mmm-yoso!!!

Cuscatlan Salvadorean Cuisine (San Diego)

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you are reading.  Kirk is having technical difficulties, Cathy is writing today.

In 2015,  I wrote about Custcatlan Salvadorian in Escondido and had revisited several times when in the area.  We were happy to see a 'San Diego' Custcatlan open in the storefront area where Homestyle Hawaiian is located and next to where Up 2 You had its location (now Milk Tea Lab).
 The menu is same as the Escondido location in that there is pizza offered.  I still don't know the story behind that.
 We arrived just before the lunchtime crowd and ordered an ensalada/fruit salad drink ($3.95).  Always refreshing and delightful.  Since we were at a Salvadorean establishment, a pupusa had to be ordered.  This chicharron con queso pupusa ($3.50) was so fresh tasting and perfectly cooked and filled with a good amount of pork and cheese. The tomato sauce and curtido were just right condiments to accompany the tasty crisped dough.
 A fried corn tamale (tamalitos elote frito)($3.50) was accompanied by plantanos fritos (fried plantain) and would make a nice, light lunch.  Perfect fry, lightly crisp exterior (of both items) and creamy with a nice/definite corn flavor in the tamal along with a bite of the starchy banana was a comfort snack.  From the appetizer menu, we decided to share the stuffed portobello mushrooms ($7.95). Three large portobello caps filled with a cheese blend, feta and garlic then baked until that melted cheese browned a bit.  This wonderful treat could also be a great little meal or snack. 
 We ordered all of the above, because the menu noted that the mojarra frita (fried whole fish) ($15.95) would take extra time. What a wonderful flavor this pan fried, quite large whole tilapia had!  Accompanied by hand made (thick) tortillas, rice and salad along with fresh lime for additional seasoning this shared fish was another highlight of the meal.  Crisped skin, flaky light meat, memorable.

Very happy this local spot expanded to be closer to home for us.

Cuscatlan Salvadorean Cuisine & More 7516 Mesa College Drive San Diego 92111 (858) 707-7003 Open seven days 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Website

Pupusas Express- Salvadorean Food (El Cajon)

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog, welcomes you back for another exciting post.  Cathy is writing today; Kirk is preoccupied.

I've written about this tiny East County restaurant in 2009 and again in 2010, with the most recent post in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 shutdowns began. The name has changed, prices have increased, it's been painted inside.  There are new menu boards. 
 Otherwise, the same comfort foods, quality and flavors abound.  The traditional Salvadorean 'fruit salad' beverage (large, $3.50) is available right there on the counter with the other aqua frescas.  Finely diced red and green apples, pineapple, mango (or was it cantaloupe?) mixed with orange, lemon (or lime) juice; basically a mix of sweet and sour fruits and some water. Not too sweet, very refreshing.
 
 Two pupusas, made fresh when ordered (you can hear the dough being slapped in the kitchen).  One is cheese and chicharron and the other loroco and cheese ($3.85 each).  The thick griddle cake is stuffed with a cheese that ends up being gooey and tasty with whichever other filling you choose. The salty chicharron is very good, as is the flowering vine of loroco (you can buy loroco fresh or frozen or pickled at any Mexican Market; it has a unique flavor and slight aroma of 'green').  The curtido (a cabbage and carrot relish made with vinegar and sugar) is a perfect compliment to the almost sweet corn cake pupusas.   
 The menu on the wall is always a good place to select another dish. Pictures!


 The chicken soup ($12.99) arrives 'disassembled', as you can see.   The broth is rich, filled with zucchini and potato and herbs.  The freshly fried chicken leg has a bit of delightful skin attached.  Rice is eventually needed in the soup, but I opted for the hand made corn tortillas ($1.50) and tore those into the broth at first.  The tortillas were different than the pupusas, which were lighter (a different type of corn flour).  The refreshing salad completed the meal. 

Again, another local restaurant that survived the pandemic!

Pupusas Express 1207 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 447-2501 Mon-Sat 10-7, Sun 10-3
 

Midweek Meanderings - Where in the world was the Missus? Cuscatlan Salvadoran Coming to Mesa College, Donburi Kitchen Closes, and Other "Stuffs"

Where in the world was the Missus?

