Showing posts with label Salvadoran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvadoran. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Prohibition Era Pupusas? Jaragua and The Copper Still
The Restaurant
Jaragua is an impressive looking orange adobe building on Beverly Boulevard west of Normandie. When it first opened a few years ago, I found it pretty unexceptional. Over the years, though, it's managed to really pick up its game. It's great to see a restaurant get better rather than worse over time.
The menu is pretty standard Salvadoran but everything is done well. I like the pupusas revueltas (with just pork and cheese) which are well stuffed such that every bite yields a lava-like flow of porky/cheesy goodness. They do a good pan con pavo (the traditional Salvadoran turkey sandwich), nicely fried yuca and they have salpicon, the dish of minced beef, mint and onions that is the Salvadoran equivalent of Thai larp. It's also a really nice place to sit and have a family meal, which is not something that can be said of all Salvadoran restaurants. It's definitely worth checking out.
The Bar
There has long been a bar at the back of the restaurant, and I usually glance at it and find it, like the restaurant in olden days, pretty unexceptional, just a basic bar that never seems open, probably reserved for a later crowd who wants standard well drinks, sort of like the bar in every dim sum place in the San Gabriel Valley.
So I usually just ignore the thing, but the last time I came in for dinner, I glanced back and saw a bottle of Cynar prominently displayed on the shelf. Cynar is an Italian artichoke liqueur that is popular among the mixology crowd, but not something I expected to see at the long neglected Jaragua backbar. Seeing this, I scanned the shelf: WhistlePig Rye, Redemption Rye, creme de violette a host of bitters, a pot of fresh herbs. Something was amiss.
I strolled back and met Nancy Kwon, the new beverage director for the bar who said they were going to be renaming it the Copper Still and were already open from 8:00 pm to 2:00 am on Fridays and Saturdays, with a focus on prohibition era cocktails (natch!). While they are putting up a partition to separate the bar from the restaurant, you'll still be able to get pupusas at the bar, sort of like the Kibitz Room at Canter's, though without the divey feel.
I was there for an early dinner so I didn't get to try any cocktails, but I like the look of the place and it's a nice addition to the neighborhood, which doesn't have much in the way of craft bars. I'll report back once I check it out.
Jaragua & The Copper Still
4493 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 661-1985
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Got Milks? Tres Leches
Tres Leches cake is one of my many loves. This Latin American dessert consists of a yellow cake soaked in three milks (tres leches): evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and half and half or cream. It's topped with a white icing (hopefully whipped cream). The moist cake, the milks and the frosting combine to make each mouthful a heavenly slice of creamy, dairy goodness.
Tres Leches cake is available at nearly every panaderia in LA, but it's surprisingly hard to find a good one. For one thing, as a cake soaked in milk, it needs to be fresh. It gets gloppy when old and sours pretty quickly as well.
I've gone through a number of Tres Leches phases in my life, and even made my own, which is actually pretty easy. The most commonly recommended Tres Leches among foodies is probably Porto's, the Cuban bakery with branches in Glendale and Burbank. Personally, I think Porto's, while good, is overrated. While technically proficient, their food just doesn't excite me much (though I like a beef filled, fried potato ball as much as the next person).
Lately, my Tres Leches of choice is from the bakery section of the Liborio Market. I go to the one on Third Street, east of Alvarado. Their cake has the perfect consistency - creamy but not completely sopping- and high turnover assures that it is fresh. The cake is super moist but not super sweet. The frosting isn't whipped cream, but the more typical sugar frosting you get at supermarkets, with a bit of the chemical aftertaste they sometimes have, but the overall cake is good stuff and fills my Tres Leches need better than most competitors.
Liborio Market
1831 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-1053
Tres Leches cake is available at nearly every panaderia in LA, but it's surprisingly hard to find a good one. For one thing, as a cake soaked in milk, it needs to be fresh. It gets gloppy when old and sours pretty quickly as well.
I've gone through a number of Tres Leches phases in my life, and even made my own, which is actually pretty easy. The most commonly recommended Tres Leches among foodies is probably Porto's, the Cuban bakery with branches in Glendale and Burbank. Personally, I think Porto's, while good, is overrated. While technically proficient, their food just doesn't excite me much (though I like a beef filled, fried potato ball as much as the next person).
Lately, my Tres Leches of choice is from the bakery section of the Liborio Market. I go to the one on Third Street, east of Alvarado. Their cake has the perfect consistency - creamy but not completely sopping- and high turnover assures that it is fresh. The cake is super moist but not super sweet. The frosting isn't whipped cream, but the more typical sugar frosting you get at supermarkets, with a bit of the chemical aftertaste they sometimes have, but the overall cake is good stuff and fills my Tres Leches need better than most competitors.
