Tropical Latin Food

Tropical Latin Food is located at the eastern end of downtown, right around where the car lots and chronic inebriates start.


The food they serve is perhaps best described as Caribbean comfort food. The owners are Puerto Rican and Dominican, so those two places have the strongest representation. It's a simple set up, basically a counter with a hot table and a few tables.


The menu changes regularly but some of the stuff you can always expect are various roasted meats such as pork and chicken, and some items such as stewed ox tails, pork ribs, fried plantains, and beans and rice in multiple forms. On Saturdays they have roasted goat.


The portions are huge and everything we've tried there has been excellent, simple but delicious.

The Sears Mall Food Court (No, Really)

We wanted to go check out a pet store at the Sears Mall (Corner of New Seward Hwy. and Northern Lights). This is an older mall and is perhaps not the most bustling or refined but the small food court was almost impressive.


The food court, with four different vendors, was the closest thing I've seen to the hawker stalls in Singapore since Honolulu's Chinatown. There was:

Vietnamese
Korean + Japanese
Thai
Chinese

Each stall was independently owned and the owner/operators actually knew what they were doing. Nothing was outstanding, but everything passed the muster. It was kind of neat to see a mall that isn't dominated by pizza chains and the like. I'd much rather have to choose between king crab green curry and bulgogi than a whopper and a big mac.


If you are in Midtown and are looking for a good, fast, cheap lunch don't be afraid to brave the Sears Mall.

Mandarin Kitchen: Sunday Dim Sum

I don't like dim sum because of the food. I like going for dim sum because of the spectacle. I like the crowds, the carts, and the pots of tea.

While Charlie's Bakery has excellent dim sum in terms of food quality, it is not the fun, festive time I enjoy. Ordering from at a counter just isn't the same thing as pointing at a steaming basket of something only vaguely familiar.


Mandarin Kitchen has recently opened in what was an "Asian" restaurant in the strip mall behind City Diner, on the corner of Benson and Minnesota. This is the first time I have seen dim sum done proper with the carts of food in Anchorage, so I have to recommend it.


The selection wasn't great but there was many of the standards you usually see, and they even had chicken feet. I think they can be forgiven this as they have just opened recently and the time we were there they were mostly empty (it was late for Sunday dim sum).

Overall, the food was acceptable and the atmosphere is right. Once they get a decent crowd coming in regularly I think they will up their game.

Pho Lena

I'd driven past Pho Lena dozens of times and always thought I had to get in there to check it out. It's a small, stand alone family restaurant located a block down Spenard Avenue from the REI/Tidal Wave strip mall.


It had all the right ingredients for a great dining experience: housed in an old, run down shack in a not quite gentrified part of town and usually busy. I finally made it in a couple months ago and I've been back a half dozen times since. Pho Lena may be my new favorite restaurant.


Pho Lena is a Laotian restaurant with a sprawling menu. The way I describe Laotian food is that it is northeastern Thai food with some Vietnamese and French influences that is the result of the years Laos was a French colony. You have thai curries, but you also have clear soups and baguettes with pate. It's fairly ecclectic, and the menu reflects that ranging complexity. I actually think they could shorten the down a bit.


My favorite item on the menu is their Lao style BBQ wings. It is the closest thing I've seen to good Southeast Asian street food in the US. The wings are and brassy and are a step above the neutered drummettes with Frank's Hot Sauce most other restaurants serve.


The curries are outstanding. All the appetizers are made in house and I've tried them all and would order any of them again. The stuffed wings are especially nice, as are the banh mi (those bagette sandwiches we can thank the French for). Their Pho can go toe to toe with any other I've tried in Anchorage.


Also pictured here are the fried spicy pork spare ribs, which are really pan fried with a bunch of fresh green beans and Thai eggplant. And please note the sticky rice. This is my favorite type of rice, common to northern Thailand and Laos but rarely available elsewhere. Pho Lena is the only place I've seen it available around town. That alone is reason enough for me to come back.

Pho Lena has delicious, interesting, authentic food for low prices. The little shack on Spenard Avenue has become my fall back setting for Anchorage dining.