ottawa foodies

I ate pupusa and drank horchata for lunch yesterday. The pupusa were awesome with lots of meat and cheese and lots of golden brown crusts and cheese. Yum! Best horchata I've had in O-town, nicely flavoured and not over-sweetened.
Picked up some grocery supplies while there - love being able to kill 2 birds with one stone.

On a side note, you can purchase mexican coke, mexican fanta in there little salvadorian restaraurant. mexican coke isn't that bad, as it doesn't have that lingering sweet aftertaste that corn syrup has in it. it's mexican coke is less sweeter then normal coke, and it doesn't have the same insane quencher when it's so cold you just suck air in and in and go aaaah. so if your in the old lucky key area, come by for one.

Honestly i cannot get enough of this place. the pupusas are one of the best things about this place. i literally order them in 4's, that's how good they bloody are. also i once tried the el salvadore soup that fresh foodie ordered, and as he said the broth is very, good, very beefy almost like a el salvadorian pho without the noodles and whatnot. Fresh Foodie, did you not like the hoof or intestine because it was almost like a slimy consistency, then of a normal meat variety? i truly didn't mind the flavors of of the tripe or of the hoof, it was meaty and satifying, it takes a bit getting used to the texture, as i wasn't really fond of the intestine persay it was like eating hmm flavorless gelatinous or something on those lines. i have a different type of palate. i will try anything once. Also Andy i think the reason your wife didn't like it was because this is food that isn't really in her comfort zone, it's of an alien nature to her, you have to ease her into it. i think she was looking for a more modernized eatery. it isn't actually decor friendly or up to day in certain aspects. sometimes food isn't about presentation, it's about slow, homecooked love, and alot arn't ready for it.

but still love this joint. it's a hidden gem. hidden gem because well basically it looks like a corner store on the side of a bad neighborhood, that is hidden by tree's.

Stopped in at La Cabana for lunch yesterday for the first time; I'll be back but may have a hard time persuading my wife to go again. We arrived 10 min. to 12 - they open at 12:00 but the door was open and a few people were waiting, sitting at tables. We waited and chatted while the couple who own? the place got things up to snuff and finally had our order taken at 12:10, a milk and a horchata, a serving of plantain with refried beans and sour cream, and pupusas with pork, beans and cheese - oops, no cheese said the server, OK then pork and beans. I got my horchata (very tasty, wife did not like at all) about 20 minutes later and sipped it with interest. About 12:45 the pupusas arrive - oops, sorry, no cheese said the server - with a bottle of curtido and a broken-handled pitcher with hot sauce. I put lots of curtido and hot sauce on my papusas and they were yummy (even though the amount of pork in each wouldn't have been more than a quarter teaspoon, seriously); my wife did likewise and wasn't impressed. We finished and waited for the antojitos, the plantain, and a different server came by and, thinking we were done, said just go up to the cash and pay there. Well, my wife thought that was a good idea so she did (while I, sensing her mood, went shopping in the attached store). My wife pointed out the error on her bill and received an apology for the forgetfulness, and was off. She was not impressed, I was maybe more generous, but I do want to go back and try out the patio, the plantain and a whole lotta other things I've never had, but I'm thinking it'll be with someone other than her. =:0(
It might be better to come in after the lunch crowd is done (there were 9 there by the time the server started serving), like maybe after 1 or 2 pm, but I doubt things speed up much even then after reading comments from others here.

We visited again for lunch on Sunday and ordered up a whole load of pupusas and two soups. The pupusas are so satisfying and delicious. The curtido is bright and tasty, like an oregano-laced cross between coleslaw and kimchi.

The soups are big enough for a light meal, since they come with thick, dry corn tortillas (which are really only edible with lots of liquid). My wife had the Sopa De Camarones (shrimp soup), which featured a spicy red soup with flavours reminiscent of Southeast Asia, and several large shrimp which seemed a little on the overdone, chewy side to our North American expectations.

I wanted the shrimp soup but didn't want to order the same as my wife, so I opted to try the Sopa de Pato, which was translated as something along the lines of "rich, meaty beef soup". This was a little confusing to us, since "pato" means duck. The soup turned out to be a "rich, meaty beef soup" but with giant chunks of stomach and foot! I'm not a fan of tripe at the best of times, and a hoof in my bowl is a bit of a turnoff but I was able to thoroughly enjoy the rich and meaty broth around it. I tried a little stomach and a bit of hoof-cartilage but found neither texture to be up my alley. The gentleman assured me that "for us the stomach and foot are the best part" and I assured him the broth was delicious but the texture of the other bits were not my thing. For the benefit of other gringos, they should probably change the translation of "Sopa de Pato" to include reference to stomachs and feet. I looked it up after, and found that sure enough "Sopa de Pato" is stomach and foot soup in Nicaragua (and presumably also El Salvador).

