A co-worker mentioned a Salvadoran restaurant in San Benito, where they serve pupusas.
We have been to dozens of Salvadoran restaurants so I was looking forward to awesome cheesy goodness, topped with some delicious pickled cabbage (curtido) and warm tomato sauce.
As with any other Salvadoran restaurant, we started with some fried ripe plantains, served with Salvadoran cream, Salvadoran cheese and refried black beans.
Unfortunately, we got plantains that we're not ripe, pinto beans instead of black beans, Mexican queso fresco, and some "sweet sugary" cream. I asked afterwards, and I was told that "////I should have asked specifically for Salvadoran cream///", how would I know you have two kinds of this cream when this was my first visit?.
Then we ordered chicken Salvadoran empanadas (order of 3), they were crispy on the outside and full of chicken meat on the inside.
The star of the show should have been the pupusas.
The pupusas usually come with a generous amount of vinegar cabbage and carrot slaw and warm mild tomato sauce.
This were served with the "Curtido"pickled cabbage, but it was a very small portion of the pickled cabbage, ......and yes, I should have asked for more.
There was no warm tomato sauce with the pupusas. We were offered tomato sauce, but only after we complained that the salsa they served with chips, was really hot, I'm telling you, flame throwing hot, even for someone who enjoys Thai food.
The pupusas were a little lean, not gooey cheesy like I'm used to, it left me asking for more cheese. The waitress mentioned the cheese they use is mozzarella?????????
And that was the first time I ever had mozzarella pupusas.
I understood why they tasted so different, rather than using Salvadoran quesillo cheese.
Overall, I'm my opinion, looking at the menu, this is a Mexican restaurant that serves Salvadoran dishes, not truly a Salvadoran restaurant. read more