Nueva Puerta del Sol

EL SALVADOR 🇸🇻

COVID-19 UPDATE: Puerta del Sol’s Bay Ridge Avenue location has tented outdoor dining, while Nueva Puerta del Sol on 18th Avenue is open for takeout and delivery only. You can order online directly from their website.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Written by Joseph Gessert, photographed by Liv Dillon.

The Salvadoran pupusa is one of those perfect foods like burritos or a Trinidadian roti wrap that combine a little bit of everything into one nutritious bundle. Some carbohydrates, a little protein, some vegetable, crafted to add up to more than the sum of their parts. These super foods are what hamburgers aspire to be, without the part afterwards where you go straight to bed in a cholesterol haze.

Nueva Puerta del Sol’s pupusa loca ($12, below) is an unusual dinner-plate-size version of the classic pupusa, and combines a little bit of all the normal fillings, and then some: refried beans, cheese, zucchini, spinach, carrot, chicharrón, and loroco, the Central American bud and flower that is common in Salvadoran cooking. The toppings are sandwiched in a thin masa pancake, and the pupusa is then grilled until brown. The cheese as usual melts nicely into a solid crust as it oozes out of the masa.

Though Puerta del Sol’s pupusa itself is novel primarily for its size and variety of its fillings, you might also find yourself with a higher-than-usual ratio of curtido-to-pupusa, with the crunch and tang of the pickled cabbage cutting nicely through the rich base. Top that with your dash of tomato salsa, and this is a pupusa to remember.
 

Besides pupusas, Puerta del Sol also offers a scattering of Mexican and Italian dishes, as well as a full menu of Salvadoran dishes. A tamal de elote con crema ($3, below) is a simple sweet corn tamal served with a side of rich crema. The sweet and savory contrast beautifully, and the straight-forwardness of the corn flavor stands out nicely next to the complex flavors of the pupusa.

Nueva Puerta del Sol is in a particularly vibrant section of diversifying 18th Avenue. On one corner handpulled noodles, on the other a great old Bensonhurst Italian bakery, Villabate Alba. Within blocks are hotpot restaurants, Malaysian, Thai, Guatemalan, Albanian, and much more. 

 

This is one of the most interesting sections of Brooklyn, and Salvadoran cuisine is a welcome addition to the mix.

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BENSONHURST Brooklyn

7116 18th Avenue

 

Puerta del Sol:

1550 Bay Ridge Avenue

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