El Cochinito Restaurant - Los Angeles, CA

Work bro and I were looking for lunch spot in the Silver Lake area. He asked his friend for recommendations while I was on my phone searching around, El Cochinito was the result. I've always loved Cuban food so I was pretty happy about our decision.

The restaurant was in a shopping plaza and a small parking lot was shared among the local businesses. It wasn't easy to find a parking spot but still possible, no valet during lunch time. The restaurant was cozy and bright inside. Our server was energetic and knowledgeable about the menu. He made some recommendations and we liked the suggestion.

I got the Tuesday lunch special, ternera (braised beef in tomato sauce). A quick side note here; on the lunch special menu, each line is a dish of its own. For example, I thought my lunch special came with ternera AND arroz frito on top of garbanzo (chickpea soup). In reality, it was either ternera OR arroz frito, not both. Also, the price was not posted on the menu but it was $10 per dish for lunch special. Work bro went bougie and got lechon asado (slow roasted pork).

The chickpea soup was hearty and thick. I was not too sure what else was in there but I really liked the flavor. Almost felt like I was drinking liquid hummus.

The braised beef also had great flavors, but the meat texture was inconsistent. Some pieces were very tender and some were dry. It wasn't a deal breaker or anything, but definitely can use some improvement.

Slow roasted pork was excellent!! It was juicy and seasoned well. It was supposed to come with rice and beans but the restaurant was very flexible about switching out the sides, so work bro got yuca and rice instead. He also got plantain on the side. This regular dish cost a little more compared to lunch special but it was worth every penny. The portion was huge and work bro had plenty leftover for dinner.

Plantain

Overall, I was very pleased with this place. Food was good, service was decent. The only thing I didn't like about was I didn't know I supposed to go up to the counter to pay after the meal so we were sitting at the table for a while after we were done. Other than that, no major issues. I would go back.