5-26-12 El Pulgarcito

We try to shock JE's nephew and expand his horizons a little bit every year when we take him to lunch and a movie. This year, we headed out before seeing The Avengers.

Only recently have we been exposed to Salvadorean/Latin American food in downtown Overland Park. We opted for a little place in Merriam. And gurl, it is good. Welcome to El Pulgarcito. 

For starters, the place isn't that big and reminded us of an old worn out diner. And it doesn't have A/C (just a few big fans) so if it's a really hot day, you may want to go early. We were starting to sweat a bit before lunch was over. 

JE ordered a steak and cheese papusa, a pork tamale and a chicken pastillies. Some kind of cabbage condiment showed up at the table with hot sauce. Our waitress smiled a bit when JE said, "Will that be enough food for me?" She responded with a quick "yes".

After eating and sharing some of his papusas, we came to the conclusion that the breading reminded us of a fast food restaurant -- and we all thought it tasted like the breading from Long John Silver's. That wasn't a bad thing, but it was a little nostalgic. 

Campbell, JE's nephew, had a shrimp and cheese papusa and an entree of fried chicken and fried green plantains. It came with a delicious dipping sauce that we dipped all our food into. 

Campbell said the fried chicken reminded him of the "Rat on a Stick" that he enjoys at the KC North China One buffet. He enjoyed the fried chicken and plantains. 

I ordered chicken with cream which was delicious but way too much food for lunch. 

I'm not a fan of food with bones in it (boneless please) and I forgot to ask if this chicken would be boneless; it wasn't. The chicken and cream were really good even with bones. The meat fell off the bone easily with the fork and knife. There were odd looking green things within the chicken. First we thought they might be cactus, but after asking the waitress it was a Salvadorean herb. It was good, but again way too many herbs on the dish for my tastes.

Overall, we enjoyed our food and our visit. It was just as good as the other Salvadorean restaurant we tried before. Come here and enjoy the food before the secret gets out and a line forms so long that you can't get in.