Eating with the Army and Airforce

Having come here to see the extent of Fort Bragg it was good to see that some of the troops, and their families, eat in the community. Given our long drive we had opted to eat somewhere close enough to the hotel for us to walk. That being said, as we are in America there were no pavements (sidewalks) so we ended up walking over three car parks. Still we arrived safely at El Cazador; a Mexican restaurant we had read about on Trip Advisor. Of the eight groups eating here at least four included members of the armed forces.

Having had light snacks at breakfast and lunch I was ready for something substantial, and wow did I get it. 

When we arrived a plate of chips appeared with three dips, a traditional tomato salsa, a green tomato salsa and a jalapeño salsa. The jalapeno one was by far my favourite.  

Drew selected the Chicken Tortilla Soup for starters, which was nice, but nothing special. He then had the Huevos con Chorizo as his main and again, while they were nothing to complain about they weren't exceptional. Indeed Drew who sometimes cooks a version of this himself when I'm away from home, thought he got more flavour out of the chorizo than was the case here.

I on the other hand had two great dishes. I opted to start with the caldo de pollo, a dish renowned as hearty eating in Mexico and Latin America, it really was hearty, as the photo shows. Perhaps something that should have been on the mains page, not the appetisers one! It had large chicken pieces in it, I would guess more than the breast of one chicken, or at least the breast of a very large chicken. The potato was in large chunks and there was carrot  swede, cabbage onion all cooked in a lovely chicken broth with a distinctive flavour of coriander and garlic. It was all your dreams of hearty food rolled in to one. However, given I thought this was an appetiser I also ordered Chamorro Adobado, pork shank, which was served with rice, pico de gallo and chunky salsa. The shank itself was very nice, but the sauce to sweet for me, and with an overarching cinnamon flavour, one I like in small doses, but which was overpowering. Still I eat the meat and the rice and enjoyed both. 

Yes, sorry to say, though it looked like I had two main courses, I did indeed eat them both. Come on, don't nag, I am on holiday :-)