Restaurant Review: Paraiso Tropical
PARAISO TROPICAL LATIN MARKET 6926 Calgary Trail ~ paraisotropical.ca Instagram: @latinfoodmarket ~ Twitter: @latinfoodmarket Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Edmonton boasts a beautifully robust Latin community and one of the best places in the city to experience a full celebration of these cultures is Paraiso Tropical. This Latin grocery store and kitchen has been around since 1991, is family owned, and entirely operated by staff members with origins in various South American countries. If you want to feel as if you've wandered into a market in El Salvador, Brazil or Colombia - this is absolutely the right place. With two locations in the city, one in the north end and one on the south side, you are never too far away from empanada goodness. CBC Edmonton called Paraiso Tropical the Best Wild Card in their Best Restaurants 2019 article and I was eager to find out what this place is all about. I personally chose to hit up Paraiso Tropical's south location because it is literally blocks away from my house in Allendale. This one is the newer of the two locations and you'll find them in a small strip mall area right on Calgary Trail (which means that you've driven by this place a million times). You simply cannot miss the vibrant and festive awning on the outside of the building - it's green with stylized tropical fruit all over it - and it's urging you to come inside. Their branding is actually very nice and consistent throughout. Entering the store, it looks very much like a typical grocery market situation. But when you look a bit closer you realize that you are no longer in the same country and that you may have stepped into a shop while on vacation to someplace much warmer. The aisles are filled with exotic goods and I was especially impressed by the large selection of dried chilis. You could spend a lot of time going up and down the rows discovering all sort of new ingredients and finding endless inspiration. To the right side of the store you will locate the "Kitchen" area, where hot foods are being sold. There is no seating (a couple of tables could be so nice!) and the food is being prepared strictly for takeout. But let me tell you: some of my favourite cultural food experiences have taken place in very similar grocery store situations. I was feelin' this whole thing! Approaching the hot foods counter, I feasted my eyes upon an array of South American delicacies and couldn't help but get a very "street food" type of vibe from it all. I really love that the dishes featured originate from various Latin countries and not just one - it's like you're taking a tour of the continent with your stomach! The woman working behind the counter and dishing up the goods was incredibly friendly and helpful in answering my questions. While they offer quite an extensive menu, they don't necessarily make every item every single day. Because of this, I was very pleased to see that all of the items that I was hoping to try were available! But first. DRINKS. There is an entire shelf dedicated to rows upon rows of imported Latin beverages and I grabbed two. First, a Mxcn Cola Jarritos, and secondly, a Purple Corn Drink that caught my eye.
At this point most people have likely seen and tried Jarritos because they are fairly available even in regular grocery stores. They are certainly recognizable by their rainbow of at least eight different flavours. I have been in love with their Mexican cola for several years now. It's my favourite cola beverage on the market and I like it better than Coke, Pepsi, or any of those. This one is the best because of the real cane sugar used to make it. It's quite amazing that the flavour can be made so much better simply by using better sugar, but it really, really makes a difference. Try it for yourself and see. The second drink was surprisingly wonderful! Imported from Peru, this beverage is made with purple corn, pineapple, quince, cinnamon and clove. I loved it! Each of the flavours were totally there and it tasted like taking a tropical vacation at Christmastime. Next it was time for food! Paraiso Tropical makes a bunch of different items including three types of tamales and three types of empanadas. Plus soups, tacos, arepas, and a bunch of other things. It's all pretty snacky and I can imagine myself running into this store to grab a hand-held treat in the future. And again, I love that so many different countries are represented in their offerings. First, I leaned in hard on the empanadas and got all three: Brazilian Cheese Empanada ($3.50), Colombian Empanada ($2.60), and Pastel Brasileiro Carne ($3.75).
The Brazilian Cheese Empanada involves queso! Cheese and more cheese stuffed in a soft wheat flour shell. Light and flaky with a bubbly crisp outside, salty gooey cheese on the inside. It kind of reminded me of a bigger, more involved version of a pao de queijo, a Brazilian cheesebread (which they also sell). I loved this one. It was my favourite. I will be rolling up and grabbing some of these on the regular. Next was the Colombian Empanada, smaller in size and yellow in colour. A crispy corn shell exterior stuffed with a savoury stewed chicken potato interior. (They also make these in a beef potato flavour as well.) Very tasty and I enjoyed the tender chicken. Lastly, I had to try the Pastel Brasileiro Carne because the interesting filling ingredients caught my attention. A crispy wheat shell stuffed with ground beef, olives, eggs, and seasoned with their very own Brazilian staff member's secret seasoning. This one was very unique! The beef was slightly dry and crumbly but I loved the combination of olives and eggs. I certainly remarked that the seasoning used was unlike anything that I've ever tasted before. The dish that I was the most excited to try is the Yuca Con Chicharron ($6.99). I'd heard a lot of good things about this one.
If you tried to imagine an El Salvadoran poutine, I think that this would be it. The bed of golden, crispy fried yuca provides tons of starchy texture. I absolutely adore yuca fries and would eat them instead of potato fries any day. I'm converted. But the chicharron pork! Oh man, welcome to flavour country. This baked meat is crispy yet tender, salty and savoury. It's really something special and must be tasted. Plus you get the delightful cabbage with great acidity to cut through the fatty flavours and their beautiful homemade tomato salsa. The whole thing is magic and you will not regret putting this into your mouth. Lastly, I can never leave a Pupusa ($3.50) behind.
The tortilla itself is similar to the type used to make arepas, except that these ones are stuffed kinda like a quesadilla. I loved this version and it took me right back to all of the best pupusas that I've ever had. The tortilla was warm and soft, like a pillow containing delicious fillings. I enjoyed the pork and cheese on the inside but it's really the whole combination of the cabbage salad and salsa on top that creates a perfect bite. I could probably live off of pupusas if I had to and this one was great. I really loved my visit to Paraiso Tropical! It felt like a mini vacation and I was very pleased and impressed by the array of delicious food offerings and on top of that the value is incredible. I really want to try their Mexican Pozole Soup. The grocery market itself is wonderful and I will certainly keep them in mind whenever we are looking for ingredients to make any Latin-themed dishes at home. But most of all, I love that I can literally walk to this place from my house whenever I feel like one of those cheesy empanadas. Welcome to my new life!
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