The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
On The Cheap  |  Restaurant Reviews
Best of Boston 2009

Pupusería Mama Blanca

A pan of Salvadoran gold in residential Eastie
By MC SLIM JB  |  March 5, 2009

090306_papusa_main

Pupusería Mama Blanca sits on a corner of residential East Boston that you'd never pass if you didn't live nearby, or weren't using the gated, Eastie-residents-only back entrance to Logan Airport. You might mistake its unprepossessing exterior for a private home. Its humble interior, with counter service and 21 seats, wouldn't raise your expectations. But then you'd sample the food, and think, "Aaah, this is why I seek out new restaurants."

The focus on pupusas signals this is a Salvadoran, not Mexican restaurant, but unlike many worthy competitors, its menu includes English translations, and the chef/owner is a friendly, funny host who speaks excellent English. Every plate is made to order, and the tacos and pupusas are shockingly good. In fact, Mama Blanca's taco of chicken, beef, or beef tongue ($2.00) might be the best I've had in years: two layers of griddled masa tortillas very generously filled with diced meat, lettuce, and tomatoes, with a wedge of lime to squeeze on top. They're eminently fresh, bulging, and a tiny bit greasy: just superb, and a great value.

Pupusas ($1.75 each) — the fat, griddled, stuffed masa tortillas of El Salvador — are similarly outstanding, with fillings of rich chicharrón (fried pork skin with some fat and meat left on, finely minced), quesillo (a mild white cheese), mashed black beans with cheese, or revueltas (a mix of the three). Each is served with curtido, a rough vinegar-dressed slaw, and salsa rojo, a simple tomato-sauce condiment. Originated by El Salvador's indigenous Pipil people, pupusas are a hearty peasant-fare wonder. One makes a light lunch, two a good dinner, three a nap-inducer.

Gut-busting entrées are served with rice, beans, salad (dressed with bottled Wish-Bone Italian), and tortillas. Typical examples include the aptly named plato gordito ($12.50) of grilled steak, shrimp, and chicken and the camarones con coco ($12.50), a sauté of fat shrimp in a coconut-based gravy. Saturdays feature sopa de res y mondongo ($10.50), the offal-rich beef/tripe stew beloved as a hangover cure. The Sunday menu offers sopa de gallina ($10.50), a similarly restorative giant bowl of chicken soup. Drinks include sodas like El Salvador's sugary Kolashanpan ($1.50), watery fruit smoothies called batidos ($3.00), and canned tropical-fruit juices ($2.00). Given how well one can dine here for under $7, Pupuseria Mama Blanca epitomizes the kind of happy surprise that dedicated cheap-eats prospectors live for: the little pan of gold uncovered in an out-of-the-way streambed.

Pupusería Mama Blanca, located at 389 Maverick Street, in East Boston, is open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. Call 617.567.5511.

Related: Flat Patties, Mi Tierra, West Side Kitchen, More more >
  Topics: On The Cheap , Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

-->
ARTICLES BY MC SLIM JB
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   TRINI'S MEXICAN GRILL  |  May 20, 2009
    Splendid Mexican in a mall food court? ¡Absolutamente!
  •   KING DO BAGUETTE AND PASTRY  |  May 13, 2009
    An awesome roll makes for an extraordinary bánh mì
  •   FLAT PATTIES  |  May 06, 2009
    Making a virtue of a usually guilt-ridden quickie
  •   CHUCK AND ANN'S  |  April 29, 2009
    A sweet little snapshot of a simpler time
  •   POPPA B'S  |  April 22, 2009
    Sweet Southern hospitality + fine Southern technique = matchless Southern comfort

 See all articles by: MC SLIM JB

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group