When I asked some field hands for some unique Bakersfield cuisine. I got two recommendations for Los Molcajetes.

A molcajete is a mortar, as in mortar and pestle. Here the basalt bowl is heated on a range until it is hot enough to keep a soup or stew boiling.

My bowl, the Molcajete Mexicana (pictured), had chorizo and chicken in a red spicy broth, garnished with cactus and cheese. My co-worker’s Molcajete del Mar was chock full of seafood, of course.

The bowls worked so well that it was impossible to eat from the bowl itself. I had to either spoon out the soup or lay out the meat in the corn tortillas which came with the dish. Once I got it to a point where it wouldn’t burn me, the meal was quite good. The service was quite good, too: we were thanked for coming as we walked in the door.