El Salvador Restaurant is a find.
Its plain storefront setting masks the real goods – outstanding
Salvadoran cuisine at reasonable prices, served with a smile.
Salvadoran couple Hilcia and Jose Garcia opened the restaurant
a few years ago, after spending time in New York City. Apparently,
they picked up influences from that diverse city. El Salvador's
menu is amazingly long and broad, touching on French, Mexican,
Italian – even Greek cuisine.
Large portions are the rule. Our group of four began by sharing
a platillo típico, a Salvadoran sampler plate.
The bean and corn tamale (substituted for a chicken one) was
the best we have had. Fried yuca, like slightly sweet french
fries, was cooked just right. The sweet, bananalike plantain
was greasy but tasty. Smooth, puréed pinto beans looked
like refrieds but were better, being cooked with only a little
oil – no lard. A small Greek salad came with the dish;
it had ample feta plus red pepper flakes to jazz it up.
Main courses included pollo con camarones a la Francesa,
a flattened breast of chicken and three jumbo shrimp, lightly
battered and pan-fried, covered with a subtle tomatoey sauce
and artfully arranged on a large platter. The dish came with
the splendid beans and equally delicious slow-cooked rice.
Langosta fra diavolo con salsa de tomate picante was
one of many seafood dishes. It featured a perfectly steamed
whole lobster, cracked and covered in an eye-catching red, spicy
sauce. Beans and rice came with it. Though delicious, the sauce
made for messy eating.
A communications mix-up brought us shrimp cocktail
instead of the requested shrimp ceviche. The Salvadoran-style
cocktail held ample shrimp in a delicious tomato sauce, plus
avocado triangles and pico de gallo, but it was hardly enough
for a main course.
The vivacious Ms. Garcia spent much time explaining the cuisine
to us, answering our questions and handling the special requests
of the vegetarian among us. Take note: Ms. Garcia speaks excellent
English, but most of the servers do not.
Décor is plain. Latin folk art, including a large fabric
wall-hanging of tortilla-makers at work, livens up the Spartan
setting. The two televisions were tuned to a Spanish station
(too loud at times). Servers dress in matching white and black,
which shows attention to detail.
They seemed to be enjoying themselves. As did we, thanks to
fine food and Ms. Garcia's charm.
Food – 3 1/2 stars
Service – 2 1/2 stars
Atmosphere – 2 stars
Published in The Dallas Morning News: 06.20.02
By RICHARD ROSEN / The Dallas Morning News
