La Paloma

I have dinner with my Wellesley little sister O at least once a month. She has had such an amazing career and will dominate the world. The woman works really hard. Her parents met at Wellesley and she and her mom get to go to reunion together because they are on the same 4 year cycle. It is very cute. On a trip to Spain decades ago, her mother bought a gorgeous piece of ivory Spanish lace and kept it for O to wear on her wedding day. She looked beautiful. It was great to catch up about work, family, dogs, reading (I'm still finishing Long Term and she suggested Infidel and they're discussing it at the next Wellesley book group), working out (dogs interrupting our workouts) and ridiculous things we want.

O spent a semester in Oaxaca, Mexico as part of Wellesley in Oaxaca program. When it's time for dinner with O, I think Spanish or Mexican food. Now, you know I have these weird thoughts about Mexican food (see Crema), but that morning all I could think about was shrimp and rice. Must have shrimp and rice.

The other thing is, like Chinese food, I don't think I should have to spend a lot of money on Mexican food. I've had amazing food from those taco places run by Chinese and so-so food from fancy Mexican places. Also, I'm trying to spend less so meeting up in Hell's Kitchen was perfect. I was trying to get us to Rice N Beans (ricenbeansrestaurant.com - yes, it's Brazilian) but it was raining and I remembered this little dive that I popped into to scarf down some food before a Pride social.

La Paloma is easy to miss. You have to order your food and pay at the counter and there are about 5 tables to the side, about 20 seats. The first time I was there I ordered some taco thing without beans, onions or cheese and they were like, "Taco with nothing!" I had the shrimp and rice which comes with lettuce and pico de gallo (I LOVE pico de gallo) and O had Enchiladas Con Pollo - Suizas O Mole. They were so nice and gave me a lot of house hot sauce. Deliciousness for $8.64 AND I was just a few blocks away from the Port Authority to catch my bus home.

http://menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=3569&neighborhoodid=9&cuisineid=43