It’s unusual in fine dining restaurants for the chef to feel secure in a broad range of culinary offerings. At San Salvador’s La Gastroteca, Salvadoran meets Mediterranean recipes with a good wine list, spanning everything from nose-to-tail to vegan dishes. It’s no wonder that several groups of friends and family were there when I was. I was happy to be hosted to experience it!
The place has a warm wood, open kitchen, approachable ambiance. I did think this was funny:
There’s a lot of low-key elegance.
Their amuse bouche was mushroom soup that was smoky, wild-tasting, with black pepper and garlic.
They carry the rare and wonderful Jamon Iberico Pata Negra 5 Jotas – Spanish aged ham that has feasted off wild chestnuts — with Manchego cheese and Spanish garnishes in a charcuterie plate.
One starter was thinly sliced eggplant with arugula salad, roasted red pepper, toasted hazelnuts, Manchego, flavored oil and olives. I learned something ironic: Olives grow well in El Salvador, but it’s not a flavor they particularly go for. So when you see them, it must be an offering for tourists.
Roasted ox tongue is a “typicos” (authentic) Salvadoran nose-to-tail dish that you can find in other preparations. Having had lots of beef tongue in sandwiches and my mom used to make it, carving up with an electric knife, I’m used to it being salty like pastrami. But in El Salvador, I didn’t have a single meal that was overly salty, including here. It was tender, rich, meaty with a slight offal taste.
A lightly cooked veggie side had onion, herbs, green beans, mushrooms and cauliflower.
Grilled, massive heads-on shrimp were perfectly seasoned on buttery mashed potatoes. They combined the local seafood bounty in a familiar, home cookin’ way.
Cheese-misu was a rich dessert — richer than cheesecake — with a hint of savoriness.
Luxe & Down-Home Cuisine/Culture/Travel/Style 