Soup Weather! A revisit to Palomino's-yes, soup but not pho.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog.  The bloggers are friends.  The bloggings vary and are mildly interesting, informative and sometimes bizarre.  Today, its Cathy, with her blogger-ish perspective of  mildly interesting food.

Hi again. We are having lots of rain storms this weekend.  If you are daring to venture out of the house and driving about and maybe want soup, but *not* pho...well, there are options, you know. Here are a few choices. Really. If you are going to any taco shop, you may have noticed (and ignored) the "soup" part of the menu. This weekend (and any time, actually) would be the perfect time to try some.

You may recall I did a post about non-pho soup abou this time last year, but that restaurant (Los Michoacaños) is in Santee and so this time I am doing a more central location, and showing more of the variety Palominos has to offer, just on the "Soups" (or "Caldos") side of the menu.

There are 11 caldos listed on the menu on the wall above the cash register and I will only show you five, however know the "basics" of pozole and menudo have been extensively enjoyed by The Mister and myself, are plentiful and really good.

These first two photographs are of Caldo Talapeño ($5.99)..Yes, chicken soup...but there are three "chicken soup" choices listed on the menu board-the bottom one that is simply called "chicken soup" for $5.99 is just the "American" menu listing of Caldo de Pollo-the third soup I will be telling you about-below.

This soup was made with all chicken breast meat and had hominy as the starch.

As you can see, a LOT of chicken breast meat.  There was no "add in" plate to top this soup.  There was a chipotle pepper in it and that added enough spice. The usual vegetables- carrot, and celery as well as zucchini are in large chunks and barely cooked (i.e, not mushy).  Also, there were a smattering of garbanzo beans, same size as the hominy at the bottom of the bowl. All in all, a good, home made chicken soup stock base topped with sliced fresh avocado.

The Caldo de Camaron(Shrimp Soup)($8.50) is an absolute delight!  There are more than 15 of these large, juicy plump, flavorful shrimp in the bowl and the broth, tomato based, was a deeply rich and flavorful seafood stock and quite filling. The vegetables in the soup were carrots and celery. A simple and wonderful meal.

This side plate of cilantro, onions, limes, pepper and dried herbs(a mix or marjoram, thyme and some oregano) as well as a choice of corn or flour tortillas accompanied this soup.  You can mix in at the start, or after you are eating.  I usually enjoy the initial soup "plain" and then do add ins, to give myself a whole new soup later in the meal.

This is the Caldo de Pollo ($5.99), yes, a different, more basic chicken soup which comes with the sides plate, above, as well as the tortillas and the cup of rice as the starch, although, as you can see, there are corn, carrot, zucchini and potatoes in the soup...as well as a *lot* of  dark, flavorful thigh meat.  I really kind of was hoping this soup would have had more broth, but am not complaining.  It is the same base stock as the first chicken soup (caldo de talapeño) pictured above.

Caldo de Res (Beef Soup) ($6.25) By far, the deepest, richest broth of those shown here.  Plenty of non-fatty stew beef, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, corn and cabbage, served with tortillas and rice. This broth will satisfy you even more than the chicken broth if you are losing your taste buds due to a cold or flu. There also was almost too much meat in the bowl. Again, not complaining.

I'll just end this post with the traditional Albondigas Soup ($5.99). At least five of these large meatballs, made with rice, celery and onion as well as the dry spice mix(again, mostly oregano) and in the mix, corn, potato, zucchini, cabbage and carrots. The broth of the albondigas is the same as the pozole broth(not pictred and usually what I have for breakfast when I come here)...kind of what I call "hollow" and absolutely the only broths here that I feel I have to add in those side items to give it a deeper flavor- the lime automatically enriches the flavor and the onions, cilantro and pepper flakes give the depth needed, especially on cold, wet days such as are in our midst right now.

