La Calaca Feliz
2321 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
I
asked one of my friends who lives in the Fairmount area of Philadelphia for a
suggestion of a good place to eat around there. My girlfriend and I had thought
that her cousin was coming to visit so we wanted to take them somewhere fun. He
suggested La Calaca Feliz. When I said the name of the restaurant to my
girlfriend she said weird I don’t know what that word means. Turns out it’s a
Mexican word for skeleton, but it isn’t used in South American Spanish so she
didn’t know it. We laughed a lot about it on the way there, and when we finally
arrived we had to wait about 15 minutes after our reservation to be seated. Once
we were, we saw started to devise our strategy of our meal. We decided on the
roasted bone barrow with huitlacoche vinaigrette, pork belly tostadas, tacos de
coliflor, tacos de chorizo and a side of rice and beans. Since everything we
ordered was on the smaller side, we figured we would have enough food.
I
had also ordered a tequila flight called the Pedro Feliz, which came with Don
Julio blanco, Casadores respodado and Corralejo anejo tequila. They served a
shot of each and also a shot of a delicious concoction of tomato juice, orange
juice and jalapeno juice. It was deliciously sweet, tangy and spicy and it was
the perfect thing to chase the tequila with.
The
bone marrow and the tostadas came out first. I had never had straight up bone
marrow served from the bone, so this was a first for me. My girlfriend wanted
to get it, so of course I obliged. It was dressed with a huitlacoche
vinaigrette and tortillas served alongside it. It was a very interesting dish,
and it definitely had a really cool presentation. It was a bone split right
down the middle. We used a spoon to place some of it into a warm corn tortilla.
It was really a tasty dish. The bone barrow melted in the middle of the
tortilla. It was incredibly rich, but the lemony flavor of the vinaigrette cut
through it nicely. The pork belly tostadas were banging! The thick slice of
pork belly was seared perfectly and it was sandwiched between two crispy pieces
of tostada. The sauce was spectacularly spicy, as were the slices of fresh
jalapenos. The tiny bit of queso fresco on top and the sauce sprinkled over top
was a nice touch of creaminess as well.
Our
two kinds of tacos came out together with the rice and beans. I was very
interested to try the fried cauliflower tacos because I had never had veggie
tacos before. They were crispy and
delicious, as good, if not better than the meat tacos I have had in the past.
The cauliflower was fried, but it wasn’t at all greasy. Adding the touch of
lime to the tacos brought out a nice flavor profile that wasn’t there to begin
with. The acidity really brought out the freshness of the cauliflower. We
devoured them quickly. We had ordered rice and black beans to go with the tacos
and I was really glad we did. The rice and beans married together in the best
of ways. They were incredibly tender and provided just another reminder of the
depth of flavor that Latin food has.
We
of course did not pass up the opportunity to order dessert, so my girlfriend
ordered us the Domingo sundae, a concoction of churro ice cream, topped with
candied pepitas, caramelized popcorn and whipped cream. While the churro ice cream did not have the
deep churro flavor I was looking for, the sundae was spot on as a whole. The
crunch factor of the pepitas and the popcorn was incredible against the cold,
soft texture of the ice cream. None of it was too sweet; it was a homerun of a
dish.
Three pints for La Calaca Feliz. Very authentic Mexican cuisine, with
an American flair to it, but not so much so that it takes away from the
authenticity. The flavors are bold and rich and the atmosphere is definitely
hip and trendy. It is definitely worth a visit. Check it out and let know what
you think! Cheers!
