Albondigas

I grew up with my grandmother, she was from Chihuahua, and grew up in a small town in the Sierra Nevada’s in Northern Mexico. I could tell you all kinds of cool stories about her and food, she used to go pick wild mushrooms with an Indian, and he would tell them which were edible and which ones were not. But those stories are for a different blog, right?

She was a super cook and made the best Albondigas Soup. She taught me how to make a lot of delicious things, but Albondigas was not one of them, thus the quest for the best Albondigas in the SGV began.

What is Albondigas you ask? A delicious soup that usually will have zucchini, potato, carrot, onion, tomato, celery and meatballs that are very light and fluffy because they use rice instead of breadcrumbs and a secret ingriendient; the broth is flavored from all the vegetables and my grandma always added a small can of tomato sauce which gave it more flavor.

I have tried this wonderful comfort food at almost every Mexican restaurant I go to. So far I have tired Max’s in Azusa, Caberra’s in Duarte, Peppers in Arcadia, La Nueva Posada in Pasadena, Mijares in Pasadena, Los Gueros in Monrovia and Sergios in Azusa, and probably more. That is not counting mi abuelas.

So is there a clear winner? Not really. I liked the meatballs at Caberra’s but the broth had no flavor, the broth at La Nueva Posada was fantastic but the meatballs were a little dense and there were no potatoes. Sergios vegetables were way to mushy, Max’s had a good average on everything, but probably the best was Los Gueros, everything was good but there were no potatoes. Obviously I have my perfect soup all picked out. I will order one of my favorite comfort foods again at Los Gueros, Max’s and La Nueva Posada, but after that the search is still on.

Can you recommend the perfect bowl?

Los Gueros 313 West Huntington Dr., Monrovia (626) 358-0200