To summarize: there are five main broths for ten soups: chicken, beef, seafood, the pozole/albondigas broth and the menudo. All are used for homemade, flavorful and filling soups. So, don't be afraid to enjoy the soup at any of your local taco shops - not at all your everyday "Taco Shop" meal. If you are on Clairmont Mesa near the Registrar of Voters office, stop in at Palominos.  Parking is tight at lunchtime, but not in the morning or after 3 p.m.

Palomino's #2 9353 Clairmont Mesa Blvd, suite I San Diego 92123 (858) 292-8470 Mon-Fri 6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Sat 6-9, Sun 6-8

Comments

[yummieyummy]

Hi Cathy! How was your New Year? Thanks for the post. I guess it's another new lunch stop for me =) The shrimp soup looks yummy. The picture reminds me of the Vietnamese hot and sour soup.

[Alex]

I think the Caldo Talapeño might be your first picture since its defining characteristic is chipotle {avocado and some bean} which I cant see if its present in the one you mention it being.

Is this place your favorite menudo spot in SD? I am looking for stellar interpretations of this dish.

Have you found any tomato and chipotle based albondigas?

[cathy]

Hello YY-The year is pretty good, so far...but not many days into it, yet. The shrimp soup is wonderfultasting, but a different spice than hot and sour-more rich tomato based. Palominos is a great place to eat.
Hi, again, Alex. You are correct and I changed the post, thanks. I do like the menudo at Palominos but have never had a 'craving' for it and am not certain what constitutes a stellar example. (I am the token White Girl on this blog and didn't grow up on menudo.) I had a tomato based albondigas at one of the stands inside the fruit/vegetable markets when they were in the Western Metal Supply building, before it became part of Petco. The market and purveyors have moved and I never found that albondigas again, but have not searched it out. Since I am downtown more often now, and it is the perfect weather, I will seek it out and let you (and everyone)know.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Nice post. I love Mexican soups.

It's funny, I just had caldito tlalpeno for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

The version I had used chick peas, not hominy, with avocado, cheese, and chicken. Wonderful chipotle accented broth.

Happy New Year!

[nhbilly]

That looks and sounds good. Can't really go wrong with soup on a cold rainy day.

-b

[cathy]

Hey, ed! I just looked at the 2nd photo and asked The Mister and he said this last time (when I took the photo) there had been garbanzo beans also in the mix-but not on prior talapeño visits...so I changed the post. Thanks. I swear that you order, they find the correct broth and then toss in whatever is back there. It always tastes good. Never had cheese in a Mexican soup before, but that sounds very nice. By doing all this blogging, I have noticed my eating patterns more and apparently am very much a soup person...(opposed to being a salad person).
Hi, bill! Kirk and ed and I have blogged so many soups, but the majority have been pho. I thought I could be different...just this once ;)

[Denny]

Hours are 6 am to 10 am?? HOT DAMN!! I have a new after hours spot to hit up after a long night of boozing! =)

Looks like I might try to head down there for lunch today. Soup weather for sure!

[cathy]

10 p.m., yes, Denny- That is the sign on the door and on the take out menu. I suspect because those are the same hours for Giovanni's and the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, as well as the 24 hour Carl's, Jr. in the same parkng lot. Just remember it is really tight parking at lunchtime. If you see a spot on the street, grab it!

[Emily]

mmmm...that looks like some good soup! makes me feel like cooking, since I doubt I'll find anything so nice here in France. Recipes anyone? or perhaps there is there a special Mexican soup somewhere...

[cathy]

Bonjour, Emily! The recipes are a basic soup stock (chicken, beef, seafood) with leftover vegetables...and dry spices of marjoram and thyme, fresh garlic and cilantro...and a squeeze of lime. The chipotle chili can be bought canned for talapeno, as the hominy and chick peas are also found that way. I see you have been having soup for lunch and it looks good. I swear I have never actually made the same soup twice in my life. Recipes are just suggestions of ingredients to put together for me.