Liborio Market
1831 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-1053
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The Real Gordita: Golfo de Fonseca
Thanks to Taco Bell, millions of Americans think that a gordita is a taco made with something called "Mexican flatbread." Those of us who have been to Mexico, of course, know that a gordita is a thick corn tortilla, hollowed out and stuffed with any number of ingredients. In most versions of the gordita in Los Angeles, the tortilla shell is deep fried.
The gordita is a relative of the Salvadoran pupusa. While they are similar, a gordita is cut open and stuffed after it is fried, whereas for pupusas, the ingredients are stuffed into the raw masa and the whole thing is cooked together.
It is perhaps for that reason that there are a number of Salvadoran restaurants that offer gorditas as well as pupusas. Now, normally, I would not order a Mexican specialty at a Salvadoran restaurant. Rule number 7 of good eating is that when you go to a restaurant that purports to serve two types of cuisine, choose something from the lesser known one, as that is probably where the owners come from. Usually this will be a variation of Central American cuisine and Mexican or a variation of Asian cuisine and Chinese. For instance, if you see a sign that says Mexican and Salvadoran, the family that owns the place is probably from El Salvador, but cooks some Mexican food because they know people like it...same with Thai/Chinese. If you want the house specialty, get the Salvadoran or the Thai.
However, every rule has its exception, so when I heard there were great gorditas at Golfo de Fonseca, a Salvardoran place on 6th Street east of Union, I gave it a shot.
These were indeed good gorditas. The huge heavily fried tortillas are stuffed to the brim with savory fillings. I had mine with al pastor, seasoned, barbequed pork, which was juicy and well-spiced. There aren't that many gorditas to be had in this part of town and these were certainly better than most I've had.
Even better though was a plate of that Salvadoran staple, yuca y chicharron. The yuca was beautifully fried, crisp on the outside, tender within, like a perfect steak fry. The trick to perfect Salvadoran chicharron is making it crisp and juicy without being greasy, and this dish exemplified that concept. The generous serving is topped with curtido (cabbage slaw) and a few sprigs of watercress. This was among the best executed versions of this popular dish I've had, ranking up there with Los Chorros in Inglewood.
So go for the gordita, but don't miss the yuca and chicharron.
Golfo de Fonseca
1618 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 483-7245
The gordita is a relative of the Salvadoran pupusa. While they are similar, a gordita is cut open and stuffed after it is fried, whereas for pupusas, the ingredients are stuffed into the raw masa and the whole thing is cooked together.
It is perhaps for that reason that there are a number of Salvadoran restaurants that offer gorditas as well as pupusas. Now, normally, I would not order a Mexican specialty at a Salvadoran restaurant. Rule number 7 of good eating is that when you go to a restaurant that purports to serve two types of cuisine, choose something from the lesser known one, as that is probably where the owners come from. Usually this will be a variation of Central American cuisine and Mexican or a variation of Asian cuisine and Chinese. For instance, if you see a sign that says Mexican and Salvadoran, the family that owns the place is probably from El Salvador, but cooks some Mexican food because they know people like it...same with Thai/Chinese. If you want the house specialty, get the Salvadoran or the Thai.
However, every rule has its exception, so when I heard there were great gorditas at Golfo de Fonseca, a Salvardoran place on 6th Street east of Union, I gave it a shot.
These were indeed good gorditas. The huge heavily fried tortillas are stuffed to the brim with savory fillings. I had mine with al pastor, seasoned, barbequed pork, which was juicy and well-spiced. There aren't that many gorditas to be had in this part of town and these were certainly better than most I've had.
Even better though was a plate of that Salvadoran staple, yuca y chicharron. The yuca was beautifully fried, crisp on the outside, tender within, like a perfect steak fry. The trick to perfect Salvadoran chicharron is making it crisp and juicy without being greasy, and this dish exemplified that concept. The generous serving is topped with curtido (cabbage slaw) and a few sprigs of watercress. This was among the best executed versions of this popular dish I've had, ranking up there with Los Chorros in Inglewood.
So go for the gordita, but don't miss the yuca and chicharron.
Golfo de Fonseca
1618 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 483-7245
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Return of La Nueva Flor Blanca
Last year, I did a pupusa round up and discovered LA's best pupusas at a small Beverly Boulevard shop called La Nueva Flor Blanca. The pupusas there were near-perfect. They were served hot as coals and generously stuffed with fillings. Especially lovely was their chicharron, a spicy, crunchy, ground pork that, when mixed with red beans and cheese, made the perfect pupusa revuelta.
Alas, within weeks of my review, LNFB was shuttered by the Health Department and stayed closed. But now, nearly a year later, they are back open with the same Salvadroan-Guatemalen menu. It's hard to describe my excitement at this new turn of events. Needless to say, I paid a visit within the first week, and my expectations were high.
These were roughly the same pupusas. Large, searing hot patties of masa, generously filled with the various pupusa fillings, but something was missing. It was the spice of the pork, the key to LNFB success: the chicharron had changed. I can't explain it, but it's less salty, less porky, less crunchy, and overall, less transcendent.
