La Casita Mexicana Restaurant

In all my years driving through the city of Bell, never had I heard of La Casita Mexicana until I attended a Mexican Restaurant association event in LA, "A taste of Mexico" about a year ago. Since then, I've had two friend's(both originally from Mexico City) strongly recommend this restaurant so, naturally, I felt it was time to take a peek and see if it was truly one of the few beacons of authentic mexican cuisine in Los Angeles.

South of Downtown LA, located in the predominantly residential area of Bell, Stands the restaurant owned by Jaime Martin Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu. These two chefs have enjoyed international acclaim for holding mexican cuisine to the highest levels. Their restaurant has been open for 14 years and has served as a legitmate representative of Mexican food in southern california with many awards on both the local and national level. These two natives of Jalisco now travel the world helping in the organizing of, as well as participating in, many gastronomical events.

The decor of the restaurant is very rustic with bright colors and paintings of fruit, as well as, the virgin mary hanging on the walls and wooden tables and chairs. While your order is going through, you start this culinary endeavor with chips splashed with three different types of mole. Definitely, a better alternative to the common chips and salsa served throughout this region. I was delightfully surprised to find that they also offer Mexican wine that, although the vineyards in Mexico'sBaja region are closer than Las Vegas, are virtually non-existent in Los Angeles. On the Menu are three red and three white wines all from LA Cetto vineyards located in the the Valley of Guadalupe in Baja California.

One of the strongest reasons for me to try this restaurant out was that all the people who recommended it to me also told me to try the same dish: Chile en Nogada. It is a large chile stuffed with ground beef , dried fruit and cactus with a pecan cream sauce and pomegranate on top. i was even more intrigued when I asked the waiter for a suggestion and he didn't even hesitate to recommend that very same dish. And let me tell you, it fills me with great pleasure to agree whole-heartedly with them. It was a real treat. The flavors were well balanced and careful not to dominate over other. The pecan cream sauce and pomegranate added a little sweetness that really rounded out the entire dish.

Another detail that I noticed and became fond of is that they actually manage the portions of the dishes well. My big pet peeve with a lot of restaurants (in particular, the ones here in the U.S.) is the overflow of portions per dish. How do they expect anyone to carry on to dessert and coffee when they can't even finish their main dish without loosening their belts?! I am glad to say that this isn't the case here. After finnishing my Chile en Nogada I felt satisfied and very much able and in the mood for a Flan in Kahlua and some Cafe de la olla. The Kahlua was a great addition to the flan. All in all, it was a great evening for my taste buds.

Expect about 25$ per person(not including alcohol)

Ambience: 4/5
Cost: 5/5
Authenticity: 4/5

Check them out at: www.casitamex.com