A Tale of Two Comals Part I: El Comal - Imperial Ave

*** This location of El Comal has closed.

On a recent afternoon I was rather surprised when I asked the Missus what she felt like eating. Her answer? "Hmmm, I'd like some Mexican food, maybe some soup would be good." Wow, first she went along for some Vietnamese, and now Mexican. But as with most similar opportunities in our household there was one catch. "But make sure it's none of that, taco shop garbage, OHHKAYYY!" Yes, the Missus has an aversion to the tons of yellow cheese, gloppy refried beans, french fries in the burrito, greasy taco shop fare that is so abundant in San Diego. Bummer...... Luckily, I had a restaurant in mind, one entry in my little notebook that had been slowly fading away; El Comal. Now as fate would have it, over the course of two days we found ourselves not only breaking bread (or is it tortillas) at the Imperial Avenue location of El Comal, but the Chula Vista location as well. What really surprised us about the meals, was that even though the two El Comals share the same menus, and Owner, the food was quite different, maybe a more of a similar, but different? But then again, I'm always mentioning the differences in the quality of food between the various locations of Sam Woo BBQ, so why should this be any different?

As I understand it, a "Comal" is a clay, cast iron, or other metal skillet or griddle. So just as any well seasoned cast iron pan or wok would have it's own distinctive flavor, no two "Comals" would be the same, right?

Enough with this, on to El Comal, located on Imperial Avenue.

We arrived on a weekend afternoon at about 2pm, and the clean and simply attired interior was fairly empty.

As we entered we were seated by the very nice and friendly Server, given menus, and had some chips and salsa delivered.

I perhaps enjoyed the crisp and grease free chips a bit too much. I plowed through them in no time. The salsas were nice and spicy.

We placed our order and in no time the food started arriving. We started with a Potato Empanada($2.75), and a Oaxaca style Chicken Tamale($2.00).

The exterior of the Empanada was nice  and crisp, though the interior was a "cheese-fest" with very little potato.

The Tamale did not fare much better. Not having any experience with Oaxacan Tamales, we were surprised at the very thin tamale delivered. The interior of the tamale was a very thin and waxy looking masa and chicken filling.

After a taste the Missus couldn't bring Herself to finish it. So I was left with that duty.

After this very inauspicious start, we started having some doubts about El Comal. That's when our other dishes started arriving. First the Ensalada De Nopal($6.00):

I first had the pleasure of having a Cactus Salad a few years back. The Mother of a friend of the Missus had a party and we were invited. I had two servings of what I thought was a green bean salad. I was then told that the "green beans" were in actuality strips of the leaves of the prickly pear cactus(Nopal). Since then I've usually ordered a Nopal Salad whenever I have the chance. Most times, I've been very disappointed in the preparation of the cactus. When not prepared correctly, the cactus becomes very slimy, not unlike okra. Here's a look at the nopal in this salad.

Very well prepared, and along with the tomato and cotija cheese, and very refreshing salad. The salad did need a good amount of lemon squeezed on it to bring out all of the flavors, but once that was done, it tasted pretty good.

I also ordered a Huaraches con Adobada, in this case a Huaraches with Spicy Steak($5.00):

Huarache literally translates to "sandal", and this popular Antojito(appetizer) is a slipper shaped piece of  grilled masa, not unlike a thick corn tortilla or pupusa. A little "smear" of beans, a portion of well flavored, nicely caramelized, slightly spicy beef(yes, in this case the Adobada was beef!) is placed on the beans, and shredded lettuce and cotija cheese finishes everything off. It's all about balance. The only thing that really wasn't very satisfying about the Huaraches was that it was a bit on the gummy/soggy side. Other then that, this was a very well balanced, very tasty appetizer.

Yes, you heard right, appetizer. I also ordered a Torta con frijoles, nopales, hongos, lechuga y tomate. That would be a Vegetable Torta with beans, cactus, mushroom, lettuce, and tomato.($4.50)

I thoroughly enjoyed this sandwich. And in what was a very pleasant surprise; there was a layer of a mashed potato, with seasoned tomato sauce used as a "spread". The Missus loved the bollilo(roll).

The Missus got her soup, she adores Albondingas. The wonderfully helpful Server (Osiri???), suggested she get a "small" portion.($5.00)

I am not a big fan of Mexican Meatball Soup. In most cases, it's either too watery, too oily, too salty,  the meatballs are tough, or there's some other problem with the soup. In fact, when I had asked the Missus's friend about His favorite Albondingas, He mentioned a canned version. Even over his Mom's!

This version came with rice, tortillas, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and lemon on the side. Unfortunately half the tortillas where charred almost beyond recognition.

The soup itself was very good, the broth was neither too thick nor thin, and very nicely flavored,  with a slight smoky spiciness courtesy of the chipotle pepper(smoked jalapeno). The broth contained not only the usual carrots and potatoes, but pieces of chayote(mango squash), and green beans. The meatballs were melt in your mouth tender, we wondered how they managed to stay intact. The mint in those meatballs added a nice finish.