Some inquiries in broken Spanish revealed that the woman who was the primary cook at this site in its previous incarnation now works at a new LNFB branch in South LA (Vernon and Broadway). It turns out there are a number of LFNBs run by an extended family, though there appears to be some variance form spot to spot. (There also appear to be other restaurants of the same name which may or may not have a connection, familial or otherwise).
Of course, LNFB Beverly just reopened, so I don't want to judge to harshly, and even without the magic chicharron, these are still darned good pupusas, so I will give it some time and hope against hope for the return of the transcendent chihcarron.
UPDATE: A week later, this place was up an running like it had never disappeared. The chicharron is back in all it's porky, spicy glory and the pupusa revueta is back as the best pupusa in town. Great platanos too!
La Nueva Flor Blanca
4271 Beverly Blvd. (North side of Beverly between Kinglsey and Normandie)
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 662-9493
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Kids Eat the Darndest Things
As a proud father of two and a committed eater, I've never been one to let kids cramp my eating style. Between loving to eat and not wanting to pay for babysitting, we started taking our older daughter (now 6) out with us almost everywhere we went. It may seem silly to some to take a three year old (her age at the time) to Valentino, but it's actually a lot cheaper than babysitting.
Between going out with us and living in a the multi-cultural world of Koreatown (kim bap is her favorite lunch snack), our daughter has developed quite the palate (our younger one is still an infant so her tastes are limited to strained this and that). At age six, she regularly eats things that I hadn't even heard of until I was in college.
She's wanted to be on the blog for a while, so I told her to come up with her top ten favorite restaurants in LA. The initial comments are hers, while the bracketed comments are mine.
1. NBC Seafood
404 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754-3279
(626) 282-2323
1. Ocean Star
404 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754-3279
(626) 282-2323
You can try something sweet or something savory and you can always experiment if you see something that looks good. And the other thing is that you get to taste millions of delicious things without getting too full.
Favorite Dishes: Pork Buns, Cream Buns.
[There is probably no more kid friendly type of cuisine than dim sum. The palaces are chock full of kidlets of all sizes and so loud that a child could have a screaming tantrum and no one would notice. Plus the cart service makes for a fun time. I prefer NBC, but she couldn't decide between there and Ocean Star and so made it a tie.]
3. El Torito Grill
9595 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310)550-1599
I like seeing the fresh tortillas being made.
Favorite Dishes: taquitos, spare ribs, steak nachos, quesadillas, corn cake.
[I've had to come to terms with my daughter's love of this southwestern incarnation of the El Torito chain in Beverly Hills. I order one of the weak margaritas, generously butter my tortillas and do my best. Over time, I've even come to like the little blue shrimp taquitos.]
4. Mastro’s Steakhouse
246 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310)888-8782
I like the Macaroni & cheese…the creaminess, the cheesiness and the deliciousness. And I like to get bites of other people’s meat.
[We only took her here once for a big family birthday, but she immediately took to it and has been bugging us to take her back ever since.]
5. Atlacatl
301 N. Berendo St.
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 663-1404
I like the turkey sandwiches [pan con pavo]. I like the moistness of the bread of the juice the turkey is dipped in and the yummy hot turkey.
[Atlacatl is not my favorite Salvadoran place, but it's close and also kid-friendly.]
6. Yai on Vermont
1627 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 644-1076
Favorite Dishes: Pad See Ew with pork or chicken. Roasted Pork with Chinese Broccoli.
What she likes about them: The noodleyness and the porkyness.
[Kids and noodles of any ethnicity, a match made in heaven].
7. La Pupusa Loca
5716 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 957-2967
Favorite Dishes: Pupusa Revuleta [pork, cheese and beans].
I like the yumminess of the pork and tortilla mixed together.
8. Noshi Sushi
4430 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004-1802
Phone: (323) 469-3458
Favorite Dishes: Tamago (Egg sushi), Unagi sushi and rolls. I like seeing the things made.
[This is a popular neighborhood joint on Beverly Boulevard. The prices are right but the sushi is pretty basic. I'm not sure what makes it a huge draw with a line on most weekends. This was actually her birthday dinner choice for the last two years.]
9. Fassica
10401 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 815-8463
I like the injera’s texture, like kind of doughy and mushy, kind of. I love eating with my fingers.
Favorite Dishes: The Fassica Special.
[She immediately took a liking to Ethiopian. Like she says, you can eat it with your fingers. What's not to like?]
10. Lucky Devil's
6613 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 465-8259
I like the cheesiness of the macaroni and cheese and the delicious cobbler with frozen custard.
[The picture is a LD's slider. She likes the delicious Kentucky Cream Cake for dessert (and she's little) so she hasn't been affected by the milkshake shrinkage].
