Lugya'h

Been meaning to come here for a long time, glad we finally made it. I didnt realize this was in Maydan market, which was an added bonus, as its a really cool area with lots of great food options. The food at Ponchos was outstanding. The tlayuda was huge and super filling, but i also had to try the mole turkey leg, which was tender, juicy, and richly flavored.

I really wanted to love this after reading so much about it, including recently in the NYT, which rated it among the top restaurants in LA. But I didn’t. That’s mostly because of the price. $25 for a vegetarian tlayuda made me feel like I had stumbled across some tourist trap in my travels. It was dark in Maydan market so I couldn’t really pick it apart and see all the ingredients, but unless there were chanterelles or some other pricey ingredient in there, it felt like I had paid $25 for maybe $3 worth of ingredients. The guacamole at $12 was very small and nothing remarkable although the chips that came with it stood out.

This place has received a lot of media hype and I recently checked it out. Totally awesome. I’ve had Tlayudas, a Oaxacan specialty, but none of them compare to Ponchos. The blue corn tortilla was perfect, as was the filling. I had the blood sausage, which was excellent. The place is chill and the crowd was cool. A real winner!