Dining

Explore the Honduran melting pot at Rincon Catracho

Image
Rincon Catracho’s sopa de gallina is the ideal rainy-day meal.
Photo: Christopher DeVargas
Jason Harris

Honduran food takes elements from all of its varied visitors, invaders and natives—Spanish, Caribbean, African and Lenca (indigenous Hondurans) all add to the melting pot of flavors. It most closely resembles South American food, and the place to find it in Las Vegas is a tucked-away spot at Flamingo and Maryland Parkway, Rincon Catracho, which translates to “Honduran corner.”

Start your meal there with a pupusa ($1.75-$2.50), a grilled corn cake filled with an assortment of deliciousness. The shredded chicken and ayote, a Central American squash, are standout fillings, complemented by melty cheese and topped with vinegary, crunchy slaw and hot sauce.

Main courses are big. Churrasco Salvadoreño ($11.95) is a plate full of grilled steak, rice and beans, plump sausages, handmade tortillas and a tangy, hard queso fresco that tastes like Mexican cotija cheese.

Hen soup (sopa de gallina, $10.95) is a dish you’ll try and then immediately plan your next visit to try again. Salty broth, filled with vegetables, arrives in a large bowl, joined by a plate with a roasted hen, yellow rice and other accoutrements. Fill your soup as you see fit, planning each perfect spoonful with some broth, some rice, some veggies and some succulent chicken meat with crispy skin attached. It’s the ideal rainy-day meal.

Rincon Catracho’s appearance might be basic, but its food is far from it. The flavors are familiar, assembled differently and with creativity, and the menu is large. Which is good, because I’m ready for more.

Rincon Catracho 4110 S. Maryland Parkway #32, 699-9579. Sunday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 a.m.

Tags: Dining
Share
Top of Story