I discovered this place about a month ago at the Empanada Festival in downtown Pawtucket. There were about 10 restaurants and bakeries presenting their empanadas for a friendly competition. I liked DG's best, especially because they were baked. Empanadas are usually deep fried.
After sampling the chicken empanada at the festival, I was excited to visit the cafe. The next day, I brought along my aunt and boyfriend . The three of us like to discover new places,especially if it involves food! The place is small and therefore no seating- Takeout only.
We were greeted by two friendly women who did not speak English.None of us spoke Spanish, yet we communicated well enough (with the help of Google translate) to order a variety of empanadas and three different desserts - A slice each of Tre leches cake, chocolate cake and flan.
Prices are very good.
We purchased chicken, shrimp and sausage empanadas.
The first thing you notice is how beautifully they are prepared. They are sealed using crimps like you would see on a pie. Nicely browned and with herbs sprinkled on top, I couldn't wait to dig in.
The crust that envelops the filling, is slightly flaky yet strong enough to hold the filling well. Being baked, they do not leave you with a heavy feeling.
The fillings are perfectly spiced.The chicken was finely shredded with a nice light sauce which I think contained cilantro. The sausage (Ranchero) was nice and smokey. Last,, was my favorite- shrimp! The filling contained plenty of chopped shrimp in a light sauce. I believe this also contained cilantro. But the biggest surprise were the small ,sweet pieces of corn!
Okay, let's get to the desserts.
The flan was silky smooth with a beautiful sauce. Tre leches cake had a generous dose of milk combination over the top to keep it nicely saturated. The cake was dense but not too sweet.The chocolate cake was awesome! It seemed to have caramel in it also, which just added to the decadence of this cake. (Is the caramel referred to as dolce de leche?) The satin like icing was rich with dark chocolate flavor. This is a cake for a true connoisseur of dark chocolate. You can order full size cakes and flan with a few days notice.
The following week was my sweetheart's birthday. I decided to host the party and I couldn't wait to introduce friends to Empanadas.
I ordered 21 (7 of 3 kinds)and asked that they be ready for 1:00 p.m.l on Saturday. When we got there just before 1:00 p.m,.the last of them were coming out of the oven. You can't get any fresher than that!
They were then placed on top of a checkered pattern paper inside bakery boxes. The lining really highlighted the empanadas, so I just cut off the top of the top of the box to serve rustic style.
Empanadas are perfect party food. You can pick them up and eat them out of hand.
I made them the main attraction, complementing them with a bright green salad and red beans and rice.
They went fast. Even people who tend not to be adventurous tried them. They were a real success.
I look forward to visiting this bakery often and I hope people outside of this Latino community will try something new. It's easy to park on Broadway and there are several restaurants.
And don't be intimidated by the language barrier. I was able to look up everything I was ordering for the party on Google translate. I wrote the name of the item with the quantity on a 4x6 card that I handed to the ladies behind the counter. A customer who was bilingual was kind enough to help us.
The owners are proud of their product and it shows in every part of their operation.
Food is a great way to bridge the gap between cultures! read more