Seeking Food - By Ketojinic

I finally made it down to La Rancherita. This is hands down the best  salteñas  in California. When I'm craving Bolivian food, I usually only crave  salteña . This place is super legit and they sell other stuff too,  like Bolivian cheese in their fridge as well as other non-Bolivian pastries and other types of food but honestly I wasn't even paying attention to that because I legit got a dozen  salteñas here to take to a potluck after I ate one and was like.. this is the BEST  salteña!!! La Rancherita Bakery 2709 Westminster Ave Ste B Santa Ana, CA 92706

Went to Bebas again, the only Bolivian restaurant in North Hollywood, or in LA county even. There are a few Bolivian restaurants in the OC but it's way too far and Bebas always hits the spot. For appetizer, we started with Cuñape (recipe here that I posted long ago) and the drink is called mocochinchi, which is made of dehydrated peaches, cinnamon, and sugar. SO GOOD. My friend got the silpancho, which is breaded steak with potatoes and fried plantains, very typical of Bolivia. I got the picante mixto, which comes with spicy beef tongue, yellow spiced chicken slow cooked, hominy, regular potatoes, and rice. Can you say carbs and protein? The spicy sauce is soaked up by all the carbs and it's just the most delicious thing in the world. My hubz got the pique macho, which is almost like the Peruvian version of lomo saltado, which is basically fries and meats sauteed together in a vinegarlike sauce. In this version, there is mustard, which ups the ante a little. A close...

Bolivian food in LA? You must be kidding me, right? You mean, I don't have to fly to VA anymore to get some good Bolivian food?! OMG OMG OMG OMG. I had to go and see for myself. I took my mom and two brothers and we headed out to Beba's in North Hollywood. I've made many treks like this in the past only to find an empty or a burnt down restaurant, or a restaurant that never exist. When we got to Hazeltine Ave., we almost gave up driving up and down that street until finally, we spotted it. A small hole in the wall. So small you'd miss it if you blinked. Once inside, we noticed that the owners were Bolivian. They even played traditional Bolivian music videos on their television. It's a must see so ask for it to be played if it's not on. Also, do not laugh out loud. It may seem funny to non-Bolivians but Bolivians take their songs and culture seriously and who cares if they filmed it on an abandoned train or if the singers are wearing gangsterlike sunglasses rem...

Mi Bolivia (says "International Restaurant" outside) Neighborhood: Queens/Sunnyside 44-10 48th Ave Woodside, NY 11377 vs. Tutto Bene Italian Restaurant (Bolivian food served on the weekends) 501 N Randolph St Arlington, VA 22203 (703) 522-1005 vs. My Bakery (always Bolivian, all the time) 3508 Courtland Dr Falls Church, VA 22041 (703) 933-7332 One of the most important things on my east coast trip was to be able to hit some Bolivian restaurants. Sadly, there aren't any Bolivian restaurants in Los Angeles (the closest being Peruvian if they don't specialize in seafood - like Pollo Inka, etc).   *edit* There are a couple Bolivian restaurants in Los Angeles but most of them serve food traditional to La Paz, the capital, and not so much the foods I get homesick for, the food from the low lands. However, they are still great in a pinch and I know I can get some salteñas in when I am in dire need of them. When my best friend told me that she found a Bol...