Baldwin Park, CA: Review of Juan's Restaurante

Wednesday, 05 September 2012 00:41

Baldwin Park, CA: Review of Juan's Restaurante

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Chef Juan Mondragon prides himself in recreating Pre-Hispanic Mexican cuisine. A great deal of his cuisine feature variations on use of cactus from drinks to tortillas to salad to cake. The food is fresh and clean tasting. He stays away from lard in his cooking. Although, I have never set foot in his Baldwin Park restaurant, I have had the great pleasure of repeated sampling the cuisine of the restaurant from attending La Feria de Los Moles and Los Angeles Times The Taste.

While many vendors were focusing on providing one sample Chef Juan provided

Mole-Nego-con-Codorniz1-150x150 a feast probably knowing it would payoff in dividends. Both the Limeade with chia seeds(Chia Fresca) and the cactus/pineapple(Xochilt, Agua de Nopal) drinks are light and refreshing. The popular salad is Cactus salad with tomatoes, cilantro, onions, oregano, and cactus pear vinaigrette. Various types of Moles are also a big emphasis at the restaurant. A dessert worth raving about are the Pastel de Elote Warm corn cake made from naturally sweet baby corn "elotitos" served with a sweet elotitos sauce.