Runners Up:
Astro Diner
Barragan's
Bay Cities Deli
Dumpling Master
Dupar's
Loteria
Mssr. Marcel's
Pink's
Square One
Next Wednesday: Her favorite whiskies (okay, maybe not)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Viva El Salvador
September 15 is Salvadoran Independence Day, so I thought it would be a good time to do an update on my continuing search for the greatest pupusa in Los Angeles.
A little review: As you may recall, earlier in the year I did a Pupusa Roundup. Horrifyingly, only weeks after my roundup, the very best pupuseria I found closed its doors. Torn with grief, anger and disappointment, I continue the search for the perfect melding of masa, pork, cheese and beans.
My next try was the new, fancy looking Jaragua on Beverly east of Western. The recently opened orange adobe tower seemed to promise something innovative or slightly upscale. Unfortunately, beneath the beautiful exterior of the place was a pretty unexceptional Salvadoran menu with unimpressive food.
Next stop, tipped off by an anonymous commenter, was El Palmar, a pupuseria in a strip mall at the northwest corner of Third Street and New Hampshire. Now, this place was a contender. The pupusas revueltas were smaller than most but were wonderfully crispy and had a nice balance of pork, beans and cheese. Their Plato Tipico is a great deal...for $6.99 you get two pupusas and two pieces each of yuca, plantains and pastelitos de carne (meat pies). These folks know their way around the frier. The yuca sticks were perfect, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The plantains were well caramelized and not at all mealy and the pastelitos, a dish I generally don't favor, were fried golden orange and had a tasty ground beef filling. Now for pure pupusa goodness, I'd still take La Pupusa Loca, but El Palmar is a good alternative.
Lastly, if you are looking for a fun way to spend Salvadoran Independence Day, stop by Helados Pops, the Salvadoran ice cream shop on Vermont south of Santa Monica. El Salvador is a land of wonderful tropical fruit that are hard to find in the US, and Helados Pops excels at Salvadoran fruit flavors. Try the rich and creamy Zapote (a luscious, vanilla tasting fruit) ice cream or the tangy marañon (the fruit of the cashew nut) sorbet. And Helados Pops has some of the best Strawberry ice cream I've had anywhere.
Happy Independence Day and remember, November 13 is National Pupusa Day in El Salvador.
A little review: As you may recall, earlier in the year I did a Pupusa Roundup. Horrifyingly, only weeks after my roundup, the very best pupuseria I found closed its doors. Torn with grief, anger and disappointment, I continue the search for the perfect melding of masa, pork, cheese and beans.
My next try was the new, fancy looking Jaragua on Beverly east of Western. The recently opened orange adobe tower seemed to promise something innovative or slightly upscale. Unfortunately, beneath the beautiful exterior of the place was a pretty unexceptional Salvadoran menu with unimpressive food.
Next stop, tipped off by an anonymous commenter, was El Palmar, a pupuseria in a strip mall at the northwest corner of Third Street and New Hampshire. Now, this place was a contender. The pupusas revueltas were smaller than most but were wonderfully crispy and had a nice balance of pork, beans and cheese. Their Plato Tipico is a great deal...for $6.99 you get two pupusas and two pieces each of yuca, plantains and pastelitos de carne (meat pies). These folks know their way around the frier. The yuca sticks were perfect, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The plantains were well caramelized and not at all mealy and the pastelitos, a dish I generally don't favor, were fried golden orange and had a tasty ground beef filling. Now for pure pupusa goodness, I'd still take La Pupusa Loca, but El Palmar is a good alternative.
Lastly, if you are looking for a fun way to spend Salvadoran Independence Day, stop by Helados Pops, the Salvadoran ice cream shop on Vermont south of Santa Monica. El Salvador is a land of wonderful tropical fruit that are hard to find in the US, and Helados Pops excels at Salvadoran fruit flavors. Try the rich and creamy Zapote (a luscious, vanilla tasting fruit) ice cream or the tangy marañon (the fruit of the cashew nut) sorbet. And Helados Pops has some of the best Strawberry ice cream I've had anywhere.
Happy Independence Day and remember, November 13 is National Pupusa Day in El Salvador.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Did I do in the best pupusas in LA?
Last month, after several months of research at great cost to my cholesterol level if not my wallet, I published my LA Pupusa Roundup and named La Nueva Flor Blanca's amazing pupusa revuelta as the best pupusa in LA.
Last week, I went by, hoping for some of those porky, cheesy treats and...it was closed, newspaper over the windows, gone. I feared the worst. I drove by all week long. Nothing changed and no one was answering the phone.
Then, I dug into the Health Department website, and sure learned that LNFB was closed for:
Gross contamination of utensils/equipment
Prevention of entrance and harborage of vermin
Vermin infestation
Now usually a place that the Health Department closes will open back up in a few days after a good cleaning and a visit from the vermin control guy, but for some businesses that operate on the edge financially, a closure spells doom. LNFB closed over a month ago and shows no signs of life.
