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Antojitos Salvadorenos (Mexican cuisine) $

911 E. Duane Ave, Sunnyvale, 94083 (Directions)

408.720.1463

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Authentic Salvadoran cuisine in Fair Oaks Plaza
Reviewer: Jason Total Reviews: 992 Reviewed: 2/21/2008 Rating: 7.5 My photo gallery	Fair Oaks Plaza strikes again with a lunch visit to Antojitos Salvadorenos. I want to apologize by putting this restaurant in the Mexican section as it's an entirely different cuisine. Not that we're lazy computer dorks but with our migrated jatbar tools, it's a pain in the ass to add new cuisines. Today's lunch was just Sean and I as everyone else had lunch plans already. If you choose to get to the plaza between 12 --- 12:40, just park in the rear parking lot to avoid cramped park jobs not to mention crazy drivers navigating the 1 way aisles. Speaking of crazy drivers, have you ever driven in Cupertino Village or Marina market in Cupertino? Most dangerous place on earth. Probably the 1st thing you'll notice are the 2 counters. One is manned by Filipinos and the others being Salvadoran. I'm not saying the Filipinos can't cook Salvadoran food, bypass them to the left and order your food. I guess the Filipinos are selling a sort of service, transporting balikbayan boxes (care packages) and I think selling/buying currency. I know....what the heck does this have to do with Salvadoran food? Absolutely nothing which is why I'm wondering myself, what is going on here?? Keeping the rent down most likely? We ordered a small feast. Sean ordered a Carne Asada plate with a cheese pupusa while I went with chicken tamale and fried yuca with chicharron. I had a sampling of Sean's dish and the steak had a heavy lime marinade with excellent charring across the thin slice of meat. I thought the meat was overcooked yet the flavor was memorable enough to repeat order. Beans were runny and rice on semi-fluffly side. Salvadoran tortillas in picture #7 are much thicker than the Mexican tortilla and about half as thick as the pupusas. Pupusas (picture 6) - if you've never had one, they are like thick tortillas and usually stuffed with something like; meat, cheese, or vegetables. Homemade on the grill and served hot. A good pupusas will have the dough thoroughly cooked, outside is kinda crispy, masa shouldn't be bland (hint add more manteca), and fillings should enhance the pupusas and not overwhelm it. I thought Antojitos Salvadorenos made a good pupusas. My only complaint was the overflow of cheese. You can see how it oozed out and became fried cheese. Only $2 and worth ordering again. Chicken Tamale (pictre 5) - you've heard the term Hot Tamale, well this one is known as lava tamale. My gawd this thing was served so damm hot, you could cook food on it. Open it up and let it cool down for a couple of minutes. My tamale had a small chunk of chicken in the center, couple of potatoes, and 1 olive. The fat from the chickens seeps out into the dough and with each bite, steam lifts off into the air. The Salvadoran tamale appears to be more moist than the Mexican tamale, it's served with a banana leaf, and not as gritty. I like them equally so we're not going to get into a pupusas shootout just yet. I'd order again. Yuca with Chicharron (image 9) - initially I was kinda upset with this dish. There wasn't enough Chicaharron! It was 4 tiny pieces and the pork was bland. Pork was mostly fat, no saltiness, and wasn't crispy. I know the pictures look like they would be crunchy but it was chewy. I could only guess the oil wasn't hot enough. The pork is a side product to the main dish (Yuca), which would explain the 4 miniscule pieces. The Yuca was done proper and reminded me of the stuff I've had in Costa Rica and Peru. The fries were cut thick and fried to perfection. Very crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside. Sooooo good. I don't know if I'd order this dish again due to the pork but the Yuca is an easy repeat order. Most of the food checks out ok at Antojitos Salvadorenos. Prices are respectable if you don't order too much food. The plate meals are under $10 and if you're on super budget, order 2 pupusas and a tamale for about $7 no drink.


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