A new experience, El Salvadorean and Honduran food

Living in San Diego you notice many Mexican restaurants, probably due to the fact we are very close to the border.  Although this is a good thing when it comes to authentic Mexican eats, I realize that a lot of other Latin American eateries are lacking in San Diego.  Moving to the Las Vegas area you see a more diverse choice of Latin American food.  This has brought me to Rincon Catracho an El Salvadorean and Honduran restaurant.

When you sit down you are greeted with chips, but rather than having a salsa side it's served with a thin tomato-based sauce which is very mild with a little spice.  On top is a sprinkling of Cotija cheese which is kind of in between feta and parmesan cheese, a very good addition to the tomato sauce.  This is a nice little change from the common Mexican restaurant and is actually very tasty too.

Plantains with beans and crema, a side dish commonly found in almost all Latin menus, yet none are the same.  The three elements of the plate (plantains, beans, crema) can be prepared in such different ways that every time I order this I get a slightly different experience.  At Rincon, the plantains are cooked perfectly, they are soft enough to be broken by a fork yet have enough bite so that I don't feel like I'm eating mush.  The beans are refried and has a thickness and consistency I personally enjoy.  The crema was interesting because you can tell it was squeezed out of a bottle convincing me that it was mayo rather than crema, once it passed the taste test though they made a great combo.

This is actually what I came for, the Honduran enchilada.  This is not like any enchilada I've ever had.  First the meat was a ground beef that is lightly seasoned, then there is a topping that I can only describe as a slaw, it may seem weird but it had a sweetness that balanced the dish and played well with the fresh cucumber and tomato slice.  The kicker for this "enchilada," is that the toppings are on top of what seems to on what was in between a tortilla and a pupusa(if you don't know what that is hopefully I can hit that in another post,) fried crispy.  All of this is then topped with that thin tomato sauce that was found on top of the chips offered at the beginning of the meal.  I have to say that this will have me coming back for more.  This is another case of familiar flavors done slightly different that lends to a new experience.  On top of the great flavors it's important to note that this little guy is actually fairly filling and for only $2.50, what do you have to lose?

The main dish was kind of anticlimactic because all the food until this point got me pretty full.  We ordered Milanesa which is a deep fried thin cut of meat served with rice and beans and a little bit of fresh greens and avocado.  This was pretty standard if not a little overcooked although the rice and beans were great complement.  As far as Milanesa goes, this is pretty standard and didn't get me too excited, although that might be because I was already soo full.


Rincon Catracho is definitely a new experience for me that strays away from the usual Mexican food I am more used to that will have me coming back for more.

Rincon Catracho
4110 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702) 699-9579