Anyway, very happy and a little bit wiser, with our stomachs full we hoofed it out of there. ;-)

My colleagues and I are on a world tour for lunches and so La Cabana came up as an option - what a pleasant suprise! A first time visit for us all, and nothing disapointed.
We ordered a variety of pupusas (love the combo one - sooooo good!), chorizo tacos, tamales (La Cabana really saved the tamale for me - I had had it elsewhere and fould it dry and dull), fried yucca and plantains.
We also ordered a pitcher of Horchata, and the owner was kind enough to also bring out a number of other samples of traditional drinks for us to try "on the house".
Each one of us plan to return and bring more friends to discouver this little jewel hidden on Merivale Road by Westgate.
It doesn't open till noon, so don't worry if you get there just before. They will notice you and let you in. I think they are closed on Tuesdays.

Came here with the brood (4 kids under 6) on sunday afternoon. We missed lunch and needed food at around 3 pm. We ordered papusas (pork, cheese and combo) as well as fried yucca with chicharones. Everything was great! The kids loved the fried yucca and chicharones, and the papusa went over well with 2 of the 4 (one is not up to solid food yet). Parents enjoyed it all.

This is a great family friendly spot. It is a bit slow, as everything is made to order, so bring some activities for the kids, if they are like mine and can't sit still.

they have Jarritos and lots of other rare Latin goods in the attached grocery store, La Tiendita

Went to La Cabana last night with my family and a couple of friends. The food was excellent. The service is definitely laid back, a little slow for our tastes (2+ hours total and half the tables were empty), but we didn't press them so I'll take some of the blame.

However, the food was soooo good, we will definitely be back.

We had pupusas (pork and cheese), plantains w/ beans and sour cream, chorizo tacos, and yuca with pork. Everythings was excellent. The spicy cabbage was a great topping for the pupsas. The beans were the best I've ever had, and I've travelled quite a bit. Very authentic.

Next time (hopefully soon) I'd like to mix up the pupusas a bit and try them without cheese just to understand the flavours. I also want to sample some of the soups.

For the 4 of us and a 2 year old, the total bill was $71 + tip. This included a few beers, a couple classes of house red, and enough food to make sure everyone was satisfied.

We also popped into the attached latin shop. Wow. So many tasty items, I need to start thinking of recipes to use them.

Ate at La Cabana on Saturday night for the second time. BF and I had a friend visiting so we thought we'd take him somewhere off the beaten path, so to speak.

Anyway, the restaurant was about half full when we arrived (7:00pm) and the service was very attentive and helpful as usual.

We ordered Combo #5 between three of us. It's 10 pupusas, plantains y freoles y crema (sorry if the spelling is off - beans and sour cream) and it also came with either a 2-litre bottle of pop or a 1-litre bottle of fruit juice (mango, guava, pear) and we chose mango.

We weren't sure it would be enough food (don't laugh, my eyes are bigger than my stomach) and so we asked our server what else he recommended and he suggested that we order three chicken tamales.

The food was VERY filling and extremely delicious. After about 1.5 pupusas, I was wishing that I had worn elastic waist pants.
The plantains were so good, I would go back just to eat them and nothing else. The three of us also all loved the coleslaw-type vinegary cabbage and spicy red sauce condiments that they bring to the table. I asked what the red sauce was called and our server (who I believe is the owner), told me there was no name for it but he told me what they put in it and that if we ever order takeout, he would put a jar in with our order...how nice!

Anyway, needless to say we were totally stuffed and delighted with the meal. 10 pupusas, 3 chicken tamales, plantains, beans and sour cream plus a litre of mango juice came to $35 with tax.

I can't wait to go back and try something new!

The pupusa from La Cabaña are still good 8 years on from the last pupusa review - I had a couple pork and a bean with cheese, hot sauce, salsa and lotsa Curtido. Sadly they were out of the horchata that I really like and I had to make do with a tamarino (I think that's what it's called).

Hey FisH,

Looks like I had a 'brain cranp' when I made my original entry.

The olives WERE in the tamale, and not the pupusa.

I gotta go back to La Cabana soon. mmmm pupusa.

I had the same $10.50 sampler platter that everyone else seems to have ordered on their first visit. I thought the tamal was nothing special; it came with some tomatoey sauce in a syrup jug and a bottle of hot sauce to perk things up a little. The little rectangle of cheese was all right (kind of like feta, but with a nicer flavour). The plantains are tasty but very sweet. The refried beans are awesome. And the pupusas totally rock!

