Yesterday we went to a restaurant called Popular. Popular is, as the name suggests, popular and even though we got there right when it opened, we had to wait an hour for seats. While we waited we played word games and drank coffee at the cafe downstairs. Once it was our turn, we headed into the people filled, really loud room for lunch.
This room was loud for two reasons. First of all, there were a whole bunch of people eating and talking but there was a second, unrelated reason why it was so loud. About a block away, there was some political thing, not a riot, but I guess a showing of political standing. This was a pain because people were cheering, there was a loud speech going on, and they were setting off fireworks every half second.
Anyways, the first thing I noticed when I got to the table was that for the maybe thirty or forty people at this restaurant, there were at least seventeen chefs working at the speed of light to prepare everything. We sat down and were greeted with a server telling us our options. To drink, there was pineapple or passion fruit juice, I picked passion fruit. For starters there were soup or cheese bread sort of things, I chose the cheese bread. Once we got those, we started to dig in. The cheese bread was a bit strange because it came with coffee and cheese jelly as well as a honey slushie thing. It was definitely a weird combination of flavors but pretty good nonetheless.
After that we chose between three main course options. These were breaded Amazonian fish, a vegetarian quinoa and spinach dish, and a peanut chicken dish with potato cake. I got the chicken and once the food got to the table, we started. The chicken was delicious but very rich and I wasn’t quite able to finish it all. After the main course, we chose desserts.
There were two dessert options, watermelon dessert, and grilled milk (similar to tofu) dessert. I got the watermelon because I had seen them prepare it and it looked delicious. Our table was right next to the area where they were preparing the desserts, so we got to watch them make ours. First they put chunks of watermelon and watermelon jelly onto a plate, then decorated it. They sprinkled pink and green powder onto the watermelon, and started putting the pudding on. It was sort of a creamy soft pineapple pudding and they put dollops of it all over the plate. It was served with a granita made with other fruits and was delicious. The parents, who had gotten the milk dessert, got a chicha mora (fermented corn drink) sauce with theirs as well as orange juice truffle chocolates. Mama gave one of her chocolates to me and I bit into it, surprised that there was actual liquid orange juice inside. The desserts were super good and I loved eating at popular in general.
4 Responses
Your vivid descriptions of your food, Audrey, were refreshing. Your story, along with the photographs, really painted a full picture. You have certainly tasted (in many senses) a whole new life and culture in South America. I hope that you can bring much of it back to your home, even maybe including in your new life some of the delectable dishes that you have sampled down there. What a memorable experience you are having!
Audrey, don’t leave Bolivia without eating my favorite food as a kid … chicken saltenas (big empanadas) and maybe some hot api in the morning (thick drink made of purple corn)! I also love sopa de mani (peanut soup) and if you are adventurous try anticuchos (heart of some animal). There was one time I thought I was eating calamari but it was tripe (sigh) and it tasted ok.
Hey! Ask servers or chefs for recipes so you can fix these terrific dishes and desserts when you get back home! You certainly are seeing things on your plates that you may never see back home!
All that I can say about Popular is yum to the desserts!!! Your culinary experiences on your travels have been amazing!