Four doors down from the place I ate at yesterday is the Pupuseria El Salvador. The glass front door proclaims: "Authentic El Salvadoran Food!" So who am I to gainsay such assurances? I waltz in the joint, which is even smaller than the Peruvian greasy spoon I was in yesterday. And it's filling up fast for the noon hour.
Thankfully there are no Halloween decorations put up to mar the simple Grandma Moses-like paintings of rural life that hang on the walls. That leaves me with a good first impression, even though I have to sit in a folding chair. Me and folding chairs parted ways long years ago; they remind me of Amway conventions and pointless power points.
Once again there is only one overworked waitress on duty, who can't keep up with the modest crowd. And once again the menu seems to feature more items that they don't have than that they do have. My first four attempts at ordering something native to drink meet with failure. "We don't have any". I guess I had better learn how to say that in Spanish: "no tenemos ninguna".
For an appetizer I order one tamal de puerco -- a pork tamale. It comes with a bowl of shredded cabbage. In fact, all the meals in this place come with shredded cabbage. Which just seems wrong to me, like waffles and chicken. It may be popular; it may be a cultural thing; but damned if I'm going to let it go unremarked upon!
But the tamale is very good; moist and with a good amount of pork in it. It tastes so good I even eat some of the shredded cabbage with it. Just to be accommodating.
My main dish is lengua guisada -- cow tongue stew. I have to wait a long time for it, almost a half hour. This normally would have me stewing more than my order, but I am on a writing assignment, so I maintain a Buddha-like sang-froid. Then I realize something about the American dinning landscape: Nobody cares how long it takes to get their order anymore, because everyone is busy on their smartphone or tablet, so they wouldn't know if ten minutes or an hour had passed between their order and its delivery. This makes for a better and more pleasant dinning experience for everyone today -- except for me, since I don't have a mobile device and quickly grow tired of drawing on the napkins with crayons.
When my stew finally comes I find it unpretentious but very good. The onion sauce is robust and the sides of beans and rice go well with the pieces of tongue, which are very rich and chew well. And I even get 2 plump pupusas, which I have to admit are not as welcome as some chips or tortillas would be. I know it's the national dish, but to me they're like dispirited pancakes that have given up half way through the process. Better to eat them than throw them out; but as National Dishes go, I think El Salvador needs an upgrade . . .
For my single pork tamale and a plate of lengua guisada I paid a total of $10.46.
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