I still hold out hope, maybe the family took the opportunity to take an extended trip back to El Salvador or Guatemala, where they are from, and will reopen their delightfully vermin-free pupuseria any day now. But each day the newspapers pasted over the door grow a little more yellows as my heart grows a little bit smaller and my arteries slowly unclog.
This raises for me an uncomfortable question, did I jinx La Nueva Flor? Am I the kiss of death? Will all of my favorites slowly whither and die?
If so, can I use this unholy power for good? Maybe I'll print some rave reviews about Pinkberry or the Cheesecake Factory to see if reverse psychology works on this otherwordly mojo.
My biggest problem now is where to go for pupusas, a staple of my diet. Luckily, I found the excellent La Pupusa Loca during my roundup (the picture atop is a few of their pupusas), but they still don't quite hit the high notes of La Nueva Flor.
So, if you know of a pupuseria I missed that should be taken seriously, drop me a line by email or in the comments. Meanwhile, I will keep everyone posted about any activity at La Nueva Flor.
And no Atlacatl recommendations please!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Great Los Angeles Pupusa Roundup
LA is awash in pupusas. The Slavadoran patties of masa filled with cheese, pork and beans are probably the most ubiquitous food from Koreatown to downtown, from the East Valley to South LA and beyond. They are to central LA as the hot dog or pizza slice is to Manhattan…a fast food staple that is available anywhere, at anytime, from a myriad of vendors.
I’ve loved the pupusa since I first tried one 13 years ago in Dallas. Since I moved to LA, I’ve tried them all over town and even made it down to El Salvador. (If you’re ever there, check out the pupusas at El Peche Cosme in Santa Tecla). I like to think of myself as pupusero (essentially, a pupusa chowhound).
For this roundup, I spent the last month and a half going to old favorites and seeking out new tips. I went to a vast array of pupuserias, concentrated in the mid-city to downtown corridor but venturing out when I got a hot tip. One thing I learned was that there are a lot of mediocre pupusas out there – they can be hard as rocks, greasy or mealy with flavorless fillings. For the most part, I’ve left those off the list and limited my roundup to the better and the best. After all, why tell you where not to go (unless it’s someplace you might be tempted to go because of wrongheaded or outdated tips).
At each pupuseria I had at least two pupusas: one queso con loroco (a Salvadoran vegetable) and one revuelta (a combination of chicharron, cheese and, usually, refried Salvadoran red beans). In a number of the restaurants, I tried a few other varieties and even other food, which I will comment on, but I focused in on the pupusas.
What makes a good pupusa? For me, there are several elements. The masa should be crisp on the outside, well cooked and not mealy. There should be a good proportion of filling to masa such that you can’t get a bite-full of pure masa. The filling should be flavorful. El Salvador is a country of strong cheeses, not pungent like French cheese but salty and distinct. The cheese should have flavor, not be a generic Mexican queso fresco and certainly not Monterey Jack. The chicharron should have a smoky, porky flavor. If I can’t tell I’m eating pork from the first bite, I’m not happy. The curtido (the spicy cabbage slaw that serves as condiment) should be acidic and spicy and most importantly, crisp and fresh tasting. No wilted cabbage please.
And now, on with the roundup:
THE FIRST TIER: THE BEST OF THE BEST
La Nueva Flor Blanca
Beverly Blvd., west of Normandie
La Nueva Flor Blanca is a little shop on Beverly Boulevard’s Little Central America strip (between Western and Vermont), which shares a block with two Korean nightclubs and…another pupuseria. The first time I tasted a La Nueva Flor Blanca pupusa, it was a revelation. I had liked pupusas and had been eating them for years, but LNFB’s were the first ones that made me see that pupusas can be truly great. LNFB understands the gestalt of the pupusa, the relationship between masa and filling that makes it work. The pupusas there are hand made while you watch, the masa is crisp and the filling plentiful. The Queso and Loroco is excellent and so overstuffed that a bit of queso always drips out onto the grill, making for some tasty fried cheese bits. But the crux of the LNFB experience is the amazing pork. The pork filling at LNFB, which they make on-site, is the best I’ve ever had, spicy and porky and crisp. When you mix it with the cheese and beans, it makes for what I think is the single best pupusa in all of Los Angeles. I can eat three LNFB revueltas at a sitting, not out of hunger, but out of a desire to keep tasting that perfect mesh of flavors, perfectly cooked. The one complaint I have about this place is the wilted and limp curtido, but the pupusas are so good that unsatisfactory condiments will not get in the way.
La Pupusa Loca
SW corner of Wilton and Santa Monica Blvd.