I asked the server which pupusa she recommends and she said that if I eat pork she suggests the pork and cheese one. It was super tasty!

Next time here I will have three pork pupusas, a mountain of curtido, and a big bowl of soup -- exactly what the latino guys at the next table were having. They know what's best! :-)

Are you sure you're talking about the Papusa and not the Tamale that had the olives in it? I've been to La Cabana numerous times and have never gotten olives in my papusa (which are stuffed with beans and/or meat and cheese). My tamales HAVE, however had olives in them in addition to chicken...

My Pupusa had green olives stuffed with pimento in it. HUH ??? Still right-some-good though !! I guess these olives are not just for Xmas dinner anymore.

The only pupusa in town! Very good!

Yum, mexican hot chocolate is one of my favourite things. I love preparing it for guests, friends, etc. La Cabana also has a bunch of other brands as well, so you can experiment and discover the one you enjoy the most. I make one with soy milk, which might be the only preparation of soy milk I can tolerate (I prefer whole milk)! It's also nice to add some ancho chile into the mix to give it some nice heat.

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Not prepared hot chocolate but tablets that when mixed with hot milk become a South American hot chocolate.

The one I bought is the Diana brand and includes not only the traditional cinnamon but also clove and moscada nut.

They sell the oregano un a small unmarked bag for about $2. They use this stuff in their curtido - use it if you can, since Greek Oregano doesn't substitute as well.

In the grocery store adjoining La Cabana, I noticed a Morcilla in the freezer section. It's frozen but at least it exists!

I had tamales before and hated them - dry and dull - but here, they are soooo good! thank God for La Cabana for showing me how good they are!

Yup FF, take advantage of the fact that they give you SO MUCH curtido... it's so good, I load it on my pupusas! It's also really dead easy to make. It's kind of like the Salvadoran equivalent to kimchi.

Very good pickled cabbage. My combination plate just came with a small bowl but we saw a couple of guys eating a load of pupusas and they got two huge mason jars of the stuff.

Not only can you get horchata in the restaurant, you can also buy the horchata powder in the atttached grocery store.

The pic is a scan of the package I picked up tonite. It's from El Salvador and contains alata seed, rice, sugar, sesame seed, cocoa, peanuts, cinnamon, cilantro and vanilla.

The directions say to mix with water or milk, adjust sugar to taste, then add ice.

I also picked up some South American (hot) chocolate tablets to celebrate Waterlude (I mean Winterlude). See the entry here :---> www.ottawafoodies.com <---

I thought the horchata was significantly better than Ahora's. More nutty/tasty, larger, and I think it was cheaper too.

I am a big fan of their fried plantain as it reminds me of the style my grandfather used to make me as a kid. He was from the Caribbean.

When making them with Mom as a teen, I would often want to cook them prematurely and she would not let me. The BIG issue with buying plantain to cook is that it is usually no where near ready and you have to wait soooo long. Correction they usually have them unripe to use boiled and mashed as a sort of potato substitute. Stores rarely ever carry them ripe, let alone over ripe and useable. Tossing them into a paper bag will often help with the time frame but still its agony waiting till they are entirely black. Its a waiting game and most are not patient enough (myself included).

Chimichimi: my guess is that you have just had bad Caribbean fried plantain experiences (as have I). They are not waiting long enough to cook them or run out of stock and instead of keeping the standard and saying they are out, they choose to serve them before its time. So they are not ripe or sweet enough yet they are still cooking them. Grrrrrrrr.

On one of my visits here I asked why the plantains there were so good. I thought maybe it had to do with what they were fried in or seasoned with. Nope, the girl there told me very shyly not to cook them til they are black and disgusting looking. So now I keep them on the counter til they look fit for the compost bin and my daughters are thoroughly grossed out....then I cook them!

Might be worth mentioning, but fried plantain, Salvadoran style, is prepared with ripe plantains - very much UNLIKE Caribbean style fried plantain which is typically less sweet and more starchy/dry (ie. unripe, or less ripe plantain)...

They sell a variety of corn tortillas here, unlike the grocery store. Tortilla gordo and standard thin tortillas are available, and a variety of brands.

Very good here - fried nice and crispy on the outside, left with a little fluffy yucca'ness on the inside. I like mine with salt & pepper and some salsa roja that comes with the pupusas.

The chicarones we had here were pretty meaty. A bit different than the last time I remembered having them (hope I got the name right!). Anyway sprayed with a bit of lime, they were soooo tasty! Highly recommeneded.