La Casa Latin Cuisine & Bakery
2250 Kingsway in Vancouver (Just off of Nanaimo across from Pho Hoa and literally beside Sushi By Yuji.)
I came across this hole in the wall by accident when picking up some take-out from Sushi By Yuji last week. I popped in to see what they had and it was a bit of a funny place. Turns out it's actually 1/3 store, 1/3 bakery, and 1/3 restaurant.
This is literally a mom and pop shop. Owned and operated by a husband and wife team from Guatemala, they serve Guatemalan cuisine and traditional baked goods. They also sell an assortment of products from Guatemala.
My lady friend and I tried their
hilachas soup (think beef stew but pulled/shredded beef) and their house special plate (beef.) The hilachas was very hearty, literally a meal on its own and the house special comes with your choice of beef, chicken, or pork, accompanied by rice, black beans and tortillas.
I also had a bottle of mandarin Jarritos and she had a glass of tamarindo. Food overall was delicious and the couple were extremely friendly and were very good about explaining the foods!
They also have tacos, tostadas, tamales, and a Guatemalan specialty called "paches" which is much like a tamale, except they use potato. We were looking forward to trying it out but unfortunately, they don't make it very often and you have to order it well in advance.
Ovearll, I'd give this place an 8.5/10. Food was great, love the mom'n'pop operation and very friendly owners. They take cash/debit/Visa. Keep in mind, they serve dinner mostly on weekends so if you want to try their food out, I recommend you give them a call to check in advance to avoid disappointment. Worse comes to worst, head next door to Sushi By Yuji.
