(May 2008)

By Warren Rojas

Assemble a weekend feast by heading to Llajtaymanta’s for a trio of spicy puka capas ($5), sweet pastries filled with egg, spices and cheese, homemade peanut soup ($6) and a generous portion of stewed rabbit ($13)—so bony, but so good—accompanied by rice, pasta and a starchy salad of boiled potatoes, sugary beets and crisp onions.

(April 2006)

By Warren Rojas

Blink just once as you drive past the ethnically diverse stores crowded into the Graham Center shopping strip, and you are likely to miss spotting Llajtaymanta. Not that there’s much to see inside, unless you are partial to rickety chairs and chipped Formica table tops.

But if it’s real Bolivian cooking you crave, look no further.

Like your pastries with a little pizzazz? The empanadas Puca Capa are calzone-sized turnovers filled with fiery melted cheese, served with a zesty herb salsa that conveys a little heat and a lot of flavor. The more timid can stick with the much tamer empanada de queso, filled with your basic cheese, or the customizable empanada Huistupicu, a pastry-pocket filled with either a mild or spicy Bolivian cheese blend.

Those eager to test their gastronomic mettle can do battle with pique lo macho, a gut-busting mix of chopped hot dogs, hunks of roast meat, french fried potatoes and sliced onions, all covered in streams of mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. The staggering platter is very filling (easily enough for two) albeit somewhat visually challenging (looks totally disorganized; tastes great). The somewhat less daunting asado Boliviano features twin steaks (very flavorful), each topped with a fried egg, all served with macaroni salad, rice and boiled potatoes.

For a touch of the more exotic, try the lambreado de conejo, a tasty—but fairly labor intensive—rabbit stew (lots of picking around bones for what often amounts to too little meat). Or work your way up to the challenging rabbit by sampling the falso conejo—literally, “fake rabbit”—featuring a thin beef steak, breaded and pan fried and topped with an herby tomato-wine blend (simply divine).