Las San Sivar – 2461 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON M6N 1K9
Country: El Salvador
Seating: Takeout only for the moment.  
Must-try dish: Pupusas (all flavours)
Dinner guest: Young Matt
The high: The hot sauce that came with the Pupusas was mega flavourful, yet beware as it’s spicy.  
The low: Although there’s space for seating, the restaurant only operates as a takeout spot at the moment. 

If you’ve never had a Pupusa, then stop reading this and immediately get yourself to Las San Sivar on the corner of Runnymede Road and St. Clair Avenue West on the outskirts of Toronto’s Bloor West Village neighbourhood. Thank us later. 

Pupusas are El Salvador’s national dish – they’re so revered that the country has a special day to honour this delicious street food. At first glance, they look like pancakes, but don’t be fooled, Pupusas are stuffed and cooked with ingredients to give character to the flour-base that keeps them together. Inside, they’re gooey and stuffed with warm cheese, sometimes accompanied by other filling. You’ll see stalls all over El Salvador and the rest of Central America selling fresh Pupusas that you can smell all the way down the road. 

Although there are other options on Las San Sivar’s menu that are worth ordering, the Pupusa really steals the show. There are four flavours that all include cheese, and there are appearances of other fillings like black beans and pork. It’s a versatile snack for on the go as it’s efficient to eat  with your hands, and if you want to add hot sauce to spice it up, then that’s between you and your taste buds. 

Not surprisingly, we jumped at the chance to order the Platano Crema Frijoles as plantains always seem to be a favourite in this group. The name of the dish suggests that the plantains are cooked with cream and black beans, but there was little or no trace of that. They really just tasted semi-sweet like your typical fried plantains, and no one was complaining about that. 

The Yuca Frita are fried cassava, which is a root vegetable often found in Central and South American dishes. They were presented in a similar way to french fries and were topped with chunks of cooked chicharron (pork). The meat was tender and paired well with the fried vegetable that was tasty but lacking in bold flavours. Needless to say, it’s a perfect dish to share and pick at with a group to spice things up pair it with their hot sauce.

We had a hefty appetite as we were ordering, so we opted for two main dishes to escort the rest of the meal. The Mixto plate is worth ordering as it comes with grilled chicken, beef and shrimp alongside rice, beans and plantains. The beef in this dish was expertly seasoned and went quickly. The mountain of rice disappeared quickly once dressed with the black bean sauce that had an addicting quality. This plate gives the diner a good idea of a classic dish in El Salvador and the rest of Latin America. 

The second dish was the Bistek Encebollado, which is a thin piece of grilled beef that comes with rice, beans and plantains. There’s a tomato sauce to pour atop the food, if you’re in the mood. 

Since there wasn’t a seating area in the restaurant, we decided to go across the street to High Park Brewery to enjoy the Salvadorian food with a couple of beers. The whole atmosphere there made for a terrific Saturday afternoon between the awesome staff and the variety of beers on tap. It was also a huge help that they welcomed us into the space with our takeout containers from outside. We look forward to many more afternoons spent at the High Park Brewery in 2022. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)