El Fortin - Review #2

El Fortin 700 E Commonwealth Ave Fullerton, CA 92831 (714) 773-4290 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

Enter starting address: Address City, State and/or Zip

Appetizer: Chips and Salsa and Mole Sauce
Entree: Estofado con Puerco
Drink: Horchata
Dessert: Flan

Whenever I tell people about this little blog here that I run one of the first things they tend to think is that is that I'm on a mission to find and eat the weirdest, most exotic foods out there, as though my life is a never-ending Fear Factor. Well, I don't actively seek out bizarre foods but in my quest to provide complete coverage of Mexican food in Orange County it's hard to not encounter some out-of-the-ordinary food from time to time.

Now, El Fortin is a mini-chain with two locations, one in Stanton and the other in Fullerton, with the Fullerton one being much more well-known. Both locations specialize in Oaxacan food and are known for serving chapulines (grasshoppers). However, I actually covered the Stanton location first. In that review I talked about eating one grasshopper when the waiter "encouraged" me to.

When I finally got to the Fullerton location two days ago I met up with frequent guest reviewer Johnny Automatic and his friend Luis, a Mexican who has travelled extensively throughout Mexico. Like me they weren't aiming incontrovertibly to eat chapulines but we still knew we had to at least try some.

We decided the best way to do this would be to share a Quesadilla con Chapulines. As you can see above they stuffed quite a few whole grasshoppers into the quesadilla. Oddly enough, Luis had the hardest time stomaching it while Johnny gobbled his right up. I was somewhere in the middle. There's nothing off-putting about the taste but you can definitely tell you are eating grasshoppers and discern every distinct part of their bodies. Still, I can think of worse things to eat.

You can even buy a t-shirt here that proudly proclaims that you ate grasshoppers at El Fortin Oaxacan Restaurant. But be honest, don't buy one if you didn't actually eat some.

Like at the Stanton location El Fortin's horchata comes with a shot of watermelon syrup, diced cantaloupe, and a sprinkling of walnuts on the top. They very nicely made me a non-walnut variety.

James and Thomas stopped by too

Estofado con Puerco

For an entree I got the Estofado con Puerco, sort of a Mexican curry: "Chicken or Pork covered with Oaxaca's mole made from sesame, tomatillos, chiles, raisins, olives and spices. Served with rice."

Enchiladas de Coloradito con Cecina

John and Luis both got the Enchiladas de Mole Negro o Coloradito con Chorizo, Quesillo, Tasajo o Cecina for $5.99: "Three tortillas rolled around chicken dipped in either red or black mole and sprinkled with cabbage and cheese. Served with choice of tasajo, chorizo, Cecina Enchilada or quesillo on the top with rice and beans on the side." The listed price is for one ingredient. Each additional ingredient is 80 cents extra. Johnny got the enchiladas with the coloradito and cecina enchilada (the spicy coated fried pork strips). The enchiladas were filled with chicken.

Negro mole con quesillo

Luis got the Negro mole con quesillo. Look at the cheese on that, like very thick string cheese. I remarked that it looked more like rope.

Here's Johnny's input on the visit:

It was fun to try the chapulines and I really didn't have the squeamish factor. But between the heavy spices on them, all the frying and the rich cheese it was pretty heavy fare.

The smoky quality of the mole negro was very nice. I found their negro mole to be less sweet and with less chocolate flavor than others.

I actually liked my mole coloradito better and I know Luis also agreed. It was a really excellent balance of sweet, hot, spicy, chocolate and chiles.

I finished my own meal up with a flan (surprise, surprise) and found it to be very soft and melt-in-your-mouth:

Flan

El Fortin earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:



Just wanted to add that today is the two year anniversary of this blog and, believe me, we have plenty of more content coming.

See the whole photo album at

El Fortin - Review #1

10444 Dale Ave
Stanton, CA 90680

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Official Site

I'd found out about this restaurant from Gustavo Arellano's Orange County's 61 best Latino restaurantes OC Weekly article (although I went to the Stanton location rather than the location in Fullerton that was mentioned) and checked out El Fortin's official website, and saw that grasshoppers were mentioned in numerous spots on their menu. What I didn't know is that I would end up actually eating some (my apologies to Jiminy Cricket).

Upon arriving at this inconspicuous establishment hidden near a corner of two little-used streets in Stanton mi hermano and I were greeted by Robert who was so personable we felt more like we were being welcomed into his home. I told him how I'd found out about his place and that I would be reviewing it for my blog and asked if I could take pictures and he said, "Go ahead!"
Robert then brought out the requisite chips and salsa but along with it also brought a cup of mole negro. I dipped the corner of a chip into it and tasted it and, while it was pretty good, I detected enough walnut presence to know that my walnut allergy wouldn't allow me to eat any. There's other items on the menu with nuts in them so people with allergies need to be careful. But there are plenty of items without nuts and Robert was very helpful with making suggestions.

El Fortin's menu focuses on food from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. On our server's recommendation I tried the Plato Especial, which included tasajo (salted beef round), a Cecina enchilada (spicy chile paste marinated, thinly sliced and fried), queso frito (fried cheese), Platanos fritos (fried plantains), a chile relleno, guacamole and black beans.

My brother ordered a plate of three quesadillas that ended up looking more like deep-fried tacos and were smothered in guacamole and hot sauce. I then went to their refrigerator and picked out a lime-flavored Jarritos brand soda. After taking our order to the cook in the back Robert came back to our table and asked if we'd like to try some grasshoppers. I asked if I could at least see them. He went to the refrigerator himself and took out a mixing bowl that must've been filled with two or three thousand little grasshoppers. I said, "I want to see you eat some first." So he popped one in his mouth and crunched away. I then poured some of my Jarritos into my glass so I could have something to wash it down with in case I didn't like it, then grabbed one, popped it in my own mouth and crunched away and it really wasn't so bad (yes, it is the whole grasshopper), almost like a cross between popcorn and shrimp . . . or maybe just like popcorn shrimp . . . with legs . . . and feelers. Do I get some sort of honorary mention on Fear Factor next week? I didn't order any item that had grasshoppers in it but would consider ordering a grasshopper quesadilla or taco next time.

While I love the Jarritos soda what I should've ordered but my brother did was their horchata, the funkiest I'd ever seen, which comes topped with chopped nuts (I believe Robert said they were pepitas [pumpkin seeds] but better make sure it's not walnuts, almonds, or pecans before I give it a try), melon syrup, and cactus fruit puree.

Overall El Fortin earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:



UPDATE: "Elmo" from the Monster Munching blog requested a picture of the grasshoppers. Problem is, when you look at the bowl of them you can't even tell from three feet away what they are. When you take one out you see a little more detail, but not that much. Maybe I'll go back sometime and try to get some good grasshopper pictures. Until then, here's a picture off of their site: