This beef steak was the special of the house in a very nice open air restaurant in Managua. There were two plates of food, the main one sporting a 14oz steak, two halves of a buttered baked potato, and a slice of fried cheese on a sizzling cast iron platter. The side plate had rice, salad, and fried crunchy slices of plantain. You could easily see the grain of the meat in the steak so you could slice across it for a tender cut. The meat was obviously treated with herbs and garlic (maybe a chimichurri marinade). As far as steak meals go, this one was damn good and only a fraction of the price I would have paid back home.
Location: Nicasados, Avenida Bolivar across from Area Monumental, Managua, Nicaragua. Date: February 27, 2023.
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This is a Nicaraguan take on shrimp with garlic served with gallo pinto (rice with beans), unripe plantain smashed and fried, and a salad of lettuce, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and a cucumber slice with Italian dressing. The shrimp tasted like they'd been cooked in garlic flavored butter, but I didn't actually see any garlic. I ate outdoors, but I could see that the shop inside specialized in corn tortilla chips.
Location: La Casa del Maiz, 1 block from Lake Managua on Avenida Bolivar, Managua, Nicaragua. Date: February 26, 2023. I was looking for an evening snack, and I found this five-pointed star of semi-sweet spice cake topped with slivered toasted almonds and sesame seeds at a little shop around the corner from my hotel. The nuts and seeds made the tender cake quite chewy. I broke off a little piece in my hotel room and poured some Nicaraguan rum on it, and that was good! I tried to save a piece for my morning coffee, as this would have made a great coffee cake, but I couldn't resist pouring more rum on it and eating it all at once.
Location: A little tienda on 4th Street NE, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 24, 2023. Garrobo is a spiny tailed iguana which is part of the mountain meat category on some Nicaraguan menus. Desmenuzado means crumbled in English, and the meat was basically shredded but still had some remnants of bone in it. I could also have had the iguana grilled or fried on a flat top, but I took the waiter's suggestion. The little pieces of meat were served as a stew with slices of still crunchy onion and green pepper with some tomato pieces in a light but salty tomato broth. It came with rice, corn tortilla, and spicy pickled onion. The meat didn't taste like much, but it wasn't as tough as I thought it might be. Frankly, the vegetables the meat came with were more enjoyable than the meat itself; nevertheless, I'm glad I got to try it.
Location: Don Pepe, Teatro Municipal ½ c al sur, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 24, 2023. Yes, this is soup with bull testicle in it, one of the many highlights of my Nicaraguan food adventure. The thin slices of soft and creamy testicle came in a traditional light and tasty broth that had some milk or just a little cream in it as well as finely chopped onion, potato, carrot, red bell pepper, squash, and mint leaves. The soup tasted buttery, and it was served with a corn tortilla on the side along with a slice of the typical grilled white cheese and some spicy chopped onion pickle. This place also serves bull testicle raw as a ceviche.
Location: Don Pepe, Teatro Municipal ½ c al sur, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 23, 2023. These are available on the streets of Leon along with other pastries. If you miss the street vendors, and you need a late night snack, you can get these at little shops. The slightly salted dough was a little tough, as it probably has to be to survive the street, and I wasn't sure that I'd have gotten pineapple from the jam if I hadn't been told; however, it wasn't very sweet (which I appreciate), there was a little tartness from the jam, and it bailed me out for very little money when I needed a snack in the evening. This has inspired me to try some of the other street pastries in Nicaragua.
Location: A street in Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 22, 2023. Jalapeño sauce is popular in Nicaragua with various proteins, but it seems that chicken is the most popular of all. My dish was pounded chicken breast in a light cream sauce with still crunchy sauteed onion slices and jalapeño rings. Rice was put on my plate whether I wanted it or not, and I was told that I had to have this dish with a slice of fresh white cheese, which is typically Nicaraguan. The cheese was just slightly chewy and also salty and a touch smokey. When asked what else I wanted, I chose a half fried plantain which added a little sweetness to the dish. I also couldn't resist some salsa picante, which was finely diced tomato, cucumber, onion, and green chile. It was slightly pickled and tasted salty, sour, and spicy, but in a good way. Overall, this was a lovely traditional balanced meal enjoyed in a pretty little tropical courtyard.
Location: Meson Segoviano, 3rd Calle NE, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 22, 2023. This was meat, beans, onion, spices, and chiles surrounded by tortilla chips. The chile was a little sweet, the ground beef was tender and smokey, and the gravy was nice and savory. The kicker was the amount of fresh white Nicaraguan cheese on top; that's what made this chile Nicaraguan. Their own brand of smoked habanero sauce added more heat and smoke. It's a whole meal for one, for sure, but almost begging to be an appetizer with friends.
Location: D'Humo Smokehouse, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 20, 2023. These were some nice meaty dark shellfish served in their own dark juice. The sauce had chopped tomato and onion in it as well as lime juice and salt. The glass had a lime slice garnish as well as a tomato garnish and a lettuce leaf. The meat from the shells was obviously raw and had a fresh seafood flavor a bit like squid ink. At sunset on the beach, this was spectacular.
Location: Bomalu, Playa Las Penitas, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 16, 2023. This was the usual lime juice, fresh mint, white rum, and club soda with the addition of passion fruit juice. The juice was the real deal as I could see passion fruit seeds in the drink. There was plenty of fresh mint, and I don't think they skimped on the rum either. The drink was a little sweet, very minty, the passion fruit flavor came through nicely, and there was tartness from the lime juice. I drank this refreshing drink on a beach paradise at a restaurant with the unfortunate name of SUA, but my cocktail was anything butt!
Location: SUA Grill & Chill, Playa Las Peñitas, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 16, 2023. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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