Los Chamacos in Arlington

Regional Dining Discussions DC, Mid-Atlantic
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This place is right around the corner from the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse and has quite a few intriguing menu items that tip you off that it’s truly Mexican, a rarity in most of our area.
We ordered:

Mulitas, one version with birria, one with cheese and chicken
Pambazo
Chile en Nogado
Cochinita Pibil

Mulitas are a stack of tortillas layered with meat. There are now so many places to get birria (even taco trucks), it’s no longer a rare treat. Most places do it very well, and this is no exception. The chicken is uninteresting.

Pambazo is a cousin of torta ahogada, but after it is dunked it is then cooked. So instead of a dripping sandwich, it just tastes like bad bread. A curiosity.

The Cochinita Pibil is a Yucatecan pork specialty. Here it has very good flavor though it’s cooked in too much gloppy sauce. It’s better as a braise.

The best was the chile en nogada, a stuffed chile with a white sauce on top. It is considered a seasonal specialty because it is supposed to have pomegranate on top, a winter fruit in Mexico. Ours was missing this key ingredient. Even though it was tasty, it pales in comparison to the exceptional version at Oyamel, which is only sometimes available in the winter so you have to get lucky. I recommend calling Oyamel in advance.

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Thanks for the report, Steve. The mulitas sound worth a trip. I’m intrigued by the white sauce. What’s it like? Someone was asking me if a little place in St Mary’s County, Tacos Herrnandez, had a white sauce. They don’t and I don’t recall ever seeing one – in aMexican restaurant.

You may have to call Oyamel for reservations next winter. A friend has been trying and even at lunch it’s been fully booked at least through March since they got the James Beard nomination.

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Triggered a memory of this article:

https://www.southernfoodways.org/wisdom-of-the-white-sauce/

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I hadn’t really thought about what goes into the sauce. At Oyamel it is white, at Loc Chamacos it was tinged yellow, probably form using a more processed cheese.

Here is a recipe with photo that looks very much like what I’ve had at Oyamel:

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chiles_en_nogada_chilies_in_walnut_sauce/

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The white Sauce for Chilis en Nogata is typically made from Walnuts (el nogal), Milk or Crema Fresca(Crème Fraîche) and sometimes Queso Fresco. Oh just saw that Steve already posted a link to a recipe :roll_eyes:
Often made to celebrate Mexican Independence Day since it has the Colors of the Mexican Flag.

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Aha! Thanks. It seems pretty dish-specific at first glance.