date: 11/14/11
location: minneapolis
grade: b+

this place was also talked up a bit (though not as much as manana had been) in the local media, winning one of the best of awards in city pages for last year. but let's just start what most of you are thinking... are they pupusas here better than (or even as good as) the ones we had last year at manana? they came close. not quite, per the general consensus..

since i am apparently predictable, more or less, it turns out i ordered much the same thing here as i did there, though since the pupusas are larger here, i only got two- bean and cheese and the loroco (the caper-like unopened flower bud that's used as an herb) with cheese (about $3 each).

the bean and cheese has a chunkier bean textures and not quite enough cheese. the flavor was on the mild side, more comfort food than flavor impact food. the loroco was nicely cheesy, but i would've liked a hit more loroco. and apparently pork ones were flavorful, but perhaps needed a touch more pork. on all of them, the corn mixture here around the filling was also less refined than the manana version, too. it seemed more homemade, less restauranty.

the pupusas came with a shot of hot sauce and some pickled cabbage salad/slaw on the side, which became more interesting the more i ate it. odd that it was squeaky rather than crunchy. manana's version had more of an interesting herb thing going on in it. and that plate came with rice (though it was a bit more spendy, but both meals were about the same as a fast food meal and so very much tastier). the beverage options were bottles or cans, so no water refills at all. and it's counter service. it took about 10 minutes or so to make the plates for three people.

it was much easier to get to than manana, it's in the mercado central (the smaller mexican version of the nearby midtown global market) on east lake, which was almost empty completely and completely barren in the food court when we got there at 6:30 pm-ish. it must be busier at lunch or in summer or something. the surroundings are, well, mexican food court, slightly less mall than you'd think but not entirely unmall.

there were other interesting looking options there, too, you could do one dish at a few different places for a very interesting (and probably very tasty) lunch.