La Pupusa Loca is a comfy restaurant in an unimposing stripmall. (Strangely enough, it is right next to a pizzeria called La Pizza Loca.) La Pupusa Loca may be the best all-around Salvadoran restaurant I visited. While the traditional masa pupusas were very good, the highlight were the arroz, or rice pupusas. Rice pupusas are a different breed of pupusa, made with rice flour instead of masa. They are harder to find than traditional masa pupusas, but they do appear on the occasional menu. The rice pupusas at Pupusa Loca are heavenly. The rice is fried crisp, but when you bite into them you get that chewy, sticky sensation of rice, like those southeast Asian rice paper eggrolls I love so much. The rice has less flavor and is less absorbent than masa, so the flavors of the fillings are enhanced and have to stand on their own. LPL has fabulous fillings and they stuff lots of them into each pupusa. The pork was nicely smoky, the cheese was plentiful and flavorful. Now, this is not to downplay the masa puspusas, which were excellent with a nice crispy texture, but the arroz pupusas really blew me away!
Other good eats at LPL. Liquado de Zapote, a Slavadoran fruit that I’ve only had in liquados, this one is sweet and thick, if a bit grainy, and tastes like a vanilla shake. LPL offers some of the best fried plantains I’ve ever had, with a deep brown, carmelized flavor…it was almost like eating Bananas Foster sans the booze.
THE SECOND TIER: THE RUNNERS UP
Delmy Pupusas
Sunday’s Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Ivar
Delmy’s at the Sunday Hollywood Farmer’s Market dishes out pupusas to a long line of shoppers who know their heriloom radishes from their grass fed bovines. Delmy’s is the only pupuseria I’ve seen with a largely non-Salvadoran clientele, and that’s not the only thing that distinguishes it. It has a much wider menu of fillings, including shrimp, chicken and veggie but without any loroco. Instead of encasing the filling within the masa, the filling is blended throughout to make something really more akin to a Korean egg pancake than a traditional pupusa. They are flat and thin. The masa is also different. I’m not sure if it’s differently composed (flour, maybe?) or it’s just the effect of mixing everything together, but it has a slightly lighter taste and a pleasant sour tang. The curtido at Delmy’s is a purple sauerkraut that will make your lips pucker and goes with the overall sour theme. While different, these are very good pupusas. As for the fillings, the cheese could be more flavorful, but the pork has a good smoky flavor. The shrimp were plump and well cooked, but I’m just not ready for shrimp pupusas. I’m convinced that Delmy’s is the next step on the pupusa’s journey to the U.S. It is the introduction of the pupusa to a wide variety of non-Salvadorans. One day, when pupusas hit it big…when some temple of haute cuisine whose chef shops at the market starts serving a pupusa stuffed with braised pork belly, foie gras and goat cheese accompanied by a cabbage coulis, people will likely look back to Delmy’s as the bridge to mass acceptance of the once humble pupusa.
Los Chorros
Century Blvd. & Condon, Inglewood
The outer window of Los Chorros welcomes you with a clutter of beer signs, the Health Department’s giant “B,” and a poster touting it as part of Inglewood’s “No Prostitution Zone,” though looking around the parking lot, someone may want to call whatever agency enforces those zoning laws. Inside, however, are some great Salvadoran eats. I hadn’t been to Los Chorros in years, but they are still putting out great pupusas. Their queso con loroco is particularly excellent with a good crust on the masa and nice flavor. The revuelta was a bit too heavy on the beans and light on the pork for my taste. The curtido was quite spicy, but wilted.
Other good eats at Los Chorros: The other food at Los Chorros actually rates better than the pupusas. The fried tamales de elote (corn tamales) are some of the best I’ve had, crisp on the outside, sweet and moist on the inside. The Yuca and Chicharron, that heart stopping dish of deep fried yuca and pork, was insanely good, also the best version I’ve had. It has huge chunks of pork and Yuca, fried perfectly and not at all greasy…this may be one of the best pork dishes in LA.
THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
As I said, I’m not reviewing the numerous pupuserias that I thought were not up to par, but I did want to express my disappointment with two places that are commonly recommended for pupusas.
The Texis Chain
(various locations)
The Texis chain is spread throughout the mid-city area (I went to the original Texis at Vermont and 7th). The pupusas are not horrible, but aren’t anything special either. The masa is a bit too thick and mealy and the cheese is not flavorful enough. The revuelta is nicely done with good pork flavor, but there is not enough filling. The curtido is good and heavy on the oregano. Overall, an okay choice if you’re in a pinch, but nothing to write home about.
Atlacatl
Beverly Blvd. west of Vermont
Atlacatl is probably the most recommended pupuseria in LA. Do a search on Chowhound and you will inevitably find Atlacatl recommendations (some by me). I don’t know if it’s that they have gone downhill or that they never were that good to begin with, but their pupusas were quite disappointing. They were well fried and had a decent amount of filling, but the filling was hopelessly bland. I could barely make out the pork in the revuelta and the cheese lacked any real flavor at all. They were also somewhat dry. While I had worse pupusas at other places, these were particularly disappointing considering all of the praise that has been heaped on this place over the years. All in all, I would not recommend Atlacatl for pupusas, especially when it’s a ten minute walk to that temple of masa and pork, La Nueva Flor Blanca.
