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Mmmmm! for Nada
By Eddie Dick
Staff Writer
If a burrito and a calzone managed to copulate, the
resulting culinary offspring would likely be an empanada.
While the outer shell is more puff pastry than pizza
dough, the filling and its spices are cribbed straight
from the Latin American cookbooks.
And it just so happens that Claremont houses an establishment
that specializes exclusively in the creation of empanadas.
M!panada, just down Bonita Avenue from campus, is a
recent arrival to the Claremont restaurant scene that
has people all over campus talking. I decided to check
it out for myself.
The first thing that is apparent on a visit to M!panada
is its stylish décor. Splashes of bright color
combined with rough industrial touches like faux brick
and an exposed ventilation system, make M!panada reminiscent
of other trendy joints like Chipotle and Starbucks.
Large windows and a corner location result in lots of
natural light. The atmosphere makes M!panda a pleasant
place to whittle away an hour, reading a newspaper or
talking with friends.
The second thing that is striking about M!panada is
the menu. It consists almost entirely of empanadas,
with the exception of dessert items and a salad. Patrons
can choose from over a dozen different varieties of
empanada ranging from banal offerings like beef all
the way to the exotic sounding garbanzo masala. All
empanadas cost $2.35, with a slight discount offered
on orders of six or twelve.
On my visit to M!panada I decided to go for breadth
and sampled eight different offerings. Of those sampled
the clear front runner was the corn humita. It combines
whole kernels of corn, scallions, and mozzarella in
a pastry shell, and the result is fantastic. The dry
flaky shell is a perfect contrast to the smooth and
slightly creamy inside. The corn adds a touch of sweetness
that makes this empanada just right.
Unfortunately the empanada quality seems to deteriorate
from there. The walnuts and Roquefort empanada held
the greatest potential to be an extraordinary treat,
but the overabundance of melted Roquefort made this
empanada awfully greasy, and it lacked any additional
flavors to counter the strength of the cheese. The ham
and cheese empanada offered a better balance of flavors
and would have left a better impression had it not suffered
from the same greasiness found in the Roquefort and
walnut empanada.
The turkey and chicken empanadas are relatively similar
and were the best meat-based empanadas on the menu.
Both contained mixtures of meat that were well seasoned
but could have used more spice. The spicy beef empanada
left me contemplating the relative merits of filling
an empanada with a ground beef mixture usually reserved
for tacos, and I concluded it is probably better left
unexplored.
The most interesting empanada on the menu proved to
be the garbanzo masala. This vegetarian empanada, with
its blend of Indian inspired spices, was a pleasant
surprise. The garbanzo beans also provided a substantive
filling that blended well with the spices.
M!panada offers an alternative food item that is a
pleasant change of pace from the usual fast food fare.
While the menu has its ups and downs the corn humita
and garbanzo masala are certainly worth trying.
The main problem that I encountered with M!panada is
that, while two empanadas would fill me up, I would
then be left hungry several hours later. For a mid afternoon
snack M!panada can hit the spot, but the empanadas fail
to deliver enough substance to substitute for a meal.
The Verdict: A decent snack but no substitute for a
real meal.
Cost: About $5.00.
Hours: Everyday from 11:00am until 9:00pm.
Directions: Head west on Bonita Ave. from campus. M!panada
is on the right hand side of the street, across from
Video Paradiso.
M!panada
353 W. Bonita Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 626-2000
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