Saturday, January 29, 2011




Detroit, MI - Pupusería y Restaurante Salvadoreño; Truly a gem, what can I say. The food was delicious, unique, handmade, surprising flavors, locally owned, and where else can you find food in Detroit from El Salvidor.

When you go on a day that's about 10 degrees outside, I'm can't wait to get inside in a nice warm place, well, that's not this place. I think the only thing heating this place the kitchen, it was so cold, but I'm willing to look past that no matter what. Why? I go for the food, I can warm up when I'm back in my car.

There was so much I wanted to try here, but my stomach could only hold so much, so I had to stick with a squash and cheese pupusa, pork and cheese pupusa, rice and beans, curtido (cabbage slaw), and their fried plantains. By the way, this was just for me, yeah, I pigged out.

This was my first experience with pupusa's and they now set the bar very high. The pupusas are corn handmade stuffed tortilla, but thick tortilla, not as thin as a whimpy burrito. What's so unique and wonderful of the pupusa is truly the handmade mesa (corn tortilla). You can immediately taste the corn starchiness to it, giving it it's unique flavor and texture. I thought the squash pupusa sounded unique and interesting to try and I was glad I choose it. I did like the pork better, but you have to adventure out of your comfort zone and dive head first into any dish that you've never had and sounds interesting. The squash is a bright green giving it a contrast to the cheese and mesa. The pork pupusa had a little more flavor, but I enjoyed both. It's served with a side of curtido, a cabbage slaw that from the looks of it, was standard cabbage, but it had some unexpected heat. You'll see the vinegar dressing at the bottom and unexpectedly, there's jalapenos mixed in, to give it a nice surprise kick. It almost raw cabbage wasn't for me, so I continued on to the other good stuff.

I did not expect the rice and beans to be so unique. I was expecting the standard "Mexican" rice, but turned out to be a unique blend of rice, lima beans, peas, and corn. It also taste as though it was cooked in a chicken broth or something other than straight water. It had a bit of hardiness to it, complimenting the beans very well.

Lastly, how can I not order the plantains when they're on the menu. It's a must, and after having it, it's definitely a must. A keeper, a staple to any dish! They are deliciously sweet and soft. It's served with beans and crema, a Salvadoran cream. When you mix all three together, you get a wonderful blend of sweet and savory. However, the plantains by themselves is also fantastic.

I forgot to try their licuado, so I'll save that for next time.

***CASH ONLY

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