Latin Flavor Arrives In The Neighborhood

Yet another relative newcomer to Little Neck, El Jiboa adds a little Central American flair to our part of Northern Boulevard. I remember noticing the blue awning going up a little while back and wondering what was coming. Once I found out it was Salvadoran food I got really excited because I had never had it before.

One day while walking around with my son I decided to stop in and grab some thing to eat. When you walk in the establishment there are a bunch of tables to your right and a counter directly in front of you. Also at the counter it looked like there is a hot food display but nothing was in there when I stopped by.

Since it was my first time trying out Salvadoran food I asked what I should try. The girl behind counter went through the menu with me and pointed out some things that people regularly order and told me what they were. One item she made sure I ordered was a pupusa which is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corn tortilla that is usually filled with a blend of either cheese, cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency, refried beans or a combination of these. I ended up ordering the combination one along with a dish that includes yuca, sausage, chicharron (fried pork), cheese and avacado. I also got a side of rice for my son.

It took about 15 minutes to prepare my order that they packed up and I took home. The bag smelled so good and I couldn't wait to get home and try everything out.

First I tried the pupusa that looked really good but was lacking flavor. I didn't taste anything but tortilla. The rest of the meal made up for the lackluster pupusa. The dish I ordered was piled high with all the tasty ingredients.  The yuca was especially amazing and I found myself searching through the pile of food to find more of it. I did find the cheese to have a certain tang to it that turned me off of it over time. Last, the side of rice I got for my son was very good and he gobbled it all up.

There was plenty of food for another meal and they had me curious about trying some other dishes from their menu. 

I fulfilled that curiosity last weekend by having a couple more dishes delivered to my house.  I ordered some grilled chicken with rice, beans and a tortilla and ribs, sausage and pork chops with rice and beans. They delivered my food in about 30 minutes and let me tell you, it may have been raining cats and dogs outside but there was a full on summer BBQ in my house. 

Both dishes had so much food, I didn't know where to begin. Everything was grilled to perfection with grill marks and grill flavor galore.  I ate till I was content and had enough leftovers to feed three people the next day.

El Jiboa is great place to try out some Salvadoran food. The prices are great and their staff is friendly and eager to help guide you through a delicious meal.

El Jiboa is located at 251-13 Northern Blvd. in Little Neck.