TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018
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COCULA MEXICAN RESTAURANT
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Greg Coxi for Triangle Today Look up pozole rojo in a dictionary of Mexican culinary terms, and you’re not likely to come across the word “serendipity” in the definition. But that’s precisely what comes to mind when I think of the pozole rojo de puerco I had the first time I ate at Cocula. I had never heard of the restaurant, for starters, until I stumbled across it a couple of months ago while running a few errands. Considering how seldom I travel that stretch of Fayetteville Road on the southern fringe of Raleigh (so far south that locals think of it as Garner), it’s something of a minor miracle that I did discover it within months of its May opening.
specialties such as mixiote de borrego: Mexican-style barbecued lamb shank, falling-off-the-bone tender beneath a sauce redolent of ancho and guajillo chiles. The menu has whole categories I have yet to explore (among them burritos, enchiladas and fajitas), largely because I haven’t been able to resist the siren call of local rarities such as the pozole and mixiote. I can tell you that the chunky made-toorder guacamole is first-rate, though, and served in ample portion for sharing. And that the homemade corn tortillas are exceptionally light and tender.
What’s more, as luck would have it, this was around dinnertime when I spotted Cocula — on a rare weekend night when I didn’t already have a dinner on my schedule. Clearly, the gastronomic gods were inviting me to check it out.
You can get those tortillas wrapped around your choice of more than a dozen generous taco fillings, including a few surprises (fried avocado, black beans and purple onion, to name one) in addition to all the usual taqueria meat suspects.
I accepted the invitation, and was rewarded with the best pozole I’ve had in recent memory. Loaded with succulent chunks of pork and hominy in a brick red broth as complex as a mole, it was served in a large terra cotta cazuela, with a plate of shredded cabbage, lime wedges, cilantro and chopped onions on the side.
I find it hard to resist lengua (beef tongue) and cachete (spicy beef cheek) when they’re available, so I saved the carne asada for a full entree order on a subsequent visit — an ample slab of marinated skirt steak, buried under a mixed grill of nopales, green onions and a whole jalapeño. Rice, beans, a side plate of avocado salad and — of course — some of those homemade tortillas — made for a fine roll-your-own taco feast.
Oh, and the pozole is available only on weekends. Talk about serendipity. You won’t be surprised to learn that this was not my only visit to Cocula. So far, I’ve only been able to scratch the surface of an extensive menu that runs the gamut from create-your-own combo plates to regional
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Cocula’s Carne Asada serves up an ample slab of marinated skirt steak, buried under a mixed grill of nopales, green o nions and a whole jalapeno. Rice, beans, a side plate of avocado salad and homemade tortillas make for a fine roll-your-own taco feast. Juli Leonard COCULA 1428 Garner Station Blvd., Raleigh 919-615-4347, coculamex.com Cuisine: Mexican Rating: 3 1/2 stars Atmosphere: cheery, whimsical Service: friendly and attentive Recommended: guacamole, sweet potato flautas, pozole rojo, mixiote de borrego, tacos Open: Lunch and dinner daily.