Last week was pretty quiet around the mmm-yoso household. The Missus went on a major hiking trip with three other co-workers....all middle aged Asian gals. She sent back some photos to make me envious.

Before the pandemic started; back in the last decade(2019)....yes, it seems that long ago; the Missus was taken by the Grand Canyon. When we returned; the foursome started planning for a rim to rim hike and a stay at the Phantom Ranch, the only lodging below the rim of the Grand Canyon. You get rooms by lottery; so we all went for it.....three of us won and dates were picked; unfortunately Covid came along and the first two were cancelled as the placed closed down. Luckily, they were able to keep the last reservation taken. And so, the four of them headed out to Sedona - Grand Canyon - Sedona. With some wonderful photos along the way.

It even snowed on the day they did the hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

They had a wonderful adventure!

Spending the rest of their time hiking in Sedona.

While the Missus said the food was not quite "up to par" with Her usual expectations; I managed to find one place for the group that still had open reservations, which turned out to be Her favorite meal.

They are now planning for their next adventure! Good for them!

Cuscatlan Salvadoran Coming to Mesa College:

This one is courtesy of "FOY" MikeW who sent me an email asking if I knew about a Salvadoran place opening on Mesa College Drive next to Homestyle Hawaiian. Say what? I'd just driven past there two weeks ago and didn't notice. I must be slipping in my old age. Anyway, I took a drive over and saw the coming soon sign for Cuscatlan Salvadoran. I believe this is a second restaurant for the Cuscatlan in Escondido?

It'll be nice to have even more variety in the area!

Thanks for the heads-up MikeW!

7516 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Donburi Kitchen Closes:

So, the first thing the Missus wanted when She got back from Her trip was takeout from Sizzling Pot King; go figure? Anyway; I went and did a takeout order around 1pm and was told that instead of the usual 15-20 minutes wait; this time it was going to take 30 minutes. So, I decided to take a quick drive to see what was happening in the old location of Island Style Cafe. When I arrived at the strip mall; I quickly noticed that Donburi Kitchen had closed.

 Sure, I wasn't a big fan, still, it's sad to see another closure probably due to the pandemic.....though maybe they have the same landlord issues that ISC had.

It looks like it'll be some kind of chocolate shop?

6030 Santo Rd
San Diego, CA 92124

And finally......sometimes there are gestures that make my day. Like this one.

Ok DTF, I'll be back one of these days! Thanks for the thoughtfulness......

Take care everyone and have a safe week!

Pupuseria Salvadoreña & Mexican Food (El Cajon)(revisit)

mmm-yoso!!! is written by Cathy today; Kirk (and His Missus) are enjoying a three day weekend.  

Ever since The Mister and I stopped at Silvia Pupuseria in December, He has been on the prowl for Salvadorean foods (especially pupusas).  Revisits to our 'local' Pupuseria, which I wrote about in 2009 and again in 2010 have occurred.
  Not much has changed, other than the prices.
Freshly prepared curtido is brought to the table when you order pupusas. Also, a plain tomato sauce is an accompaniment.  There is a house made a chili based hot sauce (usually used with the Mexican side of the menu) which I requested.
 You can hear the corn based dough being prepared for stuffing as your order is prepared. The plate of freshly grilled and stuffed flatbread is beautiful.
 A cross section photo of the stuffed dough doesn't quite do it justice.  The calabaza (zucchini squash) with cheese was light and refreshing.  The revuleta (beans, cheese and chicharron) was almost too 'bacon-y' in flavor. The spinach and cheese filled pupusa is wonderful.  
 Of course there is Mexican food on the menu.  We tried the carne guisado con arroz y salad (beef stew with rice and salad) ($9.99) and it was wonderful!- large pieces of beef, potato and carrot (along with the required olive)in a thick yet smooth gravy.  The rice along with the cucumbers and tomato on top of some lettuce are perfect accompaniments.  (Those are not pupusas, but fresh hand made thick corn tortillas on the side).  There are photographs of meals on the walls.  The Mister and I pointed to one and ordered it.  Chicken soup ($8.99) which arrived with this wonderfully fried quarter of a chicken on the side, a bowl of rich chicken broth filled with vegetables and the sides of rice and salad (and tortillas) as well as onion, jalapeño and lime wedges.  After eating the chicken skin and trying some of the vegetable filled broth, shredded chicken was added to the soup and gave the meal another great flavor combination.  We will order this again. 

