neck, king oyster mushroom, queso oaxaca
20170909_191121

chile relleno - poblano, potato, kale, lemon, soubise

carne asada, rib eye, maui onion, fingerling potato, salsa molcajete

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Hi @PorkyBelly,

Nice report! :slight_smile: Thanks for the reminder to try that Carne Asada, hopefully soon! :slight_smile:

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Indeed, this place has only gotten better with time.

When I was last there, they had blue tortilla ice cream. One of the more interesting and delightfully textured ice creams I’ve ever had.

Walked in without a reservation around 8:30 on Saturday and there were seats at both bars. Our good luck that there were no events going on, or if there were they didn’t draw a Broken Spanish crowd. The bartender said Lakers fans are and Clippers fans aren’t.

neck
Chicken Necks: Chile de Arbol, Lime Salt $13

These were great. Four to an order. Did not need the sauce.


Pollo Prensado: Chicken Thigh, Chicken Skin, Cock’s Comb, Guajillo $13 + $4 tortillas

Small portion but rich. Spicy and sour, reminded me of Korean food. Good combination with the necks and a Lurton Guadalupe Chenin.

chicharron
detail
Chicharron: Elephant Garlic Mojo, Radish Sprout, Picked Herbs $39

Perfect. Some serious skill in the kitchen to get that super-crunchy skin while keeping the meat juicy. So good. Went well with a Bichi “Santa” Pais.

beets
Beet Pibil: Yellow Beet, Achiote, Pickled Onion, Bitter Greens $14

In a way this was the most impressive dish: there were a lot of flavors in the mix, including chiles and I think canela and clove, but all subdued so as not to overpower the relatively delicate flavor of the yellow beets. Nice foil to the fatty pork.


Cabbage: Cueritos, Cilantro $8

Also a nice foil to the pork. The little bits of pig skin give a fun textural contrast.

Great meal. That was a lot of food for two. Did not have room for dessert.

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Happy hour (until 7:00 Mon.-Fri.) menu:

The bartender said the happy hour version is only three necks. Still a great deal.

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The chicharon, the cabbage and some of their tortillas is my favorite dish in the city. Can’t think of a better pork dish.

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didn’t know Broken Spanish had $1 oysters. Nice!

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Darn it, why did I open this page and look at the Chicharron pics before lunch? :cry: :stuck_out_tongue: Nice report @robert. Glad you liked it.

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Delicious dinner here tonight. Highlights were the chicharron, beet pibil, and tortillas with a cod queso fundido. Lamb tamale and carne asada running right behind. This place is a little on the expensive side, but the food is wonderful.

Unfortunately they did not have the beautiful stuff squid dish in some posts here. I’ll be back when that makes its way back to the menu.

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HI @Haeldaur,

Nice report back. Thanks for the recommendation on the cod queso fundido, that might be a newer dish since it wasn’t on the menu the last time we were there.

Hola!
Going to Broken Spanish for the first time soon. Anyone been recently?

I probably go 2x a month.

Oh, sweet. I’ll take that as a good sign. Any recent favorites?

Get the pork belly.

Always get dessert.

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Spinach tamal, barbacoa, puffy tortillas, and whatever their choco taco offering is that day.

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