Instead of chips and salsa, your meal begins with a Honduran nacho dish. Crispy house made tortillas fried golden are topped with creamy beans, tomatoes, some peppers, and a salty and delicious cheese (chihuahua, likely but there was something that may have been lost in translation).
They are perfect with cold beer - in this case, Port Royal from Honduras. No Coronas on this menu, thank God. Port Royal, a German style pilsner, has a refreshing, crisp taste which is perfect for this type of food. Latin American food is generally a beer cuisine (see also, Vietnamese), and that is just fine by me.
Lindsay got the chicken with plantains, which was out-of-the-park good. Tender, juicy, well-seasoned chicken, fried to a crisp, sat atop some plantains and was ringed by a crunchy, cabbage based slaw. Getting a crunchy piece of chicken skin with some tart slaw and then the sweet plantain, all in one bite was like winning the Lotto.
The tongue in red sauce took our taste buds on an entirely different fantastic voyage. The tongue had been braised in a cousin of a tomato based Creole sauce. Chunks of red, yellow, orange, and green peppers, some onion, and tomato stewed with spices added an addictive flavor to the tongue stew. The rice, slaw and big hunk of cheese did not hurt either.
What we loved about this food was how flavorful and soulful each dish was. The preparations showcased what is best about different home cooking techniques from various cultures. The dishes that take a lot of time to make (i.e., tongue) or are just really simple (fried chicken with plantains) are always the best representations of a nation's cuisine. And Telemar is representing. Now, if I could just wash it down with a Jungle Juice.Restaurante Telemar - Birdie.
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14 comments:
Is this the location where Red Sea (the Ethiopian joint) used to be?
The Bruno-Lucky Dogs party was better...
The Bruno Lucky Dog party was a classic!
This looks delicious!!
For those of us that didn't grow up in NOLA.. Is there an address to this place?
It is in the 7900 block of Earhart, about two blocks from Carrollton (heading downtown) and on the river side of Earhart. The large sign says Daquiri Island.
Ah, the place with the old Jeep out front.
Thanks.
Wow, this looks fantastic. I can't wait to go. Is it a lunch and dinner kind of place?
thanks for the review, this place is right by my house! sounds delicious!
It was good! But bring your Spanish-English dictionary, the staff spoke no english. Also, seating was limited in the non-bar section. But the food was good and unique.
Thanks for writing about this place. The food is totally worth the language barrier and general uneasy feeling that white people are not welcome. The crab soup was buttery deliciousness! And the homemade tortillas!
If you love salt and grease then this is the place for you ! Crude comes to mind here. The staff was friendly though not much help with the menu. Sorry ! can`t go there again.
If you love salt and grease then this is the place for you ! Crude comes to mind here. The staff was friendly though not much help with the menu. Sorry ! can`t go there again.
I tried telemar this weekend. Immediately, we heard gringo comments from several corners. The staff looked at us at least three times each before we were motioned to a table. Then we were ignored for another ten minutes while the patrons and staff glared at us. Finally, we left.
I am all for ethic food and probably would have loved the food, if I had eaten any of it. I have been to plenty of places where little to no english is spoken...there was that time I wanted a fish taco and got a whole fried fish on the westbank. Nevertheless, we were obviously unwelcome at Restaurante Telemar. Maybe if you have a spanish or latin appearance, you will be more welcome...but my north european roots were not.
Fair warning.
I just showed your post to a Honduran friend. She's looking at the pictures...Oh. My. God. She's asking for the address and can't wait to go there.
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