There are tamales on the menu; this one is pork ($2.50) and it was particularly good; the masa has lard in it. The banana leaf wrap seems to add a different dimension from the corn husk/traditional wrap.  We plan to order some for the holidays later this year.

Pupuseria Salvadoreña 1207 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 447-2501 Mon-Sat 9-9, Sun 10-9

In winter, we enjoy the atole de elote, a hot corn and masa based beverage ($2.50) made fresh here. 
 

Pupuseria Salvadoreña 1207 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 447-2501 Mon-Sat 9-9, Sun 10-9

Silvia Pupuseria (National City)

Here we are, less than a week before Christmas (and maybe a short week for those who are using up vacation time before the end of the year), at mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing today's post.

Long story short, The Mister and I were driving around looking for businesses giving away 2020 calendars as advertising, (as we do every year) and there were crowds, so we started driving in another area, looking for a quick meal before continuing on our trek. 

I had to stop at a signal light and saw the signage for businesses in the mall...and, well, we had been talking about pupusas for the past few weeks.  We had to. 

 You can walk in and order to go, or have a seat and a menu (without prices) as well as chips and salsa are brought out to you. Yes, the menus are written only in Spanish, but I understood it all.  The waitresses understood my ordering in English. The house made salsas, red and green, are both hot, in a good way.  No dumbing down here.  
The two storefronts are joined and open to accommodate about 50 seats with tables and booths and a beautiful mural on the 'kitchen' side.   Since this is a Pupuseria, I ordered two ($2.25 each). There are ten flavors on the menu. You can hear the dough being slapped in the kitchen when preparing the order.  The one in front is chicharron with cheese, the other one is bean and cheese- black beans with cheese.  What wonderful, fresh, filling and large/heavy pupusas! Such fresh flavors!  A wonderful meal by themselves.  The accompanying fresh made curtido and tomato sauce were very complimentary to all the flavors.  The curtido was so fresh, with the cabbage, carrots, Mexican oregano and just enough jalapeño with a light fermentation that we did finish the bowl brought out, some of it with food and some of it just plain.  There were several 'Breakfasts' on the for here menu and the choice of plantains with creama and beans or plantains with eggs looked interesting.  Plantains with beans, crema, a piece of cheese and eggs scrambled with a fresh house made salsa turned out to be the order ($9.99) (we were not asked how to have the eggs prepared).  The fried plantains with just a bit of the crema were sweet and hearty.  The refried beans (not black beans like in the pupusa) were wonderful.  The scrambled eggs with the tomatoes, onion and cilantro, were really good, with flavor in every bite.  

We noticed other tables that asked for coffee were given a cup of hot water and a jar of instant Nescafe (the table behind us got decaf).  Nescafe is one of few instant coffees that I like; this is a great alternative to possibly getting stale, bitter coffee from a pot.  Next time.  Also next time, a bowl of soup, definitely, along with maybe a mushroom pupusa.

Kirk was here in 2016!

Silvia's Pupuseria 916 East Eighth Street, Suit 106 National City, CA 91950 (619)534-2037 Open Daily 9:30 a.m.- 9 p.m.

Silvia Pupuseria

I first noticed this place during my first visit to Poke Etc back in early summer. I really hadn't noticed it before.

It got me thinking...when was the last time I had decent pupusas. The answer would be, perhaps several years.

My curiosity piqued, a took time out on a weekend morning to visit. It's nice that they open at 930am.

The gentleman working was quite friendly and was fascinated that I asked about a couple of dishes on the menu; specifically Pacaya, the male inflorescence of the Chamaedorea tepejilote a species of palm. We really enjoyed the version we had in Honduras and while versions we've had in San Diego were obviously bottled and not as good, we still enjoyed the texture and slight bitterness.

