We met up with friends for breakfast at the Salvadorean Bakery in White Center this morning. I had been hearing such great things about this place so I was really looking forward to trying it. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the Salvadorean Bakery is the display cases full of amazing-looking pastries and cakes. Yum! The second thing I noticed is the rather harshly lit, sparsely decorated dining area. Not exactly what you would call ambiance. But, for me, this is usually a sign that I’m in for some really good food! I have found that, in the majority of cases, the amount I enjoy a meal is inversely proportional to the price, service and level of decor in a given restaurant. I could pretty much care less about ambiance; when I go out, I want to be treated to food that I can’t easily cook myself. Grilled salmon fillet atop polenta with a wild mushroom ragout? I could whip that up any night of the week (at about half the cost it would go for in any restaurant in my neighborhood.) Authentic Salvadorean pupusas, on the other hand, is something I will probably never be able to duplicate accurately at home. And, at a mere $2 each, I’d be happy eating pupusas on a plastic stool in an alleyway let alone in a clean and spacious albeit ambiance-free cafeteria.

The Salvadorean Bakery’s breakfast menu isn’t huge, but it was still a pretty tough decision. It all sounded so good! I finally settled on the breakfast platter because it came with a little bit of everything. The platter consists of two eggs (fried or scrambled) topped with salsa, a fried plantain, refried beans, an unusually large helping of crema, a wedge of crumbly, white cheese (similar to Mexican Cotija,) two rotund links of super-spicy chorizo and a couple of homemade tortillas. The tortillas at the Salvadorean Bakery are much thicker than Mexican tortillas and have a wonderful fresh masa flavor. They were great on their own but even better topped with a bit of egg, beans and crema. I also loved getting the little wedge of cheese. I gave Robert my chorizo and kept the cheese as a little treat for myself. The fried plantain provided a nice sweet counterpoint to the rest of the meal. Robert ordered some kind of stuffed breakfast sandwich. I forget the name of it, but it was basically a football shaped loaf of freshly-baked bread filled with sausage and scrambled eggs. It looked really delicious.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get to try the pupusas but, with the breakfast platter, that would have been way too much food. Pupusas are stuffed masa cakes, a Salvadoran specialty. They are made from the same dough that the tortillas are made from but come with a variety of fillings including meat, black beans and cheese. One that sounds particularly interesting is filled with cheese and loroco flowers. Maybe next time.

In addition to breakfast, the Salvadorean Bakery has a delicious-sounding lunch and dinner menu. I hear their soups are awesome. If you are in the mood to try some really honest, authentic, distinctive food or if you just happen to find yourself in White Center one day with nothing to do, be sure to swing by the Salvadorean Bakery! Salvadorean Bakery is located at 1719 S.W. Roxbury St.