Mercado la Paloma
culture  

Mercado la Paloma

By Kalyn

It’s finally spring break!! Before I jet off to Budapest, Austria, and Prague (which I will definitely blog about), I spent some quality time with my family. We went to Mercado la Paloma in DTLA to eat lunch and also pick up food for later. We ate at Holbox (lunch), Chichen Itza (dinner take-out), and Azla (dinner take-out). Mercado la Paloma is a warehouse style building with several independent shops and restaurants inside. It’s a super cool place to visit when you’re in LA.

Holbox - Yucatanean seafood - both raw and cooked. We had the mixed ceviche, seafood “cocktail”, octopus tacos, fish tacos, and lobster tacos. The seafood cocktail is not an alcoholic drink, but rather a mix of both raw and cooked seafood in a special red sauce and served in a cocktail glass. I loved the ceviche and the lobster tacos, but was not a fan of the rest of the dishes. My father loved the seafood cocktail and octopus tacos though, so it really is just personal preference.

Chichen Itza - also Yucatanean, and sister restaurant to Holbox. We had the jicama salad, tikin xic (a white fish dish), cochinita pibil (braised pork dish), and poc chuc (grilled pork shoulder). Again, I’m not a super big fan of the food, but the rest of my family loves it so much that we brought the food home for dinner.

Azla - vegan, gluten-free Ethiopian food… enough said. I’m not vegan, but I wanted to try Azla. I had never had Ethiopian food before, so I convinced my parents to get me a plate to-go. I tried the injera (Ethiopian sourdough flatbread), beet salad, mild tofu, and curried potatoes/carrots/cabbage. I did enjoy the main dishes and felt super healthy (yay!) but I really disliked the injera. It was so sour! I’m sure it’s an acquired taste and some people love it, but it just isn’t for me. Nevertheless, I’m really glad I tried Azla. It was an interesting experience.

Seafood cocktail and mixed ceviche from Holbox
Lobster and fish tacos from Holbox
Injera, beet salad, curried vegetables, and mild tofu from Azla

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