But I was here for the pupusas and I ordered the Chicharron and the Loroco ($1.99/each). Things started off with some pretty good chips; crunchy, not greasy, with the typical Salvadoran style thin "salsa".

I also ordered some Horchata; which wasn't overly sweet, but also seemed a bit too watered down for my taste.

The pupusas arrived nicely griddled. I thought it was perhaps a bit burnt, but that wasn't the case. I thought the tortilla to be on the thick side for my taste, but it was fairly crisp.

The loroco was the better of the two. The pork in the chicharron was rather greasy and quite salty throwing the overall flavor out of whack. And while the flavor of the Loroco, the green bud of the Fernaldia pandurate was rather mild, I really enjoyed the flavor of the slightly milky queso and the rustic tortilla. I'm thinking the simple queso con frijol (cheese and beans) might be worth trying.

The curtido; the slightly fermented; in this case more like pickled cabbage was fine, it would have been better being slightly more sour and tart, though it had a nice oregano and an almost clove-fennel flavor, along with obviously being pickled with beet juice.

This was decent, if not outstanding, and as I usually do when trying out places, I returned for a follow-up visit.

I had Pacaya on my mind. Unfortunately, it was not to be as the young lady told me, "no pacaya today"! Bummer, so what to do? In need of some healthy collagen, I went with the Sopa de Pata, cow hoof stew ($8.50).

This was an interesting, almost roller-coaster ride for me in a way. When the bowl arrived, I was shocked at how much tendon was being served....it really seemed like an entire lower cow leg. The tendon was wonderfully prepared, gelatinous without being too hard and chewy. The overall soup however, left something to be desired. First off, the soup was very thin and much too light, even bland, in flavor and texture. It truly lacked richness, something that hoof soup should not be. I'm used to some tripe in my sopa de pata, also at least one nice chunk of potato, and corn, all of which was nowhere to be found. There was some sliced cabbage and carrot sticks, like you'd find in the produce section of the local supermarket. Not quite the sopa de pata I know and love.

I'll probably try and return, just to try out the pacaya...if they have it. Other places don't have it on the menu anymore. I think I need to check out El Salvadoreno, it been a while.

Nice folks, cash only, they open at 0930am.

Silvia Pupuseria
916 E 8th St
National City, CA 91950

Reborn – Cabañas Back in Yuma!!

Kirk and Cathy aren’t posting today; Ed (from Yuma) is posting and he is a happy man

Last Saturday, I nearly caused an accident on 8th Street. Disappointed and hungry, we'd given up on locating an elusive truck that I had been told about beyond Ave B. So we were just cruising 8th St to some place open when I glanced over to the right, hit the brakes, and swerved.

On a little building behind the Los Compadres truck, just to the west of El Zarape, were written magic words:

I went around to the front and was disappointed to see that it was CLOSED, but the curtains in the window and the signage let me know that someday soon it would be OPEN:

Here's the back story: Tina and I spotted Pupuseria y Taqueria Cabañas for the first time in April of 2008. It quickly became my favorite place in town, so I posted on it a second time (tendon “like the flesh of angels”), then again, and one more time after that.

In November of 2009, it vanished.                                  

I went through at least seven stages of grief, finally accepting that it was gone, pretty much giving up any hope.

Now OMG it's back.

Around 5:30 pm, May 5, 2016, Tina and I dropped by and saw that it was open. With smiling faces we opened the door, walked in, and immediately saw Lucia smiling behind the counter. Her first day in business at this new location.

The interior space is very small, but clean and bright. There are only four tables; here’s one:

Here’s another:

The building is much more modern than her last location and seems to have an effective AC system:

The aguasfrescas ensalada are still very sweet and chocked full of fruit:

The tamales de pollo may be even better than before:

Extremely rich, but complexly flavored. Note the green and red flecks of herbs and spices in the masa:

And completing the tamale striptease, here's a shot of the juicy hot tender flesh within:

Tina had sopa de pollo, a large bowl packed with bone on chicken, chayote, potato, zucchini, carrot, and chicken broth:

The soup came with colorful rice

and 2 thick handmade corn tortillas:

The broth was light and clean tasting, picked up by a generous squeeze of the lemon. And the portion so generous that the leftovers became Tina's next lunch.

