Dive into Los Chorros' Platillos Típicos
In the left corner of the shopping center located in the city of Inglewood - home of The Forum - next to the permanently closed 96 Cent Store and the Mexican restaurant, La Fonda, there is a Salvadorian Cuisine known as Los Chorros. Named after the immense quantity of leaking rainwater born from the San Salvador Volcano. It all started with their first magazine ad in 1993, with their objective to conduct an atmosphere that gives visitors a sense of originality of the Salvadorian community. Eating dinner that evening made me become infatuated with my mother's birth origin once again.
Entering through the wooden background a bright sign highlighted in white lights screamed the words, "Los Chorros" with three words under the sign, "Breakfast, Pupusas, and Sweets." I walked up the small hill and met with a sign that read, "please wait to be...." I wasn't able to finish reading the sign because the man behind the cashier welcomed us to sit anywhere we pleased.
Before we got adjusted into our chilly, gray chairs on a table for two, just waiting for someone to sit on them, the same man that greeted us in was placing down the long, bilingual menus on the table. The menu translated in both Spanish and English on either side, emerging into the multiple categories, from "Breakfast served all day" to "choosing any filling for your pupusas."
At that moment he asked if we wanted anything to drink as if we knew what drinks they had. I spotted the first beverage on the list, the Ensalada drink. Under the list of drinks was the Ensalada image served in glass jars filled with chopped pieces of fruit floating in the jar.
As we waited for our drinks, there was rock n' roll music playing in the background and multiple TV screens hung up, showing the same soccer game. Then, next to the curtido and tomato sauce bar, I found myself laughing at the huge sign with a list of different type of pupusa eaters and their descriptions. I believe I would be the "The Preppy" eater, as I possibly couldn't touch the pupusa with my hands, the fork and knife is the way to go!
The man behind the cashier stayed there continually answering incoming calls from client's placing orders. While the servers speed walked to tables, leaving orders and moving to the next to pick up the plates from those done with their meals. The courtesy was evident from server to consumer and server to server. The servers helped each other as they distributed meals and drinks to each table.
As our drinks arrived, the Ensalada drink was in a plastic cup with the straw inserted into the cap, ready to drink. I was hoping to get it like illustrated in the jar. As I took a slurped, I tasted the fruity, sweetened pieces of fruit that have been bathed in pineapple juice. It was a sweet and sour mixer of green apples, dulcet marañon, slices of mango, and blended pieces of nance and jocotes. The presence of Salvadorian fruits in this drink began to construct a vibe of authenticism.
It was a breezy evening and the sun was setting down, so it was a perfect evening to dive into the flavors of a grilled gallina with a garden salad mixed with sliced tomatoes and rice. I noticed the two soup images on the soup section and suddenly it was like my stomach roared to obtain a bite into the yuca and zucchini in the soup. The broth with veggies was served on the side.
As I flavored the savory spices and extractions of the cilantro in the soup, the hen tasted as if it had recently been killed and placed into cooking. This is how fresh every sip filled my mouth, not like if the soup had been placed in the freezer, waiting to be boiled and served. From our table, I heard the banging of pots and plates as the servers organized everything to be washed. From the kitchen arose the sound of the sizzle of the pupusas cooking on the grill.
After finishing dinner, we planned to get dessert and picked from one of the three on their menu. But how can you limit yourself to just one! We tried the yuca fritters and sweetbread toast known as a toreja soaked in sweet syrup. Unlike the toreja succulent in its favors, the yuca fritters were dry and mellow but accompanied with its honey condiment got me salivating for another bite.
The table for two was way too small to fit all the plates. We began stacking plates to make room for the incoming desserts we were about to dive into. Out of nowhere, the man that was behind the cashier was heading our way to remove the finished plates. The staff moved attentive to our needs than I anticipated.
Although the music playing in the background brought me to the realization that we are in a Salvadorian restaurant in the US, the food and the many posters made me feel like I was sitting in my tia Tita's house in El Salvador as she would freshly buy the ingredients that day to make us dinner.
You will taste the authenticity as if you were being in El Salvador! read more