Other eats at Atlacatl: I did enjoy Atlacatl’s pan con pavo, the giant Salvadoran turkey sandwich with watercress and cabbage, drenched in a turkey gravy like a giant Phillipe’s Turkey dip with veggies.
To Sum Up:
Top Tier: La Nueva Flor Blanca, La Pupusa Loca
Runners Up: Pupusa Delmy, Los Chorros
Disappointments: Texis, Atlacatl
Other good Salvadoran eats: liquado de zapote and fried plantains at La Pupusa Loca; fried tamales de elote and yuca y chicharron at Los Chorros; pan con pavo at Atlacatl.
Please let me know your favorite pupuseria so I can add it to my list. Happy eating.
I’ve loved the pupusa since I first tried one 13 years ago in Dallas. Since I moved to LA, I’ve tried them all over town and even made it down to El Salvador. (If you’re ever there, check out the pupusas at El Peche Cosme in Santa Tecla). I like to think of myself as pupusero (essentially, a pupusa chowhound).
For this roundup, I spent the last month and a half going to old favorites and seeking out new tips. I went to a vast array of pupuserias, concentrated in the mid-city to downtown corridor but venturing out when I got a hot tip. One thing I learned was that there are a lot of mediocre pupusas out there – they can be hard as rocks, greasy or mealy with flavorless fillings. For the most part, I’ve left those off the list and limited my roundup to the better and the best. After all, why tell you where not to go (unless it’s someplace you might be tempted to go because of wrongheaded or outdated tips).
At each pupuseria I had at least two pupusas: one queso con loroco (a Salvadoran vegetable) and one revuelta (a combination of chicharron, cheese and, usually, refried Salvadoran red beans). In a number of the restaurants, I tried a few other varieties and even other food, which I will comment on, but I focused in on the pupusas.
What makes a good pupusa? For me, there are several elements. The masa should be crisp on the outside, well cooked and not mealy. There should be a good proportion of filling to masa such that you can’t get a bite-full of pure masa. The filling should be flavorful. El Salvador is a country of strong cheeses, not pungent like French cheese but salty and distinct. The cheese should have flavor, not be a generic Mexican queso fresco and certainly not Monterey Jack. The chicharron should have a smoky, porky flavor. If I can’t tell I’m eating pork from the first bite, I’m not happy. The curtido (the spicy cabbage slaw that serves as condiment) should be acidic and spicy and most importantly, crisp and fresh tasting. No wilted cabbage please.
And now, on with the roundup:
THE FIRST TIER: THE BEST OF THE BEST
La Nueva Flor Blanca
Beverly Blvd., west of Normandie
La Nueva Flor Blanca is a little shop on Beverly Boulevard’s Little Central America strip (between Western and Vermont), which shares a block with two Korean nightclubs and…another pupuseria. The first time I tasted a La Nueva Flor Blanca pupusa, it was a revelation. I had liked pupusas and had been eating them for years, but LNFB’s were the first ones that made me see that pupusas can be truly great. LNFB understands the gestalt of the pupusa, the relationship between masa and filling that makes it work. The pupusas there are hand made while you watch, the masa is crisp and the filling plentiful. The Queso and Loroco is excellent and so overstuffed that a bit of queso always drips out onto the grill, making for some tasty fried cheese bits. But the crux of the LNFB experience is the amazing pork. The pork filling at LNFB, which they make on-site, is the best I’ve ever had, spicy and porky and crisp. When you mix it with the cheese and beans, it makes for what I think is the single best pupusa in all of Los Angeles. I can eat three LNFB revueltas at a sitting, not out of hunger, but out of a desire to keep tasting that perfect mesh of flavors, perfectly cooked. The one complaint I have about this place is the wilted and limp curtido, but the pupusas are so good that unsatisfactory condiments will not get in the way.
La Pupusa Loca
SW corner of Wilton and Santa Monica Blvd.
La Pupusa Loca is a comfy restaurant in an unimposing stripmall. (Strangely enough, it is right next to a pizzeria called La Pizza Loca.) La Pupusa Loca may be the best all-around Salvadoran restaurant I visited. While the traditional masa pupusas were very good, the highlight were the arroz, or rice pupusas. Rice pupusas are a different breed of pupusa, made with rice flour instead of masa. They are harder to find than traditional masa pupusas, but they do appear on the occasional menu. The rice pupusas at Pupusa Loca are heavenly. The rice is fried crisp, but when you bite into them you get that chewy, sticky sensation of rice, like those southeast Asian rice paper eggrolls I love so much. The rice has less flavor and is less absorbent than masa, so the flavors of the fillings are enhanced and have to stand on their own. LPL has fabulous fillings and they stuff lots of them into each pupusa. The pork was nicely smoky, the cheese was plentiful and flavorful. Now, this is not to downplay the masa puspusas, which were excellent with a nice crispy texture, but the arroz pupusas really blew me away!
