Lunch Specials: La Canela

Update: I would like to start a new series I like to call Lunch Specials.  I reveal some of the best deals and steals wherever I go to eat what some consider the least important meal of the day.

If there was one restaurant that I have recently visited that has caught my attention, it would be La Canela in Rockville.  When I had dinner there it was one of the most exciting meals I've had in a while. There were new flavors and interesting ingredients that we have never tasted before.  Since it was my birthday, I family and I decided to celebrate by having lunch since I have other commitments at dinner time.  Little did I know that lunch and dinner time at La Canela would be like night and day.

It was very bizarre walking into the restaurant as my family and I were the only diners.  It was too quiet.  I quickly realized that this was the normally the case since since the surrounding Town Square looks like a ghost town.  Despite the amount of workplaces in the vicinity, there isn't much activity during lunchtime.  Either they prefer to bring there lunch or don't have the time to sit down and eat.  That's a shame because there is a great deal to be found here. The highlights of there lunch menu include a two-course meal or single dishes for $15.  I chose a single dish while the rest of family had the two courses.

To my surprise, we started out with a complementary amuse bouche of a warm ceviche wonton with hunacaina sauce.  The ceviche consists of mahi mahi, citrus, and aji chili.

For the first course, my mom got the yuquita rellena, or fried yuca stuffed with crabmeat.  It was served with salsa and a sauce made with rocoto peppers.  It's a chili pepper grown in Latin America and is quite spicy.  My dad got the calamari with apparently came with yuca fries, making it a smaller version of appetizer we got last time.  My sister had yuca fries with huancaina sauce.  The amount of yuca we had was astounding considering how starchy and filling it is.

Now to the main event.  Mom and sis have the pesto fettuccine with a breaded beef cutlet.  Once again, the pasta was cooked al dente and the beef was perfectly fried, just like last time.  What was also perfectly fried was my dad's trout with even more yuca fries and garlic and olive oil scented rice.  The rice was shockingly fragrant and tasty.

And my single dish was cabrito guisado, a braised lamb shank on a bed of polenta.  To me, there is nothing than meat slow cooked until it falls off the bone.  The polenta is more chunkier than what I'm used to.  Most places would add a lot of cream or milk to make it look like mashed potatoes.  But here they don't use as much, giving it a consistency similar to oatmeal. And to make it clear, polenta is cornmeal not cheese.  But regardless, each entree was very filling and similar in size to the dinner portions.

Although it was tempting to have dessert, there was just no room for that with all of the starchy yuca we had.  Nevertheless, it was very filling and a great deal.  Although it was awkward eating in a nearly empty restaurant, it is a lot brighter inside since the lights are during the night, which is especially important if you want to take good pictures.  This visit reinforces how much I enjoy this restaurant and its food.  I'll be going back there on occasion and so should you.