La Casa de Pedro, Watertown

I don’t tend to blog about repeat visits to restaurants (after all, do you want to read about John Harvard’s 450+ times?) so I did not write about my meal at La Casa de Pedro last weekend. I thought, surely, I’ve written about the chicken before. But a quick check of the flog reveals that I haven’t been to La Casa de Pedro since inception of the Flog.

What’s so special about La Casa de Pedro? The pollo en brasa - the roasted chicken. Bri used to work in Watertown near Pedro’s original location in Watertown Square, and he would rave about how amazing this chicken was. I would shrug and say, “It’s chicken. How good could it be?” His answer was “Damn good! It’s Damn Good Chicken!” When I finally tried the chicken, I discovered Bri was right, the chicken was unbelievably delicious. It was succulent and so flavorful; it is the example of which all roast chickens should aspire to. When Bri left his job in Watertown and realized he would be leaving the Damn Good Chicken, he got a little weepy.

R and I had dinner with Kim and Robin (my dining companions from Louis Basque Corner). I was a little worried that R would pass out from boredom with the bridge conversation, but Kim and Robin were forewarned to keep it to a minimum, and they did. What do you know? You can get three bridge players together and talk about something other than cards.

R and I shared an assortment of tapas and the chicken. We got the Queso Blanco a la Plancha – grilled white Venezuelan cheese, a beef empanada, a chicken and avocado arepas (corn cake) and the fried calamari. I was not disappointed with any of them. The cheese was gooey and delicious, the empanada dough was flaky and crisp and calamari was tender and not greasy. I think the corn dough on the arepas was a little thick, but the filling was quite tasty. The chicken lived up to expectations; but the fried yucca and the rice and beans that came with the dish were on the dry side. Kim and Robin, taking my recommendation quite serious, both ordered the chicken. They seemed to enjoy it as well.

We shared a coconut flan for dessert. It had a thicker, more rustic texture; similar to the flan I had in Puerto Rico. It was delicious.

http://www.lacasadepedro.com/