I had pollo en salsa, chicken braised in a light tomato sauce, served with rice, chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and radish, and of course 2 thick corn tortillas:

That picture is somewhat deceiving because the thin but very tasty tomato sauce was put on top of the chicken and rice and then the lettuce and vegetables were plated, so I took another picture just to show the hidden "salsa"

The chicken was moist, fall apart tender, and savory. The rice was perfectly prepared and married happily with the tomato sauce. The lettuce etc. was more condiments than salad. Downhome goodness.

The rebirthed Cabañas did have one new item, a very special cornbread:

We took a simple looking piece home for dessert and were amazed by its complexity. Covered with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a light glaze, it was dense, slightly sweet, corny, and cheesy. Waves of flavors. Only after we had eaten some did I realize I needed a picture of it.

The new Pupuseria Cabañas has hit the ground running. Early on opening night, there were two other tables occupied and people grabbing to go orders.

Because I have written so much about Cabañas in the past, I probably won't be updating information unless something remarkable happens. Based on this one meal, I expect the reincarnated Cabañas will measure up to its former self – and maybe even exceed it!

Lucia plans to be open every day: 8 am through 9 pm Wed – Sat, and Noon through 8 pm Sun – Tues. Every day she expects to have one or two soups and one or two entrées available as well as tamales, pupusas etc. Thursday will be bean soup (woohoo) and Sunday Sopa de Pata, my favorite, sort of a muy rico Salvadoran Menudo.

I feel like I just ran into a dear old friend who I thought I would never see again.

What's the Missus Craving? Tamales from El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante

The Missus has a weakness for tamales. And even though She'd consumed quite a bit over the Xmas holiday.....it was just not enough. She rolled out of bed one morning and told me She "needed"; yes "needed" some tamales. Specifically tamales from El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante. Now, based on my last visit to the place, I really wasn't into it. But there was no denying the Missus. So I figured, no pupusas for me

  As with my previous visits, the women working here are quite friendly....so I just ignored the terrible curtido and the slightly stale chips this time around. And the Missus started things off with some Plantano Frito.

Nicely fried; just sweet enough, not greasy. That crema was nice and mild and paired well with the plantains. The frijoles however, were gummy and bland, not a great combination for me when it comes to beans. The Missus got one chicken and one pork tamale....She actually prefers Salvadoran Tamales; wrapped in banana leaf, or even Guatemalan Chuchitos, to the standard issue Mexican style tamales. The Missus really enjoyed the pork tamales and had me order four more to go....for later. So it must have fixed the craving!

I ordered the Yuca Frita con Chicharron. Fried yucca...fried pork....fried.....

That fried yucca was a work of art. It was just perfectly fried; crisp exterior, nice moist interior. Totally delici-yoso! The pork was not so great. It was quite lean making the meat quite dry and tough. It was also too salty. The faux curtido and the veggies really didn't do much else for the dish. Still, that yucca made me happy enough.....

If we're coming back again the next time the Missus gets a tamale itch; it'll have to be yucca frita and something else.

El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante
3824 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Revisit: El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante

It had been a while since I had a pupusa, quite a while actually. And for some reason I was craving some. So I decided to revisit El Salvador on University.

It had been nearly three years since I'd last been here and the exterior....of what was I'm fairly certain a Pizza Hut once upon a time. The place still looks a bit rough around the edges, though much nicer than when we first visited back in 2005.

I placed my order and things started with the same basic mild and thin hot sauce and nondescript chips. Save that hot sauce; you might need them for the pupusas.

I ordered three pupusas, no pacayas this time around. It took a good 25 minutes for my pupusas to get to the table. Though it looked like other folks were waiting even longer for stuff.

As always, curtido, what is supposed to be lightly fermented cabbage, was delivered to the table.

