San Fernando Roasted Chicken

After a rather intense but always fun personal training session, I decided to TMS. TMS is when I apply the concept of Treat Yo'Self to myself.

So I got Peruvian chicken takeout. Instead of potato fries, I upgraded to yucca fries, which are denser and starchier. Coming from Guam, this root crop tastes familiar to me. It tastes like a  savory version of the kamote that used to grow in my family's backyard. Yucca has more fiber and is definitely more filling than regular fries.

To go even further, I added a pork tamal to my order. Tamal is singular for tamales. Again, this food to me is familiar, because Chamorro food also has tamales. This tamal, though, has a sizable piece of cooked pork, a slice of egg, and an olive in the center. It is garnished with a banana leaf. A side of stir-fried red onions seasoned with lemon and spices sits to the side, which I have in between bites. The rotisserie chicken, the star of the show, came out really good tonight. Maybe the chef was different, but it had more spice than usual. It's tender and crispy in the right places, and has been roasted to a point where I inadvertently ate a little bit of the bones (extra calcium).

I was reading Yelp reviews and saw a few comments on how service is bad. I've had sit-down service a handful of times from here and never thought this. They are always nice and polite, and for the type of establishment this is, I don't expect them to check up on me too much. Diners should be realistic and adjust their expectations based on price point, environment, and culture. This is partly why I don't Yelp. ...

Anyway, I attempted to plate the takeout but my tamal kept separating so I went with the flow and ate it straight out of the container.

The food is delicious, and I recommend this little joint in the same plaza as Donut Factory near the gun store off 208th and Aurora for some nice down-to-earth eats. Make sure you get that green sauce!

P.S. Forgot to mention the chicken order comes with an iceberg lettuce-based side salad.

P.P.S. Chicken leftovers! 🐔