Jando S.
Yelp
I admit it, I came to La Familgia far from sober. After one too many tequila shots at La Quinta, I fell pray to the boracho gods dying for something of sustenance. Instead of a greasy street taco experience like I had wanted, we ended up at a place known for pizza and pasta. Anyone intoxicated loves those foods anyway, but it was far from what I had hoped for. Yet to my surprise, this place was everything I had hoped for - the various dishes we had ordered was coincidentally everything I needed to get back to reality.
The staff was awesome. They tolerated my slurred Spanish and non-stop head bobbling and obnoxious laughs by pouring me countless glasses of water and checking up on my our table often. While taking our order, they would boast about their homemade pastas and infamous pizza pies as I drunkenly rolled my eyes thinking of what a mistake I had made in coming here. It was full of tourists and the place was packed. It was also a bit warm that day and this place is mainly an outdoorsy kind of feel. (i.e. the warm breeze of the evening and fresh air was typically enough).
Then the food came. First came the bruschetta con crudo ($160MX), a toasted country toast with mozzarella and serrano ham. It was crunchy and surprisingly soft, balanced with the saltiness of the cheese and a hint of sweetness from the jamon serrano. Then came to the Raya pizza ($260MX), which was delightfully crispy and had so much meaty flavor with the Italian sausage, pepperoni, and ham. Despite being so meat heavy, it was a reasonably light pizza.
The pasta was the real highlight. Sure, they're all "hecho a mano" but my expectations were incredibly low. The first bite of my fettuccine bolognesa ($220MX) I was hooked. This was not only delicious but I opted to finish it as slowly as possible. Somehow in the process, I had entered sobriety, and was *really* loving my food more than ever. It prompted me to also order the special of the night, which was fettuccine cooked in a lobster shell ($350MX). The chunks of lobster were evident with every bite and the flavor was off the chain. There was no exaggeration given how hungry I suddenly was.
It's been a while now and I still can't shake the fact I loved this experience. This was a worthy, delicious break from my exploits of la comida mexicana, but this is truly one of the more stellar dining experiences of my time in Playa.