Sounds like alot of food, huh? We did take home half the salad and Huaraches. The total bill including a refreshing glass of Nuez(Walnut Shake), and Horchata came to $32.

The Service was so amazingly nice, and the Young Lady whose name I tried to write above even stopped by and started making recommendations. As we left El Comal started filling up, most people were having soup. Driving away we started talking about returning in a few weeks. Little did we know that we'd be at El Comal, but at another location the very next day.

El Comal
2822 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
(619) 239-7101

Part II - El Comal in Chula Vista coming up next week.

Comments

[Joseph E]

Give the Missus my thanks for two reports (both) El Comal places. I know it's not her favorite style, or yours, but we all need more help sorting out the 10,000 mexican restaurants in thistown. This looks like a good spot!

I could have some of that Nopal salad right now.

[Kristy]

Yeah, I was like... Whoa! That's a while lotta food! muhahah! And I only like so much taco shop garbage in LA...muhaha! Typically, from Paco's, Tito's or the taco truck that stops by every day. ;) And that empanada sure looked way cheezy for sheezy. hahah! Great post, as always! Can't wait for my stay in San Diego later this summer! I'll give you two a ring when I head south!

[Kirk]

Hi JosephE - Yes, it's good to know that Mexican food in San Diego is not some endless line of Taco Shops.

Hi Kristy - You know, we used to eat at Paco's Tacos in Rowland Heights, before they razed the whole area to build Costco.

[Larry]

Kirk,
Have you tried "Tacos El Gordo". It's as close to mexican street stalls as you can get in SD. The quality is just SUPERB and it's real cheap to boot :).
--Larry

http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypResults.py?stx=tacos+el+gordo&stp=a&tab=B2C&city=San+Diego&state=CA&uzip=92101&country=us&msa=7320&slt=32.715710&sln=-117.156479&cs=4&Submit=Search

[elmomonster]

I share your wife's aversion to cheese, refried bean retreads of Mexican food. It's like always going to Panda Express whenever Chinese food cravings come. There's more to Chinese food than that -- same goes for Mexican. Although I love the retreads when I get in that mood, this looks like the real deal -- real Mexican as Mexicans would eat everyday. And again you're blazing new trails by showing them. I've never seen half of the dishes you mention. Yet more kudos!

[Kady]

That IS a lot of food. I love horchata and that sandwich looks good (and adventurous).

[Kirk]

Hi Larry - Please see my response to your comments on the Reyberto's post. Thanks for the rec.

Hi Elmo - Thanks, but I don't think I'm blazing new trails.....just trying as good variety of foods.

Hi Kady - The Torta was good, as was the Huararche, but the soup was the real winner.

[Jeffrey Chow]

Kirk,
I think you have one of the most adventurous gullets I've ever had the pleasure of meeting/reading about. And what gets me is that you dig Szechuan food (with your background that you mentioned in a previous entry on day 4 of your wife's feasting).

[Kathy]

Hey Kirk!
I've never had proper Abondigas before, much less cactus! The way you described the meatballs reminds me of a good bowl of matzo ball soup :) What is on top of the potato empanada - is it a cheese sauce?

[Kirk]

Hi Jeffrey - I loove Sichuan - good Sichuan, that is. I was raised to try everything once, and growing up in Hawaii there was always a great variety of food available. But still, tendon, many Mexican dishes, Xiao Long Bao, and many other dishes have become favorites, though I never had them until I moved to the Mainland.

Hi Kathy - Come to think of it, I've never had proper Matzo Ball Soup before.......and yes, too much cheese on and in the empanada!

[Jeffrey Chow]

Kirk,
I remember the first time I tried szechuan style food (authentic). My aunt lives in Hacienda Hts and this was the time when the mainland Chinese started to come over about 10 years ago. My grandmother is from Szechuan and she said this place was good. They took me to a place where they did Fu Qi fei pien and Water boiled beef. I was in heaven. They did another type of dish with blood sausage type with I think offal. Not my most favorite cup of tea but with the spice of Szechuan pepper corns, hot peppers, and tons of garlic, I was in heaven. I think one of my other favorites is the tea smoked duck either served the original way or fried.
Oh, how I miss good szechuan food. There aren't any good places in Phoenix.
Sorry for the ramble.

[Kirk]

Hi Jeffrey - Funny you should mention Hacienda Heights. I don't know if you know this, but the Missus lived in Diamond Bar and Rowlands Heights from 1991, so maybe She knows the restaurant you mentioned. We also lived in the area after getting married from '97 - '01, when we moved to San Diego. Boy, do I miss the great prices and selection. Though I do think if we were still in LA, I wouldn't have tried the variety of items as I have here in San Diego.