Every time I visit Gorditas La Rancherita (look for my full review in Creative Loafing next week), I have to pay La Promesa a visit for a little something sweet. They make some amazing classic Mexican pastries and El Salvadorean pupusas. They even have some awesome homemade salsas in the the fridge for the pupusas or whatever else you’d like to use if for.

The real draw for me is the flan. The bakery makes three different types and they are all amazing. My favorite? The one in the front case that is sliced to order from a round as large as a tire.

No one makes flan like my abuela or mama, but this is the next best thing to getting on a plane to Mexico or Miami. It’s dense–without being a gut-bomb–and has a nice amount of caramel that covers the surface area of every piece. I adore it. You’ll be tempted to get just one piece, but trust me, you need to get two.

RINCON LATINO: Latinos consider chicken soup to be a complete meal. Every country and region has its own version. At Rincon, the caldo de pollo has more of an El Salvadorian slant. A large bowl of clear chicken broth studded with submerged pieces of tender bone-in chicken comes with a bowl of white rice, oversized El Salvadorian corn tortillas, minced cilantro, chopped onion and jalapeño. You can doctor the soup to your tastes or make a few tacos with a juicy chunk of chicken plucked from the broth. 5055 Buford Highway, Doraville. 770-936-8181.

SO KONG DONG: Forget one-dimensional soups when you are sick. Your body needs a jolt, and a bubbling pot of Korean tofu soup from this tofu house — the kimchee style in particular — is just what the doctor ordered. After a parade of panchan (including one of those little fried fish), the waitress rolls out a cart holding midnight black cast iron bowls perched on tiny wooden coasters. Due to the intense heat of the vessel, the soup bubbles and spurts in front of you — too hot to eat even though you know you want to dive in. Click here to read the rest…