I need to have a conversation with food about this

When I was a kid, my mother used to take my brother and I to a hole in the wall Peruvian Restaurant called El Chalan. We loved it so hard that she would threaten us with not going there unless we stopped fighting immediately! AND IT WORKED. We would stop hitting and scratching each other at the mere thought of being denied our bifsteak & frijoles (with an egg on top!) -- and GOD FORBID we were not allowed to have our truest love - INCA KOLA.

In later years we discovered another hole in the wall Peruvian place called El Pollo Rico. All they made was Pollo a la Brasa - your choice was whole, half or a quarter - there's a giant oven with chickens spinning on spits, and a guy with a hatchet chops up a chicken for you, throws it on a plate with steak fries, spicy cole slaw and spicy or mild sauce (that we dip our french fries in) - and of course... INCA KOLA. That hole in the wall became so popular, that they eventually expanded into the space next door (and the line still sometimes went outside), and now have moved to a different location entirely. I have never found anyplace that makes pollo a la brasa quite like it - and I've had some good pollo a la brasa, to be sure.

It's not that INCA KOLA is so fantabulous (well, except that it is) - I'm aware that most of my love for it stems from happy childhood memories of afternoons with mom in what seemed to be our secret restaurant. It's bright yellow - which of course filled me and my brother with glee - and tastes like bubble gum. Kind of. Only crisper. As an adult, and one that doesn't really dig sugary carbonated drinks, I get all happy and excited when I can drink it, but it's more of an understanding of how it relates to the food. The sweetness offsets the spicy.

Wednesday I had an audition over at Sunset Gower Studios for a feature film, and on the way, I passed Mario's - a hole in the wall Peruvian restaurant that I had been wanting to try for a long while now. One of the things i like about L.A. are the gems of restaurants you can find in unassuming strip malls. This one always seems to have production trucks parked out in front of it - a really good sign. My audition seriously lasted 2 minutes, I am not kidding, and my next appointment wasn't for 2 hours. So i decided to treat myself to a real, live, sit down at a table lunch on my own, and went on over to Mario's.

I ordered the Lomo Salteado and an INCA KOLA.

Lomo Salteado is strips of beef sauteed with tomatos and onions. It comes with seasoned white rice and french fries.

How was it? REALLY FUCKING DELICIOUS. THAT'S HOW IT WAS.

You know why? Not only because it was good on it's own - but they TOSS IT WITH THE FRENCH FRIES. So as you eat it, the french fries get soaked in the juices, and... it's just... I mean... I can't. I planned on taking some home for dinner later on, but that plan was FOILED.

BEHOLD: