I was driving back home on my normal route through Echo Park into Silver Lake, and my taco radar went off. My eyes dilated the way they did in Requiem For A Dream, which by the way, is one of the most depressing movies ever. Through my peripheral vision, I spotted the Home Depot clamp lamps that I've grown all too familiar with. Home Depot clamp lamps = good street food. I parked and to my surprise, they had quite a small setup, not the usual 1-2 griddle tables, but rather a large pot and a steaming lid. I looked closely at the sign... barbacoa. Even better. What a relief it was to find someone selling something other than the usual suspect tacos.
Along with your taco is an offering of a consome, also known as consomme in French, or simply... broth. Like Asian cooking, bones are not discarded after the meat has been removed. They are reserved to provide further sustenance, usually in soup form. Depending on the state in Mexico, they may offer different types of broth. I've had it at Highland Park's My Taco and East LA's Breed Street, which offer consome de chivo, a goat broth which is even better than the taste of lamb in my opinion. But Barbacoa Hidalgo does a consome de borrego... so you've got a lamb soup to go with your lamb taco. Which I'm calling the $3 Echo Park happy meal. Sorry no toy included.
Taco de Borrego (Lamb Taco)
For $1.50, it seems like I got 2-3 tacos worth. They piled the meat high and with a smile. The meat was moist and pretty tasty. The hot sauce offered was quite spicy. Never worry, there's always a bucket of Mexican sodas or water.
Consome de Borrego (Lamb Broth)
For $1.50, you also get this. A lamb broth with onions and chickpeas. I always pile in a ton of onions, cilantro and 1-2 squeezes of lime. No need for hot sauce, this has a nice kick already. The soup was a bit on the salty side but it's important to note that some people will eat this almost like a French Dip. They'll dip their taco in the broth for a flavor kick, and it's tasty.
Barbacoa Hidalgo sets up shop every night from 7-11 pm in Echo Park off Sunset/Echo Park Avenue. Thanks for reading.
7 comments:
So much better than a Happy Meal!
the tacos and broth look delicious...its great to have nice flavorful soup.
Ohhh, what a great find!
I've been craving hidalgo-style barbacoa and the consomme ever since I had the one down in TJ.
Wonder if they're open in the morning since usually they eat barbacoa for brekkie?
WM, for sure! And less deadly too!
FactoryJunkie, they are indeed lovely. The soup is a bit salty but again, it's made really for dipping the taco in.
Burumun, hello. I'm not sure that it'll be better than TJ's! I know Bill only finds the best food. I think Breed Street's barbacoa was much better, but I don't think they exist anymore. Sad. He's there 7-11 pm every night.
can you give a little more hint on where this place is?
Sunset/Echo Park Avenue
Hopefully you're refrigerator won't attack you when you OD on tacos!
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