Antijitos Chovita

“ Come hungry. Come very hungry. * * * Antojitos Chovita is a Honduran food truck in the fantastic streak of Mexican and Central American food trucks that runs along North Lamar between 183 and Kramer. The truck is slowly morphing into brick and mortar. The owners have built some semi-permanent walls and a roof over the front of the food truck so that you now eat indoors. They have hung futbol bandeiras from some of the most famous soccer teams in Honduras on the walls. Inside their shelter, it is actually kind of nice. And the food is good enough to totally justify these guys going brick and mortar. * * * Servings are huge. Huge like Cuban restaurant huge. Most of the plates I saw were just the size of a normal dinner plate. But they must have been stacked nine inches or higher with all the food that was crammed on the plate. I am on a diet so I ordered the smallest thing on the menu - a baleada. A baleada in principle is a single breakfast taco. In principle ... The lady at the counter asked me "just this?" She then asked "just one?" Given the size of the platters that everyone else was eating, I thought I was ordering light. The price seemed to indicate this was a small meal. I paid a mere four bucks for my baleada. * * * A baleada is the size of a pizza. A full size pizza, not an individual pan pie. It was made on the biggest flour tortilla I have ever seen in my life. The baleada is folded over to make a taco like half circle. Inside are refried beans and Honduran white cheese. The white cheese is halfway between an American Monterey Jack and a Mexican Queso Fresco. Technically it shreds like a hard cheese, but it melts down into something cremosa, cottage cheese style. I loved it. And believe me, one baleada in the morning and you are good to go for the rest of the day. You won't need to eat anything again until some time in the evening. * * * Honduran food is like British food. This is hearty, simple fare. Most of the dishes on the menu are plain grilled meats or plain fried entrees. Mixed grill ... pork chops ... fried fish ... fried chicken. There is Yucca on the side. As a result, most of what they serve, including my baleada is pretty bland. It all works as comfort food. BUT .... and this is a critical but .... NOTICE THE BOTTLE of DOLANCHO HOT SAUCE ON YOUR TABLE. The Dolancho hot sauce is on every table. The Dolancho hot sauce is there for a reason. USE IT. Dolancho hot sauce is absolutely positively excellent. It ranks with some of the best hot sauces I have had in Minas Gerais (which makes some of the best hot sauce on the planet.) My baleada was pleasant enough as it was served out of the kitchen. It was totally outstanding with the hot sauce on it. * * * How is Antojitos Chovita compared with other Honduran trucks in town? I couldn't tell you. I don't know the Austin Honduran food scene at all - let alone the Honduras Honduran food scene. But I would guess their other customers would tell you this is a good place. Between Lamar and I-35 and 183 and Rundberg is a fairly large Honduran community. There are Honduran churches. There are houses with Honduran flags. The parking lot for Antojitos Chovita was completely full. I had to park on the street and walk to get into the restaurant. Every table was full. (All six of them - but still they were full.) This is not at all true for other food trucks you see up and down North Lamar. About one third of the trucks in this strip get a lot of action. The other two thirds - not so much. The Mexican food truck next door to Antojitos Chovita was in the sadder two thirds. So I would say Antojitos Chovita is getting the vote of the locals ... And these locals are Hondurans who know their food. * * * Would I come back to Antojitos Chovita? Happily! ”