I have to admit that I have never been to Honduras, or ever tasted their food, so it was a new experience for me and my daughter who joined me at Honduras Kitchen on 4th St. one evening.
Even though I have been passing this place for years, I had never thought to stop, and it wasn’t until Cliv suggested it that I had even considered it. First off, because parking is a bit of a challenge as it really only has street parking. Second, it has a narrow front door smack dab in the middle of a non-descript building with only a small sign standing out front—the only indication that there is even a restaurant there. Lastly, the only windows in the place are the glass panes of the front door.
Regardless, in we went, and we were met with a large humble dining room with a scattering of tables and chairs and a hodge-podge of art on the wall. At the far end, a funky Tiki bar stands with a palm covering that looks like no one really uses it and to the side, there is another room that could be a dancehall of sorts, as it is set up with lighting and speakers that also looks unused.
Finally, there are a few TVs hanging in the corners playing music videos and a soccer game in Spanish. There were only us and another table of six people in the whole place this evening, save for one pleasant waitress. As unimpressive as the place seemed at first glance, it felt like when I’d go on vacation out of the country and happen upon a little place the locals recommended: clean and tidy and very humble, but welcoming nonetheless.
The food was surprisingly a lot like my native Puerto Rican food, which itself is similar to Cuban food: a lot of rice, beans and platanos. My daughter even said that the arroz con pollo she ordered tasted just like mine. It was good, hearty, flavorful food that reminded us of our Latin mothers.
I ordered a bowl of the sopa mondongo, filled with meats, platano or plantains, cassava, and green bananas in a coconut milk flavored caldo, or broth, made with saffron, giving it a nice golden color. The caldo was nice, but could have used a bit more flavoring as it was a little too mild for the meats in the soup. The arroz con pollo we ordered was very tasty, with large pieces of chicken, onions and bell peppers. The plate was served with wheat toast and coleslaw, though, which seemed a little odd to us, but again, we were newbies to this culture. Maybe this is how mothers in Honduras served their children back home. All except for the basket of tortilla chips served with this mild red sauce sprinkled with crumbled cheese, everything had familiar flavors to this Puerto Rican.
Surprisingly they didn’t have any postres or desserts to speak of, which made us sad. So then I suggested that my daughter offer her services to the owner as their provider of postres as she is the best flan maker in our family. However, we don’t even know if they serve flan in Honduras, so I think further research is in order before she does this.
Overall, it was a nice home-cooked style meal, modestly priced and definitely deserving of a return trip. Until next time….Bon Appetite!
Honduras Kitchen is located at 1909 E 4th St, (562) 624-8849