La Loma

In the mood for a quick Mexican food lunch last weekend, we strolled into La Loma on our way back from the north suburbs. La Loma is basically a Denver staple. They must be doing something right, as they've thrived in their spacious location on 26th Avenue for over thirty years.

Anyone seeing La Loma's location for the first time ma be surprised by the residential-looking abode in an otherwise commercial area just north of Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Operating out of a former Denver home built in 1887, La Loma looks and feels more like grandma's house than a giant Mexican restaurant.

La Loma

We've been to La Loma a few times before, always either for dinner or just before heading over to a Broncos game.

On this particular visit, we arrived at a not-ideal-for-Mexican-food hour of 11 am on a Sunday, just after the restaurant had opened for the day. The dining area was pretty empty due to the early hour and a simultaneous Broncos away game.

The interior is filled with homey decorations, including plenty of Christmas decor during the December day of our meal. We were seated next to their tortilla maker, which pops out fresh tortillas on a heated conveyor belt to the joy of nearby diners.

Our server quickly brought us complimentary chips and salsa:

Chips and Salsa

My husband proclaims this to be his favorite chips and salsa in Denver. The homemade salsa is fresh, spicy, and rich in tomato flavor. I prefer a thicker, chunkier salsa, but the flavor of this salsa was excellent.

For my main dish, I ordered the Chile Rellenos ($9.95):

Chile Rellenos with Green Chile

This dish was described on the menu as "Green chile strips with melted aged cheddar and jack cheeses in a crispy shell, served with green or red chile, refried beans and rice."

Relleno is Spanish for "stuffed," but there was clearly nothing stuffed about the chiles used in this dish. Instead, inside the crispy, fried wrapper was a giant log of sizzling, oozing cheese and a small sliver of green chile.

This might make an ideal bar food, but it was too greasy and cheesy of a dish to be a good main meal. To call it "Chile Rellenos" on the menu is a bit misleading, although the menu's description exactly depicted how it was served.

Alongside the chiles were large helpings of rice and refried beans. I have yet in my lifetime to enjoy the sad pile of boring, bland Spanish rice served with so many Mexican-American dishes, so I was similarly unimpressed with the rice at La Loma. The beans, however, were well seasoned and not too mashed up, which I liked.

The chiles were served with a large helping of green chile. La Loma makes a big deal of its green chile, and apparently 5280 Magazine awarded La Loma Denver's "Best Green Chile" title. It's packed with small pieces of pork and has a bit of a thick, floury texture. I found it very tasty, although I wish it had a little more heat.

My husband ordered the Tacos Dorados with ground beef ($9.75):

Tacos Dorados with Ground Beef

The tacos were stuffed with ground beef and topped with cheddar and jack cheeses, lettuce, and tomatoes. Like my chile rellenos, they were served with refried beans and rice.

They were simple and quite tasty, although not particularly special. The ground beef was very well seasoned, but the tacos would've needed more depth of flavor to really stand out.

Service was friendly and extraordinarily prompt.

La Loma offers some decent but not amazing Mexican food for a reasonable price, and it makes a great spot for a reliably quick lunch.


Everyday Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Cheap, fast service, great green chile
Cons: Some dishes to greasy and/or one-dimensional

Website:
http://www.restauranteur.com/laloma/

Pho 95

Needing some pho this past weekend and intrigued by the positive reviews that Pho 95 received on Yelp and Urbanspoon, my husband and I headed over for lunch.

Normally for a Vietnamese food fix, we head to Pho Saigon in Englewood, so everything at Pho 95 was judged relative to its south-suburban counterpart a few miles further east on Arapahoe.

Pho 95 is situated in the 'burbs at Littleton's SouthGlenn development, which is a totally different environment from its Pho 95 predecessor off Federal. Nonetheless the restaurant seems to do extremely well in suburbia.

We arrived on a Sunday around 1 pm to a brightly decorated, mostly-full restaurant, and were immediately seated at a booth near the window.

We began with our usual starter, the Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls ($3.95):

Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls

The rolls contained high-quality shrimp and pork, but otherwise were stuffed with only rice noodles and lettuce and were a bit bland. The peanut sauce tasted too much like overly sweet peanut butter.

