Sunday, March 28, 2010

El Pulgarcito - El Salvadorean eats at a low price

We've driven by this place on Kennedy Road of Lawrence many times but only recently went in. The exterior isn't very enticing, as it looks a little bit like a low end suburban pancake diner from the outside. Intact construction - not falling apart like so many cool Queen Street restaurants - but uninspiring. On the inside, it's merely functional, but it's clean and in good repair, and the tables are spaced well apart. The big rear projection TV in the corner playing spanish hip hop videos from mun2 was not my cup of tea but some of the younger clientele in the restaurant seem to enjoy it.

But the food... I am so happy we stopped by. For $2, the pupusas were a nice change from what we usually get in Toronto. These stuffed corn flour flat-breads come with your choice of various fillings. The pork ones were tasty albeit a little heavy, but the excellent refried bean pupusas were quite light. A couple of these, along with their complementary mayonnaise-less coleslaw, matched up with their $3 chicken tamale made for a perfect light dinner, all for a grand total of 7 bucks.

My dining parter had the chicken tacos. These hearty corn flour tortillas rolled into sort of open Salvadorian spring rolls around a light chicken filling were very good too.

I can't claim to know much about Salvadorian food and I wouldn't know how authentic all their dishes are, but the rest of the clientele were Hispanic with a few Filipinos thrown in so they must be doing something right.

So, don't be put off by its blah exterior. Go for the food and you won't be disappointed.

El Pulgarcito Restaurant
1210 Kennedy Road (between Lawrence and Ellesmere)
M1P 2L1
416-916-7274