El Pulgarcito

El Pulgarcito
2522 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

First things, first: let me re-assure you: this is NOT Latin-American week, specially considering a place I have planned to visit tomorrow and, hopefully, post on Sunday. No, Sherman, Tiffanie, it is NOT the place you are thinking… But, putting that aside, last week, I was in the Hastings area for some other activities and, since I arrived with time to spare, I decided to have lunch first. Before anybody has any crazy thoughts about Hastings (where the infamous Vancouver Downtown East Side is located), I was near Nanaimo and Hastings, not far from Seri Malaysia is located and I already had in mind one place to visit: El Pulgarcito.

So, what is with the name? In Spanish, “pulgar” translates to thumb and “pulgarcito” would be Thumbling/Tom Thumb (as in the literary character). While there are other possible Spanish interpretations, this is the most straight forward one. Why it was name that? I have absolutely no idea… Spanish lesson is over – next!

The interior, well, it was a bit odd. Just like Panaderia Latina Bakery, there is a small section with Latin American products. Likewise, there was a computer in the middle of the restaurants (which provides “free” Internet customer access to customers). And, finally, there was a TV playing Spanish shows (TLN?). Prime candidate for a makeover?

My food took a while to arrive but, when it did arrive, hehehehe. To start off, I had a tamal Salvadoreño or “Salvadorean Tamal”. As the name suggests, this is the Salvadorean version of this Latin American/Southern US staple. The filling was chicken and was served with a side of curtido, a pickled-like coleslaw. I mentioned “pickled-like” as it was not as sour as I wished it would be. As for the tamal itself… Well, I guess I found the limitations of not being able to easily find some of the ingredients (or cheap enough). In this case, tamales are made with masa, a form of paste/grounded corn. However, here, it felt something more like polenta. OK, OK, they are similar, it is just that the texture wasn’t as smooth as the ones made with actual masa. Still it was enjoyable.

I also ordered sopa de pata. Yes, it is a soup but I won’t translate the name, as I fear some funny reactions! This soup is similar to what you would find in Panama: a meat base and some root vegetables (in this case, corn, chayote and yuca/cassava). It was not as seasoned as I wished but still it managed to keep that taste and texture I am used to from this soup. Unfortunately, this is not something I can easily explain – as the idea of the soup is mostly texture. Think a good North American style chicken soup without the noddles (but with a different taste, of course). What I did not take a picture of was the side of flour tortilla, similar to the ones you would often get as a side in Mexican restaurant. I will admit I was confused as to what to do with it: in Panama, this type of soup is served with rice. Oh, well…

Overall, I will have to admit that, despite some of the ingredients used to make the dishes might not be available, they made a darn good job. Sure, it takes away some of the authenticity but, when you are far from the country of origin, there will always be compromises. That is good enough for me (but then again I have my own bias!). Will come back if I am in the area.

Tagged under: Latin America • Soup • Vancouver