the salvadorean sandwich. they continue to impress me with the variety of delicious foods. i tried the panes rellenos today, and when it came out, i was sceptical. i am not a fan of pickled beets, and only mildly interested in radishes. to be completely honest, if i had known that it came with pickled beets and radishes on it, i would have asked for it without those things. however, yet again, this place made a liar out of me. the flavors all came together flawlessly and i enjoyed every bite, including the beets and radishes. i have yet to dislike anything on the menu.
-----06 jan, 2012-----
one way ticket to flavortown!. went in for an early lunch and found the decor to be a mixed bag. it looked like the place was pretty sterile originally and they have been adding flavors of el salvador to the decor as often as possible. there was a beautiful mural on one wall of what i assume is a statue in el salvador (couldn't get a pic of it this trip), as well as a sprinkling of "authentic" stuff here and there. the lighting was mostly natural during the day and very nice. my waitress was nice and did a good job. now, on to the important stuff!
i started out with a horchata, which tasted like a sweet milk with cinnamon and sugar in it. delish. i ordered the el salvadoreno sampler and requested a ground beef pastel instead of the vegetable version and a pork tamale instead of the chicken. my waitress accommodated me with a smile (although i'm sure there was an upcharge, which was fine).
when my meal arrived, it was hot and everything tasted fabulous! in the picture of the sampler, i'll start with the bean and cheese pupusa on the left and go clockwise, finishing with the yuca frita in the middle.
the bean and cheese pupusa was a thick fried tortilla (tasted like corn variety) with refried beans and melted cheese in the middle. i have no idea how they accomplished that little miracle, but it was great! the "jug-o-salsa" they brought out with my meal went as a nice spicy complement to it. very good.
next we have the ground beef pastel, which looks like a large empanada. the flavors were great and the aforementioned salsa on the side complemented it well.
on to the most unusual item on the plate (as far as i was concerned), the enchilada. this is not amexicanenchilada. this little piece of heaven starts with a flavorful fried tortilla that has some of the most unusual toppings i have ever heard of for this type of dish. it's like amexicantostada with totally different toppings. i'm not a fan of some of the items on this little dish, like beets and radishes, but these were fresh and when combined like this with the tangy sauce, it just works.
and now we come to the pork tamale. this was, hands down, the best tamale i have ever had in my life and i have had a lot of tamales! the masa was light and airy, but had a wonderful flavor all its own. seriously, i would have begged for some of that masa to take home if i wasn't diabetic. the pork on the inside was tender and flavorful, but no fat or unchewable bits to be found. excellent.
finally, we come to the yuca frita. this was a few pieces of deep fried yucca topped with some shredded slaw mixed with a spicy sauce and a couple pieces of pork on top of that. the pork had been marinated and then fried. this was a very unusual and tasty treat.
overall, this was one of the best meals (at a restaurant) i have had in a long time. i would recommend this place any time and i'll surely be back.
update 04/30/2012: i finally got a chance to go back for the steak pinchos (kabobs). as expected, they were great. the only caveat i would mention is that they took about 30 minutes. i don't know if that is normal, but for me the wait was worth it.