LAReview
photo credit: Holly Liss
Broken Spanish
This spot is Permanently Closed.
How does that phrase go? Don’t fix what’s not broken?
Yes. That’s the one.
We like that phrase. It carries a lot of importance, for many different reasons. But we’d like to add at caveat to it - don’t fix what’s not broken, but definitely feel free to make it incredible. And that’s exactly what Broken Spanish, the modern Mexican restaurant in DTLA, has done.
Broken Spanish takes things you’ve probably had before, like tamales and pork belly, and turns them into dishes you can only find at this restaurant. The tamale here is stuffed with lamb neck and king oyster mushrooms, and the pork belly is at least two inches tall and topped with something called elephant garlic mojo.
Everything about this place works just as well as the food. The space itself is casual and sexy, and full of cool people and a contagious energy that makes you want to work harder in life. It’s also extremely flexible, making both an after-work cocktail at the bar or date night not just possible, but highly recommended. Big blow-out group dinner? Yeah, there’s a separate room for that too.
But let’s talk more about that food for a second. It’s magic. You’re going to spend some money on it and you’re going to be entirely ok with it. Because as you slowly work your way through the menu, you begin to see the future. Maybe it’s your own, maybe it’s that of Mexican food as a whole, but it’s there. Reach out and grab it. Whether it’s the scallop crudo or the rabbit and liver stew dropped off at the table in a plastic bag, you realize something. The future is actually right now.
The service is great, the wine list is excellent, and everything else you could possibly nit-pick at a place like this holds up its side of the bargain. Broken Spanish, you are a complete restaurant.