Platano

Cuisine	Latin (Other)
Price	$$ (16-30)
Rating	7/10
Last Visit	March 26, 2022
Location	SFBA: Berkeley + Oakland

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General Notes

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Platano is a Salvadoran restaurant in the heart of downtown Berkeley. This was my first exposure to Salvadoran food and I was not disappointed. The food was lovely, the portions were huge, and the service was so friendly -- our waitress patiently explained each aspect of the menu and gave us great recommendations. They specialize in pupusas, which are "stuffed thick corn masa tortilla or rice flour served with curtido and salsa"; I find "Salvadoran stuffed pancake" to be a good description. What stood out to me most was that the food was very filling, I ate a ton, but I felt fantastic. Not weighed down or bloated in any way -- the food achieves a perfect balance between filling, savory, fresh, acidic, without being overly greasy or leaning too far in one direction. The one thing I found most amusing was that there was a bitcoin ATM inside ... very fitting considering that El Salvador recently made Bitcoin legal tender. Would definitely recommend giving it a try!

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Positives

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> Huge portions for very reasonable prices -- their lunch specials in particular are delightful.
> The pupusas are served with a jar of pickled cabbage on the side. This pickled cabbage is so good, I would eat some just by itself. It really goes such a long way in bringing balance and vibrance to the pupusas.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ Pupusas -- We got the revuelta con frijoles, chicharron, queso con loroco, and pollo con queso y vegetales (although I think they mistakenly gave us one with just cheese). The texture is fantastic -- lightly crisp on the exterior yet soft + moist inside. Filling but not heavy, goes beautifully with the sauce and pickled vegetables. Any one of these are pretty solid (there isn't too much variance)
• ★★☆☆ Platanos -- fried plantains, red refried beans and sour cream. Lovely flavor, the refried beans were great. Texturally a bit lackluster.
• ★★★☆ Yucca -- fried or steamed yucca, chicharron, cabbage salad, tomato sauce. Yucca is perfectly cooked, and the dish has the perfect balance of freshness + acidity from the lime, tomatoes, and pickled cabbage. The chicharron is a bit dry but has a lovely crispy exterior; the pieces with a bit more fat are so lovely