Sunday, September 19, 2010

Loca for Los Perros

What could make me come out of my food blog slump and finally write a post after such a long hiatus? Well, it has to be something spectacular, and boy, is it! Don't get me wrong, I've had lots of great food and food experiences from the last time I posted, but this recent experience was just so titillating, I just couldn't help myself.

Nick (my boyfriend, for those of you who may have forgotten) and I are avid birders now, and last weekend we went birding early Saturday morning at A.D. Barnes park in Miami. We drove about an hour away to catch a great migration movement... But anyways, back to the food. So after a long morning of birding, we worked up an appetite. I remembered that a friend of ours told us about this intriguing-sounding "hot dog place." He described it as a hot dog with a special sauce and crushed potato chips on top. It sounded crazy but interesting, and I'm always up for something new.

I had to do a little searching on my iPhone for "hot dogs" and "crushed chips" in Miami, and I figured out that the place was called Los Perros. So thanks to Google Maps, I was able to find a location nearby! We're almost never in this area, so it was something we finally had the chance to try, and I thought that it would most likely be cheap since it's "just hot dogs." What an understatement that was...

We arrive at a very unassuming shopping plaza and see the sign for Los Perros. But when we walk in, we're amazed to see this super swanky joint. It looked like a night club that happened to be opened during the day. There was even dance club music playing. Very confused, I had Nick go outside just to make sure we were in the right place. Yes, this was the place, alright. There were only a few people inside, and I didn't see any food yet on their table, so as we sat down, I was still not convinced that we were at the right place.

Swanky bar in the back, 3 tasty sauces in the front

Nick excited about our future 
meal! Notice the fancy interior.
The place was fairly small but decked out in Miami style. The walls were a deep crimson, and vintage chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The restaurant is Colombian, but there were hints of Asian and Mediterranean accents, like Buddha statues and large, extravagant mirrors (note Mediterranean wall details in photos). Towards the back was a bar with a few frozen drink machines churning, and on one side of the counter was a variety of typical and atypical sodas.

We recover from the shock after a few minutes and were handed pint-sized, laminated trifold menus. This place was so bizarre yet delightful all at the same time. On one hand, you have this trendy nightclub feeling, yet on the other, you have the feeling of walking into a mom-and-pop shop. There was such a paradox happening with the glitz and glam teamed with what appears to be traditional Colombian street food. There was even the nice touch of the food coming out in paper and styrofoam packaging.

Patiently waiting...

And there were not "just hot dogs" on the menu. Here we did find sausages ("regular" or chorizo) on buns topped with the crushed (plantain?) chips and special sauce on top, but there was much more! My descriptions probably can't do the food justice, but I'll give it a shot. Along without the hot dogs, or "perros," the menu also included arepas, round flat corn cakes filled with cheese or your choice of meat; salchipapas, a hodgepodge of potatoes and sausage, and quail eggs, if you so desire; marranitas, a sort of fried plantain pita pocket filled with your choice of meat; and maicitos, a dish layered with corn, pineapple sauce, crushed chips, cheese topped with special sauce. And every table received 3 plastic squeeze bottles, one filled with the "special sauce," which was kind of like thousand island dressing or ketchup plus mayo mixed together, another with a creamy, garlic-y green sauce, and a third one with pineapple sauce.

Our heads spun for about 5 minutes as we tried to gather ourselves and pick out just what we wanted to try! We decided to go with the chorizo hot dog, or "choriperro," the arepas with chicharrones (chunks of fried pork belly), and the maicito with chicken. Oh, and we felt like we had to have a "local" drink, so we ordered Colombiana. The waitress couldn't really described what it was like, but we went for it any way. The can described it as "kola flavored soda," and to my delight, it tasted like Big Red soda. (You southerners, or at least fellow Texans, may know about that…) 

We anxiously awaited for our food, knowing that our lives would be changed forever. And the food WAS amazing. The chicharrones were cooked to perfection - just the right amount of crispy, salty, fatty goodness. The chorizo sausage tasted like it was made fresh, and the topping of chips and special sauce is inspired. The maicitos dish was lacking the "umph" factor, but still had good flavor. We added lots of the yummy green sauce to that and the choriperro.
Arepa de Chicharron, Choriperro, & Maisito w/ Chicken










Mmm... Fried Pork Belly... 

 I was a little sad when the meal was over. I felt like I could eat ten more choriperros and maybe 3 more arepas… not because I wasn't full, but because I just wanted to keep tasting these amazing flavors. I would definitely go to this place again. And thank goodness there's a location closer to me in Broward. They've got several locations and late hours, making this the ideal place for late night munchies. Below is the website, which, with it's dance music playing, gives you just a taste of its posh feel yet down to earth food paradox.


For more info, check out Los Perros website at:
http://www.losperros.com/fnn/