I say "supposed" because this tasted basically like coleslaw mix with some cilantro and a touch of dressing. This was a far cry from what the curtido used to be like here. This was plain terrible.

The pupusas arrived scalding hot to the table.

I loved the "crust" on these pupusas, though I couldn't put my finger on it, the texture seemed different than what I've had here before. The chichrron and potato and cheese versions were really salty. Usually the pickled flavor of the curtido would help cut the salt and in the case of the chicharron also the grease, but in this case it was no help. Eating those was not very pleasant.

The queso en loroco, made up of the edible bud of the Fernaldia Pandurata and cheese was the best of the bunch. To me loroco has a pungent-artichoke flavor and the milkiness of the cheese really helped move it along without cancelling it out. It was the best of the bunch.

I'm not sure what happened here. It's been a while since I've been here, so perhaps an ownership change? Whatever the reason, things just didn't seem quite right.

El Salvador Pupuseria y Restaurante
3824 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
 

Cuscatlan Salvadorian (Escondido)

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog with an attempt at daily postings.  Kirk is exhausted, researching posts for you to enjoy, as is Ed (from Yuma). Cathy is writing this post for today.

A few weeks ago, we ended up in Escondido and it was lunch time.  Driving down Grand Avenue, we knew there were quite a few places we might want to try, but had A Delight of France as a definite backup plan. The Mister noticed this signage and was more or less curious about the "Pizza"...After we got home, I did some research and saw that cc had been here in October of 2013. She had done the research (thanks). It turns out Lynn had been here this year and wrote a post a year after noticing Cuscatlan at the 2014 Escondido Chocolate Festival.

{in a nutshell: Pizza place owner is from El Salvador and once he had satisfied himself he could be a success at Italian food, he started bringing in the foods he knew from El Salvador}

{Estadio Cuscatlan is the largest sports stadium in Central America)(link) 

Turns out this had been an Italian restaurant, the pizza ovens are intact and pizza (as well as a few pasta dishes, sandwiches and salads) are on the menu in addition to Salvadorean food items. In fact, there are only three lunch specials: Pizza, Spaghetti or a small sandwich; none of those choices are Salvadorean...Since I read menus (and most everything) from the bottom up, the beverage "Ensalada"  ($2.25) was part of our order, and it was brought out with the proper condiments of a mild, tomato sauce based salsa and curtido, the lightly fermented slaw-like Salvadorean accompaniment for pupusas.
Cabbage, carrots, onions and oregano in a tart lime juice sauce made up the crispy curtido.  

The 'Ensalada" was a fresh fruit cocktail, made with diced fruit (mango, pineapple, apple) and a bit of vanilla flavoring in ice water.   Both were amazingly fresh as well as refreshing.All three of us mmm-yoyo writers have had good experiences at Salvadorean restaurants  in Central and East San Diego County, as well as in Yuma.  The Mister and I have no 'must have' items, so ordering the 'Cuscatlan Combinacion' ($13.95) seemed the logical choice.  

Counterclockwise from the far left: A sweet corn tamale, fried plantains (those were both 'dessert'), fried pork with battered fried yuca, a banana leaf wrapped pork tamale and two revueltas (bean/cheese/mix) pupusas. The small cups hold a Salvadorean sour cream (a bit sweeter, if you taste sour creams side by side) and finely pureed black beans...more condiments.Above, you can see a cross section of a pupusa and the pork tamale, removed from its banana leaf wrapping.  The masa for the pork tamale is very fine; pureed in texture as well as being fluffy and light.  Also there are potato pieces within, which made me think the pork was wrapped in mashed potato rather than corn meal (it did not taste like corn masa at all, especially when compared to the sweet corn tamale).

The yuca (cassava) pieces were lightly breaded and fried and the deep fried pork pieces were all meat, like a high end chicharron.

All in all, an excellent meal and taste of Salvadoran food.  

Cuscatlan Salvadorian 221 E. Grand Avenue Escondido 92025 (760)291-1225 Open Sun-Thurs 10-9, Fri, Sat 10-10 Website