Other good eats at LPL. Liquado de Zapote, a Slavadoran fruit that I’ve only had in liquados, this one is sweet and thick, if a bit grainy, and tastes like a vanilla shake. LPL offers some of the best fried plantains I’ve ever had, with a deep brown, carmelized flavor…it was almost like eating Bananas Foster sans the booze.
THE SECOND TIER: THE RUNNERS UP
Delmy Pupusas
Sunday’s Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Ivar
Delmy’s at the Sunday Hollywood Farmer’s Market dishes out pupusas to a long line of shoppers who know their heriloom radishes from their grass fed bovines. Delmy’s is the only pupuseria I’ve seen with a largely non-Salvadoran clientele, and that’s not the only thing that distinguishes it. It has a much wider menu of fillings, including shrimp, chicken and veggie but without any loroco. Instead of encasing the filling within the masa, the filling is blended throughout to make something really more akin to a Korean egg pancake than a traditional pupusa. They are flat and thin. The masa is also different. I’m not sure if it’s differently composed (flour, maybe?) or it’s just the effect of mixing everything together, but it has a slightly lighter taste and a pleasant sour tang. The curtido at Delmy’s is a purple sauerkraut that will make your lips pucker and goes with the overall sour theme. While different, these are very good pupusas. As for the fillings, the cheese could be more flavorful, but the pork has a good smoky flavor. The shrimp were plump and well cooked, but I’m just not ready for shrimp pupusas. I’m convinced that Delmy’s is the next step on the pupusa’s journey to the U.S. It is the introduction of the pupusa to a wide variety of non-Salvadorans. One day, when pupusas hit it big…when some temple of haute cuisine whose chef shops at the market starts serving a pupusa stuffed with braised pork belly, foie gras and goat cheese accompanied by a cabbage coulis, people will likely look back to Delmy’s as the bridge to mass acceptance of the once humble pupusa.
Los Chorros
Century Blvd. & Condon, Inglewood
The outer window of Los Chorros welcomes you with a clutter of beer signs, the Health Department’s giant “B,” and a poster touting it as part of Inglewood’s “No Prostitution Zone,” though looking around the parking lot, someone may want to call whatever agency enforces those zoning laws. Inside, however, are some great Salvadoran eats. I hadn’t been to Los Chorros in years, but they are still putting out great pupusas. Their queso con loroco is particularly excellent with a good crust on the masa and nice flavor. The revuelta was a bit too heavy on the beans and light on the pork for my taste. The curtido was quite spicy, but wilted.
Other good eats at Los Chorros: The other food at Los Chorros actually rates better than the pupusas. The fried tamales de elote (corn tamales) are some of the best I’ve had, crisp on the outside, sweet and moist on the inside. The Yuca and Chicharron, that heart stopping dish of deep fried yuca and pork, was insanely good, also the best version I’ve had. It has huge chunks of pork and Yuca, fried perfectly and not at all greasy…this may be one of the best pork dishes in LA.
THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
As I said, I’m not reviewing the numerous pupuserias that I thought were not up to par, but I did want to express my disappointment with two places that are commonly recommended for pupusas.
The Texis Chain
(various locations)
The Texis chain is spread throughout the mid-city area (I went to the original Texis at Vermont and 7th). The pupusas are not horrible, but aren’t anything special either. The masa is a bit too thick and mealy and the cheese is not flavorful enough. The revuelta is nicely done with good pork flavor, but there is not enough filling. The curtido is good and heavy on the oregano. Overall, an okay choice if you’re in a pinch, but nothing to write home about.
Atlacatl
Beverly Blvd. west of Vermont
Atlacatl is probably the most recommended pupuseria in LA. Do a search on Chowhound and you will inevitably find Atlacatl recommendations (some by me). I don’t know if it’s that they have gone downhill or that they never were that good to begin with, but their pupusas were quite disappointing. They were well fried and had a decent amount of filling, but the filling was hopelessly bland. I could barely make out the pork in the revuelta and the cheese lacked any real flavor at all. They were also somewhat dry. While I had worse pupusas at other places, these were particularly disappointing considering all of the praise that has been heaped on this place over the years. All in all, I would not recommend Atlacatl for pupusas, especially when it’s a ten minute walk to that temple of masa and pork, La Nueva Flor Blanca.
Other eats at Atlacatl: I did enjoy Atlacatl’s pan con pavo, the giant Salvadoran turkey sandwich with watercress and cabbage, drenched in a turkey gravy like a giant Phillipe’s Turkey dip with veggies.
To Sum Up:
Top Tier: La Nueva Flor Blanca, La Pupusa Loca
Runners Up: Pupusa Delmy, Los Chorros
Disappointments: Texis, Atlacatl
Other good Salvadoran eats: liquado de zapote and fried plantains at La Pupusa Loca; fried tamales de elote and yuca y chicharron at Los Chorros; pan con pavo at Atlacatl.
Please let me know your favorite pupuseria so I can add it to my list. Happy eating.
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