Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was the opening of Ponia’s Palace in Palmdale. Taking over the space last used by the closest thing to a legit* Chinese restaurant in the AV, Ponia’s Palace features Ghanian and Nigerian dishes. The family originally had an African market/boutique in Lancaster, but 2022 saw them open the restaurant and a market/boutique in Palmdale. This is a true gem, with a surprisingly deep Ghanian and Nigerian menu. Pictured: Waakye (beans and rice with shito, a spicy pepper sauce); chicken (with same sauce, shito), plantains and salad with a nice Dijonaise dressing.
Borinquen (please excuse lack of accent marks) in Lancaster. A very rare Puerto Rican restaurant.
Las Monarca’s in Palmdale serves a few Michoacan-style items (Morisqueta; Aporriadillo), along with goat birria and lamb barbacoa among other more standard Mexican dishes.
Ay Papa! Que Ricos! also opened a Palmdale location. They do grilled meats very well.
Realizing the population of the Antelope Valley has increased by about 100,000 from when I first moved to the area, it’s nice that a broader range of interesting dining options has at least somewhat offset the massive increase in traffic. There will only be more and more of both.
Second the love for Ponia’s Palace, which might be the most ambitious West African restaurant in the country. Been a couple times now because it is just so good. Here are the owners during the World Cup, they opened early for Ghana’s last match and were a joy to cheer with despite the bad result.
The menu’s comprehensiveness is jaw-dropping. Often in a West African restaurant the menu is not even worth looking at, and you instead ask what is available on the certain day which is usually a few things. Here they have so many choices and it all seems to be available to order.
Newhall & adjacent is going to be the next Korean enclave.
Jin Cook is an absurdly legitimate restaurant l/ small chain that seems to specialize in hot stone, eg bibimbap / galbijim / etc. it has the taste of ktown with a few changes for the neighborhood including a smaller but still incredibly legit ban chan / kimchi spread of 3 items, English speaking staff, and SCV clean interior.
oh man this place was awesome for charcoal grilled chicken. Significantly better than Charcoal Chicken in Canyon Country and probably better than my previous benchmark El Pollo Unico in Pasadena.
Antelope Center is a ways from Palmdale. Checking their Facebook page shows them all around the perimeter of Palmdale, including over on the eastside in front of the Vallarta market.
Some AV taco intel. Finally got around to sampling almost all of what Tacos El Llano and El Taquero Poblano have. Everyone’s mileage may vary, but to me, Tacos El Llano wins for Al Pastor and Pollo; El Taquero Poblano has outstanding chorizo tacos (with a great char to them). Carne Asada is kind of a toss up. The LA Taco article has a few uncharacteristic errors. No suadero at Tacos El Llano and it calls it “El Taqueria Poblano Inc.”
The stand that briefly operated a few years back at the corner of 10th E. & Palmdale, in front of the smog and lube place, had suadero…and everything else. Easily the best taco place in the area until this recent wave.
I should add the Al Pastor and chicken are more than decent at El Taquero Poblano. Quite good, actually. It’s just that I give the nod to Tacos El Llano for those two. Tacos El Llano’s Al Pastor is outstanding. OTOH, El Llano’s chorizo, while good, doesn’t come close to Poblano’s.
