Holy Mole at La Casita Mexicana

I know why I've been blogstipated. I'm overwhelmed by my hundreds of photos of Costa Rica. Travel blogging is so much harder than food blogging. I only take three shots of each dish during a meal, but I take 300 shots of each animal during a trip.

I'm reverting to food until I get my travel-blogging mojo back. To those of you who have been waiting patiently for Costa Rica, apologies. To those of you who have been patiently waiting for food, congratulations.

Waaaaay back in October, I visited La Casita Mexicana during dineLA with Wandering Chopsticks and L.A. and O.C. Foodventures. Yes, I am so behind in my blogging that February's dineLA has already come and gone, and I'm still talking about October.

La Casita Mexicana is warm and inviting with its bright orange paint and eclectic wall hangings, ranging from the Virgin Mary to oversized plastic fruit.

You like free chips and salsa? Well, La Casita Mexicana gives you free piping hot chips and three kinds of mole.

Mole, mole, mole! Gold star for you if you channeled your inner Fred Savage when reading that.

Awesome aguas frescas -- limonada and horchata.

The limonada was laced with ch-ch-ch-chia seeds. Platinum star for you if you sang that.

Soup of the day.

Simple. Good. Cheese was squeaky -- just how I like it.

Housemade tortillas.

They warmed my hands and my heart.

The great thing about eating with other food bloggers is that there is no issue of what to order during dineLA. When there are three options, you get all three options and share everything. It's a win-win-win situation.

The $26 three-course meal was not that much of a deal, but none of us had ever been to La Casita Mexicana, so this was as good a time as any to sample this popular-among-foodies eatery.

THE APPETIZERS

Azteca cheese fondue with four Mexican cheeses, poblano chile slices, cactus, mushrooms, and Mexican herbs wrapped in plantain leaves.

Eat this right away, and you'll smile. Wait too long, and it turns into plastic.

Golden chicken taquitos smothered with crema mexicana, cotija cheese, and green tomatillo salsa.

Nothing earth-shattering, but this golden reliable goodness was my fave app.

Red snapper green ceviche tostadas with poblano and serrano chiles and Mexican herbs.

Valiant effort but not something I'd order again.

THE MAINS

Fish fillet wrapped in corn husk with chile guajillo adobo sauce with aromatic herbs.

Pleasant but nothing special.

Chiles en nogada stuffed with meat, dried fruits, walnuts, candied cactus, pecan cream sauce, and pomegranate.

Quite delicious, but my heart still belongs to Babita's version.

Green and red pepian with pumpkin seeds, poblano, and blackberry moles with 46 ingredients, peanuts, and various chiles.

Now this was something. The moles at La Casita Mexicana are some of the best I've ever had. The moles are what you should order. The moles make your trek to this faraway 'hood worth it. Olé for mole!

THE DESSERTS

Rice pudding wrapped and fried in a flour tortilla, topped with sweet pecan cream sauce.


I love rice pudding. I love fried things. I love pecans. Guess what? I loved this.

Flan lover's delight -- corn, sweet yam, and vanilla.

Yummy. I enjoyed tasting the different flavors. Definitely a welcome change.

Churros filled with Mexican caramel.

Very good but, again, nothing particularly special.

Mexican coffee and cane sugar.

Because I'm a grandma and can't sleep if I have caffeine after 4 p.m., I skipped this, but Wandering Chopsticks and L.A. and O.C. Foodventures really enjoyed theirs. In fact, I think L.A. and O.C. Foodventures was so nuts about the Mexican coffee that he downed four cups.

Clearly, I'm getting this when I go back for breakfast some day.