Our main dishes were small bowls of Pho Tai or Beef Pho ($6) for my husband and Pho Bo Vien or Meatball Pho ($6) for myself.

Pho Bo (Beef Pho)

Meatball Pho

The soup was accompanied by a giant plate of veggies:

Pho Vegetables

You really can't tell from the photo above, but the plate came with a mountain of bean sprouts that were a bit brown and not particularly fresh tasting.

Other than the dreary bean sprouts, however, the pho was fantastic. The broth was light and pleasantly salty. The meatballs and beef slices in our respective bowls were comprised of thinly sliced, high quality meats. The soup was packed full of meat and noodles, and we threw in handful after handful of veggies on the side.

Service was ridiculously fast, efficient, and friendly. I'm pretty sure we only had time to blink between placing our orders and seeing the spring rolls delivered to our table.

Overall we loved the pho (minus the bean sprouts), but the spring rolls were disappointing. Worth another visit.


Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)


Pros: Great pho, cheap, fast service
Cons: Some aspects of food below average

Website:
http://www.pho95noodlehouse.com

Pho Saigon

Not all pho is created equal. Pho Saigon at Arapahoe and Dayton in Englewood is not to be confused with the Pho Saigon in Englewood at Quebec, or the Pho Saigon in Aurora, or any of the other pho spots in Denver. This Pho Saigon is special.

After our first visit a couple years ago, we knew we'd stumbled on a gem. We've been many times since then, and we've never been disappointed.

Pho Saigon is located along a very busy stretch of Arapahoe Road in Englewood, in a little strip mall alongside several other restaurants. The interior is simple and modest, suited to a factory that cranks out happy Vietnamese food consumers. Despite the unassuming location, Pho Saigon is no secret among nearby office workers at lunch time. Be prepared for a line out the door if you arrive after 11:30 during the work week.

The staff is friendly and very, very efficient. You won't sit long before receiving water, having your order taken, and seeing your delicious plates (or bowls) of food in front of you.

Every time we go, we get the same things:

For a starter, the shrimp and pork spring rolls.

Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls

The spring rolls are filled with shrimp, pork, noodles, lettuce, and carrots. The peanut sauce that comes for dipping is perfectly spiced, and not too sweet.

Mr. Oyster's main dish (and occasionally mine as well) is always the traditional beef pho.


Beef Pho

One thing I'm really, really picky about anywhere I eat is that the fruits or vegetables served be high quality and very fresh. Fortunately, all the veggies here pass my picky taste and texture criteria; you'll never see any brownish bean sprouts or wilted mint leaves at Pho Saigon.

Be warned that the size above is a small pho bowl. Order anything bigger at your own risk. The combination of beef, broth, and noodles is extremely filling.

And my usual: the grilled shrimp noodle bowl. It's served with carrots, scallions, bean sprouts, lettuce, peanuts, and fish sauce.

Grilled Shrimp Rice Noodle Bowl

Here is the standard routine with Mr. Oyster and I once the noodle bowl is set in front of me: he makes eyes at me like "hey, just let me have one shrimp".  I glare at him, and quickly move all the shrimp to my side of the bowl. Sometimes, I even build up a rice noodle barricade to further hinder any shrimp theft. He attempts to distract me throughout meal in hopes for a brief window of opportunity to sneak one of the delicious little crustaceans in his mouth. He usually fails usually wins eventually. Anyway, you get the idea, the shrimp are delicious. The portion, however, is too big for me. I usually leave most of the noodles behind.

For both the quality and quantity of food served, Pho Saigon is a bargain. Our bill for the food above, including tax, came to only $17.50 (I believe spring rolls were $3, shrimp bowl was $7, and pho was $6).

They've recently updated their menu to include more vegetarian and vegetable-heavy options, but we haven't had a chance to try any of them. Also, if you're scouring the south suburbs for Boba tea, Pho Saigon offers some twenty or so flavors. 

Pho Saigon is a great place for simple, standard Vietnamese dishes. Just make sure to get there before everyone else does.


Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)

Pros: Great basic Vietnamese food. Speedy and friendly service.
Cons: Very busy at lunch hour, some portions too large